ECONOMIC SYSTEM, WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

If any eRepublik citizen is asked, “What is your biggest ewish ?” you’ll hear solving economic issue for possibility of 99% from them.
In February 18th (4 month ago), eRepublik’s Facebook page published the following picture.

So we have to expect problems be solved or even a new economic system may come. But in my opinion present system can be fixed and it seems an interesting system too and because of general expenses eRepublik would fix this system.
But analyzing this economic system and figuring out the reason of this issue is interesting for me and maybe we can help eRepublik with this article, too! Even though I’m not a stock analyzer but before leaving university and going to game programming studios , I have studied physics, and physic is an environment analyzing science.

Instead of praising myself let me continue with a few questions:

Important question: Does game economy has any problem? Why do we feel like it has any?

It would be our first question. Does game economy really has any problem or just we feel that this economy faces problems and it’s going to fall and destroy? Why do we feel so?

By looking at a few reasons and comparing a few numbers with these numbers in few months ago we can figure it out that game economy is sick:

In 6 month ago, WRM was priced 0.006 or 0.07 in market. Now it is 0.03 or 0.02. This is the most initial price to analyze. Users have lower salary.

Q7 weapon had price 15 cc 6 month ago but it has less than 7 cc at the moment.

Six month ago each gold had 350 cc price but now less than 225 cc.
But these decreases of price and graphs will not tell us straightly that game’s economy is facing a failure.

Let me analyze the graphs. Those who produce Q7 weapon were selling each Q7 weapon 15 cc in the past and now their income is halved. This reduction of income will reduce income of money which goes into workers accounts too. So this reduction of price will follow 3 reasons:
- Reduction of amounts of CC gained by those who had factory
- Reduction of amount of CC gained by workers
- And the third point and interesting one. Reduction of factory’s worth

This reduction is caused that no one is no more interested in having factories. Factories can be built and upgraded with gold. So one of gold usages has been vanished and ratio of gold value to cc has been decreased.
Please note, by now we only discussed our situation and we didn’t looked for the reason.

The second Important question: gold value has been decreased, will money be more worthy?

When we check ratio of gold to CC , we will notice that CC ratio to gold has been increased in these few months ago until now and will increase more. I’m repeating my sentence.CC has been more valued than gold.

For understanding my next sentences, you need more focus. This point, is very important and is hard to understand.

Clear your mind from real world. We are in eRepublik or eRepublikal economy? By your view, how many economic factors do we have in eRepublik? Two factors? Gold and CC? Are gold and CC two separated factors? In eRepublik gold is a unit that is gained from some ways and is spent in some ways.CC is a unit that is gained from some ways and is spent in some ways. Gold and CC can be exchanged to each other .If in a country in real world we had 2 currencies, one for spending in east of that country and one for spending in west of it, If Value of one decrease and economy faces with problems will another one will be more worthy? In continue we will talk about it more.

The third important question, why? And solution?
We understood that game’s economy is falling. It means that countries’ and player’s economy is falling. By now it was clear and almost all players knew this. But the main question in this part of article is brought forth to discussion. Why? Why game’s economy has faced problems? Which basis of economy has problem and the more important question, what’s the solution?

Lets check 2 charts:

Checking an account:

Checking gold input and output in eRepublik:

I’m not looking to CC as a independent unit in eRepublik. For me CC in current eRepublik is a kind of penny made from gold. A kind of penny that can be spend where gold can’t be.

Now we made it clear that CC and gold is where spent in and where gained in an account.

Also we made it clear that how gold is entering in economic system and how is going out.

But still it may be unclear for you. We go for our last picture of this article that is showing general process of economic system. Look at this picture carefully.

I try to analyze this graph in a few sentences:

First Step:
- Gold and CC are exchangeable to each other.
- Except transforming to CC, Gold can be gained in two ways. Level up and achievements that achievements have more effects for sure.
- Ways are to earn CC and salary and selling goods have most effect.
- If we count medals relating to government, Society builder and media mogul as minor medals and we agree that worker Medal has not much effect on economy, except super soldier media else should be taken through wars. In my opinion Super Soldier is war medal.
- Look from upper, most of gold income in an account is from medals and war, has most influence in gaining medals.

Second Step:
- Level up, medals and exchanging CC were three ways to gain medals. Level up from level 20 to more is not considerable. I won’t count selling CC to gold on too. Because I believe CC is like a penny made from gold. We talked on medals too. Medal is a result of fighting.
- Gold collecting ways in erepublik economy is not finished yet! Online payment! Most important economic factor that does it’s effect on this system from out of it. Actually this option makes economic system out of its circle because it’s an external factor and it has no limit. User can bring how much gold that he wants in a month in his account, his country and as a result in game’s economy. It’s months that this factor brings inject gold in eRepublik’s economy system. In a real country, Imagine that a person has money printing machine in his house and every day he can print as much money as he wants. Next year, doesn’t this printed money have effect on country’s economy?

Third Step:
- For sure the example of money printing machine is not complete. Look at the picture. Gold comes into game from many ways that the most important way of it is electronic payment. It flows in economy circle, exchanges to CC, again it exchanges to gold. But in the end, gold, CC or anything that gold has been exchanged to must be used on battle’s walls and go out of economy.
- But when gold which came in by e-payment are spent on walls it has an outcome of medals which brings gold again. The input gold on walls is more than its outcome gold. Gold pile up in game will cause gold be less valuable. Gold is a lot and CC is not much, there is no way to bring CC to game. So ratio of gold to CC will reduce. Factories will be less valuable. Because they don’t have enough CC outcome and gold which are spent for it is lesser than income CC (gold).
- Economy faces failure.

But what’s the solution?
Solutions which comes to my mind may not be that interesting for users. I’m a game designer and I’, looking at this issue by view of eRepublik team. I know that e-payment can’t be limited or erased.
Gold in economic system must be reduced immediately. Must some long-term ways be created to make gold spending more. Or find a way to make CC more to gold, in fact CC must be added from ways out of economic system to it. Like, Bots which put gradually CC in a low value for gold into market can be omitted from economic system in order to work as a painkiller.

Or other ways which I prefer to not tell in this article and I put this job on eRepublik teams duty.

Regards
Alireza Yarmohamadi
June 2013