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I'm somewhat into psychology, even though I don't study that subject as a major. I tend to try to understand how people think, and base my actions on that. In my opinion, when trying to understand people, you shouldn't try to fit their behaviour on dimensions you yourself have constructed, but rather the goal should be to discover the personal constructs, the dimensions that individuals themselves use to interpret themselves and their environment. In psychology, this approach is called the social construct theory.

In eRepublik, people's behaviour is sometimes very erratic. They do things that seem totally senseless to some, while to themselves the actions are totally sound. It usually does no good to try explain people that what they are doing is senseless, as if they understood that and had the mindset to see it, they wouldn't commit to those plans in the first place. It's the same vice versa - sound plans seem senseless to those who cannot fit them in their own mindset. That's why, when negotiating terms and sketching plans, it is important to understand the second party's mindset.

The second factor related to people's behaviour and to their social constructs which needs to be taken into account, are the motives behind their actions. Self-interest is a major force behind everything, and if people have to choose the good of others over the good of oneself, they choose the good of oneself, regardless if the good of others would in the long run lead to better conditions for oneself too. Not all people agree, and this isn't correct in every instance, but as a rule of thumb, it works.



Now, how does this belong to eRepublik at all? For one, eRepublik is a social strategy game. It is a strategy game, that is steered by social interaction. See the connection? Mark all words in the definition: 'social', 'strategy', and 'game'. All those words hold an importance. Social interaction is the key factor in creating policies, strategy is based on those policies and relations between people and nations, and after all, it's a game. The same motives for behaviour in eRepublik aren't quite the same as in real life because it is a game, in which you can't lose money the same way, you can't get hurt, nor any lasting damage can happen to you.

This is where I base my thinking on. Regardless of what I see as the proper way to play the game, I try to first understand what are the motives guiding other people, and continue from there. This mindset has allowed me to understand one fundamental concept in eRepublik.

I dare to argue, that no battle in eRepublik is fought over economic benefit. Battles always, with almost no exception, cost more than what is gained from them economically. And if single battles and regions were to bring more economic gain than loss, the overall wars without an exception cost more than what is gained from them. In my opinion, people and strategists concentrate way too much on high raw material regions when they plan campaigns. In eRepublik, it is not the high regions that create a strong military and strong economy, but it is the player base that does. A strong, healthy player base is the primary source of income and military strength, and high regions are the secondary source behind overall strength - after all, high regions only serve to help boost income for the population, not vice versa.

After this setting is clear, when looking at the big picture, it should be clear what the aim of military campaigns should be. No long-term benefit is brought by trying to acquire single high regions for some countries that have the potential to get them, if it doesn't serve the best interests of the general population. Ideal case would be to plan long-term campaigns so that they generate interest for the general population, and aim to deprive enemy of their source of income, so that the general population is happy, motivated, interested, and the enemy suffers economically.

After this, it should be clear what the next step is.


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Avec, Supreme Commander of EDEN