Enhancing Our Prosperity: eCanada's Sleeping Population

Day 452, 09:06 • Published in Canada Canada • by Dade Pendwyn
This article has been nominated for Best Article

As we all know, eRepublik is a game which aims to typify the sort of socio-economic interactions among our nations' leaders we find so intriguing, and to simultaneously give us the chance to engage in said activities. As in the real world, a country's prosperity is neither mutually exclusive nor a linear function of its population. Take the RL United States: its population is but a fraction of India's, yet they are a far more prosperous and powerful nation. Conversely, France is a fine place to live, yet holds considerably less sway on the geo-political landscape than the U.S. due to its smaller population.

How, then, can this allegorical representation help Canada in eRepublik? We need to first look at what determines a country's power in the eWorl😛 population, average strength, average experience, and GDP.

The most difficult among these to bolster is arguably population; most of eRepublik's new members are recruited outside our capabilities (i.e. ads) and encouraging mass immigration would likely be folly and fleeting. It's encouraging, then, that we seem to have few problems on this front. Canada's post-boom population sits nicely at just over 3000, which is one of the larger populations in the world.

The subsequent litmus tests of GDP, strength and experience are considerably less encouraging. Despite our numbers, eCanada's GDP sits at an embarrassing 24th, while our average experience is a puny 69 (compared to an average of around 200 for the major powers), and our average strength is a laughable 2.18 (third last in the world).

Taking this into consideration, then, it is no mystery as to why Canada does not occupy the same political or martial echelon as the counter-intuitively powerhouse nations of Spain, Romania or Indonesia. If RL Canada held the same proportional population as eCanada, our population would be approximately 290 million!

The solution lies in our treatment of new players: too many are leaving or failing to get involved properly in the community. Granted, eCanada's average level of 9 (compared to 13 globally) is largely due to the boom, but we must reject this as an excuse for complacency. Hungary has almost already surpassed us in all major average categories despite having a monumental influx of brand new players. It's clear that our nation's experience has been disproportionately low since before the boom.

I therefor implore our current government and active Canadians alike to contemplate solutions to alleviate this infirmity; to successfully do so will lift Canada from the bench warming duties we find on the sidelines of the global political stage. How might we increase the individual intensity of eCanadians players to find equilibrium with our bloated population?

I have a few ideas, but out of respect for The Boomer Bugle's ADHD readers (our targeted demographic), I'll save those for a second installment.

Special thanks to RoyMunson, Gofarman, V.G. Ravson, Plugson, David Eastcorner, and Ken Cassidy for being the first people to subscribe to a paper based on one inconsequential article. If I ever see any of you in real life I'll find a gas station and buy you Swedish Berries.