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[FAQ] Help, I am being plundered!

  • Thread starter DeletedUser8152
  • Start date

DeletedUser14066

I don't know why the hood system works the way it does, but if I were running a game like this, I would try a bunch of different systems for different hoods and servers, and stick with the one that generated the most income.
What is a hood system? The only one I know about is the ANSUL Hood System and I'm pretty sure your not talking about that one.
 

DeletedUser14066

I stopped reading here. Do you seriously believe this is true? Teams have the same players (like foe armies have the same number of units) but teams do not at all have the same skill levels. As a lifelong jets fan I feel that I speak with some authority here. The most popular sport in the world is soccer and there are a small handful of very good teams that are worlds better than all the others. But they play each other just the same.

Soccer? The game that involved the Heysel Stadium disaster? Keep speaking with authority.
 

DeletedUser10415

No solution advise just dribble and name calling. What a shame.

In case you missed the first post in the thread, written by jaelis, here it is again. Solutions and advice...

This is probably the single most common thing that people ask about on the forum. There are several ways to address it, depending on what you are looking for:

What are some strategies to minimize my chances of getting plundered?

There is no way to eliminate the chance of being plundered, but to minimize it you can:
  • Schedule your production times so you can collect right after they finish. You can only be plundered when you have uncollected items in your city, so this is by far the best method.
  • Run multiple short productions; you can only be plundered once per player per 24 hours, so if you can't collect on time, this will at least minimize your losses. You should still collect as often as possible.
  • Post the strongest defensive army you can. This won't stop players who are several ages ahead of you, but it will often deter players in your age or lower.
  • Send a friend invite to your attacker. You can't attack friends, so if they accept this will make you safe. Implicitly you are promising to aid your friend regularly, and if you don't you will probably get dropped from their friends list and become subject to attack again.
  • Offer to contribute a few FP (per day, per week, or just once) to the attacker's Great Buildings. This may be a smaller price than the plundering losses, and also gives you a chance to receive rewards for the Great Building donations.
  • Try to join the guild of the player who is attacking you. You can't attack fellow guild members. Do be aware of any guild policies in the guild you want to join.
  • Join a guild that has some powerful cities in your neighborhood. Many guilds will try to protect their members by threatening to plunder people who have plundered one of their own. (On the other hand, some guilds try to plunder people in other guilds that they are at 'war' with, so this could make you a target; talk to someone in the guild about your situation first.)
Being plundered makes me angry, can you help me feel better?

You certainly have my sympathy, especially if you are being plundered by a player much more advanced than you. It is unpleasant to be stuck in a neighborhood with aggressive advanced players. But you will probably be rotated out of this neighborhood before too long. Over the long run, things tend to even out. You'll find yourself in easy neighborhoods sometimes too.

In the meantime, take advantage of high-age players in your neighborhood. By aiding them you have the chance to get blueprints for high-age great buildings. You might see if some of them would like to trade high-age goods for forge point donations; you can earn a lot of goods that way. If you have a lot of high-age players, there's a good chance a few will be using two spears as a defensive army. You can beat that, and a single plunder from a high-age building can make up for all your losses from being attacked.

I am philosophically opposed to games that reward conflict and aggressive behavior. Is there any way to opt out of the player-vs-player part of the game?

No, it is an intrinsic part of the game and the developers have made it clear that they don't plan to change that. If this makes the game unpleasant for you, then your best bet might be to find a different game that doesn't have this element. Elvenar is another city-building game that doesn't have PvP fighting.

I think it is immoral for people to plunder me, will you support me in condemning them?

No, players who plunder are playing the game as intended, and are not acting in an immoral way. No actual damage is being done to anyone, and by playing the game yourself you are agreeing to subject yourself to its rules. Condemning someone who plunders you doesn't make any more sense than condemning a chess player for capturing your pawn.
 

DeletedUser14066

Is there a way for the devs to make it unpleasant to plunder? In other words either make it more difficult to plunder or they must pay for their plundering by forcing them to not be able to plunder other members for some time. This would at least limit their plundering because in the prehistoric days tribes could only fight maybe one or two battles and had to rest to recoup. The other thing is people have been saying this is what happen in the past but I beg to differ, we have become a society that has laws and has advanced since the "iron days", why should plundering still exist in the "post modern" days or later, if we are staying true to the story line? I understand the battles, we will always have war, unfortunately that has become the norm to boost the economy or whatever your belief is.
 
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DeletedUser10415

Is there a way for the devs to make it unpleasant to plunder? In other words either make it more difficult to plunder or they must pay for their plundering by forcing them to not be able to plunder other members for some time.

I refer you to this portion of the FAQ that you clearly still haven't read:
it is an intrinsic part of the game and the developers have made it clear that they don't plan to change that. If this makes the game unpleasant for you, then your best bet might be to find a different game that doesn't have this element. Elvenar is another city-building game that doesn't have PvP fighting.​
 

DeletedUser26191

Absolutely correct. Which is why it is truly awful advice. surferbum, how could you play this game for 18 months and be so wrong on so many points?



Reading is not fundamental, reading comprehension is. I think you got everything wrong you could. Impressive.

I came to play the game hoping it would be a great time and experience. However, you have created a game and a system that a weak player and/or a player unwilling to spend money on can not play as effectively without being bullied.
 
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cbalto1927

Active Member
Plundering has been stated over time and time again that it is part of the game. It has originally designed as war game to expand your empire across ages. We have kids here under 18, please refrain from using profanities.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

cbalto1927

Active Member
Is there a way for the devs to make it unpleasant to plunder? In other words either make it more difficult to plunder or they must pay for their plundering by forcing them to not be able to plunder other members for some time. This would at least limit their plundering because in the prehistoric days tribes could only fight maybe one or two battles and had to rest to recoup. The other thing is people have been saying this is what happen in the past but I beg to differ, we have become a society that has laws and has advanced since the "iron days", why should plundering still exist in the "post modern" days or later, if we are staying true to the story line? I understand the battles, we will always have war, unfortunately that has become the norm to boost the economy or whatever your belief is.


we still have plundering during wars in real-life. Controlling oil that not belong to another country, taking over a country and use of defeated country's resources is in a way considered plundering in modern days. I would say plundering is still in use even in "post-modern" days.
 

DeletedUser10076

I move this thread be locked from further replies and the any further discussions on the topic immediately closed. Peeps are apparently not mature enough to handle the situation.
 

Algona

Well-Known Member
Walrusking, what is the fun of that?

I came to play the game hoping it would be a great time and experience. However, you have created a game and a system that a weak player and/or a player unwilling to spend money on can not play as effectively without being bullied.


Send small unmarked nonsequential currency and I'll see what I can do about you being plundered. For an extra fee, I'll put a bandaid on your boo-boo.

Disclaimer:
I'd like to take credit (and the cash) for creating this game, but sorry, you're talking to the wrong person, Majigal.

Seems silly to have to put a disclaimer on a post, but hey, anyone who would post that naive drivel might do it. So don';t send me any cash, Majigal.
 

DeletedUser14066

I refer you to this portion of the FAQ that you clearly still haven't read:

Is this the way we want to teach our kids? To go out of our way to kill puppies because they are weak and there for the killing? I understand the internet generation is disconnected from person to person contact and can say or type what they want without fear of standing up to what they say or type. Change is easy to talk about but difficult to implement. I wonder who developed this game and what type of history or more over morals do they possess? Keep on plundering, I don't care, you are just showing your true colors to me. I thought this game would be challenging instead of the typical video game that just kills and kills and kills, boring.
 

cbalto1927

Active Member
Is this the way we want to teach our kids? To go out of our way to kill puppies because they are weak and there for the killing? I understand the internet generation is disconnected from person to person contact and can say or type what they want without fear of standing up to what they say or type. Change is easy to talk about but difficult to implement. I wonder who developed this game and what type of history or more over morals do they possess? Keep on plundering, I don't care, you are just showing your true colors to me. I thought this game would be challenging instead of the typical video game that just kills and kills and kills, boring.


Who cares, your free to find another game. Nobody is forcing you to play this game.
 

DeletedUser8152

Is this the way we want to teach our kids? To go out of our way to kill puppies because they are weak and there for the killing? I understand the internet generation is disconnected from person to person contact and can say or type what they want without fear of standing up to what they say or type. Change is easy to talk about but difficult to implement. I wonder who developed this game and what type of history or more over morals do they possess? Keep on plundering, I don't care, you are just showing your true colors to me. I thought this game would be challenging instead of the typical video game that just kills and kills and kills, boring.
I feel like this part of the OP pretty directly addresses your concern:
I am philosophically opposed to games that reward conflict and aggressive behavior. Is there any way to opt out of the player-vs-player part of the game?

No, it is an intrinsic part of the game and the developers have made it clear that they don't plan to change that. If this makes the game unpleasant for you, then your best bet might be to find a different game that doesn't have this element. Elvenar is another city-building game that doesn't have PvP fighting.
 

Algona

Well-Known Member
Is this the way we want to teach our kids? To go out of our way to kill puppies because they are weak and there for the killing? I understand the internet generation is disconnected from person to person contact and can say or type what they want without fear of standing up to what they say or type. Change is easy to talk about but difficult to implement. I wonder who developed this game and what type of history or more over morals do they possess? Keep on plundering, I don't care, you are just showing your true colors to me. I thought this game would be challenging instead of the typical video game that just kills and kills and kills, boring.

In a couple weeks you've gone from posting bad advice to calling the players and makers of this game puppy killers as well as condemning a generation. Did you have some sort of epiphany?

I've gone from laughing at you being wrong about everything to wondering if you really believe what you are saying. Well, not entirely true, I am still laughing at you.

Serious question: Why have you played a game for 2 years that you feel endorses or even inculcates such bad qualities?
 
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DeletedUser9433

Is this the way we want to teach our kids? To go out of our way to kill puppies because they are weak and there for the killing? I understand the internet generation is disconnected from person to person contact and can say or type what they want without fear of standing up to what they say or type. Change is easy to talk about but difficult to implement. I wonder who developed this game and what type of history or more over morals do they possess? Keep on plundering, I don't care, you are just showing your true colors to me. I thought this game would be challenging instead of the typical video game that just kills and kills and kills, boring.
So much wrong in the above post. Disclaimer: No puppies die when one plunders another player. As you noted this is an internet game, not real life. I doubt this particular game is being used to teach children anything, there are games intended for that purpose. Morality doesn't really apply to gaming pixels. Thanks for your permission to keep on plundering, I appreciate your concern that I may change my gameplay due to your distorted perspective. It is a challenge to come to the forum and see you made yet another post but perhaps if you spent more time plundering and less time complaining you would enjoy the dark side.
 

DeletedUser20427

@boots1961, what is the situation? Has it been a pretty static hood, or does it keep changing around and you keep ending up on the bottom? Are you far below the other players, or in a similar age and just a bit behind?

If you've been stuck with a bunch TE/FE players for the past 10 months and you were EMA to start with, then I don't think Shady's advice will do you much good. In that case you've just been horribly unlucky.

Same if you're not so far off in age, but every time you advance the hood shuffles and puts you at the bottom again, then that too is awful luck.

But if it's been pretty much the same hood, where you started just a bit behind and you're still a bit behind, then I'd say Shady is right, you can move up by out-performing other people in the hood. Plundering isn't essential for that, and I'd guess the big majority of other players in your hood don't plunder much either. It's more about planning your city well, being in a good guild, learning to fight effectively, and managing your GBs.


1 I think I have a good guild
2 I have a life and can not collect my goods as they come available, but I am close.
3 I have all the defence GBs and I am lvl'ing them up as fast as possible, faster than most players, I have kept track
4 I have a monastery
5 I have 1 watch fire, I try to get more but they are not available to get too often.
the players I am up against have 30 to 50 watchfires, have attack and defense bonuses over 220 % and 160% respectively.
6 It has now been 12 months, and I am lower in the standings once again.
7 although the time stamp marks me at playing for 13 months, I in fact have been playing over 26 months, and a very active player.
8 Playing for 26 months and seeing that there are 78 players in the hood, I should have been in the top 3 once, but in reality never in the top 25
9 I am 1/3 of the way thorough the future, but it is hard to research technologies when I am plundered daily by many hood members
 

DeletedUser20427

This is probably the single most common thing that people ask about on the forum. There are several ways to address it, depending on what you are looking for:

What are some strategies to minimize my chances of getting plundered?

There is no way to eliminate the chance of being plundered, but to minimize it you can:​
  • Schedule your production times so you can collect right after they finish. You can only be plundered when you have uncollected items in your city, so this is by far the best method.
  • Run multiple short productions; you can only be plundered once per player per 24 hours, so if you can't collect on time, this will at least minimize your losses. You should still collect as often as possible.
  • Post the strongest defensive army you can. This won't stop players who are several ages ahead of you, but it will often deter players in your age or lower.
  • Send a friend invite to your attacker. You can't attack friends, so if they accept this will make you safe. Implicitly you are promising to aid your friend regularly, and if you don't you will probably get dropped from their friends list and become subject to attack again.
  • Offer to contribute a few FP (per day, per week, or just once) to the attacker's Great Buildings. This may be a smaller price than the plundering losses, and also gives you a chance to receive rewards for the Great Building donations.
  • Try to join the guild of the player who is attacking you. You can't attack fellow guild members. Do be aware of any guild policies in the guild you want to join.
  • Join a guild that has some powerful cities in your neighborhood. Many guilds will try to protect their members by threatening to plunder people who have plundered one of their own. (On the other hand, some guilds try to plunder people in other guilds that they are at 'war' with, so this could make you a target; talk to someone in the guild about your situation first.)
Being plundered makes me angry, can you help me feel better?

You certainly have my sympathy, especially if you are being plundered by a player much more advanced than you. It is unpleasant to be stuck in a neighborhood with aggressive advanced players. But you will probably be rotated out of this neighborhood before too long. Over the long run, things tend to even out. You'll find yourself in easy neighborhoods sometimes too.

In the meantime, take advantage of high-age players in your neighborhood. By aiding them you have the chance to get blueprints for high-age great buildings. You might see if some of them would like to trade high-age goods for forge point donations; you can earn a lot of goods that way. If you have a lot of high-age players, there's a good chance a few will be using two spears as a defensive army. You can beat that, and a single plunder from a high-age building can make up for all your losses from being attacked.​

I am philosophically opposed to games that reward conflict and aggressive behavior. Is there any way to opt out of the player-vs-player part of the game?

No, it is an intrinsic part of the game and the developers have made it clear that they don't plan to change that. If this makes the game unpleasant for you, then your best bet might be to find a different game that doesn't have this element. Elvenar is another city-building game that doesn't have PvP fighting.​

I think it is immoral for people to plunder me, will you support me in condemning them?

No, players who plunder are playing the game as intended, and are not acting in an immoral way. No actual damage is being done to anyone, and by playing the game yourself you are agreeing to subject yourself to its rules. Condemning someone who plunders you doesn't make any more sense than condemning a chess player for capturing your pawn.​


I have tried all of the suggestions you listed above. doesn't work. the guild they are in is not one guild and, none will let me join them, I assume, because they know they can't plunder me.
I do not disagree with PvP, I disagree with the fact that I as well as many other players are always at the bottom of a hood. I have been playing for over 26 months, and been very active, I have had at least 20 plus hood changes, with 75 players in a hood, I should have been in the top 4 at least once, but I have not been in the top 25 as of yet, this is what is unfair.
 

DeletedUser8152

If you're in FE though, things are a bit different. You have basically the same tech as other people in your neighborhood, so you're not at a disadvantage because of that. Someone with more points than you doesn't get any combat benefit from that. Of course, people with high level GBs and lots of watchfires do get an advantage. But I guess for the most part they either earned (through active play) or paid for (with diamonds) those advantages. Those options are open to you as well. I'm reluctant to say that people who did work for those advantages shouldn't be able to benefit from them.
 
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