We just wanted to share some exciting news –our new affiliate program is officially up and running! This new program basically allows those that are interested in promoting eRepublik on their sites, to be rewarded!
So, what does this entail? All it requires is that you apply to our program – if approved, you can then begin posting eRepublik’s banners on your site, and for each successful conversion, you will be compensated one USD dollar. To learn more about the details of the program, be sure to read the Terms and Conditions found on the application page. You can also reach the affiliate program page from the footer on the eRepublik site.
We look forward to growing the New World with you!
You may have noticed that eRepublik is quite different than other games – it’s a tremendously rich experience, but without all of the flashing lights and fancy bells and whistles of some of the bigger games out there. But why doesn’t it have all those action packed graphics, sound effects, etc? And are they really even needed to enjoy your time in the New World?
There’s a reason for all of this - it’s because eRepublik has been developed in a completely non-traditional manner when it comes to games. Most of the games that we know and love have been created using a fairly traditional approach to game development – game publishers spend loads of money, time and resources to develop a top notch, eye candy version of a game, all in hopes of it becoming a major hit. This is obviously a huge gamble, so much so that in fact only 4% of game developers using this approach are actually even profitable. Can you imagine – you spend a boat load of money and time on something that you don’t really even know if people are going to like?
So we here at eRepublik thought that there could be a better way. Why not create something more quickly and with less investment, and thus get it out to the players to enjoy and see if they truly like it? Then if they do, we can actually spend our time and energy building a game that the players really want - not just what we think they want! So that’s what we did – we took a reverse approach to game development. We launched the beta version of eRepublik in November of 2007, and over the course of almost a year, built eRepublik V1 based on the feedback of over 35,000 active beta citizens. Of course we have made some mistakes along the way (“trivia” anyone?!), but what is so great about this reverse approach is that by listening to our community, and making regular releases, it allows us to fix mistakes and try new things.
Out of this has come a game that is not only tremendously scalable with infinite possibilities in terms of growth and potential, but with its large emphasis on user generated content, the game has become an extremely rich and social experience. In fact, over 95% of the eRepublik world is created by its citizens. Bells and whistles? Sure, maybe someday, but we think the New World is mighty interesting even without them, and by listening to the eRepublik citizens we can make sure that we concentrate first on what really counts.
Now with over 125,000 active citizens, eRepublik as you see it today is currently only about 25% of what it will ultimately be. This means that the game experience, interface and features will continue to evolve and grow over time as we work to build it out for our community.
The eRepublik community has always been an active one, there’s no doubt about that. What amazes us is how the community’s efforts and creativity continue to go beyond our wildest imagination.
One of the most recent trends in the community is the development of regular podcasts highlighting the latest news and hot topics in the New World. From the eUK, to the eUS and eBrazil, the podcasts are providing another dimension to the eRepublik that is not only entertaining and informative, but that brings citizens together in a unique way.
Another very cool addition to the world of news reporting is the eRepublik News, being uploaded to YouTube by the citizen John C. Bringing the news to life, it is nothing short of entertaining!
Creativity definitely isn’t lacking in a new feature created by Gobba - the daily wellness gain calculator. It provides advice on the best ways to increase your wellness – what food to buy, how many gifts you need, etc.
A new eGovernment page has also been created by aVie, which is chalked full of information from the GDP of Bulgaria to the number of tanks in Singapore. For those of you political folks, you’ll find that there is no shortage of information.
This is what we love about the New World of eRepublik – it’s not defined or limited by the game, but by the citizens. We are eager to see, and be surprised by, what the citizens come up with next!
eRepublik has recently been selected as an Official Honoree for the Games category in The 13th Annual Webby Awards. This is quite an honor given that The Webby Awards is the Internet’s most respected symbol of success. This year’s Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from over 60 countries. Winners are chosen by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization whose members include David Bowie, Harvey Weinstein, Matt Groening, Jamie Oliver, Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser, AKQA Global Creative Director Rei Inamoto, and R/GA CEO Bob Greenberg. Recognition by the Webby Award puts us in very admirable company with such esteemed industry leaders as Amazon.com, eBay, Yahoo!, iTunes, Google, FedEx, BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, NPR, Salon Magazine, Evite, Meetup, Wikipedia, Flickr, ESPN, Comedy Central, PBS, and The Onion. We are honored by the recognition and to be in such good company!
by Linda, aka Betamjau
Note: This guest post was written by a player from Sweden and describes her feelings at a recent eRepublik meeting. All the names used in this blog post are the names of citizens from the New World (example: Grev Per is the ex-President of eDenmark and is, usually, one of the attendees at the meetings). Also, the positions in brackets are the ones they exert in eRepublik and involve certain responsibilities (for example: the “Mentor Sweden” is the one who created and manages the eSwedish Mentorship Program – a program which helps new citizens find their way in the New World).
The time had come to have another real life meeting for some of the eRepublik citizens in eSweden. Those in attendance were Algaroth (President), Misho (Minister of Defense), Gurkvatten (entrepreneur), Lurviantor (elite soldier), micke_e (Vice Minister of Finance), Jbmalin (Mentor Sweden), Kalle Holm (Acting Minister of Finance), Bahamot (entrepreneur), Carradine (ex-President), Bic deWille (elite soldier) and me, Betamjau (Vice President and ePolice Officer).
We decided to gather at an Asian restaurant for a wonderful buffet, and of course there was beer and wine to drink. Some of us had met before and it was equally fun to meet again. Even though we may all sit and chat online all day about eRepublik, and sometimes about our personal lives too, many hours passed during this get together just sitting and talking. It was great to meet those citizens which we had not met before as we had all naturally developed an image of what a person was really like behind their eRepublik character. At first it was a little rigid, but after a while it went well. We tried to move around so we could talk to everyone, covering eRepublik topics as well as other things. It would have been fun if someone were from another party so we could have had a little political debate. Fortunately, the attendees were part of the defense of eSweden, so we did not talk like politicians the entire time. We agreed to clean our Q5 weapons for the battles which will come in the New World.
Read more…
by Mircea Vasilescu, aka MOBBY
It stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Social Strategy Game. Searching the Internet and with a little bit of luck one might find a definition that looks like this: “Massively multiplayer online social strategy games focus on socialization instead of objective-based gameplay, emphasizing interaction, world-building and an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created goods. There is a great deal of overlap in terminology with “online communities” and “virtual worlds.”
But what kind of inert, short and un-personal definition is this? eRepublik is becoming the benchmark of Social Strategy Games. All interactions between players are made through hundreds of affiliated sites, chat rooms, forums, podcasts, and this interaction is starting to breach the virtual environment. Strong relationships are created or broken like the switch of a light. New friends are made and new perspectives pop each day because people want more!
Friends lose their jobs (…it happens…) and we need to be there for them, helping them as much as we can; others just got their first job and we are here to share their excitement. Others will soon have babies so of course we all wait to at least see some pictures or videos! People get sad and then happy again, they want more knowledge, new experiences, recognition, feedback and everything that comes along with this game.
The community meetings provide an opportunity to do all of this. Seeing your e-country president or employer face to face allows you to better understand the game, and meeting your army comrades in an environment other than virtual gives you the opportunity to debate and finalize strategies. The economic issues are very important in this virtual world (we all buy, sell or donate items, make economic or financial speculation), so anyone who participates might have something to say about this. The community is growing day by day, so the meetings should also be held more often, allover the world. While these meetings may have originally started in Bucharest, Romania, we are all eager to see pictures taken at meetings in Brazil, the USA, Indonesia, China, Australia, and anywhere else they may be held.
eRepublik, as the first MMOSSG, has become a hobby for many of the players, so its virtual and real-life interaction is what allows its players to present their objectives, their accomplishments or strategies. This hobby is the battleground, competition amphitheater, chat room or any other kind of environment the players want it to be.
This is the definition I would like to hear!
Last Friday, eRepublik reached its 500th day of the New World. With over 100,000 citizens playing the game actively, it is obvious that the young world is thriving. Since eRepublik’s public launch last October, the game has seen several improvements - most recently, the addition of the game’s mentor, Plato. Several countries have also been added to the game expanding the international audience even further.
For the 500th day anniversary, eRepublik asked citizens to contribute some of their best memories to the 500 day anniversary wall. Community member marcchelala, said “My best moment? It’s every time I log on to play erepublik.” The highlight for xwolf was “Becoming a Foreign Minister.” Ben Dover says his “best experience has got to be US-Canadian War.” And for Ymdar it was “when I made a friend. :)”
eRepublik keeps growing and evolving rapidly thanks to an active community of citizens and to an understanding team capable of making things come true in the New World. In March of 2009, erepublik.com received over two million visits and 66 million page views. In addition, during March, citizens spent a total of 38 million minutes navigating the eRepublik world.
What’s to come? The next several months should be exciting ones as we continue to grow the new world adding new features as well as new languages. We look forward to the next 500 days!
