Join the new world

Good afternoon once again ladies and gentlemen of eGermany. Welcome to issue #2 of the Kamingespräch. Conrad von Kaiser at your service.

Today I'd like to take the time to go over the work module of Erepublik. For the first few months of my time in the eWorld and here in eGermany I would click work, get my pay and go on my way. It wasn't until later where I began to wonder what those numbers meant each time I worked and why, even though I was buying food, my wellness would continue to drop.

You see, I did not fully understand the work module and my wellness suffered for it. I often read the information from the Wiki page but so much information at once would often overload and prohibit me from properly understanding it all. It wasn't until I read an article that put it in perspective that I fully understood how everything worked. So now I offer this article, much in the same way that one article I read taught me oh so long ago, in an effort to teach and help other newcomers to the game.

1st and foremost, don't just look at what they pay you. While high pay is a good thing, you must also take into account the quality of product the company offers. A high paying company producing quality 5 goods is a wonderful goal, but in the early days you may do better in the long run working for that Quality 1 company for less pay.

How is that possible, how will I do better by working for less?

Well you must take into account the quality of the product the company you work for offers. A quality 5 company will cost you 5 wellness each time you work. A quality 1 company will cost you 1 wellness.

So, let's put this into understandable terms. I work for a Quality 5 company, I make more money, but I must buy higher quality food to maintain my wellness, my higher salary is offset by the high quality food.

In the beginning I didn't catch onto this and worked for a Quality 3 company, constantly buying quality 1 food. It wasn't until my wellness dropped quite a bit before I decided to find out exactly what was happening.

So, what's the incentive to work for a Quality 5 company then when I can save more with a Quality 1?

Each has their benefits, but your saving will be slower with the Quality 1 company. Each day you'll save a little, buy some food, save a little. However that savings will be wiped out rather quickly should you wish to buy a weapon for a training fight. It will also come into play should you decide to do some long term planning.

For instance, say you get called away IRL for some time, a few days, perhaps a week. Will you have enough money to buy food for the days you will not be around and not working?

Working with the Quality 5 company, you get a higher salary, you have to buy higher quality food of course but now, instead of saving a few dollars a day as before, now your saving tens of dollars, perhaps more. Q1 food is pretty cheap, especially if you're away and not working for a few days and not having to make up that wellness.

So, with that said and done, let us move on.

There is one other crucial portion of the work formula, and that's your skills. You see, each company in a nation requires a certain skill, these skills will determine how much money you make and what jobs you can be suited for.

For instance, Manufacturing. This skill will be used and tested in production. Food companies, Gift companies and companies that produce moving tickets will utilize this skill and for each day you work you'll advance this skill further.

Likewise, the Land skill will be utilized by companies that collect basic materials that they then sell to the manufacturing companies. Diamonds, wood, oil, iron. All these materials are collected for use by the other companies.

Lastly you have the constructions skill, the companies that produce Hospitals, Defenses and houses.

In my year here I've mainly stuck to the manufacturing portion of the job market. However, should I seek employment in a job requiring land or construction skill I would pretty much be starting at the bottom of the ladder.

In other words, when you do find a job make sure that you have other jobs of the same type in the area, especially if you plan to specialize in one of the skills listed above. Building hospitals and such may pay well, but it may not be the best interest if you find yourself in a country with large amounts of farmland and food production.

All in all there is just as much strategy in choosing a job as there is in a war. With the proper choices you can be a productive citizen, and more importantly, a citizen with some spare cash in his or her pocket.

"The men who succeed are the efficient few. They are the few who have the ambition and will power to develop themselves." - Herbert N. Casson