Well, its time for something I'm well known for lol. Writing wall of text, yet this isn't about the normal issues I normally write about. Rather, this is a large thought of mine that encompasses a wide range of things, all that stem from the 1 end all issue Evony has. THE END!
Introduction
As we all know, Evony has 1 major fatal flaw, the End game, the point in the game where we all have nothing to do but farm NPCs to upkeep our armies. Most massive online games like this suffer from flaws like this such as Runescape, WoW, etc. Yet Evony unlike those games has a flaw, it has no room to expand what already exist. In other words, they are unable to add new things to try to get those that have reached the end back into the game. Evony, age 2 is an attempt to try to fix this, but it too will more then likely suffer from this major flaw. They have added lvl. 11 NPCs in it as we all know (historical cities) yet it won't take too long before players learn how to crack those, then we arrive at the same predictament. Therefore, what does Evony do in order to keep itself viable?
Well, as we all know, they did lower the medal drop rate in the new servers/ worlds. This helps keep players from reaching the end game as fast, but it has caused plenty of backlash as well. Now, all Evony is able to promise us is Evony age 2 to try to keep us here through the end game phase. In the mean time, all of us sit here on the forums and are complaining about things until such time as we give up on the release of age 2, we get banned, or we just don't care anymore. (I personally reached the end game, and so on the forums, I hang out with people I have become friends with, and I guess you could say I've been playing a very interesting game of chess with the Reps where I am ultimately defeated (always knew I would be lol) but I think I have caused a bit of restructuring to occur in a good way.)
Solutions?
Now, the question becomes, what can Evony do to overcome its fatal flaw without "shafting" users? The answer I think here is expansion. Currently, Evony is a one dimensional game with very basic politics employed in it. Age 2 promises to upgrade some of the options of the game giving it larger width, but in the end, it can only satisfy for so long. One possibility they might do are more daily quest which is good, but those too will become boring after so long.
My thought though is server specialization. First perhaps a couple of servers could be changed with the way they work.
Perhaps a lvl. 10 challenge server could be made where all the valleys and NPCs on it are only lvl. 10. It takes away the low level farming, and makes it much more difficult to reach the end game. Of course medal drops would have to be altered for such a server, but only good players would be able to excel in such a server, and I think it would be challenging.
Another way to specialize a server would be to perhaps remove a unit from the game like archers. Try to force players to use different strategies then they are used to.
Server specialization such as this would promote people that have mastered the basics to test their skill on a slightly altered setting.
Beyond that, I was thinking how Evony is a brand, and doesn't necessarily mean mideval warfare. Therefore I got to thinking, why not make another version based off what you have here.
I personally was thinking (you could make, I can't copright laws etc.) of making a game called Evony: Floatilla (name subject to change.) More or less, taking the basic mold for Evony as it is now, you change the entire map to appear to be ocean. Changing up some graphics/ names/ and techs, you could easily make a pirate version of Evony. Cities would be on islands I guess. The resources used might need to be modified a bit as well (food can stay, just use a fishman's wharf, wood production (sawmill is fine), Iron needs to stay (just keep with a mine), and stone I guess works still as well. Either way, when building a new city, perhaps make it take a bit more stone because that would be needed as fill to turn a water square (which most of the map would be) into land where the city arises from. As for the types of vallies you use for it, I suggest for food increasing, clams, fisheries, and other things like that. For lumber use ship graveyards. For iron use salvage ships, and for stone use some underwater volcanos or something like that (flimsy I know but whatever) The unit types would need to be changed a bit, but more or less they are all ship types, range would be the thing that would need to be played with. Try to keep the rampant NPC. building from occuring there as well because having a map look like land when it should be ocean would sort of be a laugh.
Either way, making an adaptation to your current game mechanics to make such a game doesn't seem like it would be too bad. I mean you did change the graphics overnight on us there back on June 1.
Such a game though would give a completely different feel to the user.
Now, as to what happens when a user achieves end game and what point do we call that. I personally think that when a person capture's a lvl 10 NPC that is when end game is reached. It is therefore at that point, I think the Evony should reward that user's e-mail account with 300 cents to be used on another server. This encourages them to start a new game elsewhere while making it where paying users get a return on their investment from one server and can then use it on another server encouraging them to perhaps begin again. Either way, I see it as both user and company win.
Conclusion
Anyways, these are some ideas I have had, and I personally didn't feel the game suggestion box felt right for it. (I mean I suggested almost a completely new game, but move it if you really want) Either way, if Evony wishes to remain viable, the end game does need to be addressed. (Only so many users in the world, if we all become bored of the game after 1 month if your good, 2 month's average. Then Evony has already gone through about a good portion of a possible gaming community.)
Oops, forgot to add this in there lol. If Evony does try to use something I posted here, I would like to see some compensation for giving you the idea lol. Don't make me stick my brother the lawyer on you lol.


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