What we've got here is failure to communicate
Day 2,613, 17:57
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Published in USA 
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by
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by eRoughRider
Hello eUSA,
I'm back again, unfortunately, writing an article that should not have to be written. Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news, and I don't want to be "that guy", but this is pertinent and must be addressed by all of us.
In my last article, Would You Walk Away, I discussed the 3 actions that someone can take when faced with a problem in a group or organization:
1. Do nothing
2. Leave the group/organization
3. Do something to fix it
I encourage you all to join me in addressing the problem that will be outlined in this article. It takes a communal effort to solve a community's problem. If you have any questions/comments/concerns, as always, feel free to PM me or comment.
I have been conducting a little survey/experiment over the past 35-40 days in hopes of identifying which top 5 party is the most helpful, particularly to newer players.
I recruited 16 Division 1 players (only wanted to do 2/party, but a few never reported their results/quit the game) who were less than 6 months old. They were asked to post the following on the party's fee
😛
"I have a question, can somebody PM me?"
This would have been posted on a weekday evening between 6:00pm-9:00pm, around our peak number of players online (average of 140-160). We were only going to count the responses within the first 24hrs, as comments later than that would not be particularly helpful.I was then going to tally up the number of helpful PMs and Comments to see which party was the most helpful. I wanted to make a bunch of pretty graphs and whatnot, but it would be a complete waste of time.
As I'm sure you predicted by now, the results were appalling. Here they are:
Federalist Party:
Reported Results: 2
Unreporte
😛1
Total PMs: 0
Total Comments: 0
United States Workers Party:
Reported Results: 2
Unreporte
😛0
Total PMs: 3
Total Comments: 1
We The People:
Reported Results: 2
Unreporte
😛3
Total PMs: 0
Total Comments: 1
American Military Party
Reported Results: 2
Unreporte
😛1
Total PMs: 0
Total Comments: 0
Black Sheep Party:
Reported Results: 2
Unreporte
😛1
Total PMs: 0
Total Comments: 0
Totals
Total Reporte
😛10
Total Unreporte
😛6
Total PMs: 3
Total Comments: 2
Total Party Membership: 1046
I'm pretty sure these numbers speak for themselves and there isn't really a need to discuss them too much. I would, however, like to point out 2 things.
1. If a new player has a question about the game or needs a little help, take the time to help him/her. Not only will he learn a thing or two, but it will make him feel better as well. Just imagine how empty it must feel to know that you are alone and nobody is there to help in the confusing and overwhelming world of eRepublik.
2. We just need more interaction in general. I'm sure most of don't play this game solely for the fight, train, and work buttons. We are here for the people around us, our community. So take some extra time to comment on your MU and party feeds, message random people and make a few new friends, and explore the many offsite communication platforms, such as IRC and the Forums.
Very Respectfully,
RoughRider
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Comments
3. People thought it was a multi and didn't waste their time.
Only one of the players was less than a month old and all had avatars.
SHIELD gets about 5-10 new fighters every month for the past 6 months. about 75% become inactive no matter how much engagement from the MU is provided. Some ended up being perma banned for multis. maybe 3 players out of 50 actually turn out to be worth a damn. I've seen this in SHIELD for the past year. Hasn't really changed.
If fault is going to be assigned anywhere, its Plato's fault. Plain and simple.
So the solution is to condone the ignoring somebody who is showing an interest in the game?
Gotta be honest I don't check the Party shout feed as much as I should. That said anyone that contacts me always gets a response.
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FIST
Gotta be honest I don't check the Party shout feed as much as I should. That said anyone that contacts me always gets a response.
I agree 100%. It's not really any one individual's or even party's fault, it just kind of the way the game and us have evolved.
I generally look at all three feeds whenever I go to the main page, and I responded to one of these myself, but even with that said, I do feel like our community engagement is, by and large, not up to snuff.
eRep is not a great game, but there's some good to be found in it, especially if you're playing with friends. That's why I can agree that it's important to engage each other and our newer citizens. Playing alone is boring.
I would think MU engagement seems to be easier to get than Party just because the military module seems to hook the most people.
Even though I blame Plato for offering a pretty awful game, one that gets worse with each 'update'; IMO the 'organization' which has done the most harm and driven away the most new citizens is the eUSA Forums -who wants to play a terrible game in which every time you ask a question you get told how FN stupid your are for asking the question.
I think that a new player is better off in a smaller party. They are more likely to be noticed.
Inconvenient truth.
eRep is shit , The only thing that we love is the community !
Do you have any plan to make this game better for new players ? !?
I personally message every person who asks for help on the USWP party feed, but I don't usually comment on their post.
We've been discussing the fall of eRep now for the last two years or more, non-stop.
Here's what I think, since there's so many mentions about this subject:
It has *already* fallen, folks. It won't *ever* get any "better," in the way you think, unless pay-to-win is absolutely your favorite kind of game ever (no sarcasm). I published a paper a year or so back about this subject, and it is simply economics. Every single player, from the earliest beta folks, to today, at some point feel disillusionment creep in. "Things used to be so much better, what is wrong with the game, what can we do to fix it, what about THE GOOD OLD DAYS?!"
Friends, yesterday was the good old day, and today won't bring any relief. I am sorry to be a Raven here, cawing on about the end of the world, but every problem you notice and note here is a symptom of the (from my perspective) inevitable and gradual decline of this game into a simple item shop - devoid of original, fun play that originally drew players to the game and still does.
But please don't let that discourage you from trying, okay?
I'd have more fun if there were state/region governors. Really, that's all it would take. As it stands I treat eRepublik pretty much like an idle clicker game, because I tried this whole "join the community in trying to fix it" thing and it went nowhere but off a cliff. I'll just wait a couple years when I have more strength than anyone in D1, THEN I will have the ultimate fun. 😛
P.S. 48 hours would have been more fair. I.E. Someone posts at 6 pm, gets a response at 8 pm the next day. eRepublik isn't a job guys.
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I've invited a total of 939 people to this game. Not by multi creating but by spamming my link around the web. One person remains. One person out of 939. Most don't make it past level 1. Also, I noticed the post in the WTP feed. I also noticed that the person left the party before he even got an answer.