So is it? Or is it not?
MrCarey
Hello eUSA! It’s been quite some time since I ventured off on my own and wrote an unaffiliated article. Actually, I can’t even remember the last time I wrote one, that didn’t have to do with a campaign of mine or party media.
Lately the topic of “Is eRepublik dying” has been in the spotlight of the national media. It was first brought up by Gnilraps with this article, and then it was somewhat rebuttled in an article by Antonio Wimer. Now both these articles are nice, they have legitimate outside sources, it’s not just a bunch of hearsay. Gnil based his article off of another article elsewhere online and Wimer based his upon an email exchange with an eRep rep. (Sorry, had to).
Articles and email exchanges are cool and all, but how about we take a look at some numbers? I know there are a good amount of people around here that thoroughly enjoy numbers, so I’m gonna go ahead and drop some numbers for you all with a little bit of in-depth breakdown. Maybe this will give us all a real good look into the question regarding eRepublik dying; Is it? Or Is it not?
I’ve been hanging out on IRC every day this week from 9am - 5pm EST and every party channel has been dead silent for the most part. I got curious as to what the hell was going on, whether people have just been crazy busy this week, or the game truly is on a downward spiral.
To help figure it out - the state of the game anyway, I did some election comparisons. At first what I found wasn’t too bad, but then I went a little deeper.
This first table shows the Party President election numbers from the past 3 months. As you can see, from January to March, there was a drop of 10. Now you may think that’s not a big deal, and you’d be absolutely correct - it’s not. Last year in the First Quarter there was an 11 vote drop. However, when you compare last year’s numbers with this year’s… Well, see for yourself.
Now, if you notice here, you’ll see there was a drop of 102 votes from March 2015 to March 2016. That’s a drop of almost 20%. So, is it dying, or is it not?
Once I did those numbers I figured it’d be a good idea to compare the general Country President election as well. Since that election includes eUS citizens from all different parties, and even those not in parties. Well, let’s just say that comparison wasn’t any better.
This election was 195 votes down from March 2015 election. Also, during his campaign, Israel Stevens said he was hearing from people he hadn’t heard from in months - people he thought were long gone. He said these people were showing him support for his presidential run, which would make us assume they were “new” voters. Even so, the eUSA’s voting population is down 27% from last year. That’s huge. Want to know what else dropped 27% lately? American Express stocks. When things drop by 25%+, it’s not good. People get agitated, concerned, suspicious, etc. So… is it? Or is it not?
I know some of you are thinking, “But Carey, we all know it’s dying - we’ve been saying this for years.” You’re absolutely correct, it has been said for years. Have we actually been acknowledging it though, or have we just been sitting around being aware of it while refusing to face it? 27% drops can only last for another 3 years and change before it hits zero. That’s assuming that the 27% drop is constant and next year we aren’t facing an additional 37% drop.
Time and time again, people say “Yes, it’s dying but let’s make it worthwhile for those who are still here.” Sure. Is it really worth it though? Is it really worth investing time and energy into a clearly failing system? Most of the time that answer is a resounding “No.”, but other times, due to factors like emotions, that answer isn’t so clear. So I ask you all one more time. Is it? Or is it not?
-MrCarey
Comments
Hi
Hello Brofessor
good
517 -27% = 377
377 -27% = 275
275 -27% = 201
201 -27% = 147
147 -27% = 107
107 -27% = 78
78 -27% = 57
57 -27% = 42
42 is the answer to the universe. It's also a long slow death.
"Is the game dying?" asked the interviewer.
"42", said Cubby.
Except, the game can exponentially endure 27% drops if you just recognize the decimal people.
Is decimal people an euphemism for subhumans?
No. It is a joke about exponential decay.
This article addresses the eUSA. Is the eUSA dying or not? I believe some other enations have had some growth rather than decline in that period but I didn't confirm those rumors. I expect the game itself will continue to survive despite player numbers dropping as long as the remaining players are the ones spending money. If the bills are paid and a profit is made, the game should remain available for this debate to continue years from now. 🙂
Just because the game is available, doesn't mean it isn't dead.
It's a network economy, once we pass certain point the equilibrium will be no other than 0 players.
It depends on what the definition of is is.
A game like this will ALWAYS have a community. The scale may shrink, but the community will always be there. It may be dying, but it will only ever actually die when the plug is pulled.
It's sad how low we have fallen. I hoped videos could help, but it didn't really do much.