From 160.000 citizens to 200.000 in one week!

Day 1,069, 13:44 • Published in Greece Greece • by Duncan the Immortal

As you may have observed in the login page, our active citizens today, Day 1069, are 198,338 - approximately 40.000 more than last week.

We are witnessing an increase of approximately 25% of the game's total active population (!) in such a short period of time, even increasing by tens of thousands in the weekend - which is normally a less active period. This is unprecedented for the recent history of eRepublik and the question which naturally arises is: "what changed"? Is this for real?

In my experience, bringing people in the game is a tremendously tough job. This game is not for everyone. It appeals to very specific type of audiences... and not only that but it is a natural baby-killer through the fight function (the newbies cannot really afford to use it, due to limited wages that prevent health replenishment, thus they end up dead real fast).

So, this will be somewhat interactive... what do you think happened in this case, and what do you think are the broader implications? Comment freely.