• Dear forum visitor,

    It looks as though you have not registered for a forum account, or are not signed in. In order to participate in current discussions or create new threads, you will need to register for a forum account by clicking on the link below.

    Click here to register for a forum account!

    If you already have a forum account, you can simply click on the 'Log in' button at the top right of your forum screen.

    Your Elvenar Team

Release Notes version 1.12

DeletedUser1987

Guest
Well for starters, I really wish that they would consider allowing people to request a move onto a tile which provides different boosts than their original tile. I don't even care what boosts I have, but I really wish that I could have Elven Crystal manufactories. It is very annoying that the only city on my account that has access to Crystal boosts is the city I made to test how a human city would play without the Magic Academy, and that doesn't have Elven crystal manufactories. Manufactories are a huge part of the way our cities look, and there is no way for us to control which manufactories we get when creating a city. A highly infrequent move to a different boosted tile plot is something I would actually be willing to pay diamonds for.

Also, how are we to know how many players out there want to post on the forums, but cannot, because the process of signing up for a forum account is not very well explained, and most players would simply assume they could use their Elvenar account, and give up when they find they cannot log in with it. People have been reporting lots of people leaving due to the most recent changes, yet the devs show no interest in fixing things to get the people who are leaving to stay. It isn't just about me. It's about everyone who shares my playstyle but who does not post here because they were confused by the forum sign up process.
 

DeletedUser3575

Guest
It's about everyone who shares my playstyle but who does not post here because they were confused by the forum sign up process.

More even than confusion about signing up - investing time into the game is hard enough for some people; keeping up with forums and Betas and wikis becomes overwhelming for many casual players. It took me almost a year before I joined the forums (even though I knew how to) simply because it wasn't really worth the time to keep up with it all. Now, I have so much time invested in the game and was actually enjoying playing that it made sense to me to finally hop on the forums to have my voice heard when updates threatned to ruin my enjoyment of the game. And thanks to the incredible slog pace we're all at now, I HAVE the time to be more active in the forums, but not everyone can be.

That's why players like Bobbykitty speak up, even if the updates don't affect them as negatively as those changes might affect other players. They know not every person can speak for themselves every time, so they share their own time to be a voice for others. I would wonder if maybe the devs don't understand that's what happens here in the forum - that every player speaking up truly does represent so many more that can't or don't know how to speak up for themselves. If everyone were speaking up, there would be no question that the vast majority of players are struggling to find a reason to stay in Elvenar.
 

DeletedUser43

Guest
But our challenge is to present the material SO EFFECTIVELY, that it DOES get on the developer's radar. It's not really about how stuff effects YOU, because you're a raindrop in the ocean and they may already understand that you'll be left holding the dirty end of the stick. Rather, the developers are interested in concepts that deliver a lot of benefit for a lot of players.

Oh stop! Just stop! The devs did ask people what they thought of the magic academy. They got tons of feedback. They ignored every ounce of it.

They added an orc requirement. Every single comment from the players was negative. Facebook was full of hate. Players are quitting over this. Nothing has been changed. The only player who gets any benefit from not being able to negotiate provinces is you because now you aren't so far behind everyone else. You like analogies, so how about this one? You are like Tanya Harding who breaks Nancy's kneecaps so you have a better chance in competition.

It is absurd to suggest that if we presented material more effectively things would change. What an awful thing to blame the players for not being more "effective"!! Wow. I know you think they are changing the neighborhood system because of how you presented the issue, but EVERY player has complained about it since DAY ONE. You'd have to be an utter moron not to know the world map has issues.

I figured out your player type Katwijk...you are an explorer-killer. That's why you love wonders so much. It all makes perfect sense.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DeletedUser61

Guest
Nothing has been changed.
You probably spend a lot more money at your local supermarket than you do on Elvenar, and they probably have fewer customers.

You like analogies.
  • Write up a long list of everything that the supermarket is doing wrong, the products that you would prefer that they offer, and how they should arrange the store to suit your personal convenience.
  • Keep your receipt the next time you go shopping, and then take everything back the following day, tell them that you decided to cook something else, and ask for a full refund.
Let us know if anything changes at the supermarket and/or if you get a full refund.
 

DeletedUser1987

Guest
Yes, but when you buy steak at the supermarket, you don't come home and find it has turned into fish! It remains steak. And I don't know about your local supermarkets, but if the supermarket by me perceives that a lot of people might want to buy something it does not stock, it begins to stock it. After several months of asking workers where they were hiding the non strawberry yogurt and being told that strawberry was all they had, and witnessing countless other customers asking the same thing, I went to the store the other day to find.... ten different flavors of yogurt that were not strawberry yogurt. The supermarket's managers are in the business of selling products that you will buy.

It's why CVS no longer sells cigarettes, and instead offers aids in quitting smoking where the cigarettes once were. They perceived that there was pressure among their customers for them to make that switch, and they listened to their customers.
 

DeletedUser43

Guest
Any supermarket that started charging customers to rent carts because all of the ones the supermarket should provide were broken, refused to stock any food, forced every customer to buy day old bread when they walked in the door, and yelled at you if you dared discuss how awful the store was would be out of business. In fact, it doesn't even take that much.

Very recently, the Fresh n Easy chain of supermarkets tried to sell things to customers that Fresh n Easy thought customers should buy. They just closed the doors of all of their stores in Vegas and California.

"Fresh & Easy failed to personalize its merchandise selection by neighborhood, often ran out of popular items and charged as much as 20% more for its private-label products than its name-brand counterparts, analysts said."

"“They made a big deal out of the fact that they had done all this consumer research,” said Jim Hertel, managing partner of food retail consulting firm Willard Bishop. Yet at the end of it, what they delivered is what they wanted to deliver, and the consumer didn't play ball with them in terms of changing their behavior.” (emphasis mine)

It’s so hard to turn around consumer sentiment once they’ve made up their mind” Bear said.

Does that sound like a company we know and a situation we are facing?


The supermarket that IS in business reimbursed my entire grocery bill when I informed them one of the products I had purchased the day before was bad and it ruined a whole recipe. I didn't even ASK for my money back. I was just giving them information. AND they just added a quick fridge up front for things like milk and eggs that customers told them they didn't want to walk through the whole store just to buy.

I don't know where you live Kat, but in places that have competition in a market, businesses either cater to customers or they go out of business.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DeletedUser627

Guest
We know that Inno is profitable overall, but we don't have any data for Elvenar itself, correct?

We see signs that Elvenar devs must be under pressure to increase revenues, because they've trashed their carefully developed game balance and substituted a blatant Wonders/Expansions strategy that functions as an enticement to spend. Even the Summer Solstice event - which is generally well-received here - is devised to put additional pressure on our available grid space (rather than offering ultimate prizes that are 100% beneficial).

Meanwhile the Forums are populated for a year now by players who suggest ways to increase player satisfaction and game revenues. Inno isn't responsive. This has now degenerated into a cynical cycle of complaining, creating a primarily negative Forum environment.

I no longer hope we have the influence to improve the situation, but I appreciate the way everyone continues to take the time to comment. Whoever designed the original game concept should take pride in having attracted a group of intelligent players who have loved playing his/her game....many of whom appreciate the game so much that they don't appreciate its development being subverted.

Perhaps we'll have something to look forward to with the upcoming Player Move?
 

DeletedUser61

Guest
they've trashed their carefully developed game balance and substituted a blatant Wonders/Expansions strategy that functions as an enticement to spend
This is not an informed conclusion. The FoE Great Wonders / Expansion strategy has always been that way, as has been the ability to break through the various minor roadblocks along the way.

You'll note that the cost of filling the "broken Rune Shard bar" / "missing Blueprint" is an IDENTICAL 200 Diamonds.
FoeBlueprints.png

You'll note that the cost of an end-game Premium expansion is also an IDENTICAL 1000 Diamonds.
FoEExpansions.png
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DeletedUser1987

Guest
Why do you keep comparing Elvenar to a game that many of us don't play? If we wanted to play Forge of Empires we would be playing Forge of Empires. We are playing Elvenar, and comparisons to other games made by Inno detract from the fact that we are talking about balancing this game and what works and is balanced for one game may not work or be balanced for other games.

We saw this on World of Warcraft in the last few months. Blizzard's lead developer, Watcher, became convinced that since other MMORPGs feature cameras which are held very close behind the player's character, World of Warcraft's extreme camera zoom out feature, which allows players to see and react to things which are happening behind them should be removed because "other games don't do this". Except, World of Warcraft's entire attraction is in the boss fights which require the extreme camera zoom, and once that change went live people wanted Watcher's head on a platter. That change has now been reverted, but people still want Watcher's head on a platter because he persists in saying that WoW should be "like other games".

Just because it works for other games, even other games made by the same company, does not mean it will work for one specific game.
 

DeletedUser627

Guest
We've played through enough early development, Katwijk, to know that the game was well-balanced for all types of players before they introduced the pre-Dwarven Wonders. The availability of land expansions, builders, goods, etc just rolled out like a silken spool. There were no significant shortages or stalls.

The Wonders have unbalanced all of it. KP is moving the wrong direction, there's less manufacturing, greater need for purchased expansions, and less overall city strength. We hear of players getting stalled, saying they don't have enough goods to negotiate, etc. It's only going to get worse for new players, who are led to think that Wonders are the way to go.
 

DeletedUser61

Guest
We are playing Elvenar, and comparisons to other games made by Inno detract from the fact that we are talking about balancing this game and what works and is balanced for one game may not work or be balanced for other games.
When you hear hoof beats, you should think of Horses, not Zebras. There's no need for some sort of "creative" solution when a tried and true solution is already available, and has in fact already been implemented in Elvenar.
Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
- George Santayana
the game was well-balanced for all types of players before they introduced the pre-Dwarven Wonders. The availability of land expansions, builders, goods, etc just rolled out like a silken spool.
Before the introduction of the Tournaments, the required Armories, and the early Ancient Wonders, the game was entirely one-dimensional. Build LOTS of manufacturing capability, without any regard whatsoever for efficiency, and you'll be able to overwhelm all of the puzzles and run up your score.

Thankfully we now have a game that's far more complex, and that rewards casual players who are including the Military option and Ancient Wonders in their repertoire.

I would not be the least bit surprised, in fact I'm hoping that it will happen within a couple of months, if Dwarves and Fairies were to show up as a requirement for guarding any negotiated Provincres in Ring 8 (144 Provinces) and Ring 9 (180 Provinces).
 
Last edited by a moderator:

DeletedUser43

Guest
When you hear hoof beats, you should think of Horses, not Zebras.

Why do you constantly toss in non sequiturs or incorrect analogies? Caana makes an excellent point. This isn't FoE. We don't want it BE Foe. We who are here are by definition not playing FoE. We are playing Elvenar. If it becomes FoE most of us won't be here. We will go find a game that is more like Elvenar.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Borella

New Member
Please please please stop making me go back in the research tree!!! You have no idea how hard we work to advance in this game only to get thrown backwards!! At least let us continue to research things that we've already started! I was only a few KPs away from finishing a quest! It's frustrating and disheartening that this is happening constantly now!
Also, think about your timing. During an event when you're giving us quests to complete is NOT a good time to do something like this.
 

DeletedUser2061

Guest
I dont know about this whole thing about paying to complete factory's and workshops progress now with diamonds! doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the game? and how it takes time and hard work to build a big city, do to some restrictions without being able to pay with diamonds like before? this is and was a free to play game! but now like the rest of the free to play games i used to play! Its pay 2 win on every level.
 

qaccy

Well-Known Member
Because thats all that person ever does and has since this game started. That game sucks and I dont like this game compared to that one.

Swap the magic/fantasy with a (very loose) historical interpretation and you've got Forge. The main difference between the two games is strictly visual. The two games are both city-builders and are both developed by the same company, so it's perfectly reasonable to compare the two.

Anyway, the UI improvements are nice to have and the Bulwark was definitely in need of a buff, so thanks! The one 'gripe' I have with this update is over why the planned increase to residence population wasn't included in this update. I wonder if that will be coming with the next one.
 

DeletedUser3610

Guest
Ugh. The new icon in the top bar is so ugly! Is it really necessary for it to be a scull? I get disgusted every time I look at it ...*blergh* Plus I don't even need it yet (if it's the announced guest race goods icon which I can only surmise because it doesn't do anything for me ...) so why do I have to have it in my top bar? Please, at least change it into something else!
 
Top