FAQuestionable 03 - Housing Crisis

Day 4,834, 13:25 Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom by LarkD

So! Last time got a bit overly 'metaphorical'... And I just so happened to notice this on the official wiki:



So yeah, based on yesterday's post, I'm probably fucked. Oh well~ I'll keep doing these until the admins catch up to me and apply my punishment.

I've been naughty. Okay that's enough of that. Let's get back to the point of these articles. Wasting time and posting questions I've found the answer to:

So what're the resources for?
I have to admit I figured this one out fairly quickly on the first day, but they tie into a lot of the game's underlying systems, so it probably doesn't hurt to go over what they are and what they do... I'll skip the production methods for now (Since I've only half-finished making a spreadsheet thingie on what factories are and what they do. Yes, I'm that kind of nerd) and instead focus on the resources themselves.

Rookies like us have a few basic resources to worry about: Food, Weapons and Housing. Hell, if you throw in wi-fi then that's pretty much all of our basic needs covered in reality too... But fortunately, internet service providers don't exist in eReputable (Yes, I am going to change the name of the game every time I type it. It amuses me~), so at least I don't have to worry about getting throttled.

Y'know, unless the guys and girls that've spent years carefully crafting and negotiating the current system of Training Wars get their hands on me. Oh fuck, we probably live in the same country too, that's concerning.

So: Food. Food encompasses a variety of edible substances (And also what looks to be an entire lobster) and broadly speaking, they allow a player to regenerate energy. If y'look at the top left of your screen, you'll see a green/white bar with a number on it, and-

Wait, I'm using images now. One sec. Just gotta... And then...



THIS! You'll see this. So the green bar with that little lightning mark is energy. You have energy, you can do stuff. You have no energy, you no do stuff. Honestly, this is pretty standard freemium throttling technology, anyone that's played one of the countless gacha games or clicker-economy games on their phones has come across this system... But as per usual, eReluctant does things a bit differently.

Better, actually.

So, there's actually two stages to energy development. Once you've emptied your bar, it will gradually refill every six minutes(?) or so with a set amount... Except it won't. Instead, you'll gain what we'll call 'potential energy'. Basically, the game says 'look, y'all rested, but y'ain't rested yet. Now gimme yo money.'

And we do.

That's where Food comes in. Food allows a player to convert potential energy into actual energy. Provided you have the food, you can fill your energy bar up, then use it to squash enemy soldiers, or pick grain or... Well, whatever else grants you a sense of self-fulfillment. I ain't gonna judge (And legally, I probably can't. Those Terms-of-Service are weighing pretty heavy right now.

So better food equals more energy, right? Well... Yes and no. Like most other items, food does come in grades, but the limiting factor of your gameplay isn't the quality of the food you consume, but the amount of potential energy you have.

Basically, if you eat six loaves of bread, it's exactly the same as if you ate a lobster. Carbs ain't kill you in THIS game.

Now certainly, the idea of someone driving a tank over a large group of toddlers, then stopping dead, rushing off to a corner and scarfing down several hundred loaves of bread that may have been created several weeks or even months ago, only to rush back into their tanks and resume their word, humming along to the little 'popping' noises MAY seem a little absurd. But that, my friends, is how this world works.

So, since the quality of the food only matters based on the amount of potential energy it restores, you may as well just go for the cheapest option. Here's a handy chart thingie:

T1 Food (Icky Bred): Restores 2 energy per use.
T2 Food (Icky Bred w/ Carrot-thing): Restores 4 energy per use.
T3 Food (Meat-Taco and Haygrass): Restores 6 energy per use.
T4 Food (Meat-Taco and More Haygrass w/ Umbrella Cocktail): Restores 8 energy per use.
T5 Food (Pitcher of Lemonade, et all): Restores 10 energy per use.
T6 Food (An Entire Fucking Lobster: Restores 12 energy per use.
T7 Food (Is That An Entire Fucking Platter Of Ferrero Rocher? You Posh Cunt!) restores 20 energy per use.

-So reasonably speaking, you should go for whatever is cheapest at the time. Or else stockpile a large quantity of food when it's at its cheapest and just eat around the mouldy bits in a few months time.

Since you're playing a ten year old politics game, I'll assume that you're capable of getting a calculator out when needed... But let's boil down the current (at time of writing, don't @ me!) prices for food in the UK. Since these prices change, you'll need to do your own research, but whatever~

T1 Food [02 per unit]: 0.45 GBP (0.225 GBP per energy)
T2 Food [04 per unit]: 0.98 GBP (0.245 GBP per energy)
T3 Food [06 per unit]: 1.20 GBP (0.200 GBP per energy)
T4 Food [08 per unit]: 1.50 GBP (0.188 GBP per energy)
T5 Food [10 per unit]: 2.00 GBP (0.200 GBP per energy)
T6 Food [12 per unit]: 3.20 GBP (0.267 GBP per energy)
T7 Food [20 per unit]: 4.00 GBP (0.200 GBP per energy)

From the above, it looks like T4 Food is currently the cheapest option... But the highest offer is currently being imported from France, which may factor into your purchasing choices. As far as I can tell there's no real downside (Aside from maybe import duties?), but it's French, so that might be enough for some players. Because European Politics.

...Christ this is taking a while.

Okay, so that's food. What about houses?

Ah! Okay, so I touched on this briefly last time, but I failed to notice one spectacular little pile of manure that I totally should have expecte😛 Houses decay.

Which... Okay, kinda makes sense. Houses aren't built to last forever these days, they just have to keep standing for long enough that when the obnoxious little rabbit hutches do inevitably collapse in upon themselves killing a family of twelve, everyone involved in the construction is either dead or living it up in an expat tax haven. So how long do these houses last anyway?

A week. A fucking, MINGE-SOAKING, COCK-WAFFLING WEEK.

What are these fucking houses MADE out of? Sand, sticks and hopeful fucking thoughts?!



Oh.

Disclaimer: That joke may only make sense to people who have been playing the market for a while, so apologies to any fellow rookies reading these ramblings. Though I can't imagine who or what would be reading these hoping to glean any useful information, or why you'd think someone with three days and at least one major factual inaccuracy under their belt already would be a good source for advice. Needless to say: I'll explain what those icons are in a future article.

Oh, and to any veterans that don't get it: Pay more attention to the game y'fuckers. This is important stuff!


So yeah, turns out that the family of twelve only get to live for a week before Billy-Bob and Cleetus' Flat Pack Bonanza caves in and crushes their tiny, malnourished little bones. Sorry Timmy, the war effort will have to do without you for now!

...Actually 'your house will break in a week, go buy another one' may be the most capitalist thing I've ever heard... Sorry Jiminy, the eUK can't be communist, the mechanics of this reality won't allow it!

Although a house collapsing a week after it's built and everyone accepting that that's just the way things are has a depressing whiff of communism about it too...

eRecalcitrant: The worst aspects of reality! Child Soldiers! Endless Wars! Overpriced Gym Memberships! All merged together into a social media interface straight out of the late 2000s! Welcome Home.

-

Was this game around back when Myspace was still a thing? Ah, whatever. This is what I discovered today, and these have been Petty Ramblings.

Go poke your elderly relatives.