A question for long-term campers

[DeletedUser10720]

There is a very common strategy of camping in this game.
I'm not talking about sitting in tech and levelling a few GBs until you have enough goods in stock and you're ready to move up. I'm talking about three years plus of a single age camping.
Beyond collecting a few of the more crucial GBs and getting them to ideal levels. Beyond mastering the battle models and packing in enough inventory to supply a healthy guild for another few years.
Many, many people choose to effectively, live in a single age.

Now, I have a few wishing well diamond farms that don't go anywhere. But that's just my being lazy. I don't bother doing much there cause they're serving their purpose of feeding my main city the power to grow and doing more than collecting the wells is more effort than I care to put forth for them.
But, my main has made it to VF and I plan on keeping it moving through the ages.

Now, I do understand the strategy, that's not why I'm posting this, I get that having a huge dominating force in IA or EMA and being a powerhouse into yourself is awesome.

But what then becomes the end goal? Couldn't one be twice as effective in a future age using those high level buildings to earn more points and take more valuable sectors in GvG? Couldn't you have more by moving up?

What could be built into the VF chapters that would motivate those of you who are long term campers, to suddenly want to move through tech and reach the current ages?

 

[DeletedUser]

I personally have no desire to take any more of my cities past Contemporary Era. The simple reason is that the fun factor in the game drops dramatically above that. My one city that I (regrettably) took past Contemporary is now in mid-AF, and I can't hardly stand to play it. It is now nothing more than an advance era Diamond farm to me. I will be in CE forever in my main city, and will never advance any others past that level.

 

[Goth Almighty]

I'm not really sure what my end goal should be. So I've found both posts above to be especially interesting, as to camp out or get to the end should be an important consideration in developing a game plan, eh? My first game plan was to move afap thru the ages bc that's the object of games, innit? Get to the end? But I got to thinking, round about the Ind age, that a hell-for-leather blast thru the ages is probly an amateurish and immaturish way to play. But I don't know why that's true, if it is. All I know is that until the Ind or PE I was still learning the mechanics of the game. Now I'm in the PME and ignore the tech tree for weeks at a time. But I don't know why I'm doing that and what's the alternative. So thx and please continue to enlighten!

 

[DeletedUser30900]

Personal opinion, if you wanna bully your neighbors, camp at any age between CA and PE. if you want to level up your GB fast, camp at HMA or CA. If you want none of that, go all the way to the end so all the plunders can get points from you on your way moving up

 

[DeletedUser10720]

I'm not really sure what my end goal should be. So I've found both posts above to be especially interesting, as to camp out or get to the end should be an important consideration in developing a game plan, eh? My first game plan was to move afap thru the ages bc that's the object of games, innit? Get to the end? But I got to thinking, round about the Ind age, that a hell-for-leather blast thru the ages is probly an amateurish and immaturish way to play. But I don't know why that's true, if it is. All I know is that until the Ind or PE I was still learning the mechanics of the game. Now I'm in the PME and ignore the tech tree for weeks at a time. But I don't know why I'm doing that and what's the alternative. So thx and please continue to enlighten!

You definitely want to take your time working through ages. Or you'll be pitted against much more powerful neighbors than you can handle, and you certainly need to be sure you can support your goods / resource needs as you go further. Camping for a few weeks/ months IS necessary. I did my fair share of camping in several ages, ignoring forced AF-OF camping due to chapter release, i think i spend roughly 8-10 months in industrial. I believe that to have been my longest age.
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@icarusethan is definitely right in that blasting through the ages you can find yourself feeding the plunderers more than yourself. Though, in my experience, once you break into AF there is a significant drop in people's PvP play. The thread for 0% def. Does have some interesting info on plunderers and honestly I haven't had a huge issue with plunderers in a very long time. I believe the drop in PvP activity is due to the high age pool being significantly smaller than the rest so people are a little more cautious, as its likely most neighbors are equally adept at battle and can get you back.
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I guess, for me, deciding to camp in an age and effectively ending the game there for yourself seems boring. Getting to a point where I can feel challenged is part of the fun of the game. So moving up was necessary as I got my city stronger I would get bored winning every single battle, having all the goods and more than enough FP. And by continued work on tech I kept the challenges coming. Being at the end of tech keeps *something new* for me to look forward to, and while I camp up here, I have more than plenty of time to work on GB levelling to face those challenges.

I am also a bit of a completionist. To be fair. I've collected every GB and raised them all to 10. And am now working on the 10+ system. As well as starting a new city with the intent of having one of every special building.

I feel like that a lot of people get so fixated on hyper levelling GBs and living in a specific age that they actually lose the challenge of the game and it becomes boring. And I believe that's where the larger portion of burnout comes from. If all you're doing is the arc rush cycle and haven't advanced or changed your city in a year, it's not that surprising one would get sick of it.

 

[DeletedUser26965]

But what then becomes the end goal?

I guess that depends on the camper. I can't see any compelling reason if you're playing the game in a "normal" sense, if there is a normal sense, to camp extensively, sure with the last hood change one can become the hood bully now the longer they stay in that age, and sure GE becomes a faceroll but that's about it really. There can of course be other reasons like a high level Arc filling up a GvG guild treasury. The good thing about FoE though is you can have many worlds and play however you like on them so you can rush on one and crawl on the other or whatever. I would say though if you're in a GvG guild your goal ought to be getting to the end game, a camper generally speaking can be more of a burden than an asset in such a guild. Can an IA camper do this;

 

[DeletedUser30900]

I guess that depends on the camper. I can't see any compelling reason if you're playing the game in a "normal" sense, if there is a normal sense, to camp extensively, sure with the last hood change one can become the hood bully now the longer they stay in that age, and sure GE becomes a faceroll but that's about it really. There can of course be other reasons like a high level Arc filling up a GvG guild treasury. The good thing about FoE though is you can have many worlds and play however you like on them so you can rush on one and crawl on the other or whatever. I would say though if you're in a GvG guild your goal ought to be getting to the end game, a camper generally speaking can be more of a burden than an asset in such a guild. Can an IA camper do this;

View attachment 10709

good question for @Salsuero

 

[DeletedUser10720]

I guess that depends on the camper. I can't see any compelling reason if you're playing the game in a "normal" sense, if there is a normal sense, to camp extensively, sure with the last hood change one can become the hood bully now the longer they stay in that age, and sure GE becomes a faceroll but that's about it really. There can of course be other reasons like a high level Arc filling up a GvG guild treasury. The good thing about FoE though is you can have many worlds and play however you like on them so you can rush on one and crawl on the other or whatever. I would say though if you're in a GvG guild your goal ought to be getting to the end game, a camper generally speaking can be more of a burden than an asset in such a guild. Can an IA camper do this;

View attachment 10709

That's one thing I'm getting at, if your goal is to dominate GvG maps, then advancing opens up so many more expansions and barracks that can let you take multiple maps and be a complete wrecking crew.

I guess there isn't a * normal * way to play FoE; but typically the approach to video games is to try and complete the end objective. Complete the story or mission. The ability to divert from that is great, and the different strategies that have come around are fascinating to say the least. The collective hive mind of forgers have come up with some amazing tactics for how to achieve in this game.
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Alternate question:
How different would your strategy be if the hood shuffle system put you with players specifically with cities that started approximately the same time as yourself? If the mechanic ignored ages and scores and battle abilities. And just stuck you with people that have been playing roughly as long.

 

[Goth Almighty]

I guess, for me, deciding to camp in an age and effectively ending the game there for yourself seems boring. Getting to a point where I can feel challenged is part of the fun of the game. So moving up was necessary as I got my city stronger I would get bored winning every single battle, having all the goods and more than enough FP. And by continued work on tech I kept the challenges coming. Being at the end of tech keeps *something new* for me to look forward to, and while I camp up here, I have more than plenty of time to work on GB levelling to face those challenges.

Yeah, that's my attitude: stay put to build up resources, military units and level gbs then move on. (I don't enjoy plundering but I fight a lot in PvP without doing that, just for the medals and rep points.) But the other factor is guild participation. I belong to a high ranking guild that emphasizes GE and GvG. And bc of the guild I've found several swap partners to help me level up my gbs and build up resources. My swaps are a major part of my game plan, as it's a challenge obtaining a lot of fps on a daily basis. But there's also a camaraderie in the guild and, especially, with my swap partners that makes the game much more enjoyable than playing solo. And in my guild there are highly experienced players in most of the higher ages, as far as I can tell. But the most experienced players (one surpassed 100 mil rep points today), invariably, are in the VF. So I think the major impetus for advancing thru the ages must be to build up your city thru expansions, as something like 4 or 5 expansions are available at the beginning of each new age, eh?

 

[DeletedUser26965]

That's one thing I'm getting at, if your goal is to dominate GvG maps, then advancing opens up so many more expansions and barracks that can let you take multiple maps and be a complete wrecking crew.

Yep, that's why it all depends on the individual camper, clearly if they don't GvG then they would have no need to do as I have above, well perhaps if they PvP and want to crush everyone in their hood daily something like that could be useful lol. I can see camping for some period of time though mainly to more easily build up items from GE and Events, mainly fp producing buildings but that's different than this extended camping thing, which again really prior to the hood change and GE I can't really see the desire for aside from just playing one of the Playstyle Variants of FoE.

 

[Salsuero]

good question for @Salsuero

I'm not in Iron Age.

 

[DeletedUser31592]

My main is in CE and I plan on dragging it out as long as I can. I know many players wish they had never progressed beyond CE. I don't feel the need to rush to the end because then I will be stuck there with everyone else waiting for a new age to be released. Might as well sit in an age I find enjoyable.

My secondary cities aren't quite camping yet. None are even a year old and all EMA/HMA/LMA. With all but 1, I wanted an Arc and CF before hitting HMA. I would like the Arc at level 60 before hitting LMA. After that, it will be a slow progression. Why hurry to wait at the end? Honestly, my time to age up will probably be when all of my buildings have been renovated to current era. So I guess I will camp in each age until I get enough 1-up kits and reno kits. Not forever, but a few months at each stop.

 

[DeletedUser29726]

I have a city in VF - and I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone if they're on their first world, the goal should be to advance. You cannot understand what you're giving up by camping to weigh the advantages and disadvantages until you've actually played a city along further. Once you have though, camping in an alt city can have its charms.

That said, reasons to camp:
- You really like something about a particular age. As a couple have mentioned above CE can popular because of the mind-numbingly simple GE - I've got two cities sitting there now myself - one won't be forever, but it will be for quite a while and the other is a diamond mine that I have no plans to advance further. Other such examples : bronze age for slinger loops, iron age for the most sustainable unbirthday quest, high middle ages for alchemist loops, colonial age for double-questing and clockmaker loops, industrial age for GE with PE story troops that requires the least boost of any age to fight all 4 difficulties
- For the guild as a treasury farmer for GvG. Treasury GBs that only make your current age can be a great asset to a guild. Usually the goal with making such a sacrifice would be to camp an age between CE and FE. A guild with a few in each of those 3 ages would be able to fight heavily while holding land from CE to FE, and have goods for reasonable action from PE to PME
- A need to be the 'big dog' in the hood. A lot of campers don't want to move up til they feel confident they'll dominate their next age up's hood. Personally I chalk this one up to cowardice, but to each their own.

While not a reason to camp, I'd also point out that 'lack of an endgame' isn't just a problem that faces campers. In my VF world I frequently go through long listless periods where I can't think of an objective that motivates me. Arbitrarily cutting yourself off earlier doesn't really make that any worse unless you consider GvG rankings or point farming extremely good motivators (but most in the game do not seem to) - and for mobile players that's not really an option anyways.

 

[ShadowWarlord]

I almost blast through the ages (3-5 weeks on each era, until FE) and I plundered almost everyone on my way... I remember I plundered 80+ fp on a single day while I was in PE. Proves that you don't need to sit on an era or be the top dog of the hood, to be one of the most notorious plunderers.

 

[DeletedUser27889]

I haven't spent 3 years in a single age so maybe my own opinion doesn't apply to the thread, I believe my longest camp was about 1 year in LMA.

Personally I move up for one reason and one reason only, expansions. After having used all the medal expansions Tech and CMap are my only sources for new ones. I don't see any point to moving up other than those. Nothing positive happens to my game when I move, nothing in my city apart from my town hall changes. Eventually roads get swapped out but those aren't particularly important.

I enjoy working on my GBs and playing the game. Moving to me is a detterent to all the parts of the game I enjoy. For me it isn't a strategic ploy (though camping does work for this) I'm not trying to be the biggest and baddest in my hood, I leave them all alone. I would move up if my guild was waring in a GvG map I didn't have the troops to access but other than that I can't see a reason beyond expansions anyone bothers with it.

What is the point or the interest in moving up for others? I'm not trying to sound sarcastic I really just don't understand. You get more points sure but who really cares about those? It's good to score more points for the guild in GE but player points are virtually meaning less, to me at least.

I do RQs with a decent size chateau that provide me all my goods for whatever era I'm in. The lower the era the lower the trigger point is for the quests, if I'm collecting coins or spending FP. The more quests I can do the more I get back in useful things like goods or FP packs. Lower era = more quests = more goodies.

Above all that, I think the biggest reason is I just don't care about the eras. The building designs look very good, especially the VF ones. However I don't have, nor do I think I will ever have any of them, beyond a lower age military building if I'm fighting on a GvG map.

 

[DeletedUser31540]

I started my first and only city on A-world about 15 months ago and ive been in hma for about a year now...

I originally liked this game because it reminded me of one of my childhood favorites ‘age of empires II’ ... early on i decided that i would never advance past LMA and as of today i still feel the same way ... i plan on spending another 6 months or so in HMA and once i advance to LMA i will spend the rest of the game there

My goal is to have the most impressive LMA city the game has ever seen (100M+ points and 600+ daily fp income / full completion of c-map / 20 GBs at level 123)

I hate when people say the goal of the game is to progress ... the goal of the game is to enjoy playing the game!!! To each their own

 

[DeletedUser35475]

I hate when people say the goal of the game is to progress ... the goal of the game is to enjoy playing the game!!! To each their own

That is so true. There is no right or wrong way to play it as long as you are enjoying it.

 

[Czari]

My main is in CE and I plan on dragging it out as long as I can. I know many players wish they had never progressed beyond CE. I don't feel the need to rush to the end because then I will be stuck there with everyone else waiting for a new age to be released. Might as well sit in an age I find enjoyable.

Thank you for posting this, JCera. Two of my cities are currently in CE and I am enjoying that age more than any other. In one of the two I'm at the end of the tech tree but have been staying put. I haven't heard much commentary on the later ages so not quite sure what to expect if and when I go farther.

 

[DeletedUser31440]

Camping to get personal good stocks up to the arbitrary number I set to have all ages at. While building up the stocks I'm leveling GB's that will make it faster to achieve those goals in future ages. Complacency also though, I'm comfortable camping and haven't had anything that either provides enough of a push to move me or enough of an enticement for me to move. With events not forcing C-Map and Tech Tree anymore, I don't see any need to move anytime soon.

 

[DeletedUser]

Thank you for posting this, JCera. Two of my cities are currently in CE and I am enjoying that age more than any other. In one of the two I'm at the end of the tech tree but have been staying put. I haven't heard much commentary on the later ages so not quite sure what to expect if and when I go farther.

I took my former main city to Arctic Future (so far), but it became much less enjoyable above CE. Tomorrow sucks. Future is better than Tomorrow, but still much less enjoyable than CE. Arctic Future stinks on ice. I hold out no hope of Oceanic Future being any better, nor Virtual Future. Right now, I plan on keeping my now main city in CE indefinitely. Any other cities I currently play or start later will take their time and stop at CE permanently.