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Cultural settlement.

  • Thread starter DeletedUser29647
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DeletedUser34800

Most people (I feel like) would not have spent real money to attain so many of the same prize. So for us I think the settlement prizes offer a fun, long term goal to get "event" buildings from something other than an event, or while an event is happening. So for non-cash players this may be more exciting than for cash players.

Most people don't have to. PoH, GrBr were both offered to F2P. ToI lvl 9 was offered F2P. Cherry Garden Set is offered F2P via daily challenge, and with good luck you got some lvl 2 upgrade kits in the event (and had to be smart and hold onto them for when you got the buildings from DC). F2P got a maxed level ship of their choosing and a maxed level Mill of Fall of their choosing.

So yes, most players have had access to these special buildings without spending money. They didn't have to spend money to get these prizes, so my point still stands.
 

Graviton

Well-Known Member
Most people don't have to. PoH, GrBr were both offered to F2P. ToI lvl 9 was offered F2P. Cherry Garden Set is offered F2P via daily challenge, and with good luck you got some lvl 2 upgrade kits in the event (and had to be smart and hold onto them for when you got the buildings from DC). F2P got a maxed level ship of their choosing and a maxed level Mill of Fall of their choosing.

So yes, most players have had access to these special buildings without spending money. They didn't have to spend money to get these prizes, so my point still stands.

It might still stand but it's wobbly. Using you as an example: people who didn't spend diamonds don't have three Ships. I think amiar's point is quite valid. For hard-core players and especially spenders of real money, this cultural settlement may not be worth it. To casual players, and newer players who haven't had a chance to accumulate a lot of Event buildings, it will be more valuable.
 

DeletedUser34800

It might still stand but it's wobbly. Using you as an example: people who didn't spend diamonds don't have three Ships. I think amiar's point is quite valid. For hard-core players and especially spenders of real money, this cultural settlement may not be worth it. To casual players, and newer players who haven't had a chance to accumulate a lot of Event buildings, it will be more valuable.

To casual players and newer players, most of them aren't going to be focusing on the Settlements that much, or aren't going to do them "optimally", so they will take longer than the 9-10 months.

By then, those players will have had a full years worth of events and daily challenges to acquire special buildings that will help their city grow far more than the settlement will. Without spending money. That's my point. Who cares what I spent? That doesn't detract from my point at all. 1 of each of these special buildings was offered for each event, and are easier to acquire and will help a city more than a long term settlement prize.

And that's even if these casual players and newer players even stuck around and play the game for that much time.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
To casual players and newer players, most of them aren't going to be focusing on the Settlements that much, or aren't going to do them "optimally", so they will take longer than the 9-10 months.

By then, those players will have had a full years worth of events and daily challenges to acquire special buildings that will help their city grow far more than the settlement will. Without spending money. That's my point. Who cares what I spent? That doesn't detract from my point at all. 1 of each of these special buildings was offered for each event, and are easier to acquire and will help a city more than a long term settlement prize.

And that's even if these casual players and newer players even stuck around and play the game for that much time.
Based on the interviews about Settlements, it appears that Historical Questlines will be scaled back significantly and may disappear altogether. Moving forward, Settlements may end up being the only option for special buildings outside of the major events.

Given the power of the buildings, I see them especially appealing to beginners allowing them to get powerful buildings without the hard time constraints of an event. Long term players tend to evaluate special buildings based on their final stats with no intention of placing them before then. This isn't true of beginners, they'll place level 1 and be excited to dive back in for the next upgrade. The settlement prizes are also guaranteed. In fact, the only way not to get the maxed out prizes are not to build settlements.

I can see how Settlements might not appeal to late game and P2P players. What I don't see is how you, as a P2P late game player, can comment on what might interest F2P early age players. What's your frame of reference?

FoE is designed to be played long term. Full stop. If someone doesn't plan to play long enough to get the 15 upgrades, so what? That also means they'll never see FE or above. Should we scrap or change those because some folks have no attention span? Yeah, non argument.
 
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DeletedUser34800

Based on the interviews about Settlements, it appears that Historical Questlines will be scaled back significantly and may disappear altogether. Moving forward, Settlements may end up being the only option for special buildings outside of the major events.

Interesting. That may happen, and that would be disappointing. I rather enjoy the historical events. Prizes aren't always great, but they're cool events.

Given the power of the buildings, I see them especially appealing to beginners allowing them to get powerful buildings without the hard time constraints of an event. Long term players tend to evaluate special buildings based on their final stats with no intention of placing them before then. This isn't true of beginners, they'll place level 1 and be excited to dive back in for the next upgrade. The settlement prizes are also guaranteed. In fact, the only way not to get the maxed out prizes are to not build settlements.

Beginners will also use Iron Age buildings while in the LMA (for example) or higher. Will have no GBs in Progressive Era. They'll place anything and be happy. They'll also play for a couple months and then quit permanently, without spending a dime. They aren't the target audience for Inno Games. Aside from padding their player base numbers, which will fluctuate based on many factors (like advertising), IG (and every other money making business) does not care for these players. They tolerate them.

I can see how Settlements might not appeal to late game and P2P players. What I don't see is how you, as a P2P late game player, can comment on what might interest F2P early age players. What's your frame of reference?

I can comment on early game F2P because I was one. Not that you would know (not snark, you wouldn't know) but I didn't come into this game tossing out cash left and right, buying everything I could. Before I made it to the forums, I was just a typical terrible player. Even then, the events started racking up and special buildings were tossed at me left and right. I didn't struggle with the events at any point, even before the forums. Things may be slightly different now, almost a year later, but I was still in that position. I'm allowed to comment on what I experienced, and it wasn't my just shelling out money for everything and anything. I'm also only in Progressive Era. That's not late game at all.

FoE is designed to be played long term. Full stop. If someone doesn't plan to play long enough to get the 15 upgrades, so what? That also means they'll never see FE or above. Should we scrap or change those because some folks have no attention span? Yeah, non argument.

Of course it's a long term game. That's exactly my point. That the Settlements take too many play throughs, too much time to see the full prize. Most won't ever see it at all. Sure, you and I can see the destination ahead of us while Inno Games holds the carrot on a stick in front of us, but most players can't. They only see the carrot. If the carrot is small and measly, and held out for too long, they lose interest.

Events are there for everyone to play and enjoy, and the main prize is available to all, maxed out. MoF and Ships, you got a full one, whichever you chose. They are attainable in a decent amount of time. 9-10 or more months for the max prize isn't that great, or even good. 15 times of completion is a lot.

I guess I feel like, DESPITE THE FACT THAT I AM WILLING TO SPEND MONEY, that all players should be able to reasonably attain the prizes. I don't feel like these settlements have a reasonable time frame or reasonable completion requirement. 15 times is a lot.

This is, of course, my opinion. Obviously others feel differently, but I am not alone in my opinion. Read the beta feedback.
 

DeletedUser30900

This is, of course, my opinion. Obviously others feel differently, but I am not alone in my opinion. Read the beta feedback.
Beta players cry about EVERYTHING. They cant complete events, they think rewards are not good enough, they think quests are too hard to complete, you name it. The only use of beta is to gather info in advance. All the feedback from there are just laughable and pathetic.
 

DeletedUser32824

@M9: I wasn't taking a shot at your decision to spend money. That's totally up to you, and I've considered it a couple times but never ended up doing it. My point (which you may have misread) was not that F2P players don't have any special or event buildings, but that most of us do not have multiples. I have a 10 tholos, 7 pillar, royal and lvl 6 ship (used all my diamonds in my stash), 2 cherry sets etc. So for me, I take pretty much any building that spits out 1 FP for 12 squares (at this point in my game). The Yggdrasil tree making 3 in 9 is awesome for me! The rune making 2 in 4 is also awesome! So I'm definitely going to go for those.

However, I feel like players who have multiple event or special buildings will find those small increases less desirable. My guild leader has like 37 lvl 7 pillars, like 10 tholos lvl 10 and a couple royal ships. For him, he probably wont care about a measly 3x3 that makes 3 FP if he can't get it in 3 seconds with cash, just because its such a marginal benefit for time invested for him as a player. For more casual cash players (not spending hundreds or thousands of dollars), which seems to be your case, you might be in a middle ground where it doesn't seem super worth it, but you might still do it.

I agree, doing something 15 times is going to be tedious, but there are times when I log in and don't really have anything to do! I could plunder neighbors for hours and get some goods and maybe an FP or 2, but if I can invest time on a more permanent FP income I'll do that instead.
 

DeletedUser34800

Beta players cry about EVERYTHING. They cant complete events, they think rewards are not good enough, they think quests are too hard to complete, you name it. The only use of beta is to gather info in advance. All the feedback from there are just laughable and pathetic.

Ha. All right. That may be, but it still gets listened too. Soccer Event for Tholos didn't have upgrades as a daily special. Beta whined and complained about it. Inno added it in for the live event.

Now, whether or not they added it based on the beta feedback or because they were always going to, no one knows.
 
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DeletedUser34800

@M9: I wasn't taking a shot at your decision to spend money. That's totally up to you, and I've considered it a couple times but never ended up doing it. My point (which you may have misread) was not that F2P players don't have any special or event buildings, but that most of us do not have multiples. I have a 10 tholos, 7 pillar, royal and lvl 6 ship (used all my diamonds in my stash), 2 cherry sets etc. So for me, I take pretty much any building that spits out 1 FP for 12 squares (at this point in my game). The Yggdrasil tree making 3 in 9 is awesome for me! The rune making 2 in 4 is also awesome! So I'm definitely going to go for those.

However, I feel like players who have multiple event or special buildings will find those small increases less desirable. My guild leader has like 37 lvl 7 pillars, like 10 tholos lvl 10 and a couple royal ships. For him, he probably wont care about a measly 3x3 that makes 3 FP if he can't get it in 3 seconds with cash, just because its such a marginal benefit for time invested for him as a player. For more casual cash players (not spending hundreds or thousands of dollars), which seems to be your case, you might be in a middle ground where it doesn't seem super worth it, but you might still do it.

I agree, doing something 15 times is going to be tedious, but there are times when I log in and don't really have anything to do! I could plunder neighbors for hours and get some goods and maybe an FP or 2, but if I can invest time on a more permanent FP income I'll do that instead.

I also take any building that spits out things I want as well. I also take any building that I think looks nice and adds a little something else as well (Menagerie, Pond of Fall, etc). I'm not so we'll off that I'll spit on the prizes, that's not my point.

I just feel like it's such a long, tedious amount of time and effort. The game play isn't so amazing that most people will just love doing the exact same thing over and over for 15 times. The prize isn't so amazing that people will want to do that tedious amount of work for it. Of course, again, I don't speak for everyone.

Me? Yes. I will do it. Begrudgingly. Because I want the tree. I am also a completionist. I finished the Genghis Khan event despite the C-Map requirements I didn't like. Because I like playing what this game offers.

I still feel like the commitment is a lot. A lot of time and a lot of repetition. 5-6 months wouldn't be so terrible. 9-10 play throughs wouldn't be so bad. That's all.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
Beginners will also use Iron Age buildings while in the LMA (for example) or higher. Will have no GBs in Progressive Era. They'll place anything and be happy. They'll also play for a couple months and then quit permanently, without spending a dime. They aren't the target audience for Inno Games. Aside from padding their player base numbers, which will fluctuate based on many factors (like advertising), IG (and every other money making business) does not care for these players. They tolerate them.
I agree that crappy players who never figure out the game and eventually quit because they're crappy players who never figured out the game are not Inno's intended audience. Why then, are you arguing that Settlements need to be geared towards them?
I can comment on early game F2P because I was one. Not that you would know (not snark, you wouldn't know) but I didn't come into this game tossing out cash left and right, buying everything I could. Before I made it to the forums, I was just a typical terrible player. Even then, the events started racking up and special buildings were tossed at me left and right. I didn't struggle with the events at any point, even before the forums. Things may be slightly different now, almost a year later, but I was still in that position. I'm allowed to comment on what I experienced, and it wasn't my just shelling out money for everything and anything. I'm also only in Progressive Era. That's not late game at all.
You're right, I wouldn't know. Now that I do, it seems you and I have a similar frame of reference, although I've only spent diamonds to get a second ship, I've not spent for multiples of multiple event buildings as you have.

Before I started reading the forums, I was a marginal player. I lurked, read, learned, and improved my play, my city, and my understanding of the game for many months before I ever joined the forum or posted.
Of course it's a long term game. That's exactly my point. That the Settlements take too many play throughs, too much time to see the full prize. Most won't ever see it at all. Sure, you and I can see the destination ahead of us while Inno Games holds the carrot on a stick in front of us, but most players can't. They only see the carrot. If the carrot is small and measly, and held out for too long, they lose interest.
How is this even an argument? By your logic, Inno should never have released VF and should never release another age since most players who start the game won't ever see it.

First, you have no numbers to support your conjecture. Second, Inno's continued investment into the game and stellar profits tell me something different. Third, how is this even an argument?

You seem to forget the one thing you, me, and many others (that have never posted on the forum) have in common as typical F2P players. We figured out how to play the game, never found the game that difficult, and have been playing the game around a year. You think we're special? There's thousands of us who start the game every month. Inno's continued investment into the game and stellar profits prove that.

I understand you have your perspective, but do you think Inno would develop a major new part of the game that right out of the gate they know will take 15 times through and 9 months to complete if their internal data didn't indicate this was their primary user base?
Events are there for everyone to play and enjoy, and the main prize is available to all, maxed out. MoF and Ships, you got a full one, whichever you chose. They are attainable in a decent amount of time. 9-10 or more months for the max prize isn't that great, or even good. 15 times of completion is a lot.
Settlements are there for everyone to play and enjoy once plowing is unlocked at the end of the Iron Age (like PvP and RC mode). A fully maxed out Y Tree and Rune Stones are guaranteed to anyone who plays through the Vikings settlement enough times.

Making the argument that Settlements are not worth it for those who quit is not an argument. Nothing in FoE is worth it if you quit. I don't care about the wants and needs of folks who quit and as you said, neither does Inno. Why do you?
I guess I feel like, DESPITE THE FACT THAT I AM WILLING TO SPEND MONEY, that all players should be able to reasonably attain the prizes. I don't feel like these settlements have a reasonable time frame or reasonable completion requirement. 15 times is a lot.
Since all players can get all the prizes maxed out without diamonds, you can put your fears to rest. Unless you quit or decide to not do the Vikings the required 15 times, you're guaranteed to get the maxed out prizes. If you choose not to complete them, YOU choose not to complete them.
This is, of course, my opinion. Obviously others feel differently, but I am not alone in my opinion. Read the beta feedback.
This says it all for me.
Beta players cry about EVERYTHING. They can't complete events, they think rewards are not good enough, they think quests are too hard to complete, you name it. The only use of beta is to gather info in advance. All the feedback from there are just laughable and pathetic.
 
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DeletedUser34800

All right, I think my main point is being lost in fluff debate (which I am guilty of doing).

I think that 9-10 months and 15 play throughs is just too much for what is offered as the prize.

Like I stated later, 5-6 months and 9-10 play throughs just seems much more reasonable. Again, it's my opinion, but it's what I think. 5-6 months is still quite a long time. 9-10 play throughs is still a lot of gaming.

I actually like the prizes. They look cool, and are pretty nice. I like the idea of emissaries. This wasn't me trying to just bash on the settlements idea here. I was just expressing my opinion on the time frame.

I don't think that prizes should just be handed out for no effort. I also think that the effort should equal the prize, and I don't feel like it does here. That's all.
 

DeletedUser29726

It's probably best appreciated as a side task you do along side a new undeveloped city when getting the 20 FP and 25 goods each playthrough feels significant and the building doesn't need to be anywhere close to finished to be worth the space in your city.

To max out your rewards, you likely will be done your 15 playthroughs in less than 6 months - only the first one has the 21 day target. by the 15th play through it's half that time you have to complete the settlement in to get your 6 fragments of a greater runeshard selection kit (you also have an RNG bonus to your goods production that improves each playthrough to make up some of that time).
 

Emberguard

Well-Known Member
It might still stand but it's wobbly. Using you as an example: people who didn't spend diamonds don't have three Ships. I think amiar's point is quite valid. For hard-core players and especially spenders of real money, this cultural settlement may not be worth it. To casual players, and newer players who haven't had a chance to accumulate a lot of Event buildings, it will be more valuable.
To casual players and newer players, most of them aren't going to be focusing on the Settlements that much, or aren't going to do them "optimally", so they will take longer than the 9-10 months.

By then, those players will have had a full years worth of events and daily challenges to acquire special buildings that will help their city grow far more than the settlement will. Without spending money. That's my point. Who cares what I spent? That doesn't detract from my point at all. 1 of each of these special buildings was offered for each event, and are easier to acquire and will help a city more than a long term settlement prize.

And that's even if these casual players and newer players even stuck around and play the game for that much time.

My first city has been around for about a year. I have more then enough space to keep putting events in because I haven't been buying diamonds for Houndsmoor except for one time to get a second pillar of heroes. So I tend to refer to it as my "non diamond" city.

It doesn't matter that it'll take time to get to the final tree, it'll still be worth putting down much sooner then that. Maybe not at lvl 1 for most established players, but if I was new to the game then even lvl 1 would be worth it. Aside from which you get emissaries inbetween upgrades as well. And that's going to give the player value from the settlement even if they never complete the tree.


Quite frankly for my non-diamond city this feature would be worth investing my time into purely for the prize. It doesn't matter that I've got other events. it only matters if I can improve the space in my city. I know I'll be ageing up by the time I get the tree anyway and therefore will have more space then I have now.

For my other city that I refer as being my diamond city.... it will have almost no value on the prizes. And there's no way around that without going quite a bit more then just a few ages. With 8 of the lvl 7 ships (inventory for when I age up), 12 sunk treas, 41 shrines, 2 temple of idols plus a bunch of other events in my inventory that can be fully upgraded I'd only be doing the settlement casually for that city if at all. Anything I win from the settlement would be welcome, but it would be more for fun then anything in that city.

This feature is really going to be more attractive to one world players then multi world players and to non-diamond users rather then diamond players

Considering what it costs me to acquire each additional fully upgraded event building at most if I wanted to speed things up that'd be 730 diamonds per settlement across 15 settlements. (Just under 11k diamonds)
 
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DeletedUser4441

The way I look at it he more they add the more there is to do. You pick and choose what you want of the offerings. I check my DC every day. If the juice is worth the squeeze, I attempt to achieve it and gain that reward. If it is not, meh, move on. Same with any other event or aspect of the game. I do what interests me. I dont feel required to do any part of the game. I do the part that makes me happy or advances my city in the effort to do the same.
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
Time to complete not withstanding, is it possible to acquire multiple runestones or trees?
No on the trees, after the 15th run through, you will get 50 FPs each time from then on. It appears however, you can get multiple Runestones. After the 15th time, it appears you'll still get Runestone Fragments as long as you complete each run through within the time allotted.
 

Kranyar the Mysterious

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I think the tree will look nice in a cherry orchard. As much as I'm not a fan of the look of the SoK, I suspect that a lot of runestones might be a bit too Elvendarish for my tastes.

Hopefully other settlements will be released before that becomes an issue.
 

Muad Dib13

New Member
Yeah, except (as you said) it takes 15 play throughs of the Viking settlement to get there, and each run will take between 21 to 11 days, depending on how much you babysit it, spend diamonds, etc. As the devs said, will mostly be 20-21 days per play through.

And the gameplay is apparently glacial speed. With how long it takes and how many times it takes, those rewards aren't worth the time/effort. Especially when we have events rolling out giving great prizes.

At least, that's the majority of opinions I have read in the 20+ page beta thread about it.
Why will it take 15 settlements to get a level 10 Yggdrasil?
 
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