This is for an open discussion of what is good and/or bad about the new version of Evony. If we could tell the developers, right now, what we think should be kept and what should be removed as either too buggy or not adding anything to the game, what would those things be?
Here is my take on it (I played Age II for about 10 days, but basically abandoned it for Age I when server 142 opened because it's just not as enjoyable to me):
KEEPERS:
1. The new graphics, including the ability to see buildings gradually changing as they upgrade. I also love the new look of the buildings in all views (town, city, map), and the animations.
2. Hero quests, historic cities and achievement quests - all of these were good ideas and nice additions to keep the game entertaining even when things are slow. I know there are still some bugs to work out on these, but they have good potential for making the game more interesting.
3. Reducing food requirements - this was/is badly needed in Age I.
4. Facebook linking (I"m of two minds on this, so I'll state both cases) - What I like about the Facebook linking is the ability to give resource boosts to your alliance mates and other friends, as well as get rewarded for helping others.
5. Increased Medal & Item Drop Rates - this was another feature that is still badly needed in Age I.
CHANGE or ELIMINATE:
1. Too much frame, not enough window - in Age II, the information frames around the edges are too big, and the size of the viewing window seems to have been reduced in proportion. Furthermore, the info boxes that open when you click on something (ie: Town Hall, barracks, workshop, etc.) are so much bigger that they overlap the view window and block the chat - and sometimes the resource area as well - whenever you open them. This could mean missing important alliance information in the chat window. Map view is even worse, as the viewing area is not only smaller, but often further obscured by additional info bars at the top - which have been made larger as well. I would go back to the original window and bar sizes, and add the ability to make the bars transparent.
2. Map Zoom Out - It's nice to be able to zoom in on our town and city views. However, what would be far more useful is to be able to zoom OUT on the map view. This might even mitigate the issue with the window size mentioned above enough that the window size does not have to be changed (although the info boxes for town hall and other buildings should still be made to fit inside that window and not block the chat area).
3. Colonization - This feature is simply not working for many of us. Not only is it far less enjoyable than taking a city, but it's confusing, complicated, takes way too long, and seems to be slanted toward the most ruthless kind of suzerain, leaving the vassals with few options for escape. In Age I, if you lose a city, you have a fair chance of building up and taking it back, even if it's npc'd - but in Age II, once you become someone's vassal, they can park a huge army in your city, eating all your food, so that you can't build any troops at all. Furthermore, after the initial attack, you can't even find out how many troops your overlord is keeping in your city, so even if you can build an army, you don't know when it's big enough to win the uprising. In addition, the requirement for the suzerain to protect a vassal city can lead to some major problems, in part because you never know when that call will come, and because you have little control over which parts of your army will answer it (ie: if someone is sending 10k cav units, you would want to send pikes, not warriors - but you have to make the choice before you know what's coming). Finally, in Age I, you could always partially protect yourself by staying with just one city, because it could never be taken - but in Age II, ALL your cities can be made into colonies, leaving you little to no option for ever getting out from under your overlords.
4. Facebook - as mentioned, there are good and bad issues with this. First among the bad is the need to post every single action to get the reward. I play other FB apps where this is NOT required. There is also the issue of frequency of the popups. Most FB apps have limits, so that once you've done all the bonus actions, you can't do them again for 6, 8 or 12 hours (so they don't appear again for that period of time) - but with Evony, it's neverending, which is very inconvenient when you're trying to do other things (not to mention giving an advantage to those who can sit there clicking popups all day vs those who are only able to play a few hours a day at most). Also, you should inform people before they link to FB that it will mean having to post updates on their profile all the time, so we have the choice of either not linking or making a separate FB account for Evony. Finally, and perhaps most important - get the darn kinks out of this system. Make sure that the FB portion is working properly, for both linking and giving/recieving bonuses BEFORE you make it available.
5. Cents Purchases - I don't know what the problem is with this, but for some reason game coin purchases in Age II are loaded with problems, from not recieving the coins to getting the coins but not the associated packages, to erroneous claims that a payment was disputed, etc. The payment system needs to be reverted back to the one you use in Age I (which, in my experience, has ALWAYS worked properly) until you figure out what the heck is wrong with Age II payments.
6. Warehouse/Privateering - What is the point of a warehouse and Privateering tech when the resources are taken out of production instead of storage, and the Suzerain gets 10% even if they never research Privateering? Either make these two things work as they should to protect the resources of a vassal or help a suzerain gain more plunder/"tribute" - or remove them and replace with a more useful building and technology.
7. Hero Caps - I'm sorry, but did anyone ever ask for this? Part of the challenge in Age I was training a hero to the max possible so you got the speed bonus in training troops, or the boost in production & building times, etc. If we must have level caps, then at least make them a bit more challenging to attain - say level 250.
8. Missing the ATTACK BUTTON!! - yes, please, bring back the attack button. Without it, Evony is not Evony.
9. NPC Removal - please stop doing this. The ability to make npc's around your city is not only for resources, but for protection. It prevents enemies from being able to port at will onto your doorstep so that there's no chance for your allies to get reinforcements to you in time. We need our NPC's!!

