Article
Right now, these appear to be the biggest issues in the game:
1. New players find themselves at an insurmountable disadvantage compared to veteran players.
2. The active population numbers are not steadily growing.
3. The economy and business side of the game are increasing and inflating.
4. There is a limit to character progress.
5. Cheating
I would like to propose some simple solutions to these issues:
1. Add some sort of "catch-up" mechanic to the game which would allow newer players to reach the strength and economy skills of veteran players. This would require hard coding what the maximum potential value should be (860 strength as of this article's writing, for instance) and preventing that value from being exceeded. Allow players to spend gold in order to obtain a second economy skill up or training session, with obvious penalties: these should not be added to the calculations for medals or result in additional production. By adding a means of catching up you both give some hope for late joiners of catching up and you also have a gold sink by charging for it.
2. I love this game, I really do, but it's ugly at first glance and poorly advertised. Really simple fix here: hire someone to make an intro page or other pretty little bit to draw people in, and hire someone awesome to market your game. The money spent on these endeavors will pay off when more new players join!
In addition to this, add a way for people to join on equal footing without referrals. My idea would be to add a way for players to use their native country as a referral if they don't know any players. If you then add a criteria where smaller countries are eligible to receive the 5 gold at 7 and first medal and 10% for the rest kickback, it not only lets a player join out of the blue on equal terms but can also be used as a tool to encourage new players to join smaller countries... if implemented well!
3. Put some better gold sinks in. Add some economy sinks too! The buffs are a good change, but they're small and generally only used by people already swimming in gold. First and foremost, the game NEEDS a way to reduce the impact of companies - increase the return on downgrading from 75% to 80% and allow q1 companies to be scrapped for 16 gold. This will allow defunct shops or abandoned q1 shops to be taken OUT of the game!
In order to reduce gold inflation, add some serious gold sinks that hit at the highest levels:
-scaling increase of gold cost for mpps. Have the cost of an mpp scale up based on the number of citizens in the signing countries and the number of mpps already in place.
-fixed decay rate on houses and estates. I realize that there are issues to this: a random element is AWFUL and a fixed element involves heavy coding or even a full inventory overhaul. It still must be done! If it makes things simpler on the development end, you could allow players to "use" their house/estate, permanently adding extra food/gifts each day for a set period of time. For example: I use my q5 house, and for the next 90 days I have 5 extra food limit.
-Increase the cost of starting a 3rd party resistance war. For example, I am south korean, I pay extra if I start a rw that is not a territory held by sk or a native sk territory that is occupied.
-Add a fixed duration to wars, such as two weeks, and require the attacking country to pay a flat fee such as 10 gold per two weeks in order to continue the war.
-Try to scale gold costs UP based on population count whenever possible. Civil wars do it; anything else a government does (besides print money) that costs gold should scale too. Having a massive pop is a big advantage anyway; sink some of that gold out!
4. Simple really - add more ranks, and add something for levels. Experience is a basically worthless attribute, as levels appear to only mean some gold which you can get on paypal anyway. Ranks are finite; strength is fixed. Add some advantages to being higher level so that experience is meaningful, and make sure damage continues to have an outlet for advancement. No player should ever be able to reach a point where there is nothing they can do, aside from clicking the two buttons, to improve their character!
5. You guys do an admirable job dealing with cheaters, and this is NOT a burn on the way you all handle rules and punish violations... This is a free browser game; people are going to cheat. You can't and won't catch all the cheaters, but things CAN be a lot better. I played your not-to-be-named predecessor game and quit that garbage in under 2 months, and watched as every couple days another player as active as I am quit because of the cheating. You guys have so far been much better than that dump; keep it that way, don't let up, and improve!
- Punish deliberate cheating harsher. Multi accounts should be wiped and erased; second chances should involve a new character. Don't bs around this. Stealing and scamming should result in bankruptcy. These kinds of violations should carry far worse consequences than something like an unpaid debt... not that unpaid debts should be dealt with any more leniently!
- Add incentives for your player base to multi-hunt for you. A simple option would be to have each player who successfully reports a cheater, and provides all the necessary links/info for the game operators to deal with it without hassle, get a mark on their account, and every 10 would result in a medal, similar to inviting new players. The best way to catch cheaters is to have the player base working at it with you; give people a reason to want to ACTIVELY go and do it!
- Don't be afraid to go big on punishments. Hit treasuries, revert battle results, hell even release conquered territory if warranted! Do not allow a cheater to have the results of foul play live on after the scamming or multi accounting is stopped!
6. Not related to a problem, just an idea I heard brought up and whole-heartedly agree with: Add free premium time to each major gold purchase, such as a week for 100 gold and a month for 200. Add a free premium trial to each current account and every new account upon reaching level 7. If people get comfortable with premium features, they WILL pay to keep them! It's money in your pocket for a simple service!
Thank you all for the time spent in reading this tl;dr monstrosity. Comments, opinions, rants and objections welcome!
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
