I don't post on the forums all that much (maybe 2 other times when I started) but I play Evony religiously. I've come to the conclusion that Evony, in it's current form/model, will not stay around in the long term. It's an amazing concept, put together well. But there are a few holes in the system.
First hole in the system? Cents purchasing. The prices are truly outrageous for the average spender. I actually thought about purchasing some cents before I saw how much they were. Some of the discount opportunities help, but they aren't a total solution. Lower the price even a little would go a long way for the long term stability of the game. Which is better, 100 players paying $50 a pop or 10,000 players paying $5 a pop? I'm not sure exactly how much of an effect this would have, but I know from playing another MMOs with a similar structure that the price is too high.
Secondly, and the most important factor, is what I call the "bullying" aspect. New players join, don't know how to play, then when they leave beginner's protection they are farmed. Farmed to the point that they only have 2 options, join an alliance (which doesn't always solve the problem) or quit the game. Even the first option will lead to the second in some circumstances.
Even entire alliances can fall into this category. I've had it happen twice now, on 2 different servers. I was given the ever dreadful "Join us or Die clause", and both times refused. Shortly thereafter I was attacked, lost all cities by one, and was repeatedly attacked in that city... so much so that I couldn't rebuild. Putting a truce up only delayed further onslaught for 12 more hours, then it started up again. Can't build up ATs, you can build up troops but with what resources, your population is at 0 because of public grievance, so your sitting with no chance of coming back. Dead in the water.
Now you might say that scenario could have been avoided had I joined them. Sure it could have, except that I do not want to be associated with someone who "bullies" others. Yet others will say that the attacks will stop eventually because they will get bored, then you can rebuild. How long will that take? In a game where every day, hour, minute, and second counts, how long do you have to wait to rebuild? 2 days? A week? 2 weeks? How many sane people will wait 2 weeks to play again? Or longer in some cases?
So I've presented a couple of problems, so what? Well I also have solutions, whether it's implemented now or for Age2. The first is easy, but not necessary. Reduce the price. Sounds simple, but for the cash cow that it is now a lot of companies won't alter the price. That's fine, I don't pay anyways as is.
The REAL solution I provide is MUCH simpler. Make people with 1 city immune from outside contact. They can't send/receive resources from allies, and they cannot attack(PVP) or be attacked. This prevents alliances from stockpiling troops in one city and attacking, or sending resources to a "safehouse". It also gives the person owning the city the ability to rebuild without threat.
A counter arguement could be "so we let them build up to unimaginable power then take over?". Not really. Even under the best circumstances, they will always be behind better players. Another arguement is what about farming? How about farming NPCs, since that is what they are there for?
Another possible solution (although much harder to implement and more difficult to plan) is to have a "Power" structure built in. Then only allow people of similar "Power" rankings to attack each other. Of course there would be leeway, but in this manner people of 500k prestige and 3 million honor couldn't attack someone with 50k prestige 0 honor right out of protection. The only problems with this solution is how do you compare powers? Prestige? No, because right now I have over 200k prestige, but no troops or defenses from being raided, another 200k prestige could wipe me out easily? Honor? Again no, honor is easy to gain and/or lose. This is why this is harder to implement. Then on the other side, you will have people purposely "sandbag" so they can attack lower "Power ranked" people. I prefer the other solution.
Anyway you look at it, something needs to change. The turnover rate is much too high, eventually there won't be "new" people to join, and the rate of people quitting will not change. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions. This is and isn't about what happened to me, I'm not quitting (just yet) but it is a serious problem. I know personally at least 8 people that have quit this game for the "bullying" aspect, probably more than never said why they were leaving.



Bookmarks