This is nuts!!

[DeletedUser4366]

"not flaming other members because she is upset with how things are now!"

Hi Sir Squirrel,

Sorry, you are correct in that I should have explained to scole456, what I meant to be DATF. Further, the fact that the Poster I mentioned is a large proponent the DATF way to advance, is not relevant to Scole's query. For that, I apologize.

You are completely correct that it is not going back to the old system where players could advance through ages and fight whenever they wanted to (so long as they could expect to lose a fair bit of the time, but winning was not impossible).

Here is what I should have written:

scole456 don't be so DATF! (Did advance too fast)

A well-known member of the forum has estimated that it should take approximately 2 years 10 months to fully complete all buildings and AWs to advance to the Wood Elves Age if you just slow down and enjoy the game. You may be attempting to go too fast. This was discussed at length in the Release Notes version 1.18 post in the forum.

What is DATF?

The DATF (Dont Advance Too Fast) theory is that if you advance too quickly, you will find that you will be unable to fight at all; and that continuing to scout or to negotiate will only lead you to a greater wall, making it also impossible for you to negotiate as well. This is a good thing. To make it more enjoyable, you should keep your scouting to a minimum, and fighting to a rarity. Now you will be able to produce loads of troops, advance your amouries, your barracks, your squad sizes and your training grounds, but do not expect to be able to use them for a few weeks or perhaps a few months. If you are impatient, you may blow through all your fighting at the beginning of any age, until you have completed the 10-30 province (or 4 expansions) challenge goal for that age, but going any further will lead to the problems that will spiral towards that wall of impossibility, and no one wants that! I may suggest that pacing your fighting to 1-2 province(s) a week is much more fun.

So, as you are already at a 2:1 fighting ratio, just sit back, relax, and stop scouting. Build your city, and wait until the next age. If you are still over the province challenge goal for that next age, relax some more!

 

[DeletedUser61]

If you like the game and want to play more, you get stuck, so if you want it to be possible you have to slow down. Did you ever sit for a moment and think of how ridiculous that is?

If you only have a hammer, then everything is a nail. But everything is NOT a nail, which is why a a skilled craftsman uses a variety of tools.

Elvenar is a VERY satisfying game of you use Kan-Ban techniques and provide Just enough resources - Just in time.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

@Katwijk
Sorry, but your 'arguments' make no sense and frankly I am getting a bit tired of being answered by you with a platitude like the hammer/nail which has nothing,but really nothing to do with the situation and in no way has any reference at all to my post. Or answers where the logic is so faulty one can't even begin to make sense of it.

Yes, I will agree it CAN be a satisfying game.
But that it can only be so if you are going to constantly slow yourself down is just not right.
The whole concept of deliberately blocking players and of 'leveling the progress' makes no sense. There will always be players who play more often and/or with a deeper understanding of the concepts/greater ability to plan ahead than others. The fact that this game tries to restrict them to the same pace of progress as players who are much less active/involved is something I have not encountered with any other game anywhere, not in any genre.

This concept states pretty much that players who play a bit more intensely and log in 3-4 times/day (or more) should not be allowed to progress faster than players who log in only 1-2 times/day and that is highly discouraging for active players. It also smacks too much of socialism/communism (everyone is the same and should be the same) too me, which btw is in an extremely sharp contrast with the VERY capitalistic view this company has of the prices for diamonds.

You can keep bringing up non-appropriate platitudes all you like, but the idea of 'everyone has to advance at the same rate, no matter whether one is more or less active' is not exactly one that will attract active players.
If the company wants to continue with that line, they need to be willing to loose/get rid of the active players and concentrate on gaining new players only from the pool of people who play once a day (or less). With all the loss of revenue, since those will not be the players to heavily invest money in the game.

Btw, I compared it to the progress in martial arts in my earlier post. Too bad you don't seem to be able to grasp the similarity or managed to respond to that.

 

[DeletedUser2963]

Btw, I compared it to the progress in martial arts in my earlier post. Too bad you don't seem to be able to grasp the similarity or managed to respond to that.

I'd compare it to martial arts training: if you go in just for sport and train 1x a week, you'll eventually gain your brown or black belt, but it may take 10 years. Someone who goes in 3-4x /week and joins competitions regularly will get there faster and be able to do it in 5. It doesn't make sense to tell him he can't graduate until he's waited 10 years because he is 'practicing too often'.

I personally ignored this comparison, because this game is a time based production and upgrade game. People who want to progress at their own speed in a video game don't play games like this. How fast you go in these games is only up to you if you are willing to pay a small fortune. If you are not willing to spend a small fortune, the speed of your advancement is dictated by the game.

The game has FURTHER restricted the speed at which players can advance

Sometimes you CANNOT research more squadsize upgrades yet. Or you have to wait endlessly. The range where battles are actually winnable was decreased by the new system. Many people hit impossible fights pretty early on. It's one of the reasons so many people quit.

This was addressed specifically:

You have to advance more slowly at the start currently. Several people have been lobbying for improvements specifically in this space.

I believe that once the Dev's realize that the new players are quitting because it is too hard they will dial it down a notch, but it will take a couple months before they have the data to make that decision, they are not going to take our word for it when they have the log of who signs in and how often.

Now by all means respond by calling me an inno defender.

 

[DeletedUser2870]

I'm pretty sure I did not post that text as an answer to you but to Katwijk, so why you suddenly feel adressed is something I don't quite get, but fine.

I personally ignored this comparison, because this game is a time based production and upgrade game People who want to progress at their own speed in a video game don't play games like this. How fast you go in these games is only up to you if you are willing to pay a small fortune. If you are not willing to spend a small fortune, the speed of your advancement is dictated by the game..

Quite so, you ignored that and still do so. You now seem to want to compare this game to a video-game, which is once again trying to compare completely different genres of games. It's like trying to compare monopoly to baseball., it just doesn't fit.
My comparison about the progress is about the amount of time and effort one puts into it, not trying to compare martial arts to the game itself. Telling people they should slow down (so NOT to put time and effort in) is a strange way to go about trying to get people interested, active and involved. Whether it's a game, work, school, sports, learning a language or whatever.

People who want to progress at their own speed in a video game don't play games like this. How fast you go in these games is only up to you if you are willing to pay a small fortune. If you are not willing to spend a small fortune, the speed of your advancement is dictated by the game.

And this game is playable without putting in a small fortune. And it is very possible to advance to running into the roadblocks without paying a single dime. I never ever stated that it wasn't, so why you bring this up is really beyond me. It's a sidetrack that's being thrown up by you which bears no relevance to my post.
That the game dictates the speed of your progress without paying is right in itself, but even without paying one hits the blocks really soon if one plays even by spending a (very) moderate amount of time and effort, which is exactly the problem.

The game has FURTHER restricted the speed at which players can advance

??? Yes it has. Which is what I've been saying in several places. So why would you now put it in as something I should respond to?

This was addressed specifically:

The question is, was it a satisfactory and logical answer? No it was not. But even if there was a logic to it that doesn't mean I have to agree with it.
Not to mention that Katwijks answer there was to research more squadsize researches. I only pointed out that it not always is possible to do so when you need them, so what you mean by saying it was adressed specifically is unclear.

Now by all means respond by calling me an inno defender.

What is it with people like you that you constantly want to make things personal? I've called some people Innogames defenders. So what? They do. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with it. If you like the changes, by all means, go ahead and defend them. Nobody is telling you you should not be allowed to, least of all me, but apparently you seem to think of it as something bad. I don't see why it would be a bad thing.
So go ahead and call me an Innogames attacker. You really think I'll care about that name? I'd be the first to agree with it. It is as it is. I have my opinions, you have yours. And someone else will have yet others. And that is as it should be. But I'm not going to start whining when someone tells me I don't like the changes and I'm having a go at Inno. Not only on the changes, but on several other issues too btw.

But I do object to people taking a stance on something and then start bawling when they are called on it.

 

[DeletedUser3297]

I have 2 very different cities with playing styles on opposite ends of the spectrum. In Felyndral, I have bought 10 expansions and I am at 144 provinces, partway through Dwarves now. But there I can no longer fight and I my progress is going to slam into a wall, I have 3 techs staring at me that require more granite than I can make right now. In my inventories, all my goods end in a K so if I wanted to I could negotiate all the way up until I hit another wall with Orcs. But I have decided to stop scouting, my scouts are just over a day now anyway. This city is not as fun anymore.

In Arendyll, I have never bought an expansion, I have 100 provinces and I am 70 KP into the Dwarven advance scout. I have looked at the requirements of all the techs and I only need 2 boosted manufactories of each type to get through. This means that I have a lot of extra space to build the Dwarven settlement. I look at the wall in Felyndral, and I don't see that happening in Arendyll. As soon as I am done filling in the KP for the scout, I will have 30 to 40 provinces that I can fight Right now, my scout times here are in the 5 hour range, so I should be able to fight a province a day. This little town is really fun with no wall in sight.

I am not really trying to defend Inno, but I know how to play their game

 

[DeletedUser1436]

This concept states pretty much that players who play a bit more intensely and log in 3-4 times/day (or more) should not be allowed to progress faster than players who log in only 1-2 times/day and that is highly discouraging for active players. It also smacks too much of socialism/communism (everyone is the same and should be the same) too me, which btw is in an extremely sharp contrast with the VERY capitalistic view this company has of the prices for diamonds.

You can keep bringing up non-appropriate platitudes all you like, but the idea of 'everyone has to advance at the same rate, no matter whether one is more or less active' is not exactly one that will attract active players.
If the company wants to continue with that line, they need to be willing to loose/get rid of the active players and concentrate on gaining new players only from the pool of people who play once a day (or less). With all the loss of revenue, since those will not be the players to heavily invest money in the game.

Yes I too have hit this frustrating wall and do not appreciate being told how I am to play the game. If this company wants to continue to receive revenue from me it had better change things so that I don't get bored and say screw this I'm moving on to something more fun that doesn't hold me back. I am stuck on this Orc issue and it will be WHO KNOWS HOW LONG before I can get past it. Frankly it is quite discouraging and I am not happy that I have invested so much money into something that I am going to end up leaving in my wake because I have to wait for others to "catch up with me'"??????????? Definitely NOT a happy member!

 

[DeletedUser2870]

I have 2 very different cities with playing styles on opposite ends of the spectrum. In Felyndral, I have bought 10 expansions and I am at 144 provinces, partway through Dwarves now. But there I can no longer fight and I my progress is going to slam into a wall, I have 3 techs staring at me that require more granite than I can make right now. In my inventories, all my goods end in a K so if I wanted to I could negotiate all the way up until I hit another wall with Orcs. But I have decided to stop scouting, my scouts are just over a day now anyway. This city is not as fun anymore.

In Arendyll, I have never bought an expansion, I have 100 provinces and I am 70 KP into the Dwarven advance scout. I have looked at the requirements of all the techs and I only need 2 boosted manufactories of each type to get through. This means that I have a lot of extra space to build the Dwarven settlement. I look at the wall in Felyndral, and I don't see that happening in Arendyll. As soon as I am done filling in the KP for the scout, I will have 30 to 40 provinces that I can fight Right now, my scout times here are in the 5 hour range, so I should be able to fight a province a day. This little town is really fun with no wall in sight.

I am not really trying to defend Inno, but I know how to play their game

Oh, I can see very well that different styles of play can work.
And yes, from your posts and your indication of where you are and what you have accomplished I also agree you definitely know how to play their game.
So do I, it's just that rather take exception to being forced into only one direction and one speed. And even that is something I can live with and still play the game, but only because my investment in time and effort (and yes, money) is still too much to completely write it off. Even though my intensity of playing has come down several notches. But keep it up, or make it a bit worse and I'll just write it off. And if I add up everything I spent on all worlds I've played on I've spent over $800, - last year. However, that has gone down to $0,- now. If they want me to invest money, they need to provide fun and pleasure in the game, not boredom. That I can have for free anytime.
(edit : and remember, a game such as this can only be free for people because other people do invest money. If they chase away the people who spend money on the game, the game will die not so long afterwards)

The whole point I try to get across is that there just is no way to get players involved in the game if they are being blocked. Which is why the drop-off rate is something horrible.

As for defending...well, I guess that would depend on the definition. Let's just say that in some posts you've been pretty much happy and content with the changes. some may call that defending. I guess I have too. So perhaps it is too strong. And perhaps it's not. It's just a word.
But like I said in my earlier post: so what? It's not as if that should be either disallowed or have to be the norm. Some will like the changes, some will not, some will not care one way or the other and for some it's only hypothetical anyway since they joined after the changes have been implemented.
Personally, I don't care one whit what stance one has, as long as one is open to discussion and comes with arguments and not some empty platitudes. Anyone should feel free to attack my posts, but I bloody well prefer to have attacks on the content and not throw around some empty words or sayings like that hammer/nail thing Katwijk came up with without any reference to any bit of text. It's an easy thing to do to try and move things away from the point.

(Edit : btw, I try to play 6, 4, 4 generally speaking, since I just don't have the pop to get even close to putting up a 5th factory for either tier 2 or 3 goods. But even with this I have more than enough to play banker for my fellows to ease trades for everyone)

 

[Sir Squirrel]

From what I see I think the main reason they are slowing us down now is so players wont reach the end of the last chapter before they have another chapter ready.
Lets look at what they have done so far, after the end of chapter 5, they added different goods to progress with all the guest races. Why? because everyone that sat waiting for new content had nothing to do but stock pile goods and they could negotiate there way through tec way to quick for them to create another chapter. (they thought that would slow players down). But then players used there stock piled goods to negotiate to get more expansions so they had more room to place more guest race buildings and again got done the chapter before they had another one ready. So Inno introduced Orc 's to the 11th ring. (that should slow us down long enough for them to bring it in another chapter they thought). Not, players then found there way to expansions by fighting through the orc ring ( or removing some factories or culture), and again had more expansions (room) to build enough guest race buildings to get through that chapter before they had a new one built!!! So next is the battle update, to cut off that way to advance to the end of a chapter before they have another to bring in (and they have made cultural buildings mandatory by introducing Mana).
I think if we just slow it down a bit instead of finding ways around their road blocks and they can actually get a chapter done before players have completed the previous one, they might just stop putting up more road blocks!!
Not saying I like it and wish they could build chapters quicker, but this is the only reason that makes any real since (IMO) as to what they have been doing to the game.

 

[DeletedUser3696]

I am not really trying to defend Inno, but I know how to play their game

I had to laugh at this last statement.

Since the changes I find this to be a huge oxymoron. There is no playing anymore, they have made playing the game more of a participation medal event where they try and make everyone's performance exactly the same. The only difference I see is where you put your buildings.

Simply put, they are killing the game by blocking players at every chance they get. It's funny how since the changes there are fewer players in the game then before. The sad part is I spend 5x as much time on the forums now as I do in the game and I barely spend time on the forums.

 

[DeletedUser3696]

From what I see they are slowing us down now so players wont reach the end of the last chapter before they have another chapter ready.
Lets look at what they have done so far, after the end of chapter 5, they added different goods to progress with all the guest races. Why? because everyone that sat waiting for new content had nothing to do but stock pile goods and they could negotiate there way through tec way to quick for them to create another chapter. (they thought that would slow players down). But then players used there stock piled goods to negotiate to get more expansions so they had more room to place more guest race buildings and again got done the chapter before they had another one ready. So Inno introduced Orc 's to the 11th ring. (that should slow us down long enough for them to bring it in another chapter they thought). Not, players then found there way to expansions by fighting through the orc ring ( or removing some factories or culture), and again had more expansions (room) to build enough guest race buildings to get through that chapter before they had a new one built!!! So next is the battle update, to cut off that way to advance to the end of a chapter before they have another to bring in (and they have made cultural buildings mandatory by introducing Mana).
I think if we just slow it down a bit instead of finding ways around their road blocks and they can actually get a chapter done before players have completed the previous one, they might just stop putting up more road blocks!!
Not saying I like it and wish they could build chapters quicker, but this is the only reason that makes any real since (IMO) as to what they have been doing to the game.

If this was the reason for the roadblocks then I think we'd be fine with it, but to this point all I've heard is that the devs need to balance the game. Such pie in the sky slogans that can literally mean different things to different people.

Perhaps they really just wanted to slow down the amount of $$ they were making??

edit. Players will always find loopholes and ways to advance within the mechanics of the game. If the devs haven't figured that out or didn't know that then they really are in the wrong profession.
How hard would it have been to put in escalating armies the further out you go and escalating catering costs the further out you go. However, when a scout tech is researched all army/cater costs go down in scouted and unscouted provinces. Seems so simple.
They could also have escalating scout times where if you are 'too far ahead' they could make scout times 10 or 15 days, only to be brought back down when a scout tech has been researched.
Either of these require no big change to any game mechanics.

 

[DeletedUser5668]

Hi Sir Squirrel,

Sorry, you are correct in that I should have explained to scole456, what I meant to be DATF. Further, the fact that the Poster I mentioned is a large proponent the DATF way to advance, is not relevant to Scole's query. For that, I apologize.

You are completely correct that it is not going back to the old system where players could advance through ages and fight whenever they wanted to (so long as they could expect to lose a fair bit of the time, but winning was not impossible).

Here is what I should have written:

scole456 don't be so DATF! (Did advance too fast)

A well-known member of the forum has estimated that it should take approximately 2 years 10 months to fully complete all buildings and AWs to advance to the Wood Elves Age if you just slow down and enjoy the game. You may be attempting to go too fast. This was discussed at length in the Release Notes version 1.18 post in the forum.

What is DATF?

The DATF (Dont Advance Too Fast) theory is that if you advance too quickly, you will find that you will be unable to fight at all; and that continuing to scout or to negotiate will only lead you to a greater wall, making it also impossible for you to negotiate as well. This is a good thing. To make it more enjoyable, you should keep your scouting to a minimum, and fighting to a rarity. Now you will be able to produce loads of troops, advance your amouries, your barracks, your squad sizes and your training grounds, but do not expect to be able to use them for a few weeks or perhaps a few months. If you are impatient, you may blow through all your fighting at the beginning of any age, until you have completed the 10-30 province (or 4 expansions) challenge goal for that age, but going any further will lead to the problems that will spiral towards that wall of impossibility, and no one wants that! I may suggest that pacing your fighting to 1-2 province(s) a week is much more fun.

So, as you are already at a 2:1 fighting ratio, just sit back, relax, and stop scouting. Build your city, and wait until the next age. If you are still over the province challenge goal for that next age, relax some more!

How can I build my city when it requires conquering Provinces to get City Expansions?

 

[DeletedUser3297]

How can I build my city when it requires conquering Provinces to get City Expansions?

I have looked at your cities. In Arendyll and Winyandor, you are in a fellowship. It is counter-productive to produce non-boosted goods while in a fellowship. Produce your boosts and trade for the rest and you will free up space/pop and culture to upgrade the rest of your village. In Felyndral, join a fellowship for the same reasons.

 

[DeletedUser5668]

I have looked at your cities. In Arendyll and Winyandor, you are in a fellowship. It is counter-productive to produce non-boosted goods while in a fellowship. Produce your boosts and trade for the rest and you will free up space/pop and culture to upgrade the rest of your village. In Felyndral, join a fellowship for the same reasons.

Seriously??? Have you looked at the cheat sheet for the Snow Festival that starts tomorrow?? The daily quest calls for 1,000 each of Marble, Steel and Planks, just to start. Also 15,000 Coins & 60 Troops. Have at least 9 Workshops, 10 Tier 1 Boost Manufactories ..... I couldn't get in to a Fellowship until I was fairly well along. If I hadn't had the 2 non-Boost plants I would still be waiting for something to happen. The Fellowships want you to have at least a Trader before they consider you for inclusion. I had planned on selling my non-Boost plants once I got going but the game wants you to upgrade these plants.

 

[Sir Squirrel]

You can trade for the extra goods you need (trade 500 steel for marble , 500 marble for planks and 5oo planks for steel, two times), and you can do the quest with less factories then ten, but adding a couple more will speed it up. Don't worry to much they have given us lots of time to complete the quests. I also kept my non-boosted factories until I was in a fellowship. Keep trying to get into a fellowship, some are more open to new players then others!
Try making a post here in the forums, on the first page go to the bottom, click on the world your in and then go to members seeking fellowships, you should mention your boosts, the chapter you are in or your score, and how often you visit each week.

 

[SoggyShorts]

Seriously??? Have you looked at the cheat sheet for the Snow Festival that starts tomorrow?? The daily quest calls for 1,000 each of Marble, Steel and Planks, just to start. Also 15,000 Coins & 60 Troops. Have at least 9 Workshops, 10 Tier 1 Boost Manufactories ..... I couldn't get in to a Fellowship until I was fairly well along. If I hadn't had the 2 non-Boost plants I would still be waiting for something to happen. The Fellowships want you to have at least a Trader before they consider you for inclusion. I had planned on selling my non-Boost plants once I got going but the game wants you to upgrade these plants.[/QUOTE
.

I've looked at the "cheat sheet" a fair bit myself.
There are some important points that aren't listed on it
1. The guide is there to help mid to high range players complete 50+ quests in a few days, and to save any level player a couple of days in time.
2. Not having the 10 recommended factories just means that you will take 9 hours longer on a particular quest.
3. You do not ever need to build unboosted goods, the only time it is suggested in the guide is to build three 2x1 marbles for a quest, and then immediately tear them down after that quest. You can upgrade ANY building for that quest, but marbles only take 20 minutes instead of a couple hours
EDIT 4: the quests that ask for "1000 marble" or "1,000 planks" Do not require you to produce it.
All you have to do is trade someone for it- get 100 steel, and trade it to a fellowship member for 100 planks, then trade it back. repeat 10x and done.

 

[DeletedUser5261]

oh well this is boring with the battles being so unbeatable. Gonna look for something else to play

 

[DeletedUser2870]

From what I see I think the main reason they are slowing us down now is so players wont reach the end of the last chapter before they have another chapter ready.
Lets look at what they have done so far, after the end of chapter 5, they added different goods to progress with all the guest races. Why? because everyone that sat waiting for new content had nothing to do but stock pile goods and they could negotiate there way through tec way to quick for them to create another chapter. (they thought that would slow players down). But then players used there stock piled goods to negotiate to get more expansions so they had more room to place more guest race buildings and again got done the chapter before they had another one ready. So Inno introduced Orc 's to the 11th ring. (that should slow us down long enough for them to bring it in another chapter they thought). Not, players then found there way to expansions by fighting through the orc ring ( or removing some factories or culture), and again had more expansions (room) to build enough guest race buildings to get through that chapter before they had a new one built!!! So next is the battle update, to cut off that way to advance to the end of a chapter before they have another to bring in (and they have made cultural buildings mandatory by introducing Mana).
I think if we just slow it down a bit instead of finding ways around their road blocks and they can actually get a chapter done before players have completed the previous one, they might just stop putting up more road blocks!!
Not saying I like it and wish they could build chapters quicker, but this is the only reason that makes any real since (IMO) as to what they have been doing to the game.

That's a rather strange way of going about things.
And so what if people get to the end of the last chapter before they have the next one ready? Then people can put their KP's into the endless amounts of wonders they have added.

Not to mention the reasoning is crooked. When they released the first part of the woodelf chapter it took ONLY 4 DAYS for the top (buy-to-get-there) players in the worlds I'm in to have the most advanced buildings up and thus be at the end of the released research. So there will always be people at the end. Heck, for some players (me included) it's part of the goal to get to the end of the research before the next chapter is released.
If people like that, why not let them? Are they afraid those (few) players will get bored and quit? It's a very unlikely assumption but even if it were true it's hardly worth chasing away a hundredfold, or even thousendfold as many active players as they are doing now.
And I say it's unlikely because those top players had been waiting at the end of the faiy-chapter. Then were waiting at the end of the orc-chapter and now are waiting at the end of the woodelf chapter. And still they return.
I was waiting at the end of the fairy-chapter. And at the end of the orc-chapter. And now working through the woodelf-chapter. The waiting at the end of the last chapter is not what drives people away from the game. Getting the feeling that it's becoming impossible to get there (or advance at a pace the PLAYER HIMSELF likes) is what drives them away.

What they should be thinking of is not trying to prevent players from getting there, but what to offer them for achieving it. Like for instance give 500 diamonds when someone unlocks the last tech of the last chapter.
Sure, more people would go for that goal. So what? It would mean a lot more active players and it would get players involved again.
And if someone reaches that point, yes, it's likely he will slow down. Again, so what? by that time he's likely to have invested many hours and very likely a tidy sum of real money. And is likely do so again when the next chapter is released.
Sure, some people will get bored waiting for the next chapter. But right now a LOT of people are getting bored with the game at all levels. That's much more of a problem than having people wait at the end of the last chapter.

 

[DeletedUser1436]

The main problem I am having right now is I can NOT get any Gem artifacts in order to make manufacturing spells. How are we suppose to get the relics without spending a fortune in diamonds for these mysterious Orcs that I can not have yet?????? And the battles are ridiculous! DEFEAT EVERY TIME. The odds are completely crazy 1200 troops plus all the bada.. units in the 600's I can't even get close to that yet! This is just REALLY DISHEARTENING. Frankly I just don't have that much disposable income. I just bought diamonds and they are already nearly gone. Being STUCK like this is really starting to affect my desire to play the game. Just saying.....

 

[DeletedUser1436]

That's a rather strange way of going about things.
And so what if people get to the end of the last chapter before they have the next one ready? Then people can put their KP's into the endless amounts of wonders they have added.

Not to mention the reasoning is crooked. When they released the first part of the woodelf chapter it took ONLY 4 DAYS for the top (buy-to-get-there) players in the worlds I'm in to have the most advanced buildings up and thus be at the end of the released research. So there will always be people at the end. Heck, for some players (me included) it's part of the goal to get to the end of the research before the next chapter is released.
If people like that, why not let them? Are they afraid those (few) players will get bored and quit? It's a very unlikely assumption but even if it were true it's hardly worth chasing away a hundredfold, or even thousendfold as many active players as they are doing now.
And I say it's unlikely because those top players had been waiting at the end of the faiy-chapter. Then were waiting at the end of the orc-chapter and now are waiting at the end of the woodelf chapter. And still they return.
I was waiting at the end of the fairy-chapter. And at the end of the orc-chapter. And now working through the woodelf-chapter. The waiting at the end of the last chapter is not what drives people away from the game. Getting the feeling that it's becoming impossible to get there (or advance at a pace the PLAYER HIMSELF likes) is what drives them away.

What they should be thinking of is not trying to prevent players from getting there, but what to offer them for achieving it. Like for instance give 500 diamonds when someone unlocks the last tech of the last chapter.
Sure, more people would go for that goal. So what? It would mean a lot more active players and it would get players involved again.
And if someone reaches that point, yes, it's likely he will slow down. Again, so what? by that time he's likely to have invested many hours and very likely a tidy sum of real money. And is likely do so again when the next chapter is released.
Sure, some people will get bored waiting for the next chapter. But right now a LOT of people are getting bored with the game at all levels. That's much more of a problem than having people wait at the end of the last chapter.

I agree with all you said here. I have not reached the end of the latest chapter I still have a LONG way to go. I am on Dwarves and am STUCK because of this new Orc stuff etc. and am rather peeved about it. I have sunk a considerable chunk of money into this city and to be able to do none of the cool things like making the magic spells is really annoying. I feel like 'well why did I bother to build all of this if I can't do anything with it'. Because it will take days, more likely weeks to get to a point where I can fight a battle and win to get the 2 Gem Relics I need to create the manufacturing spell. So I am suppose to what just let things build up to full and wait and wait and wait til when????? I realize you can not make everyone happy but I don't understand why there are such sudden HUGE road blocks that make it nearly impossible to accomplish anything???? It just seems to me this was not well thought out, a lot of variables were not considered here and now many of us are at a stand still in our cities despite not even being beyond the Dwarves and Fairies.