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Dear citizens of the eNetherlands,

With an exciting Presidential race behind us between MDSanderon & Odan, the general theme of September was made clear: Both candidates expressed their concerns about our decreasing/stagnant population (which fell drastically a short while ago in a longer occurring trend). MDSanderon believes in the retaining of new players by offering activity and programs, Odan on the other hand believes the only option is to expatriate former eDutch citizens. This article seeks whether or not those are our available options and to what degree they are viable.

Solution 1: 'Babyboom'
A babyboom is a term to describe a drastic increase of population in eRepublik by new citizens - mostly fuelled by a vigorous campaign on (social) media. The eNetherlands has had it fair shares of mini babybooms and in better times it was a goal of every Government to recruit people by e.g. Facebook & Twitter. However, the game 'eRepublik' didn't prove to be that attractive to Dutch people all that much - The niche populace that would play this game was never reached and those who did join mostly quit shortly afterwards.

Any notion of babyboom is unreleastic if it didn't work in the 'glory years' of eRepublik. The odds are now stacked against more than ever (be it due to game mechanics, lack of events or so on). What is viable is what I call small-scale qualitative recruiting (which MDSanderon shortly pointed out) or, recruiting people from your surroundings. Be it from other online games or Real Life friends/relatives. It's no secret that several individuals in the eNetherlands have invited their friends, husbands/wives or colleagues - and mostly these people still are around due to their attachment to such individuals. And in the end a player who sticks has more worth than a temporary spike of +50 in which no one remains. To conclude: it won't increase our population numbers (drastically) - but it might keep it stable and ensure a more 'qualitative' core of players.


Solution 2: 'Repatriate'
The eNetherlands has a rich history of people going 'abroad' - due to boredom in eNL or financial incentives. Numerous examples can be named like Garmr, Fhaemita, Dave Brinkman, Heikanu, Rineke, M. de Ruyter and many more. These players are (mostly) highly active and have strong accounts. Odan has pointed out that he would like to bring these people back to the eNetherlands. And there's some validity in that strategy as with the 'Holding Companies' at least one reason (financial) to stay abroad has vanished.

However: most of these people have become completely detached from the eNetherlands. They (for better or worse) loathe our society or are intertwined with their new countries much more than they are with the eNetherlands (for example the Dutch exodus in Norway on in the United States). As Odan sai😛 Even if we get a couple it would massively help us out. And that is certainly true considering the active and strong players we're talking about. To conclude: It won't increase our population numbers (drastically) - but it might keep it stable and ensure a more 'qualitative' core of players.


Solution 3: 'Immigration'
Increasing our population by the hand of immigration has (for some) always been controversial in the eNetherlands. Odan pointed out in his latest article that we might lose our identity that way and until now we only cautiously accept foreigners. However let us not forget that immigration success stories are plenty in eRepublik. Several nations are entirely built on 'foreigners' and while not native have made their nations a strong force.

And let us not forget about our own country too: The eNetherlands - as one of the few historically non-native English speaking countries in eRepublik - has always had an open and international society. I for one would argue that is exactly the defining point of our 'identity'. In our history we've blessed with members in our society from all countries across the globe who helped our country to the fullest. Many of our Country Presidents and Government Members have been non-Dutch. Let us not discount the success stories of e.g. Flo Rida, Aries Prima, Lancer450, Cody Caine, Shtula, ARcanic Mindje, Gen. de la Rey and many, many more. Recently we've welcomed Janty F in our society and that definitely spiked our activity!

Not to mention that this can have a snowball-effect as well. If one well-connected individual feels at home in the eNetherlands, who knows how many of his friends he can bring along? To conclude: It won't increase our population numbers (drastically) - but it might keep it stable and ensure a more 'qualitative' core of players. Unless we go all the way and promote the eNetherlands as country for adventurers (in the likes of Cuba, Switzerland, Norway and so on). However that will most likely never happen in the eNetherlands and perhaps we should cherish the fact that we still do have a relatively large native community in addition to a few people from abroad.


Solution 4: 'Revival'
This solution is one I've most pushed for in the past (but which has never been followed upon). For better or worse our external forum holds the accounts of 2500+ former players. While we can't reach them in-game by any means, we CAN contact them by means of an e-mail via the Forum. Many of these players have been 'qualitative' players - meaning they've been around for a while, know the game and society and are not prone to immediately quit.

Such players might have left for a plethora of reasons. They might have been with us during desperate times of occupation or political civil wars - or they might have just left the game during a time in which there was no activity. Reminding them of the existence of eRepublik and the eNetherlands so that they are curious about the current state might persuade them to stick around for a while - Especially in times of increased activity like we currently have. I speak for most when I say that I too have left the game for a number of times as well, only to return afterwards with new-found motivation. Recently we've seen the return of Spir Tus with the statement that perhaps the increased (media) activity will keep him around this time!

To conclude: Contacting those many players will probably increase our population a bit for a short while. Afterwards it will be a matter of retaining and that will as always prove very hard - but who knows what it brings?


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As you noticed the situation is not too rosy in regards of population numbers. Personally I don't think it's anyone's prime responsibility to solve this question, but more of a question for the entire community: do you want to see a thriving and active society that is attractive enough to retain players and attract new ones - So that there is still something to play for in a month, half year or a year? Then make it so! As for the Government: No one expects population numbers to increase, but that does not mean a token effort should be taken in this regard. There are several options that are all worth exploring!