1 Time Payment

[DeletedUser3029]

Hey guys! I'm new to the game but have been having a lot of fun with it. I've been recommending it to all of my friends who also enjoy gaming.
I recently got to the end of level 1, and I realized that in order to progress with some of the quests or the world in general, I NEED to have diamonds. This... was a disappointment. I can not afford to just funnel money into this game everytime I run out of diamonds, and I know that many other people agree. Making this game Pay to Win is a huge damper to it's players.
But, of course, the game is beautiful and the creators deserve to make money. So while brainstorming, I had a couple ideas of how to try and help everyone be happy!

1. A one time Payment to unlock the ability to earn diamonds.
Just as it sounds, users would have the option to pay for the ability to unlock and earn diamonds. From there they could be like a manufactured good, with a diamond mine and all of that. But what makes it different is that the diamonds are harder to accumulate than the other goods. Only players who have payed the one time fee can unlock this feature. Players could still continue to purchase diamonds regularly (such as how things are now) if they wish to make the game faster.

2. Ad revenue.
For those who truly can't even afford to make the one time payment, perhaps an ad sponsor would help. Kind of like with gaiaonline, where you can click on the option to earn 1-4 diamonds by watching a limited number of ads of various lengths. I know ads are a great way that many websites keep themselves running, and I'm sure that Elvenar would do great with it.

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[DeletedUser1016]

I realized that in order to progress with some of the quests or the world in general, I NEED to have diamonds. This... was a disappointment.

Puch, this is not the case, I'm done with the final chapter, the Fairy Chapter [VII] and I have not invested a thin dime. Purchasing diamonds really helps speed up moving through the game, but it is not necessary.

I think it would be nice to get diamonds under special circumstances, but I don't think the developers will go for it because many players in this forum have suggested the same...nonetheless, I do like your suggestion even though I wouldn't take advantage of it, it's still a good idea.

 

[DeletedUser594]

Diamonds speed a few things up but none are necessary to continue playing at any point in the game. It's understandable for players to think that diamonds are needed- there are some instances where the images or wording of certain unlocks appear to need diamonds- but that is just an option- not a needed good.
I think they'll have them as prizes when they start the holiday events. There are a lot of opportunities to earn diamonds on Innogames other releases. This game is still in it's very early stages. We just had the naming of holidays contest- as those get integrated look to see if there are diamonds included in any prizes for holiday contests.

 

[DeletedUser627]

I think it's a great idea...if Inno were interested in an intermediate sales methodology. Currently there's : play without diamonds and glow slowly and experience frustration OR play with diamonds and go faster and still be frustrated each day you don't spend diamonds.

Every day you don't spend diamonds, you go at the slow pace.

Your suggestion would be an intermediate: pay for the ability to earn diamonds, so the pace would be somewhere in the median range. Unfortunately, it's pretty doubtful Inno will go for it. We've not had any success with convincing them to make the game more fun / enjoyable / interesting in order to generate sales...they're pretty well set on the "frustrate into paying" mode.

Had I known this from the beginning...I'd have never started. But if you can adjust to the realities of a no / little pay game, it can be very appealing. If you ever want to have a full grid, you'll have to buy expansions - I think that's around $100? Other than that, skip the premiums, have 3 builders at least, and just be consistent. Play other games for fun, though! This one is like growing rock crystals...pretty and glacial!

 

[DeletedUser3029]

Puch, this is not the case, I'm done with the final chapter, the Fairy Chapter [VII] and I have not invested a thin dime. Purchasing diamonds really helps speed up moving through the game, but it is not necessary.

I think it would be nice to get diamonds under special circumstances, but I don't think the developers will go for it because many players in this forum have suggested the same...nonetheless, I do like your suggestion even though I wouldn't take advantage of it, it's still a good idea.

Thanks for letting me know! When I wrote this, I was under the impression that the Flying Boat was only attainable by diamonds (the anchor point is what threw me off.) But like Varron said, images or wording of certain unlocks appear to need diamonds.

Diamonds speed a few things up but none are necessary to continue playing at any point in the game. It's understandable for players to think that diamonds are needed- there are some instances where the images or wording of certain unlocks appear to need diamonds- but that is just an option- not a needed good.
I think they'll have them as prizes when they start the holiday events. There are a lot of opportunities to earn diamonds on Innogames other releases. This game is still in it's very early stages. We just had the naming of holidays contest- as those get integrated look to see if there are diamonds included in any prizes for holiday contests.

This is my first time with Innogames. Can we cross diamonds between different games? I'm kinda doubting it but figured I'd ask. If not, at least that kinda gives hopes that they'll impliment this in the future, since Elvenar is still rather young in development. Also thanks for the information.

I think it's a great idea...if Inno were interested in an intermediate sales methodology. Currently there's : play without diamonds and glow slowly and experience frustration OR play with diamonds and go faster and still be frustrated each day you don't spend diamonds.

Every day you don't spend diamonds, you go at the slow pace.

Your suggestion would be an intermediate: pay for the ability to earn diamonds, so the pace would be somewhere in the median range. Unfortunately, it's pretty doubtful Inno will go for it. We've not had any success with convincing them to make the game more fun / enjoyable / interesting in order to generate sales...they're pretty well set on the "frustrate into paying" mode.

Had I known this from the beginning...I'd have never started. But if you can adjust to the realities of a no / little pay game, it can be very appealing. If you ever want to have a full grid, you'll have to buy expansions - I think that's around $100? Other than that, skip the premiums, have 3 builders at least, and just be consistent. Play other games for fun, though! This one is like growing rock crystals...pretty and glacial!

I'm glad you like my idea! I love your comparison to growing rock crystals. It's so true. The game is beautiful to look at and inspire the imagination, but the actual gameplay is less than thrilling as it's currently presented.

 

[DeletedUser594]

If you see the special offering 1100 diamonds and a builder you may want to consider buying- I think it's around $10.00.
even without the special a third builder to construct structures in your city is probably has the most impact of any diamond item you can buy because it stays with you as long as you play and never gets dated,. They cost 500 diamonds which is just a bit under $5.00. Its a great long term investment and will speed up your progress significantly.
The diamonds do not go across games but they do go with you fro city to city if you decide to open another one on a different world- which I would recommend you do as two worlds tends to balance out so that if there's a big gap in one city you probably have action in the other- it's fun to have one of each race Human/Elven as they are entirely different.

 

[DeletedUser3048]

I currently buy a few diamonds periodically for some of the premium culture buildings. If they were to offer a diamond mine as a "premium manufactory", I would be interested..

 

[DeletedUser2870]

It's been discussed in other topics before as well. I'd prefer it if they would add another building (or perhaps add a feature to the magic academy) where one can transform goods/supplies/shards into diamonds. This should be pretty costly and slow, but by giving people a way of creating diamonds they will make the game more balanced. now it's whoever pays the most gets to the top. No skill needed. And every 'pay-to-win' game tends to fade in a relatively short time since most of the players aren't able and willing to keep paying.

To get my point: look in any world you play on at the cities of the top 10 players. In any world, all the top players will have the diamondfeature cultural buildings up. And not one or two or 10, but generally something like 20-30 of the snailpalaces of 3000 diamonds each.
Stands to reason that there will also have been diamonds spent before on other cultural buildings that have already been tossed, And on expansions. Scouts. Research. Finishing buildings quickly etc.
Now if someone wants to spend several hundred bucks in a few months in order to get to the top fine, but if that seems to be the only way to get there, it will get to be booring for the other players very soon. So they will leave, after which the paying members will loose interest as well.
Paying for additional features is nice and it's all well and good. But when it gets to be so blatantly clear that it's the only way to make any progress and there's no way in which a good player can actually 'beat' or pass a bad player with a huge bag of money, the fun quickly grows less.

So an option for the regular players would be to add a feature where they will at least be able to create or earn or harvest diamonds. Even if it would be something that could only be done by way of a fellowship working together.

 

[DeletedUser61]

So an option for the regular players would be to add a feature where they will at least be able to create or earn or harvest diamonds.

I'd suggest that that is what the Magic Academy is all about. However, rather than providing "Diamonds", the developers are providing Spells.

• The problem with Diamonds is that they can be used/abused for nearly everything.
• Spells, on the other hand, and be differentiated and tuned to round off the corners wherever the monitoring data suggests that "average users" are bogging down.

So we can have it both ways. Keep the high volume short time cycle as a Diamond thing, ie more Builders, more Wizards, and more premium expansion, but use Spells for dabbling and filling in the boggy bits.

To your point, players who have the time can worship the Tournament Gods, and get MORE Relics, Runes, and Knowledge points than would be available to Diamond players, who have more money but less time.

So take a close look at the unique advantages of Spells, as opposed to a gimpy version of what the Diamond players will always be able to do better.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

Spells do NOT in any way compare to the use of diamonds at all.

Spells, by their very nature are only temporarily useful. Even without mentioning the fact that Inno has already stated they may be changing or adapting them, making it risky to invest in them to store up a huge amount of spells. And it takes quite a lot of time to get them ready.
But the diamond cultural buildings are there permanently once placed. And way better than the regular ones,which is why I do use diamonds. I'm not opposed to them, nor against Inno making money that way.
I am rather opposed to those buildings being SO much better than the normal ones AND they don't need to use a builder AND are always ready in 10 seconds.
And yes, diamonds also are the ONLY way to speed up building, scouting provinces, pay part of the cost required for building etc.

And players who have access to huge amounts of diamonds can also have the toernament relics. Same goes for catering costs. Diamonds can be used to get goods from the wholesaler. Not to mention that with the use of diamonds it's way easier to have more factories in your city, having them maxed out sooner, so goods won't be much of a problem either.

 

[DeletedUser61]

But the diamond cultural buildings are there permanently once placed.

Not really. The Diamond Buildings will be useful for maybe two or three chapters, and then you'll have to raze and replace them.

Both spells and diamonds can be used to hurry things alone, one step at a time.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

Not really. The Diamond Buildings will be useful for maybe two or three chapters, and then you'll have to raze and replace them.

Both spells and diamonds can be used to hurry things alone, one step at a time.

Ehm. No, actually not so. You CAN choose to raze them, but it's not needed. Once placed they will be there until you do so and there's no timelimit to that. I'm sure that there are players with moneybags so huge they don't care and so will just raze such buildings and replace them by new ones as soon as they can, but that's a choice and it is not something one has to do.
I for instance do not do so. Which is why I am pretty careful on how many and which of such buildings I'm putting up.

And what's else: using diamonds does NOT mean one cannot use spells (which btw can also be hurried through their creation process by finishing them quickly by using diamonds). The other way around however is true: one can't speed up any process by using spells, there aren't spells to shorten production time/building time/scouting time

 

[DeletedUser188]

Inno isn't going to give us any easier access to diamonds if they were planning on it they would have by now
they have done so in FOE but that building gives out other rewards and the diamonds are awarded about 1% of the time
At this point in FoEs development compaired with Elvenars we were already getting diamonds as rewards for conquring certain provinces,the occasional reward for quests ,prizes in the holiday events where everyone can win the diamonds as rewards
4years later and FoE is still going strong
As for Elvenar I have only seen the occasional forum contest that only a couple of people that enter and win can obtain the few diamonds they offer
The Elvenar team is very stingy when it comes to the access of free diamonds it seems to me they are paranoid about some abuse they believe will take place or that the game will implode if they make them available to us
So keep asking but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the diamonds

 

[DeletedUser2870]

Andrew, though I agree they obviously didn't plan on it, it still is worth trying to convince them otherwise. Even if it is just by way of events at times as happens in quite some other games.
Elvenar is still a relatively new game and obviously not completely develloped yet, considering the fact they keep stuffing in new stuff way back in teh research tree and the fact that the new units one has to research still aren't actually available 4 months after introducing them into the research tree.

So I'm not going to hold my breath, but I definitely am not going to keep my mouth shut either.

 

[DeletedUser43]

Puchi...I have been playing since the beginning without any diamonds. Yes, the game is slower, but at the same time, I still have plenty of things to do while the people who rushed rushed rushed just sit there waiting for new content. When they release new features they often come with a lot of bugs and lots of changes. It might not be so bad to play when you are pretty sure what is ahead of you.

If you get super bored, you can always open additional cities in new worlds. You can play as an elf and a human. You can try one strategy and try another somewhere else. Frankly, even with diamonds, this is a slow game. So many people who spent a lot on diamonds talk about how deceived they feel because the game changed after they started. It is nice not to worry about that.

Welcome to Elvenar!! Keep the suggestions coming! I like your idea!

 

[DeletedUser2870]

I have to agree with Bobbykitty. Even with diamonds, this is as much a practice in being patient as it is a game. But actually, the fact that is is such a slow game is why I joined up. I've played games like TW, where one is supposed to be online 24/7. It just isn't feasable for me, and with such high-speed games I find I can't get anywhere because I just can't be online all the time.
Elvenar is slow, but it's not a problem if one isn't always online, or one skips a day at times.
The only way for a player to speed this game up is to have a sheer unlimited budget of diamonds. But what's the fun in buying everything?