The Fine Art of Negotiation. Like any relationship, really.
Ranger Bob
This is an article about the current happenings between some of the long-term player base, and the admins of eRepublik.
At the outset, let me say that "negotiation" needs to recognise one thing. This is a joint relationship. Admin (quite fairly) consider this their game. They built it, spent a lot of time on it, and as a result eRep is probably larger than most if not all other online games out there of it's nature.
So, naturally like anyone who has invested much of their time in these things, they feel a lot of vested interest in it, and that we, the player, are choosing to play "their" game.
The Players have a similar view. They decided to play for whatever reason, have invested time, effort (and in many cases RL money) to build themselves an on-line persona here.
So, naturally like anyone who has invested much of their time in these things, they feel a lot of vested interest in it, and that the admins should realise that by us, the player, playing the game, we deserve a say in how it is shaped. And, that means changes we don't agree with should involve giving us a right to participate in the decision-making process.
Is either party right? NO.
Because, it is a partnership. Without admins doing their work, there would be no game. Without the player participating (and spending RL money on it), admin would not derive the profits needed to continue developing the game.
Without the other, neither can exist.
BUT, it needs to be recognised that if either party places unreasonable demands on the other, and approaches things from demands or "not-negotiable" negotiations, you place the other party into a corner. Either they have to submit to your demands, or fight back.
Which, is to an extent kind of what is happening here. Admin can not bow to all the demands placed on them - because if they do, then each and every time a player wants some change for some reason, they will have to bow to it. Now, I am not saying they should ignore all good suggestions or ideas, but it also runs the risk of a group of (dare I say it) "elite" players dictating how they do their work.
At the same time, Admin should not and can not ignore what players are telling them. Obviously they are not dumb - they don't want people going out there saying how bad the game is - in the long run while not all the bad press will inform people's decisions to join, some of it will, and you don't want that either.
So - what is needed is two things:
1. relationship counselling for both sides.
2. actual, non-demanding negotiations. Start from scratch. Don't demand change but explain what the concerns actually are and why.
Neither side should be attacking the other, with bannings or derisive articles. What is needed is a group from both sides, with people who are prepared to be reasonable, to sit down and work out what can be done. As a good friend of mine on the eAus forums pointed out, you need to deliver a win-win for both sides in order to find a way forward.
Now you, as the player here have a choice. If you are that annoyed at this game, you can of course put it down and not play. If admins are that annoyed at you, they can simply ban you from playing. But, this will just continue to feed the bad-feeling on both sides, and in the end both sides will lose out.
Think about it.
Comments
Good article mate!
voted for truth
v+s with one of my orgs, because I still can 😉
[removed]
This is NOT a thread to start advertising other games. I don't want this article deleted - I want the POINT MADE WITHIN IT, to stand.
The first step to any negotiation is to consider your BATNA (or best alternative to a negotiated agreement). If your BATNA is better than the negotiated outcome you can simply tell your opponent NO DEAL. Admin know that people can't resist buying gold so they will never negotiate.
Admin is in this to make money. That is pretty transparent.
The resistance to the most recent changes appear to be a result of an unwillingness to spend more money.
If I'm running a business, and my customers aren't willing to pay my prices, I have two options - 1. lower my price or 2. find other customers that will meet my cost demands. I think we know where admin stands. And, I can't say I blame them.
See, I've been playing the game for quite some time. And I've not spent one dime of real money on the game. So, I've gotten close to two years of "entertainment" from the game, and admin has received nothing from me. So, you can say admin is greedy all day long, but they would likely think the same thing about the citizens like me 🙂
Not so sure, infin.
Yes, people will likely always buy gold. But at the same time, similar to any other industry, it can impact on longer-term ongoing profits to deny service or disenfranchise your consumer base.
And, totally agree with BATNA. Used it in the past quite a bit : P