E-PAL: Game, Earn and Socialise!

Imagine the scene; it’s late, you’re a few wins away from ranking up in the game of your choice and your usual duo partner isn’t around.

You could spend hours browsing the multitude of LFG sites, reddit and forums and still not know if that person is a good fit for your playstyle or even if they’re someone you’ll mesh and communicate well with.

Or you could check out E-PAL.

Fig1. The iconic purple E-PAL Logo is featured all around the website and is easy to recognise.

So, what exactly is E-PAL?

E-PAL is a social network that seeks to unite players all across the world by allowing users to connect and hire likeminded freelance gamers. Whether you’re looking for a professional player to carry you into the ranks of an Apex Legend or someone to chat with about the latest releases there’s someone on E-PAL for you.

Users spend a currency known as Buff, which has an approximate 1:1 exchange rate to 1 USD to order gaming and lifestyle services. These services are created and hosted by individual E-PAL Users on the website, meaning that you can be paid to play video games, chat with people or even provide Tarot card readings.

In addition, users on the site can also create and join chat rooms, send gifts to other members, nurture their own pet called an E-Meow and as of a few months ago watch and even host their own streams all within the E-PAL client!

Fig2. The E-PAL home page is the best place to start your search. With a variety of services, featured ePals, legends and current live streams.

Are you an ePal or a Gamer?

There are two types of roles on the platform; ePal and Gamer. Everyone who signs up starts as a Gamer and following the application to set up your first service you transition to an ePal but still maintain the ability to place orders with other ePals as a Gamer.

Gamer/Client Need to Knows

As a Gamer, also known within the community as a client, you are able to browse the site for services and likeminded ePals, checking out their profiles and ordering the service that takes your fancy with the ePal of your choice.

Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll be gaming, chatting or even watching a movie in minutes!

It’s important to remember that epal.gg is a business. Every service on the site is offered by an independent freelancer, and as such they will have varying degrees of availability. Responses from some ePal’s might be slower but a little bit of patience goes a long way and the platform does provide you with a copious amount of data to facilitate this, including providing an average response time for Instant messages, a service rating and even individual reviews for each service provided by the ePal of your choice.

Fig 3. Subscribe to your favourite ePal to receive notifications when they post, unlimited chat access and 30% off all the services your chosen ePal offers.

When starting out as a client here are some good rules to follow to ensure that you have the best possible experience on the platform;

• Try to message the ePal you’d like to order prior to placing an order. A simple “Hello, I’m looking to order this service would you be available at this time” goes a long way and makes sure both parties are ready at an agreed time. The E-PAL Service doesn’t currently have a scheduling ability, so orders happen as they’re placed or at a time agreed between you both. Be flexible and polite, you’re dealing with real people at the end of the day.

• When recharging your Buff balance on the site, be sure to do this via the website instead of the App for the best value. Google and Apple charge a significant fee for transactions within the app so you end up paying more to receive less Buff. To get the best “Bang for your Buff” complete wallet top-ups on the website. Ordering a service can be done on the app or website with no issue.

Figs 4 & 5. Buff recharges offer better value when done via the web version of E-PAL. Seen on the left is the mobile top up compared to the right which shows the web version.

Fig 6. Service reviews record the quality of the orders you provide as an ePal whereas the User Rating is your score after placing orders as a client/gamer.

• Do your research. Be sure to check the ePal’s profile before placing an order. Make sure they offer the service on the server you play on, check their service ratings, reviews and make sure they’re actually online and accepting orders. You wouldn’t place an order with a 1 Star Restaurant that’s closed, would you?
  

• Reviews go both ways. Client and ePals are reviewed per order. Meaning if you choose to be spiteful and leave a bad review, expect to be slapped with one in return. Reviews are designed to help other Gamers on the site find the right ePals to game with and also help ePals make informed decisions before accepting an order. Try to leave details in your review as well, even if it’s a sentence, and remember that after 72 hours all reviews will automatically be submitted as 5 stars if you don’t fill one in manually.

One final tip for newcomers to the site. Don’t be afraid to reach out. The website is filled with wonderful individuals from all walks of life and every corner of the world. Be active in the discord servers, engage in the chat rooms and on the Live feeds. There isn’t any judgement, and the more you put into the community the more you will get out of it.

ePal Do’s and Don’ts

As an ePal you can set up what is akin to your own virtual store, offering a variety of gaming and social services for Gamers to purchase. All prices and deals are set by the ePal and services can be edited quickly or taken offline with a simple button press.

Getting started as an ePal can be difficult at first, it’s important to ensure that you are advertising your services in the same way you would for any other business whilst also being mindful in managing your time. There are plenty of ways to advertise and increase your exposure on the site; posts on the live square, Instant posts that operate like a twitter feed and streaming on the site or starting a chat room are the main methods. Consistency is key, and E-PAL has tools in place to help assist you with expanding your client base by providing a store rating system. The more points, the more exposure you’re rewarded with on the site. This system is currently undergoing a significant rework so I won’t delve into it in detail until the dust has settled.

Fig7. Everyone has their own profile on the site, above is what an ePal profile page looks like. As you can see each service is listed on the left and when selected will display further details in the middle panel including a voice introduction, image/video, a selfie of the ePal and the sub-types offered for that particular service on the right.

As with clients, there are a number of things that you need to be aware of when starting out as an ePal;

• IM Replies only count the first message. If you receive a message from a potential client or even a friend, the first message of the day starts the timer for average IM replies. So, responding to that initial message quickly is key. Maintaining a good response time helps you secure orders, but knowing this information is handy if you have an ongoing order or you’re busy. That being said, messages also only count when you’re set to a Status of Online.

Fig.8 Status options and order acceptance can be changed with a button press.

• Status Management is Important. Unlike most sites E-PAL won’t typically automatically change your online status when you’re browsing. The best rule of thumb to ensure your store rating and reviews don’t suffer is to ensure that your Online and Order status are set to the correct setting. You set yourself to Offline, Resting, In an Order and set yourself to not accepting orders. Combinations of this help you manage messages, orders and keep your response times in check so be sure to set yourself to Offline and Not Accepting Orders when you go to bed.

• Be cautious. The site has an issue with scammers and bots. Hopefully some level of verification will slow this down in the future but make sure you never exchange money off the E-PAL Platform, keep messages within E-PAL where you can and if you absolutely have to take chats into Discord or Console chat make sure the Client sends their usernames first. Recording orders can also help if anything goes awry, but make sure you’re aware of local recording consent laws where you live.
  

• Earning Cash will start off slow. As a new ePal you will need to wait for a holding period to pass before you can withdraw your earnings. The more paid orders you complete the shorter the wait. For example, orders 1-20 have a 15-day retention period, orders 21-49 have a 7-day retention period and orders 50 and above have a 3 day wait. Subscription funds are different due to the nature of the service and have a month’s wait. Buff balance will transition from Pending to Buff Income after the security period, after which you can then request a withdrawal of your funds utilising the web browser. Note that all withdrawals include a 10% fee for E-PAL and a 0.25$ PayPal transaction fee, so let those buffs add up.

Fig 9. Everyone has their own wallet that keeps track of your Buff balance, pending order incomes and received income. Note that Buffs earned through orders cannot be used to spend elsewhere on the site.

• Freelance but with a community. E-PAL has separate discord servers; one for the whole community, one for ePals [ePal Centre] and one for Influencers. This is without mentioning their Spanish and German counterparts. As an ePal, be sure to join and be active in at least the community and E-PAL Centre ones as these are the best places to locate clients, engage with everyone and seek help and advice from fellow ePals. Some ePals charge for this service on the site, but there are plenty of friendly and approachable ePals in the Discord servers that will help you with questions, advice and general troubleshooting. Speaking from experience I would be in a very different place if it weren’t for the ePal centre Discord. Even if you know the site inside out, sharing stories and even anxieties when you receive your first order can be just what you need, plus these are the key locations to make suggestions to the staff. So whether you’re looking for support, friends, advice or to make a change. Get in those Discord servers!

A final tip for starting out. Don’t expect to earn money overnight. It will take time, but so long as you follow the terms of service, provide quality services and you’re approachable and friendly you’ll have your first order in no time. Free orders are how a large number of ePals got started, and if you need an idea for a free service? Well there are plenty of hungry E-Meows on the site that need feeding. EV’s are free to earn after all and who doesn’t like taking care of a cute kitty?

Fig 10. All users can subscribe to be a VIP which grants you a number of primarily cosmetic privileges to use around the site.

Is epal.gg the site for me?

E-PAL is one of the few sites that survived launch in recent years, and while it stands as the largest and more successful of the lone survivors, no site or service is without its flaws.

Some of the pros of the Platform include;

Fig 11. Everyone has an E-Meow to call their own and care for.

• Earn money for gaming, chatting and more!

• Connect with wonderful likeminded individuals.

• Set up your own services, prices and define your own client base.

• Everyone gets their very own cute Cat Pet called an E-Meow!

• Subscribe to your favourite ePals to support them and receive discounts on all their services.

Whereas some of the Cons of the Platform;

• The platform is still in its early stages and finding its feet so there are some bugs and quality of life changes that are being requested by the community.

• The number of ePals significantly outnumbers the number of clients/gamers so there is strong competition on the site.

• Currently becoming a VIP member doesn’t offer very competitive benefits outside of visual benefits.

• A small support staff does mean there can be delays on approvals to services changes, new services and even getting action taken on reports.

I have met some fantastic, inspiring and humorous people during my short time on E-PAL, and ultimately everyone is passionate about the service and the community it has created. There is a world of limitless potential on the site, the users are so much more than Clients, ePals and Gamers. They’re social media managers, Esport Professionals, Developers and even Software testers. Utilising the knowledge and skills of those willing to help would help shape epal.gg and evolve the service to a whole new level.

Ultimately E-PAL is still relatively new and appears to still be defining itself in a very niche space. Providing the ability for gamers to earn money doing what they love or gamers to connect with people is amazing, but there remains room for improvement with communication between ePals, Gamers and the official staff. The site doesn’t run without the combined efforts of all three of these groups and by taking time out to communicate and listen to those at all levels as well as being open and accepting to changes would certainly help drive the site to new heights.

Fig 12. Play games, Meet Friends and Earn money with E-PAL

So, should you check out E-PAL?

Absolutely! Whether as an ePal, a Gamer or both it’s a platform that is trying to bring people together and allow people to earn money doing what they love. After the last few years, I think we could all do with a bit more of that don’t you?

You can check out my E-PAL profile right here.