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    Your Elvenar Team

Elven culture bldgs: U.G.L.Y. *Seriously* need other options

DeletedUser1590

Guest
So Elvenar is, first and foremost, supposed to be a city-building game, right? Well it would be nice to customize our cities with things that don't look like something purchased from the crafts section of A.C. Moore. The truth is (and I'm sorry for being blunt) that the elven culture buildings look like crap. First off, they're too tall and block everything out; second, the artwork is, well, doofy (if I may be permitted to flash back forty years to elementary school to grab the appropriate word).

I want to be able to lay down things like 2x2, 2x3, 3x2, and/or 3x3 plaza tiles to create a square around which I can abut my houses and trees, or water tiles to be able to make something like the reflecting pool outside the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Not everything needs to be all poofed up and fancy. I've said it before in other posts, my aim is not to have straight rows of the same buildings piled one on top of another. I'm actually trying to build a city worth looking at, but the non-structure options I have really stink. And I don't think they should be premium. I do spend money, but I'd rather spend it on extra expansions.

Seriously, devs, it can't be that hard to throw together some actual city tiles that look like they belong in a city and add them to the menu, can it? How about tossing a bone to those of us who aren't playing just to see how high we can get in the rankings chart?

The culture structure I think I hate most is the mysterious cyclone. Looks like a furnace belching out smoke and it utterly obscures anything behind it. And the more I'm thinking about the size of the tiles, they really should come in all four sizes I listed so that you have maximum flexibility in designing things. You can't use roadways to accomplish the same thing because they create grass spots between them if you make them more than one row wide. This really needs to be a feature, guys.
 
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DeletedUser61

Guest
Some of the fancier roadway looks pretty decent when you use it in a Plaza type arrangement, and it contributes some culture.
 

DeletedUser1590

Guest
Some of the fancier roadway looks pretty decent when you use it in a Plaza type arrangement, and it contributes some culture.
Three things regarding that: First, I haven't unlocked the cobblestone path (I will shortly, but it's taken me a long time to get there); something like that should be available as a choice between that swan boat thingy and a plaza square, so that early players can build an actual city early on. Second, the culture bonus is way too low doing it that way. And third, every try having to move tiles around one at a time? What a pain in the behind. :)
 

DeletedUser684

Guest
I like this, but I would implement it this way:

There would be a culture multiplier for every decoration adjacent to the plaza (including corners, if possible).

Decos are worthless in this game (aside from very low level cities), except to fill up empty space, because they simply don't keep up with the larger structures that can be aided. If you had a structure like a plaza that boosted every connected Deco (as though it were being aided), it would make decorations viable as a culture source and add the possibility and probability of more diversity for every city. Also, as a special cultural building, it is unreasonable to expect more than one size for the Plaza... but you could have a large variety of decorations to surround it with.

Also... if you included the culture buildings in the mix, and allowed an automatic boost from an attached plaza (limit of one plaza per cultural building and vice versa) it would completely change the way people think about their cultural design. Instead of just clumps of all of the same thing off to one side, there would at least be clumps of 3 things... plaza, plus the attached optimal decorations and culture building. The daily aid would be an additional boost to the culture building, so that you would ultimately be able to get a 4x multiplier on the culture building if it were Aided.

I honestly thought that is what the Anchor would do for the Floating Boat when I first saw it -- make it a competitive structure at higher level, and was disappointed that it was just another fairly useless decoration.

I know that my city has not seen a 160% boost in a long time. This would bring those high culture boosts back to high level cities. The bottom line is that excess culture is not rewarded in an optimized city. The most efficient city would have zero excess population, zero excess culture, and every building at maximum upgrade. That means that placing only the culture needed for upgrades is what is rewarded by the game system. The only way to achieve the culture bonus is through Neighbor and Fellowship aid, if you care at all about your score.

Also, with this kind of boost to culture, it might solve the Supply problem that a lot of people complain about... imagine regularly getting an additional 10-25% boost to your supply production on top of your regular NH Aid. The spells (I'm really sorry to say) are a joke in this regard. The Developers are treating the relics as an inexhaustible resource. THEY ARE NOT. The spell boosts (each spell) should boost your entire city!!! not just one building. That would make them worthwhile. (Sorry, different topic).

NOTE: the bonus multiplier would count the same as Neighborly Aid... you would not be able to build with the bonus culture.

I would make the size of the Plaza 2x4 or 3x4, to allow a number of attachments of different sizes.

While we are on the subject of culture... I would also make the culture boost that your city has (at it's base level) be a multiplier for your whole city score. The basic bonus given by the Plaza, however you organize your city, would count toward multiplying your city score. If you rearrange and lose a culture level, your score would go down accordingly. Sorry, this is also a different topic.
 

DeletedUser1590

Guest
Quite honestly, I think some of the animations (e.g., elven planks manufactory) to be just distracting. The last thing I want would be more animation. I simply want more options.

Seriously, devs, turn this back into a city building game, not a "let's see how many of the same buildings can I attach in a row so that I can get a higher score to move up the ranking list"!!!
 

DeletedUser2225

Guest
So Elvenar is, first and foremost, supposed to be a city-building game, right? Well it would be nice to customize our cities with things that don't look like something purchased from the crafts section of A.C. Moore. The truth is (and I'm sorry for being blunt) that the elven culture buildings look like crap. First off, they're too tall and block everything out; second, the artwork is, well, doofy (if I may be permitted to flash back forty years to elementary school to grab the appropriate word).

I want to be able to lay down things like 2x2, 2x3, 3x2, and/or 3x3 plaza tiles to create a square around which I can abut my houses and trees, or water tiles to be able to make something like the reflecting pool outside the Lincoln Memorial in DC. Not everything needs to be all poofed up and fancy. I've said it before in other posts, my aim is not to have straight rows of the same buildings piled one on top of another. I'm actually trying to build a city worth looking at, but the non-structure options I have really stink. And I don't think they should be premium. I do spend money, but I'd rather spend it on extra expansions.

Seriously, devs, it can't be that hard to throw together some actual city tiles that look like they belong in a city and add them to the menu, can it? How about tossing a bone to those of us who aren't playing just to see how high we can get in the rankings chart?

The culture structure I think I hate most is the mysterious cyclone. Looks like a furnace belching out smoke and it utterly obscures anything behind it. And the more I'm thinking about the size of the tiles, they really should come in all four sizes I listed so that you have maximum flexibility in designing things. You can't use roadways to accomplish the same thing because they create grass spots between them if you make them more than one row wide. This really needs to be a feature, guys.

You have such hatred for this game but yet you play?
Where are some examples of the fine artwork you envision? There is an "Upload a File" option to this messaging system.....
 

DeletedUser1590

Guest
You have such hatred for this game but yet you play?
Where are some examples of the fine artwork you envision? There is an "Upload a File" option to this messaging system.....
First of all, thanks for the snotty tone of your first two sentences. Makes conversing in the forum ever so much more fun.

As for your reply: I never said I had hatred for the game. I enjoy the game. What bothers me is the lack of options. And I did provide them with suggestions, but they are just ignored. I'm not looking for "fine art." To the contrary, I'm looking for things as simple as a 3x3 plain vanilla stone plaza tile. You don't want one? Super duper for you. Some of us do and it would take the devs all of five minutes to create one.
 

DeletedUser2225

Guest
I was just noting your statement of, "What a pain in the behind."...I have never made that statement with an endearing thought or enjoyment, it was with a complete lack there of. That's all.
 

DeletedUser1724

Guest
The Inno TV episode for May suggested a desire to make the Magic Academy more appealing to players. Well, here's a possibility: A spell that allows you to permanently skin one building with a new custom look. Offer a number of choices (similar to choices offered for avatars), some can be unlockable after reaching technology levels, etc.
 
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