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Thread: Evony Business Model. Good For Who?

  1. #1
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    Default Evony Business Model. Good For Who?

    First a little background on me. I’ve been playing various online games like Evony for years. I started playing Evony when server 2 first started, went through the entire BETA testing and got my (worthless) testing gift. The graphics (which have been changed multiple times to avoid lawsuits) were what first grabbed my attention, and the game play was similar to other games. I quit playing a week ago when the super fortifications update came out, making attacking players of equal strength pointless, and attacking weaker villages is just boring. However, there is one major difference that Evony has that no other online game I’ve played has; how the devs make money! That difference is what drives everything in not only Evony, but other games as well.

    The other two online games I play are Tribal Wars and Ikariam. Both earn money the same way. Players purchase a premium account that costs less than $3 a month (very cheap). This account gives the players greater management abilities over their villages, by allowing things to be built, researched, and trained without having to go into each village. It gives you an overview of everything going on in your cities. This is important, because both games allow you to have as many villages as you want. They both have hard caps on troop numbers, but as you can continue to expand into more cities, there is no end to the game as expansion is ALWAYS possible. In fact, TW’s largest player (Big_N_Rich) currently has 1265 villages. Without a premium account, it becomes very difficult to keep up with your forever expanding empire. This system favors the dedicated player, as smaller players will not get any real benefits to having the account.

    Evony, on the other hand, earns money by selling items that enhance the speed of which villages grow. There is a hard cap on the number of villages you can own (10) and with food upkeep, a hard(ish) cap on troop numbers is also present. In order to continue building troops, you will end up spending most of the time gathering food from NPC villages, which turns the game into a boring resource gathering game. Even then, you will hit the troop cap. It will just be higher for you. This means that eventually you will reach the maximum level the game allows and will find no point to continuing playing. Dedicated players reach this level very quickly, within 2 months or less depending on your play style. This system REQUIRES constant growth in new players, thus the rapid addition of new servers, in order to continue to turn a profit. Dedicated players quickly find no point in purchasing game coins, as they will get diminishing returns, while the new player will have every reason to spend money as the system favors new player purchases.

    So, you tell me. Does this system cause a stable long term gaming experience, or just a way for Evony devs to make a quick buck instead of a long term investment?


    *The previous thread dealing with this was locked due to trollers. Every response MUST deal with the business model. NO TROLLING!!!!!

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    Alright, word from the mods:

    We'll be watching this closely because of the mishaps with the other thread. Stay on topic and let's have a clean discussion.

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    Quote Originally Posted by BBQ_Sauce View Post
    Alright, word from the mods:

    We'll be watching this closely because of the mishaps with the other thread. Stay on topic and let's have a clean discussion.
    That's all I ever wanted BBQ.

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    Previous Thread was closed seconds before i submitted my post over there - Re-posted

    Note: These comments are purely for debating and information purposes. Please do not start Arguing wich is never constructive, but debates can sometimes be constructive....


    Quote Originally Posted by Shredow View Post
    Hmm i dont think its a down right spam. I think its just people wanting to make money off of a game that they do really care about. granted the way they get the money isnt really ideal for the players. And they constantly make the game less appealing due to poorly planned updates.
    I am sorry to say that i do agree with this statement. I do not think it is a scam at all. Just simply a way for the Devs and Co. to make some money to be able to put it back into the game, wich is exactly what i would expect and have seen from them. New server, updates, hiring more staff to expand... All of that cost money. Do you expect them to sit back and just pay out of their pocket? No. Every F2P game relies heavily on people out there who are willing to donate. Wich sorry to say, Evony really doesn't give much incentive for players to donate. Things are over-priced.

    Quote Originally Posted by gummybear View Post
    Yes it's definitely a scam. They want you to play their free game and if you want to, out of your own will, purchase items that cost $$. Someone call the BBB and shut them down!
    First of all i just want to say - I am sick of people who always say "Call the BBB, FCC and your lawyer! Press a class action lawsuit!" whenever something doesn't suit your wants and wishes. First of all, the option to donate is like you said, *Optional* The BBB would have no say at all on what Evony charges for you to *donate*. If you were paying a regular monthly contracted price for a service that was overpriced, then yes they *may* get involved.

    Quote Originally Posted by Valin View Post
    That's not true. Like I said in the original post, Tribal Wars and Ikariam let you continue to expand into new cities. In fact, the largest player on Tribal Wars (Big_N_Rich) curently has 1265 villages. The cap on those games is when you control every single city on a server. Even heros have a max level here. Sure it's a high one, but it's still there. As for more honor, it's just a point score that has no bearing on how good a player you are. I have become bored with this game, and as I said, quit playing almost a week ago.
    Honestly you just totally made me not want to try out that game. If i am a new player and just start up to find that there is one guy here with me that could just crush me before i even have a chance to enjoy the benefits of the game because he does have the ability to own the entire server, where is the fun for me?
    Evony is pretty unique in it's way to try to keep everything balanced. Who is to say that maybe in the future, when they have sufficient developers and server power, they might increase these limits?

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    Well, I was waiting to see teh actual business model. If you are going to question it, then shouldn't you post the model instead of your opinion?

    I hapen to know a few things about the gaming industry, and I can tell you UMGE (not Evony; Evony is but one game) is not doing anything outside of the normal business practices which other companies use. I'm not a fanboi. I just understand the business side of the equation far better than most of my fellow gamers.

    I have developed games, built two companies around those games and had to bring together some very different parties in the process.

    Is UMGE any different from Vivendi? If so, please explain how.

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    Quote Originally Posted by jaxmthemirc View Post
    Honestly you just totally made me not want to try out that game. If i am a new player and just start up to find that there is one guy here with me that could just crush me before i even have a chance to enjoy the benefits of the game because he does have the ability to own the entire server, where is the fun for me?
    Evony is pretty unique in it's way to try to keep everything balanced. Who is to say that maybe in the future, when they have sufficient developers and server power, they might increase these limits?
    That player is on server 1. TW locks their servers after about 2 months so new players aren't overwhelmed. They are up to 39 servers, and still expanding. The game forces you to join new servers so you don't have to go up against established players.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kempion View Post
    Well, I was waiting to see teh actual business model. If you are going to question it, then shouldn't you post the model instead of your opinion?

    I hapen to know a few things about the gaming industry, and I can tell you UMGE (not Evony; Evony is but one game) is not doing anything outside of the normal business practices which other companies use. I'm not a fanboi. I just understand the business side of the equation far better than most of my fellow gamers.

    I have developed games, built two companies around those games and had to bring together some very different parties in the process.

    Is UMGE any different from Vivendi? If so, please explain how.
    The orginal post DOES cover the difference in the two models kemp. No where in that post did I state my opinion.

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    Last edited by BBQ_Sauce; 06-08-2009 at 02:05 PM.

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    Im sorry but - ROTFL!

    Nice post. After i finish my breakfast here i will be making a pretty big post that should hopefully get everyone to see the way things work, but it most likely will end up being a waste of time, but i am just sick of seeing posts like these...



    Quote Originally Posted by BBQ_Sauce View Post


    Stay on topic... stay on topic...

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    Quote Originally Posted by BBQ_Sauce View Post
    I'm sorry to but ROFL!

    GEEK ALERT!!!! Porkins died when crashing into the Death Star for no reason. Gold Leader was the one who died because of his chanting of "Stay on target".

    To validate my post:

    It's just interesting why Evony would copy graphics from other games that worked, but not the pay system of other well established and profitable games. I agree that every game HAS to make a profit to expand and continue, but Evony seems not to be interested in retaining long term players for that profit. There are two ways to control a society; Fear and hope. The same applies to online games. Other games profit by giving their player base the hope of always being able to advance in the game. Evony, however, seems to use fear to gain a profit by using intimidation from the larger players to encourage smaller players to pay. Evony has the potential to be a great game, but it needs a massive revamp to it's mechanics and pay system before it gets there.

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