[Canada] An Argument for Letting the Forums Die.

Day 2,861, 13:34 • Published in Canada Canada • by DMV3


In his article TBRaider posed a dilemna I think most players who don't play the meta-game face, they lack the knowledge and information most of the most active players in Canada have because they do not use IRC or the forums. If you would have brought up this issue years ago when the game was at its peak I would have said join the forums and irc and there are people who will help explain things to you, but the game has changed and communities are dying off (especially the meta-communities). The game has changed fundamentally and us older players are clinging to the past as if the meta-game is still necessary or desirable for running a nation.

Why we’re the endangered species.

Once upon a time eRepublik was more of a sandbox where a nation could decide how it governed itself and what institutions to have, but eRepublik has long left the sandbox and the developers have created greater infrastructure in the game. Where we once used irc and forums for our parties and Military Units, Plato has created party and MU feeds, along with a MU chat interface. Where once MUs were entirely meta-institutions they are now a mechanical part of the game. The same goes for alliances, alliance positions, and cabinet positions. The sandbox days are over and those of us still living in the meta-game are old relics of a bygone era.

Where once this was a political and social game where wars were driven by political and social necessity, this is now a war game where politics and social aspects of the game are driven by the MUs and the desire of the populace for war. We once needed a lot of external planning and infrastructure to carry out a war efficiently, but now you don't even need a national military to do that. To win a war in this day and age all one needs is more funds for COs and mercenaries than the other side. Our nationa identity and culture have become relics of the era most of us older players have tried to keep alive, but by clinging to these relics we have been doing ourselves, our nations, and new players a disservice.

Thr Meta-game was necessary when nations had hundreds of active players all vying for power and control, but these days most large nations are lucky to have a few dozen meta active players and most smaller nations are lucky if they have ten to fifteen player interested in running the government let alone get active as members of Congress. The game has gotten so small that unless certain players are active in a given month small nations have a hard time even putting together a working cabinet. So we're now at a point where we must retire the old way we did things and we must adapt to the way the game is now. We can cling to the game many of us started playing years ago or we can devise new ways of playing the game that no longer require the time and dedication most new players are unwilling to give to this game. We're now at the point where we can either change or perish. The choice is ours, but the choice must be made in the very near future.

The benefits of forum free society.

Instead of creating forum topics for Congress we can create in-game articles which will both open up debate to a wider range of people and help educate new players to what their government is doing and why they're doing it. Obviously some things would have to be kept private for OPSEC, but those could still be handled in-game through the CP communicating with PPs who would then pass information on to their Congressional delegation and other members when necessary. By bringing government in-game we will build greater lines of communication between the government and those they govern which should strengthen transparency, accountability, and help to give new players a chance to get involved in the debate and hopefully bring a new generation of players into the government.