Why recent MU changes will change everything we know about eRepublik
Death and Taxes
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose
So, after my last article here: http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/military-vs-political-modules-a-hands-down-winner-2297069/1/20 this is the follow-up article designed to examine a creeping raft of changes made to the military module. Changes that will affect us all, and not necessarily for the better.
So let's go back to where this all starte
😛
In the original MU competition some time ago, apart from the rewards doled out to both successful MU's and their members, there was one vital important introduction.
The facility to allow the top 50 units a organisation under their control and apart from the normal government structures, gave for the first time, a genuine autonomy for MU's to separate them from the country they reside in.
The second and most recent MU competition retained the theme, but this time the reward has changed to CC rather than gold, although the next part of the jigsaw is not so far away.
Put into perspective, tomorrow morning some 6,000,000 cc is going to be distributed to the top 50 MU of eRepublik. Nice money if you can get it. Unfortunately, the admins have decided to restrict how this money shall be spent, in fact, there's only one way to spend this money now.
With the new combat orders now we have turned full circle. Now all MU's rather than the top 50 have their own bespoke piggybank. Now every member over 25 can contribute to the piggybank, and more relevantly, this cash can only be used as an incentive to influence campaigns perceived as important to the MU.
So why is this important? Well, traditionally MU's fought on the basis of what was good for their country. They existed in communes that allowed them to supply weapons to their members. In addition, their country would supply weapons through IRC channels for damage inflicted for campaigns considered to be important to these countries.
This link has now been irrecoverably broken. The top 50 MU's no longer have to pick campaigns based on their government's wishes, they can pick whatever campaign suits their commander's fancy.
As we all know, the only thing guaranteed as a given in eRepublik, is that each soldier will do his 25 kills per day for their energy bar. While previously all this damage was associated with government MPP's, for the top 50 MU's this is no longer the given it used to be.
Now that would be fine if we still had the restrictions on joining an MU based on your citizenship. But now this too, has changed. You can now join an MU of your choice, as long as the MU consider you to be worthy of inclusion.
So what does all this mean exactly? Well the truth is we can't say for certain, but what we can guess is the following:
First of all, as we will have repeat MU tournaments, and that the top 50 become more and more important, you can expect that anyone over GoW* will be 'tapped up' to join MU's currently just outside the top 50.
Secondly, completing the DO for an energy bar will be a minor event. The main event will be completing the other 50 kills maximising your cash return for fighting for the highest paid campaign for damage you can find. Picking the right one for the maximum reward will pay for your weapon and food requirements on a daily basis.
Thirdly, that while these incentives were drying out today, the influx of 6m cc into the top 50 MU's which can only be used for these same combat orders, will ensure a massive amount of loot available for all and sundry over the next few weeks.
Fourthly, that the notion of a genuinely independent MU, with a separate agenda from its country of origin, on the same lines that Libertad espoused, is now financially viable. As for example, the MU can set up an combat order on IRC that sets a rule that blatantly favours its members at a pre-ordained time to spread the cash around, and then turn it off like magic.
As outlined in my previous article. The military module exists just to make the strong stronger. These rules enforce the elitism of the module and further weakens all other modules at its expense. It also ensures the death-knell of smaller countries as the best fighters migrate to the top 50 MU's.
The likelihood is that by the end of the year. Alliances will be formed by MU's and not by countries.....
Happy?
Comments
Interesting insight. Do you feel it could be the end of many of the smaller MUs and more a migration back towards a national army type structure for most of the larger countries?
I think there will always be small MU's that exist for social reasons. For purely military reasons you can expect that the top 50 will just get bigger over time. Manipulating the rewards they get for being in the top 50 is all the incentive they need to retain members and grow even stronger.
I think most MU's have a very narrow view on nationalistic politics and politicians in general. You can expect like-minded MU's clubbing together to achieve mutual aims interdependent on the countries they reside in
How do you think eIreland can best play these new developments?
That's a very good question. I think the IA will survive, but I think it needs to position itself as a member of an MU alliance. Alternatively, make an attempt at becoming a large MU with a large diaspora.
This is an opportunity for IA to consolidate players.
Gettin top 50 world MU is not in our scope, but getting top MU national is something /IA can easily offer members
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*cough*
Yep, alliances will certainly be more by MU than country.
Good read.
Nothing wrong with the changes imo, You can manipulate battles all over the eWorld now with cc, funny times coming. Don't care about alliances so don't care how they form either xdxd
i am agree with your analysis.
although i like the fact i can be paid when i strike, this new possibility will give a big power for the top MU.
and i am sure, as you, that new alliances will be create between MUs
one good effect : nations will be obliged to compose with their MUs more than now.
one bad effect : powerful MUs can override nations. and the politic modul is not actually ready to handle this.
"one bad effect : powerful MUs can override nations. and the politic modul is not actually ready to handle this."
This was always the case. Politics can't control MUs. Best example atm is eGreece. Government is absolutely obedient to 2-3 MUs. xdxd
so it will be worse or more generalised. i guess.
Voted. Well it will be a while before my MU of three will get an org. lol
But you can already set a budget, use Combat Orders, choose whether to lock it or not, and attract others without needing eIrish CS. That's all good news.
Nice rundown Mal, although I don't agree with all your conclusions, specifically '[that this sounds] the death-knell of smaller countries as the best fighters migrate to the top 50 MU's'. That might happen, but don't forget people can gain entrance to a competitive MU without switching cs, plus there's no reason a smaller/smallish country can't have a serious dmg-dealing MU, NZ have Angry Angels, Portugal have MEK, plus Albania got an MU in the Top 50, as did Finland and Lithuania, whilst BiH, Sweden etc. had MUs just squeezed out of the Top 50. As long as we see these migrations of people into conglomerated MUs (like with Sons of Alexander or US Military), and we probably will, only improves the opportunity of gaining a Top 50 place in the comps for smaller MUs. Also, almost anyone can join a big MU and reap the rewards of the comp, then return to their own MU afterwards, which I'm sure is something a lot of people will do.
Personally I like the changes, a lot! And the idea of alliances formed of MUs as opposed to countries has a lot going it for. The political mod in this game has been rendered a joke, so if power tips into the hands of those who do the fighting, all the better imo. Its how some countries are unofficially run anyway, and were it to happen in somewhere like the eUS would, imo, be a vast improvement of leadership. Taking the eUS as an e.g., they have numerous brilliantly run MUs that attract fighters from all over the world, but sadly this isn't reflected in the political parties. Why not hand national leadership to people who so competently run some of the finest, most powerful MUs in the game, and that could be extended to a handful of countries.
Voted and shouted o7
As always NFM, your insight is invaluable and worthy of reflection, thanks
Interesting curve ball the admin have thrown us. I hope the IA will be able to adapt and compete, but it's going to depend a lot on the attitude that our local citizens adopt... for the most part if you're a citizen of eIreland in the first place you've got more on your mind than hoping on the biggest and baddest wagon you can find.
If we really want to risk getting creative I suppose we could even look at recruiting from outside eIreland, although we'll have to be careful due to the whole national MU thing.
Voted hard, good thought process
What's missing is revenue for the MU. Other than MU Competitions, these CO funds must come from somewhere. That's where countries still have some control on their designated MUs. Further, merc'ing will be forever changed.
to 3rd
-be commander
-MU recieves massive cash from tournament
so whatyagonnado? this:
1. kick all MU members*
2. make a CO with maximum pay per million damage just for your MU (=you)
3. hit and get rich
___
*can also be done when everybody is sleeping
funny thing: if i remember right all commanders can set a CO, so the commander or 2nd commander can do what i mentioned above - who will be first!?
can't wait for the first case... will the culprit be punished by the admins like some CPs who have stolen state-money?
asked the admins why not making a "withdraw"-button in the first place but they were like "what no money is just for fighting" see:
http://prntscr.com/1ioob7
as if everybody would think:
oh i want to be rich and built 100 of companies - the MUmoney would be enough to live from for years... oh but yeah it is just for fighting and i only should make COs so everybody in the MU gets something from it
Be punished for following the rules? The admin are the ones that make loopholes you could sail a battleship through. This is just one shining example.
yes CPs are also the only people who have the authority to do with the state money what they want - but i have seen CPs being punished by admins for taking the money (tempban, money send back and other stuff). so the loopholes are only loopholes when not enough people send whiny-tickets to the admins...
problem is: why should normal MUs spend their money openly - most will do COs just for ther own members. only countries have a interest in financing damage regardless from where it comes and they (some at least) have the money. countries need boni and they pay with taxmoney. so you have now
more boni = more tax money
more tax money = more damage can be bought
more damage = domination in more battles
domination in more battles = more boni
MU interests will still generally fall in line with national interests. A nation must hold and keep regions which affect the production bonuses for nearly all MU supply lines.
There will definitely be more cooperation and allegiances between MUs. But, the major alliances will still be based on by the best interest decided by national governments, not a MU. There will certainly be a lot more interaction between national political leaders and the leadership of major MUs in their countries. Most CPs will want to work with the major MUs of their nation and their allies.
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read, voted
I see some silver lining on the new tweaks, while agreeing with your diagnosis but also extending the conclusions.
For a starter, this practice of rewarding CC for damage can re-start the marketplace and thus boost taxes collected by countries. Soldiers will earn CC and they can use that to buy weapons. I've managed a very large commune with 47 workers at its maximum extent. It was an efficient operation, but very time-consuming.
I think smaller MUs will put CO restricted to their members only, thus paying soldiers CC instead of weapons. This can increase demand for local marketplace which then, with lower taxes, might create revenue and an incentive for traders to supply smaller countries with goods. This is much more efficient than the current scheme of following up workers on comps, paying wars, distributing weapons. I do agree the social side might be harmed with less required interaction on IRC and else though.
Finally, I found great the tankers can join other MUs without having to change their CS. It makes possible to keep these players active on their e-homelands even if they are contracted out by some professional wealthy MU elsewhere.
"I think smaller MUs will put CO restricted to their members only, thus paying soldiers CC instead of weapons. "
but with CO you pay everyone - if you have perople in the MU who are not working in the commune they wouldn't get paid tanks in the commune but they would now get CO-money too
Only if they did damage. I know lots of people don,t fight. So this will encourage fighting. Though maybe that's how communes make money all the workers who don,t fight. The point of communes is to get people to do more damage by saving tax money. People will still use communes until taxes are zero
I love the last sentence of the article. Ominous, provocative, and will potentially end the superalliance paradigm as we currently know it.
This whole thing will boil down to a simple question of priorities; is a soldier more loyal to his government or his military unit?
Personally, I LOVE a philosophical discussion, and this is a great one.
Anything that would break up super alliances has my vote.
Wont all Mu have the same incentives after a while. Anyway you need not be a member of the MU to complete the order necessarily. Yes disloyal players like you will move to MU's they have been doing it for a while now. Its Ok the rest will stay and keep on fighting. Not that we have any battle orders ever so how exactly does it affect a country with No Wars?.
To correct the record I have recently been asked twice to join MU's and have, politely, turned down their requests out of loyalty to the CZ I belong to. I would have done the same thing in India and Netherlands if I had been approached by say, the IA. No-one questions my loyalty. This article is addressed at eRepublik as a whole, not Ireland. Finally, I never said that all of this to come to pass, it's just my best guess
So, basically, we can change the name of the game to eFeudalism?
It seems one potential path the future will take is that all MU's will be for hire. If MU's are more or less autonomous, they might be stationed in a certain country because it has to be stationed somewhere, but you seem to suggest these MU's, without necessarily having to follow national orders, will be free to fight anywhere for any country for any reason.
It certainly does change the role of the MoD, doesn't it? Instead of merely counting the MU's in the country and how many heads are in each, they're going to have to persuade the commanders it's in their interest to fight for their country. It means MoD will be out there, recruiting MU's to fight for them, basically turning all MU's into mercenaries. Large countries won't necessarily have the obvious advantage of manpower anymore if that manpower is more loyal to their MU commanders than their governments.
And if the MoD's of the world have these dilemmas, imagine what the Supreme Commanders at the alliance level will have to contend with.
I REALLY like where this is going. Expect a lengthy response soon, my friend.
A very interesting read. It's already proven that a well organized independent MU can be stronger than a national army MU. This is going to force governments rethink their approach, and yes, it could change the balance of power, locally and globally. It may also mean that MUs will wield a lot more political influence in at least some nations.
Pretty much accelerates what I'll be talking about in Part 2 of my Alliances treatise...
Also good news for the IA, it's by far the largest Irish MU so the national competition bonuses will boost national recruitment and retention.
I love these changes. I think they work from the bottom up, rather than top-down.
Lower Div players can make a decent income this way. I've seen CO's set at 300cc for Div 3 players. In the first day of CO's, I made 1500cc just from doing the fights I would have been doing anyway. As I don't own companies, this is a real benefit for players like me.
The realtime use of CO's has made an enormous change to how battles are dominated. (Respect to units like eUS Military and Team America who played it like a boss from the get-go.)
Anonymous rich benefactors (we all know there are many) can influence things without needing any long-term ties to another nation. Countries can set night orders relevant to their divisional strengths, and see the benefits quickly.
On an administrative level, its a lot more effective and a lot less hassle than hiring merc units.
Honestly, this is one of the best changes I've ever seen in the game, and also the most smoothly implemented.
I don't know Grainne. I agree that most of the top MU's are better run than most governments, but this is mostly down to continuity. Having your leader change every month is no recipe for success. I would love to be commander of a top 50 MU with a long-term goal to take out some of the more annoying countries in e|Republik. I would take a lot of pleasure in that.
Bhane's going to get a lot of mails any time soon.
http://goo.gl/hWSo0o global MU rankings and some interesting statistic for 2 MU Tournament
Thanks for that, appreciated.
People getting paid to spend money and energy. Should put a slight positive pressure on prices. However to avoid taxes communes will still be active. Though now wep prices will adjust better to their effectiveness. If no wep makes more money than using a wep. No one will buy weps. So this might encourage people to stop fighting with weps.
this goes only for low paid stuff (and only for q7 which is unproportional high priced):
for me only when pay is lower than 39 then fighting with q7weapons makes less money than fighting without
Do you have a web site that shows what to use to fight to make me the most profit? Or when to fight? Or would you be willing to publish an article with a str chart and weps and prices and a profit