Too Costly

[DeletedUser1094]

This game could be good but in no way is it on the same level as FOE with that said. There are major issues in this game that will force me not to keep playing this game the cost is too high for adding a second builder. I see no other way to buy more builders except through spending money to buy diamonds which I will not do.

Building your village or city whatever you want to call it is a bit waist of my time especially when it takes hours to produce anything and upgrading over and over all geared toward players to spend their money. In comparitsence to FOE where you don't need to use diamonds but you can still gain through more time playing the game. Here in Elvenar you must buy diamonds or you are finished and you have to choices you buy and spend and play or you don't buy and don't play; this is why players are leaving just saying.

 

[DeletedUser511]

You DONT have to spend to enjoy it but it would be nice to get some through quests or leveling up.

 

[DeletedUser1094]

Hi xaviersxmen: Inno Games would make changes if they feel those suggestions are best for the progress of their game at least we did this at FOE and many changes to that game were positive and helpful. Example: I need a third builder but why spend 500 diamonds I don't have when Inno could give the option to getting that third builder through a guest or through the cost of 100,000.00 coins. When I started playing I received 200 diamonds but the game made you spend 100 of them to get started placing me in the hole right off and now I am down to 30 with no chance getting any more by playing this game meaning players will be stuck at certain points in time or am I wrong on my reading the flow of this game.

 

[DeletedUser]

I buy diamonds to get the nice diamond culture. Still only using 2 builders, last game I played had 1 builder for 3 farms. So 2 builders is plenty for me. Time and patience

 

[DeletedUser933]

This is why I'm "Opting out of Ancient Wonders" at this time. I was excited at first to see it but the designers made it too costly on resources to participate. If I lose ranking and points so be it. This addition is a bad idea and should be either revised or eliminated. I found it too costly to get Rune Shards.

 

[DeletedUser828]

On the subject of Diamonds~ Yes it would be nice if we were able to gain them on a reward system for completing each section of the research tree, a special quest thrown in here and there. Or again I will repeat discounts offered to frequent buyers, don't just offer them to the new players. Offer a nice incentive to what is becoming your loyal players , a little player appreciation

 

[DeletedUser]

Cost? It's free. The game doesn't "stop" you for playing free. In other words, money is not required. If you want to go faster than free, well, that's where you have to assess your cost analysis. But it isn't too costly when it's free.

 

[DeletedUser]

It is interesting to see the various opinions, One MMO/RPG I played for awhile they had a bonus promo every week or so where you could buy equiv. to diamonds at a bonus percentage for the same dollar value as reg. I'd like to play and advance, but mostly not at the cost out of my pocketbook. As well I did a quick browse for the heck of it on hacks and those idiots want your credit card info too, seems like everybody wants to dip their hands into your pocket.
At the level I am most likely will just play the game for free (as some have said) , but not spend anymore money on diamonds. One thing I have notice however is this, when you start playing here there are no starting guidances for a new player, such as when your on the world map and you go through your province wins and then look for relics unless you have sufficient goods you either wait till you do or buy them with diamonds. There you go through a lot as well.

It seems like though the game can be fund all they want is money and lots of it with no benefits to the players which make the game owners rich and richer

 

[DeletedUser43]

Creating a game, hiring designers, getting it to market is hard. It takes a long time of working without getting paid a cent. Then, you have to shell out money trying to advertise it. Employees make money every day they are work. Owners only make money when their product is good. If making games didn't make a lot of money potentially, no one would bother. They couldn't afford to. Therefore, I am glad to see owners making money so I can have a game to play.

That said, I think the owners could make more money if they had a thriving game with tons of players who loved it and who told all their friends about it. If they did give some diamonds away in game at times, then I think they would keep more players here. Sure, there has to be a balance between keeping the game frustrating enough that people buy diamonds and keeping the game fun enough that people who don't spend money will stay here.

The number one complaint about this game has always been that it is too slow and boring. Even if they just had side quests or something. You need more for people to do around here. What I am hearing VanIsleGirl say is that she is too frustrated to want to spend money. If she felt more encouraged or more excited about the game, then maybe she would would spend money. That is very valuable feedback for the owners.

I have always been of the opinion that there are two kinds of spenders...those who spend money because they game thwarts their progress if they don't, and those that spend money because they are offered extra amazing things that they just have to have. I fall into the latter category. If you tell ME that the game will be harder, more challenging, more difficult unless I spend money right away, you won't ever get a penny from me. I slog along and will do whatever it takes to bull my way through. Sell pretty things, add aesthetics to offer me...that is when I get interested. I don't like to be pushed, I like to be enticed. I have been saying for a while now that Inno could make money from both groups if they tried. Make new skins available, add in new backgrounds, offer limited editions of colors for houses and things. Who knows, maybe in the future.

What I find tragic is that many of the players who have reached the top of the game have quit. That also tells me something. There should always be lots of new goals to reach. Even if it just some silly side arcade game that holds your interest. Something.

 

[DeletedUser]

I bought diamonds because it occurred to me that I had been playing for months, and felt it deserved some monetary investment, but making the game glitzier would be heartily welcomed.

Ah yes, players nearby who have been around longer than myself are dropping like flies, which saddens me. *softly sings a lamentation*

 

[DeletedUser]

I know evolution of games happens some when players offer critiques, suggestions and creative based on other games. I do have one suggestion to offer which might help a lot of us and reduce some frustrations.
Take for example you might need to buy some culture bonus to aid in development, so you want to buy some purple blossom trees. To buy and place you need 3 spaces from left to right to place, however if you loo at space available you have 2X 3 running front to back, but we cannot turn rotate the trees to face on a 90ddegree direction, which will allow you to get the 2 tree groups that can help, what I am perceiving but the company is they are more interested in making us create more space available tto do the placement. In fact it would be nice to rotate anything we place

 

[DeletedUser43]

That is a good idea and many players have suggested it VanIsleGirl. There are a couple of reasons why this won't be implemented. The first is that it would take a lot of redrafting of the artwork for the buildings to have several sides. The second and more interesting answer I think is it is a part of the game to have such an additional challenge of figuring out exactly how the buildings will fit the way they are. It begins to be fun after a while to have to figure out these kinds of things. Otherwise, the game would be pretty much for every player and you'd find the challenge was gone really fast.

I ended up really enjoying the additional complication. I hope you do too.

 

[DeletedUser]

Possibly, but am still learning the ins and outs. I believe part of the frustration about buying diamonds and using them is the following and I am going to be saying it in a rather naïve way it is
Their is no page or pages of instructions, like using diamonds to clear the way and impatience because we want to go further.
I think if there is a few hints along the way to how and why, then people might not just say the hell with it and leave. In my neck of the game I've seen no movement of some players in expanding the game space they have. the rotation of a game issue is just a matter of some coding to shift a game piece around, and I know your just playing the advocate here Bobby but though I am no coder I believe that it can be done some.......

 

[DeletedUser594]

The building and restructuring of the city is a puzzle like element of the game. It can be difficult and sometimes frustrating but also very satisfying when it comes together. With new sizes and shapes the puzzle is refreshed and there aren't formulaic setups that will last over time so your city is renewed to some degree. With rotation it would make the process too easy, unsatisfying and quickly tedious.

 

[DeletedUser1218]

Since many voices sometimes can bring change, I'll add to the rest. Have enjoyed this game, surprised at the first fun challenge of learning it, then just simply enjoyed building.

Did purchase diamonds, to support the game's business and also to have some fun in building growth. But... after deciding to take a break from 'investing' into Elvenar, within a few weeks I quickly saw a slow-down, to an almost screeching halt, of what I can do (which has taken away the fun to continue and also drew me to comment on this forum).

The algorithm needs work. Too costly!

 

[DeletedUser627]

As a diamond player, I'd like to join in here.

I wish that the diamonds were solely used to affect the tempo of one's game, rather than allowing for a different style of game. Yes, I do love the abilty to purchase population...but, even though I've availed myself of this, I still would prefer to see a strategy game where all players are using identical elements.

Regarding Elvenar as a puzzle...I think we use it that way, but it can't be part of the design concept (since it's quite a poor puzzle). If we were intended to rearrange / edit our layouts, there would be an "edit" mode (stopping clocks) and allowing for replacement of items. There would be a "rotate" function for buildings, too (hey, even HayDay gives this option, so it's not like it's technically too difficult) Instead, we can only move buildings when we gain a land expansion (sometimes two are required), and there's no storage for previously built / purchased buildings. The "puzzle" aspect of the game is one we've invented in our own wishful thinking. But...it would go a LONG way towards improving relations with. players if Inno would increase our capacity to "play" with the city..it's not like there's much of anything else to do.

*******************and just on an aside, "rotate" would be amazing. All the pretty graphics of the buildings are virtually wasted without an ability to rotate them to creatively. We could create aesthetically rather than just cramming identical items together - resulting in scenarios which don't even begin to resemble an actual city. Inno should find it embarrassing that I was able to create a more beautiful HayDay farm than an Elvenar City. I created an entire castle (although there's no castle to acquire), and spent hours on various arrangements. Elvenar is comparatively cumbersome and tedious.
***********************

It feels like Inno is sooooo anti-push accounts that they've rebounded to an unfriendly position. Since we can't establish ancillary feeder accounts for our non-boost goods, fellowships aren't optional, they're mandatory. And yet fellowships are far from perfect - the Archmage has dictatorial authority and, since one can't survive without a fellowship, by definition a player has to submit to a leader for better or for worse. I'd bet that this process has discouraged any number of players - who wants to spend one's free time sucking up to some petty little dictator? (Disclaimer: I'm not referring to my Arch). So, Varron, the synergism is formulaic only: make a few trades, polish a few buildings, trade a little KP.

 

[DeletedUser]

Players actually have to suck up to Archmages in some fellowships? I'm just grateful to have members (PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME).

"Anti-push" reminds me of all of the missteps I have seen regarding other companies. Microsoft wants to combat piracy and hurts their paying customers. Game developers create ridiculous DRM and lose potential players. Mozilla has some strange crusade against Adobe, and is damaging the functionality of their browser. And so forth. I'm not sure ideas are even tested before they are implemented anymore.

 

[DeletedUser]

One thing since I've joined is that I have requested from people close to me and have sent a request to them to join a fellowship with me and no response. Compared to them in a week I have expanded self to about 4 or 5 times . Seems like these do not realize what a group can do together. Oh well maybe some day someone will

 

[DeletedUser43]

I would bet that most of them aren't playing VanIsleGirl. There is a section in the forums at the bottom....for the worlds. Arendyll, Windandor, etc. and in there is a place where people who are seeking fellowships can post notices. You could try that. A player who is on all the time is a very valuable commodity around here! You would be a great asset to anyone!

 

[DeletedUser61]

The brutal reality, for F2P Browser games, is that only about 15% of the folks stick around for more than a week. If you click on the Global Rank, in your profile, the scores drop off pretty fast after the first 100 pages. Being in a Fellowship will provide you with access to 20+ of those active players.

Fortunately, as time goes on and as folks are removed and replaced, the 15% ers will accumulate, and our neighborhoods will become more and more stable. InnoGames has not yet introduced an "intelligent" algorithm for compacting the world map, nor for combining sparse worlds, but I suspect that it's on the developer's Honeydew list.

Meanwhile, our US worlds are still gaining about 3000 new ranked players per day, altogether, and we already have more than a quarter million ranked players. Even if we're only retaining 15%, that's still well more than a 1000 frequent players per server as you can verify by looking at the top several pages in the rankings list.