We’ll be updating the eRepublik site in the coming weeks with various items (including the Spanish version of the site, in addition to five new Spanish-speaking countries). One new item that we are really excited about is the addition of an official eRepublik tutorial that will help new citizens get acquainted with the New World. The truth is, though, that eRepublik has never been short of really well done tutorials done by the community, and for that reason we want to make sure to highlight such well done videos in addition to our own.
One of the first tutorials that we will be posting on our new tutorial page is the video below. We especially like this one as it really provides some great insight on going to war in eRepublik. If you recommend other tutorials, please send them our way for consideration!
The process of translating eRepublik into Spanish is nearly complete. The release of the Spanish version will take place on June 3rd, and it will only be the first step in providing eRepublik in multiple languages.
As any first step, this was the hardest one to make. Lots of technical modifications were done in order to create a “backbone” that will support all the future translations of eRepublik. We are very enthusiastic about reaching the end of this process.
Our translation team was helped by several Spanish citizens, so we would like to send special thanks to Allyena, Zhuge Liang, and Sabi2 for their support in translating eRepublik. This was no easy task, as there are thousands of unique text lines in eRepublik. Only reading them could take hours!
The next set of languages that will become available in eRepublik has not yet been established, but could contain French, Portuguese, German, and Russian. What is certain is that the Spanish version will bring more of the 330 million people who are native Spanish speakers into the New World. This will especially aid in boosting the population of South America, as on June 10th, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay, and Uruguay will join eRepublik.
Just like in the real world, being a citizen in a country is a crucial rite of passage in eRepublik. But what currently differs in the New World, is that you don’t necessarily take your citizenship with you – you can move freely from country to country with little effect on your ability to settle in as a native. Now as much as I wouldn’t mind having this privilege in the real world (being a US citizen residing in Spain), I must admit I would miss my sense of privilege and patriotism. Plus, citizenship is something you earn, not something that is handed out like candy.
I recently moved to Italy in eRepublik and am enjoying my new life there, but should there be other implications to my big move? Perhaps I should have to wait a certain amount of time before I am able to vote as a citizen, or maybe I should be able to take my nationality with me. We have put these questions out to the community in the latest Insider article in hopes of coming to some conclusions on what citizenship should really look like, as it is far more complicated than meets the eye. To read the latest Insider and/or provide your own ideas, please click here.
It’s been a busy week at the Login Conference in Seattle. The conference gathered hundreds of people from the online gaming space all coming together to share their experiences and knowledge in what could be considered a fairly intimate show in comparison to others of its kind. I spent the days cramming in session after session and chatting with countless intriguing people in between.
From a business standpoint it was a tremendously interesting conference providing insight into things ranging from diverse payment options, to community management, to the future of gaming and more. Given eRepublik’s youth, there was indeed a lot to be taken in.
Highlights included a fantastic session given by Scott Rigby of Immersyve on violence in gaming and the true source of the satisfaction players get from it. It was eye opening not only to understand the true motivations behind players’ fascination with violence, but in reality the satisfaction players get from all aspects of gaming. If you are guessing that the source of satisfaction may not indeed come from the blood and gore itself, then you’ve guessed correctly!
Also tremendously interesting, was the very last session that I attended, which included a modest sized round table moderated by Gameforge’s CEO Carsten van Husen. It was apparent from the group’s brief discussion, which could have lasted for hours, that the main consensus on monetizing free to play gaming is that you must bring value to your players – whether it’s via advertising, subscription, micropayments, or otherwise. Anything short of that is likely to fail at some point or another. Which model, or hybrid of models, proves to most efficient is yet to be seen though. There was certainly much speculation though!
It was definitely an enlightening conference of which I hope more of our team can attend next year!
Last weekend Madrid was host to a lively eRepublik gathering. The meeting began at the Atocha train station in Madrid at about 1:00PM and ended up gathering around 20 people.
To start, the group headed out for a walk through the city, heading toward the Opera neighborhood in order to grab something to eat. After having lunch, the group decided to just get lost in the neighborhood, jumping from bar to bar (a very traditional pastime in Spain – a drink here, a tapa there). During the afternoon the Spanish players debated the future of eSpain and how it would be organized.
For dinner, the group gathered at an Italian restaurant where they were joined by eRepublik’s CEO Alexis, as well as myself, Guido. All of us were surprised to see Alexis show up wearing a hilarious customized eRepublik t-shirt saying that he “failed as president of the France” (which he pretty much did!) on the front “but that he is CEO of eRepublik on the back.” Another player also brought his own homemade t-shirts in order to get the opinions from fellow players.
Conversions covered many topics, from Spain’s own current events in eRepublik, to wars, to how to stop trolls and flamers. No shortage of passionate conversion, como siempre! Since the meeting was held, a few plans have already started moving into action – a tutor program has been put in place in order to help new users (link), in addition to a planned overhaul of their forum.
The meeting went on until 4:00AM – what a night! In attendance were: Diarmuid, Meiko, Sccott, Allyenna, Speedolaric, Fucchero, Sharpblade, Alvoske, Nesan Keihan-Tohoku, Siko mojt, Egoman, Telefrancisco, Iris_vk2, Kuroikaze, Ashfor, Jimbowymbo, Pitufolas, Faramir de Castilla, Vawee, Punta, Ignaki,Redbridge, Ezodervi, Chicho, Birbantello and Zhuge Liang.
We would love to here about all of the community meetings taking place out there – so if you ever hold one, please don’t hesitate to send us details and pictures!
We did a little survey of the eRepublik community recently collecting information from over 15,000 citizens. We found out some good little nuggets of information which really helped us to understand what people are loving about the game and what we need to work on. We thought we would share with you some of the interesting stats.
eRepublik is unique in that it provides players with a tremendously rich experience in a very short period of time. This fact was confirmed, as indeed the majority of users spend roughly 15 minutes a day navigating the New World. So much fun, without being a time suck – always a plus!
While the majority of citizens are male, women have frequently played very high ranking roles in the New World from president, to avid newspaper publishers. We definitely believe that the future of eRepublik is being written by both the ladies and the gents alike.
Have you ever wondered at what point in time eRepublik is taking place? In a futuristic universe far, far away? Or maybe ancient times, with ruins of villages full of barbaric battles? Actually, no, from the perspective of our citizens, the majority see it as taking place in the present – literally rewriting history as we go.
When it comes to game-play, citizens hold a great deal of value in their ability to own and manage a company, but yearn to have more diverse forms of government. Democracy’s great, but what about a monarchy, or maybe even a communist state?
And what’s most important to our players above anything else? The social interaction - which is obvious given the rich social experience that is eRepublik. User interaction and content is what makes the eRepublik world go round, literally. Players like it that way– over 90% would recommend it to a friend ;).
A little over 200 years ago (201, in fact) an uprising took place in Spain against the French army, marking the start of what is known to the Spanish as the War of Independence. This unique date in real world history was marked this past Saturday, May 2nd.
But, as you know, history is being re-written in eRepublik.
Not too long ago, in the New World of eRepublik, Spain and Italy tried to take over France. While they weren’t completely successful, they did take some regions. After France managed to successfully gain back those regions, they faced the threat of another attack from Canada, which resulted in a huge French baby boom in an effort to defend their territory.
In the midst of what could be considered a rather peaceful period in the New World, there still exists the possibility of battle between the two real world and New World foes of Spain and France, as their eRepublik war remains active. With the declaration of either president, battle could ensue.
Reflecting on such an ongoing rivalry in both worlds, we discovered this funny little parody, made by an eRepublik citizen, of Spain taking over France. While this is not the case in either the real world, or the New World, it is a rather humorous slant on the ongoing politics and future of two very powerful countries.
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!
Just like in the real world, being a citizen in a country is a crucial rite of passage in eRepublik. But what currently differs in the New World, is that you don’t necessarily take your citizenship with you – you can move freely from country to country with little effect on your ability to settle in as a native. Now as much as I wouldn’t mind having this privilege in the real world (being a US citizen residing in Spain), I must admit I would miss my sense of privilege and patriotism. Plus, citizenship is something you earn, not something that is handed out like candy.
We did a little survey of the eRepublik community recently collecting information from over 15,000 citizens. We found out some good little nuggets of information which really helped us to understand what people are loving about the game and what we need to work on. We thought we would share with you some of the interesting stats.
