Lose some of the srsns. srsly.

Day 1,250, 19:57 • Published in Australia Australia • by Ranger Bob
LOSE SOME OF THE SERIOUSNESS. SERIOUSLY.



Hi eAustralia

Yup, I am still around, I just keep mainly to two clicking and the like these days.

Before you read my commentary, for those who don't want the TL😉R version...
TL😉R version, brought to you by the letter A and the Number 5:

We need games and fun back in eAustralia (small though at present we are in terms of land). To make money, we need to consider strategically spending it.

Still here?

Ok, time for the longer version.

You know, we had a higher population back when we were only a couple of regions following the return of our lands after the great eIndo-eAus war in 2008. And, yes, there was just as much bitching back then as there was the last few months here - but when it came to the important stuff, we all tended to agree - pretty conclusively.

Although there was still some arguments on how we would get our land back (Diplomacy vs. joining ATLANTIS/PEACE) we all agreed we wanted it back.

Something else we pretty much all agreed on, was we needed to grow our population. However, many eAussies didn't really want to refer their friends to this game, and when they did, many didn't get it and left pretty quickly, wondering what the point was and why their friends were taking an online game that didn't seem to achieve much so seriously.

And, here I think I come to the crux of the problem.

I don't consider any of the eOldies "Elites". Elite is a term that implies people consider themselves better, or more important than the average joe. Well, to quote Eleanor Roosevelt:

"People can ONLY make you feel inferior with your consent."

However, one thing many of the so called Elites, or now old citizens (and yes, that includes many others) is take this game far too seriously. I think that more than anything puts the new player off.

So, what to do?

Well, I would like to remind you of many of the old initiatives that were in place that don't seem to be now. Some private, some public/gov, but all intended to get people active and interested and through this, retain new players. Some still exist thanks to the marvellous efforts of folks such as RonnyJnrJnr and others, but many are worth revisiting.

CASE ONE



Boot Camp: The concept behind this was invest a little money in supporting newer players, in addition to the current funding for our tanks.

If you help get 5-10 people involved and staying in the game, and these people get up to around 500-1000 damage each (noting younger players can rank up quicker) you can make combined increases in our military strength that approach those of one tank. And, if the tank eventually leaves or quit, as many do eventually (Ben P, Patti = quit, Cozza=leave - to name a couple), then you have people working up to replace them.

Also, and more importantly, supporting the _right_ people early will build an interest and loyalty to our nation. 5-10 people a month doesn't seem to many, but it's at least ONE step in the right direction.

CASE TWO



E-Pub: The concept was private, and yes i'll admit it was BenP and mine. But, we ran companies where all the profits went back into games and contests. Partly to remind people this was a game and fun, but also to break the rigmarole of the usual two clicking, working, training and (for some) running companies many did. It added I think, an additional bit of fun to the game, was uniquely eAus and did draw a lot of interest. 'Nuff said, but see the link below for an example of one contest:

http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/e-pub-s-the-101-biggest-competition-yet-30g-in-prizes1-834276/1/20

CASE THREE



#eMentor: Again, a private concept that eventually formed part of government policy, a couple of eOldies had the idea to offer an IRC and in-game based support service for new players, where they offered more intensive one on one mentorship and support. This was slightly harpooned by the fact it was used by a couple of people eventually to filter people into certain political parties, but the idea is sound if you get a good mix of people involved in being mentors, and/or people who are prepared to not push their party affiliation.

CASE FOUR



ausEaid / FoodBank: This was not just about the concept of giving free food. There was a dedicated team of people who messaged new members, and became such a bedrock of gaining new players it even had senators offering to do rosters to assist. Basically every new person joining eAustralia received a message from a real person, offering support, helping them find gainful employment and actually following up with them. The numbers of times people thanked these public charity schemes and credited them with helping them stay was amazing.

CASE FIVE



Inter-forces War Games: I mentioned this in a comment the other day, but actually having war games between inter-government military (or militia, or a combination of both) where either the forces themselves put in an entry fee (say 10 militia members contributing 1g each for prizes, or the gov contributing the equiv for however many of their forces participate) - games such as who can do the most collective damage in a single battle, who can coordinate the best and post an epic youtube link to some rocking music if they record it and the like - could be a goer.

Now I know some of these are old hash, but mainly they fell apart because people just went as committed to running them anymore. But, I'm pretty sure there are people out there willing to step and help shape our nation and improve our activity.

We need to put the FUN back into our country, and look to gather ourselves as a community. Couple this will increasing our ability to participate meaningfully in battles, and maybe we won't solve all our problems...

but, it's a start.

There you go.