Dear Citizens,
Starting next week, you will be able to measure your forces on a new Aerial Battlefield. With this new type of Battle, we are trying to address a number of historic game design flaws and incorporate as much of the valuable feedback received over the years. The current release is the first step of the final outcome and its future will be mostly driven by the reception and suggestions of the community. We had two main constraints when developing the new module: it had to appeal to new players while the negative impact on the engaged player base needed to be minimal.
The Aircraft Battles
Aircraft battles are part of the regular Campaign, mixed with regular Tank Battles at a ratio of 1 to 3 (after each 3 Tank Battles the fourth one will be an Aircraft Battle).
Aircraft Battles are not divided between Divisions, and all the fighters’ influence will count against one Wall.
An Aircraft Battle will give 22 Campaign points to the winning side (winning all Divisions of a Tank Battle awards 11 Campaign points). A total of 94 Campaign points is still required for winning a Campaign.
Mutual Protection Pacts are active in Aircraft battles.
Players can fight in Aircraft and Tanks battles.
In the initial release Aircraft Battles will not be subject to the Epic state mechanic.
As a strategy element we are considering the ability of the attacking side to pick the order for type of Battles the Campaign will be fought on.
The Aircraft Weapon Industry
The New Industry will not allow Working as Manager (similar to the Housing Industry).
The Raw Material production facilities for the New Industry have the same parameters as the one of the Housing Industry.
The finished goods Factories have a base productivity of 5.
In order to be able to use higher quality weapons, a Citizen will need to reach specific Airforce Military Ranks. As a first step, only Q1 Weapons are available and further qualities will be added based on the progression of the Citizens.
We would like to let you know that we have on the roadmap a number of changes for all the production facilities that should address a number of current issues in terms of both usability and gameplay.
Fighting as a Pilot
Your pilot career will start from scratch and you will need to prove yourself in Battles in order to gain new Air Force specific Ranks.
Eye to hand coordination is a valuable skill for those maneuvering the flight stick, hence your in-game Strength will not impact your pilot abilities. A new skill that can be evolved daily will be available in the future. Once available, the maximal daily progression of that skill will be far lower than what is currently possible for the strength attribute in order to avoid significant gaps between old and new players over short periods of time.
Developing the coordination using dedicated facilities similar to the Training Grounds will be possible but again, the coordination bonus will be lower than what the Training Grounds accustomed us to.
When fighting as a pilot all the players will gain Experience Points, even the ones that have purchased Infantry Kits.
Current Damage Booster items cannot be used when fighting on an Aircraft battle. The damage bonus received with the Elite Citizen status and the Natural Enemy Bonus applies when fighting as a pilot.
The Damage Accelerator Booster can be used on Aircraft battles.
The Military Rank bonus available in the War Stash pack will count towards pilot military ranks progression.
Only weapons produced in the Aircraft weapons industry can be used as a pilot. Bazookas, Rockets, Cruise Missile and bombs and other existing “super weapons” cannot be used in Aircraft Battles.
The pilot can also fight without Weapons as the damage formula used in the Tank Battles applies.
The Infantry Kit in Aircraft Battles
The inhibitor feature of the Infantry Kit will not work in Aircraft Battles.
For those Citizens that are used to dominate their Division and do want a taste of the Aerial Battles and unlock the benefits of the higher Experience levels as Elite Citizen Damage Bonus or free Strength training, we will add a new test Pack next week.
The new Pack, added as a test at this stage, will enable players to switch Divisions without any constraints such as bringing down an Objective or consuming Currency.
The Pack will be available to all the Citizens for a limited period of time. If a Manticore owner decides to purchase the Pack, the requirements needed to switch Division will be lifted for the duration of the Pack's bonus.
The max hit rule introduced during the latest Resource War event (your damage per hit is capped to the highest one done by a Citizen belonging to that Division on that specific Battle) will apply for the new Pack. Citizens that purchase the new Pack will still be able to get the Infantry Kit Pack.
Medals and Decorations
Special Decorations will be available for the Citizens that manage to achieve first the new military in their worldwide and in their citizenship Country.
The first Citizen to reach a new Rank (in either Worldwide or National rankings) will receive a golden Decoration, while the next 9 Citizens will receive silver Decorations. Please note that only the very first Rank of its kind will count (the “Squadron Leader” Rank will be award decorations, the “Squadron Leader **” will not).
The Citizens that deal the most damage in Aircraft battles (for each of the involved sides) will earn the new Sky Hero Medal (similar to the current Battle Hero Medal), and receive 30 Gold as reward. Sky Hero Medals will be available for each Aircraft battle of the Campaign.
We would like you to consider the fact that we are aware that the changes introduced although significant do not cover the whole eRepublik gameplay and a number of interventions will be required to address inconsistencies over the next period. We would love to hear your feedback and ways to address them as they arise.