I advanced enough to get my gold and if the eUS keeps fighting eMexico I should be 9 by the end of the week.
I think eIndonesia would be a good place for our weapon company but I’ve got no suggestions for a name.
I’m going to join tomorrow. Monday is the only day of the week that I actually have a full day off, so I’m using that time to get acquainted with the game. Which country and region should I join? Where should I start with the readings of FAQs and stuff?
Unfortunately, I noticed today that you need to be level 11 to create an organization (otherwise you can only create a company that directly belongs to you, and you can’t work). And again, only ** Chessic Sense ** is on his way to this level (or has already reached it, I don’t remember).
I got my 5 gold loan, and I’m playing with it on the money market until we create this company. I would make more money if I didn’t made typos once in a while (offering for USD what I intended to offer for RON, moving a decimal point, etc…).
Regarding the country, what about Indonesia, since we’ll apparently create a company there?
Besides, if you intend to be involved in invasions, you’d better off fighting as much as you can, and this country, being involved in a number of wars, should be a good pick to gain experience and maybe one day end up amongst the big wigs who get to decide about strategy (there or in another country).
In any case, I’d advise you to pick a region with a high level hospital. Check this map : http://www.egobba.de and click on the “hospital” icon (the last one in the upper row). A darker shade of green means a better hospital. The name of the region and the country it belongs to is indicated when the mouse pointer is over it. Make sure to to check which country the region belongs, because borders are…errr…slightly different from what you’re accustomed to (don’t pick Indonesia if you happen to be Australian, or you’ll be unhappy).
I think you should avoid very small countries, since they’re always in trouble (though some appreciate to elive in a place where they aren’t as anonymous as, say, in the USA). Also, they’re unlikely to wage wars or afford to organize training. In a number of countries (most of western Europe in particular and Latin America, as far as I can tell) most people speak the local language, so you might want to avoid that.
As for FAQ, you’ll be oriented to eRepublik Wiki, where you should find the basis. There’s also a “help” section in the general forum. Most countries also have their own dedicated forum where there’s generally a “newbies” section (you can generally access to any country’s forum, not only the forum of the country you pick). You can e-mail us in game, too, if you have questions. Search for newspapers if you want to know what’s going on. You won’t have much to do during the first days, besides finding a job and click on “work” and “train”.
If you’re unhappy with your first pick, you probably should create a new character, because you won’t be able to afford a moving ticket for some time.
Finally, maybe you could send us your e-mail so that we’ll be able to invite you and get 5 gold if you stay until you reach level 6. If you want to do so, maybe you could send it to each of us (Chessic Sense isn’t there at the moment) by a PM on the SDMB, so that hopefully at least one of us will read it in time.
When you pick a job, it’s better to choose a company with only one star, since you’ll lose less health when working. Though eventually, if you can fight (you must be level 4 or 5 for that, I don’t remember) and go to the hospital, it shouldn’t matter that much. But make sure to stay above 40 of health, or you won’t be allowed to participate in a battle or training.
I finally fought in a battle in Austria. We’re going to answer the call of those true local patriots who asked for our help to protect their freedom and crush those pesky Austrian terrorists who are bringing chaos in this once proud nation (things change…:D).
ETA : I’d mention that IMO, this game is for a large part a social game. So, you might want to interact with other players as much as you can. It helps in all sorts of ways, regardless of your career path.
Thanks, Clairobscur, for taking the time to analyze and post your analysis; that was very helpful. Sorry for being a bit quiet; I’ve been on the road for the past few days.
As of this writing, the current low price for Q1 weapons in Indonesia is 6.3 IDR, so if our full manufacturing cost was 6, that’s a 5% return. Not great, but perhaps acceptable in volume. Clairobscur, in your analysis, what worker wellness level did you assume?
If Q1 weapons yield 5%, would we do better in trading/smuggling or arbitrage, currency trading? I’m open to the idea of, instead of manufacturing, we pool that same sum of gold and trade/currency manipulate. eRepTools doesn’t seem to have multi-day exchange rates, so it is hard for me to get a handle on whether this would return more than 5% or not.
I was leaning towards purchasing a company vs. creating one, but then I thought about real life: very rarely is a profitable, solid company offered for sale at a bargain price (at least, IME). I checked about 15 of the cheapest companies for sale in Indonesia last week, and only #15 seemed viable (iron co. in a high iron productivity area); some of them were companies in areas that had NO productivity for their particular materials.
I’ve managed to reach level 9, primarily by fighting. You may have noticed that I changed regions; I’m now in an area with a level 5 hospital (but still in Indonesia). I get about 2 experience points for each battle, so I can fight 5 times, get 10 XP, then hospitalize and get back to my same wellness.
I’m not hung up on Indonesia, BTW. I actually ended up here somewhat by accident. But it has turned out reasonably well; no complaints. Q1 food is now under 1 IDR; there are regions with Q5 hospitals; lots of jobs; and iron here is among the cheapest (currently 0.016g). I’m OK with going elsewhere, but Indonsia seems to have a lot going for it.
I picked yours. I think that at the time, it was about 80, IIRC
Yes, battles are a great way to gain experience, but in France we only have the random invasion by Spain once in a while, and occasionnaly a war involving a country we have borders with. I don’t know how often they organize trainings, in the USA.
I’ve nothing against Indonesia. If someone propose another country, I’m willing to look into it, but I don’t intend to try all the countries one by one to find the best. So, if everybody agree with Indonesia, let it be Indonesia.
I received a PM from RandMcNally, but when I tried to send him an invitation, I was told that this email address had already received one. So I assume one of you did so. If not, ** RandMcNally ** should say us so, or just register if he wants to join right now.
ETA : could he tell us his name on eRepublik?
I was kind of considering moving there. California is great but I’d like somewhere that has more battles. Leveling up by working alone is just too slow. Plus, it seemed like Indonesia was where we were planning on setting up anyway.
Do I post a thread asking for name ideas for the Organization (Apparently, you can change a company’s name, but not an organization’s name)?
My SN on there is Randmcnally, I’m on there right now reading the wiki and looking for work and such.
If we’re starting up a weapons factory I think it should be called, “Baby Bottles Inc” or something.
What about something simple like SD Corp?
I forgot : regarding currency trading. Yes, I think you can get a higher return there (as long as you don’t make any typo…that’s the greatest risk, actually), and I’m doing exactly that with the money I have.
But it’s really time consuming. I guess it would be a bit more interesting to run a company, and would take less time. Nothing prevent us to also trade currencies with the organization at the same time, if someone feels like doing that.
If you want to try, there are two ways to go : ** Chessic Sense ** just offered to sell dollars (since it’s a currency with a high volume of trade) then he offered to sell the gold, then the dollars, and so on. In most cases, you make a benefit, but you must check nevertheless, because occasionally, the gold/currency/gold/currency cycle can result in a negative outcome. You get some % with each cycle, generally.
Personnally, I check all currencies, look at those with few offers at a given price, followed by many offers at a higher price. I buy them directly, and offer to sell them at the higher price, hoping that the lower price offers will be taken and that the higher price (and my offer) will be reached soon. I also look at the tools on Erep Tools or cccp group, to see if a currency is particularly low by comparison with previous days, and buy some of it that I offer at a higher price, hoping it will rise within a few days. Finally I put some offers with a significant margin for a direct USD/IDR (or some other currencies) exchange : few people take those offers, but the return is higher and safe.
At the beginning, I did that because I just had to post an offer and forget about it, so it appeared to be less painful than the cycle thing. But eventually, it became even more time-consuming. I think I made more money this way, but I couldn’t tell for sure because I end up with all my money on the market in a variety of currencies, and I can’t tell how much I have, let alone how much I made.
In any case, beware of the mistakes like offering to sell gold for the price of the dollar (** Chessic sense ** did this), buy a currency at 0.13 gold because you thought it was 0.013 (I did that), and such things.
I just reached level 10 with the help of military action. US’s new president said he’ll continue the training in Baja. I don’t know if he’s run that by the Mexican president, though, as there were was a considerable price for starting the things up.
One thing we can do right now is start smuggling on a larger scale. For instance, I can buy 20 Q2 food at $2.85 on the US market, then donate it to Raza in Indonesia, who sells it on the Indonesian market at 2.27 Rupiahs, then we’ll make a profit of .442 gold each time. Of course, these numbers are based on the current market prices and gold-to-cash exchange rates, which could change pretty quick.
How easy is it to move a company once it is estabished, because one thing I’m thinking long, long, long term with SDCorp is once we are settled in is to move everyone to a smaller country, like Sweden, where we can have more say in the country.
At this point, companies can’t be moved. Organizations can, though.
And on my earlier idea, no go. Only companies can sell on the market. I should pay attention to stuff like that before running my mouth off about these great plans I have, huh?
Okay, you’ve piqued my interest; I’ve started an account there, same name as here. Only problem, though, I made it before I read all the way through this thread; I’m stuck in central Slovakia with no way out. If any of you bigshots can get me to Indonesia, I’ll throw down for SDCorp when I get my level 6 bonus. Or, if there’s something worth smuggling or arbitraging in Slovakia, I can do that, too.
I joined up.
Count me in on anythign the Straightdope does collectivly.
I like this idea once we build up enough money we could buy a small country and take over. Our group seems to be growing so it should be possible.
What is our current cash level? I’ve got my 5 golds.
Moving tickets are quite costly, even for us (well…for me, at least). But you don’t really need to move to Indonesia right now, if there’s no particular problem with living where you are.
So, begin again, or just wait and advance until you can afford a moving ticket. I don’t think you’ll get much in the way of wars, in Slovakia. There isn’t any currently, at least.
Yes…there would have been something to do in Slovakia, had you been online. There’s a company selling the second cheapest Q1 food in the world in Slovakia. I would have sent you money to make some stock for dopers joining (here : http://ereptools.pl/market/product/ind/1/q/1 but it’s often updated. It might not be true anymore next time)
We should think about how we could make sure we take advantage of this sort of opportunities. Let us know whether you stay there or begin again in another place.
What’s your eRep name?