Plato Trolling Me Again!

Day 1,898, 20:40 • Published in Thailand Thailand • by Mystela


...& Whaling Under the Bridge!

In December 2012, during the eRepublik Summit held in Romania, an idea with a lot of potential was discussed, that of coding an alliance module into the game! However, the presence of so called whales at that summit, combined with team USA's recent application, to become a trial member of the CoT alliance, has cast Plato's distinctive shadow over the future of that module. 😐



The ease with which the American players accepted their leaders' decision, as well as the quiet response by the CoT membership, would seem to indicate that most of these teams felt, that any anticipated changes to the game mechanics, with respect to a coded alliance module, would have no appreciable effect on existing game play.

That, or the implementation of the alliance module has been totally scrapped or delayed beyond reason, a Classic Plato Troll. Viewed as confirmation that there's nothing left to wait for, once again the community is left with a generic MMO scenario. Just as with similar MMOs, the group with the greatest number of players, including those with the most disposable income, the whales, is guaranteed to reap de facto victories.



Undeniably, eRepublik has evolved from an innovative, multi-faceted, multi-player game, with an emphasis on diverse, team-based, social strategies for success, into a lacklustre, $ingle-minded application with a swollen, multi-tabbed chat box appendage, loaded with infinite RAM capacity. <.<

How Plato managed to emasculate his brainchild, not to mention many players in the process, is nothing short of a bloodless coup! Using his Oblivion Troll, Plato has systematically banishe😛

the international media, once daily filled with lively, engaging articles,
the need to debate innovative economic policies,
the desire for respectful, thoughtful, long-lasting political & diplomatic endeavours
& genuine initiatives aimed at player retention,

all victims sacrificed to the core, the military module. Yes, you've been RASD! (sic) 😛



Now the Internet's answer to the ancient Chinese art of hook pulling, otherwise known as tug of war, eRepublik can best be described as a Facebook portal hosting a linear concept game, in which the only strategy involved, is in determining the easiest way to register 50.01% on a bar. Guess who is Trolling Hard on the other end of that rope? 😆



With Plato's tacit approval, otherwise known as Plato's Stealth Mode Troll, controllers efficiently groom their progeny into the requisite number, whether one or many, within a relatively short period of time. Put into play, allowed to die & revived when needed, depending on their motivation, controllers can effectively manipulate any aspect of the game, from disinformation in the media, to ballot stuffing in politics, to money laundering & theft, to division bulking in warfare, to victories without sacrifice.

That these ranks now include some of the players, who were among the most vocal opponents of controllers in the past, who now openly advocate their use to undermine their opposition, even when they know that opposition to be genuine, speaks volumes about how borked the game has become. 😨



The lighthouse keepers, players who want to play the game as it was intended, are stymied by the very people who should support them the most. Protesting is futile, especially when Plato Arbitrarily Trolls by strictly applying rules, heavily sanctioning some teams, while totally ignoring others for the exact same offenses. This sample, from an exchange with Plato earlier this month, is my last attempt at manning the light.

 Hello Mystela,

 Thank you for your message.

 An irrefutable evidence that an account was sold is considered to be the invoices of the transaction which took place  between the two parties, other than that, eRepublik needs a various base of solid proofs in order to take measures in  such cases.

O.o Could this be Plato's Pinnacle Troll? INVOICES!? What? In the “base of solid proofs” submitted, was the link to an article, which included copies of the player in question's private messages. In those messages, he not only discussed buying the account, but he included his own statement of calf sized gold purchases, proudly citing these as protection against any action by Plato, which as it turns out, he was right!

A player's stature in the game is unimportant, even that of a bull whale, as evidenced by another recent sale of an American account to the Bulgarian team. Seemingly acceptable as a side effect of these sales, is the loss of both the original team history, in addition to the overall game history, associated with these sold accounts, an example of Plato's Laissez-faire Troll.

In this case, three & a half years of newspaper articles were deleted, a significant historical black hole, considering the original account holder's contributions, unceremoniously dumped in favour of damage on a bar.



As the enduring pillar at the core of the game, player generated alliances have had to pay a heavy price, for every disservice committed to the game, not only by Plato, but increasingly, by every controller & account trader. Caught in the downward spiral, associated with the loss of pride in accomplishment, alliances have lost their identity. Solid national teams of unified players, joined together in meaningful alliances, in the pursuit of long-term common goals, bound by trust & driven by camaraderie, are distant memories.

This game needs a lot of work in many areas & everyone has an opinion about what needs to be fixed first. Since last summer, in an effort to re-balance & to inject some excitement into the game, players have repeatedly shown a desire & a willingness to change things up a bit, alliance wise, unfortunately without success. Very few teams are still holding out, waiting for that renewed sense of legitimate competition, that flare on the horizon.

It's understood that changes can take time, but soon it will be 2 months since the summit ended & knowing that the only visible development since then, is that some whales & MU Commanders were given a beta map, feels suspiciously familiar. I can almost feel his trollish breath on my neck. 🙁

Hopefully, Plato will soon announce the spawning of an alliance module after all, one that will shake the New World to it's murky depths. As a proven concept, complementing the central component of the game, a dynamic, coded alliance module might honestly rejuvenate & realign the national teams, might keep most of the remaining players involved, until other supporting areas of the game are repaired & redeveloped.



Until then, all I see are more teams lining up with Plato, whaling under the bridge. I see weighted dragnets sweeping Neutral waters. I see whales struggling to stay upright & small fry disappearing forever. And even though the sun is setting, I still see Plato trolling. 😒

tl;dr
I wanted so much more, than a game we were born to lose.
I wanted so much more, so much more for you.