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I thought I was helping

DSEllenwood

New Member
I have poor eye-hand coordination, so slower, turn-based games are about all I can play. And along comes FOE.
I'm a Noob. Big time. But I'm having fun and thinking about FOE is helping me weather the storm.
.
So, I'm playing along, contributing FPs to peoples' buildings, happy when occasionally I'd get a blueprint or a medal or even a couple FPs. I thought I was helping, and I noticed (and was thankful) when others contributed to mine. Then I got a message.
.
The player was angry. Apparently I'm "costing him FPs", and if I do it again he's gonna plunder me every day. Then he plundered my city.
.
I've read about "sniping", but is that what I was doing? Is there some (written? unwritten?) piece of etiquette that I missed?
I've dropped a few FPs on people knowing I would maybe get a medal if anything, but I wanted to see their upgrade succeed.
When buildings are close, are you supposed to back-away & NOT contribute?
.
I've obviously "upset the gods", so I want to avoid this mistake in the future.
Positive comments or suggestions would be welcome.
.
DSE - Arizona
 

Agent327

Well-Known Member
From this it is not sure what you did, but most likely you levelled a GB and in doing this prevented the owner from collecting twice. GB owners would like you to leave the GB, with 1 fp to go, so they can collect, donate 1 fp themselves and collect again
 

DSEllenwood

New Member
You can collect twice? All I get when I upgrade one of my own buildings is an upgraded building.
Yeah, the people that contributed get whatever, but as the landowner, you can also get rewarded for contributing to your own stuff?
Did I miss that day in FOE training?
 

Freshmeboy

Well-Known Member
The infamous 'Double Dip'....don't let it worry you. They didn't 'lose' anything. They got exactly what they should have, they just didn't get double. The better reason not to level GBs without consent is it throws that building out of sync with their collection time. At the very least it's considered impolite to do this. At the very best it's a great tool of revenge against those that would plunder...
 

Jern2017

Well-Known Member
Not leveling GBs of other players is considered common courtesy, the same could be said about donating FPs without prior consent - at least when it comes to guildmates or neighbors. It's up to you whether you want to follow that or not.

When it comes to neighbors, it depends on how you want to play the game. I snipe and level my neighbor's GBs if I can profit from it. Because of that, I'm aware they might not like it and do the same, or attack me.
You can donate FPs to their GBs or even level them and your neighbors can decide to attack you because they don't agree with what you did.

Either way, I suggest you find players interested in doing private swaps instead of donating FPs to GBs of random players. You'll have a much higher chance of getting rewards this way.
 

Farfle the smelly

Well-Known Member
There are sooooo many things about this game that you can only really absorb through screwing up first. Your situation is a perfect example.

The thing is, is that neighbors are 100% open to sniping like you did. Yes, they may plunder you for it, but most non-newb players know that it’s open season against neighbors, so ignore advice that says not to do it. A lot of us make a decent ‘living’ at it. Even leveling a neighbor is fair game.

That said, join a good guild. They’ll provide you with ample opportunity to donate through leveling threads, where the sole purpose is get and give donations as quickly as possible, and it can keep the rewards ‘in the family’.

Also, if someone reacts to you with a plunder instead a ‘hey, that wasn’t cool’, they’re likely already a plunderer. You just gave them an excuse. Getting plundered has its advantages, oddly. I’ve become a much better fighter through watching the playbacks (you can view them in your town hall event history).
 

RazorbackPirate

Well-Known Member
While the double dip has been covered, it could be that you sniped them. In that case, you did nothing 'wrong' per se, you just hit someone who has a sense of entitlement over something that's not theirs and out of their control.

Basically, sniping is any time you contribute to a GB uninvited for less than the price they 'think' they could get, most often, 1.85x or 1.9x the FP reward for the spot.

I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't mind the occasional plunder, which can be avoided by collecting on time, do your thing.
 
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Ericness

Active Member
I say keep doing what you're doing for the reasons already stated. I built my bank in part by aggressively claiming profitable spots from neighbors. Rare is the player that will attack and plunder so don't be afraid of the occasional one that does. Besides, soon you can plunder them back and use the FP you get to secure more spots on their buildings
 

Aggressor

Active Member
I have poor eye-hand coordination, so slower, turn-based games are about all I can play. And along comes FOE.
I'm a Noob. Big time. But I'm having fun and thinking about FOE is helping me weather the storm.
.
So, I'm playing along, contributing FPs to peoples' buildings, happy when occasionally I'd get a blueprint or a medal or even a couple FPs. I thought I was helping, and I noticed (and was thankful) when others contributed to mine. Then I got a message.
.
The player was angry. Apparently I'm "costing him FPs", and if I do it again he's gonna plunder me every day. Then he plundered my city.
.
I've read about "sniping", but is that what I was doing? Is there some (written? unwritten?) piece of etiquette that I missed?
I've dropped a few FPs on people knowing I would maybe get a medal if anything, but I wanted to see their upgrade succeed.
When buildings are close, are you supposed to back-away & NOT contribute?
.
I've obviously "upset the gods", so I want to avoid this mistake in the future.
Positive comments or suggestions would be welcome.
.
DSE - Arizona
You're a great player. You may have made him mad but you are being generous and it's great to see nice players like you when a lot of other players (including me) are cutthroat. Keep it up!
 

Iroh the Tea Maker

Active Member
the same could be said about donating FPs without prior consent - at least when it comes to guildmates or neighbors.

Man I had absolutely no idea. Someone politely messaged me that they're in a 1.9 thread once (and I matched it) but I didn't know it was considered impolite to donate to neighbors gbs. Some of them level the whole thing on their own. The ledger is like 359, 1, 1,1 so i go in and drop a 50 (and get a return of a few fps)
 

Mustapha00

Well-Known Member
Exactly so.

As a new player, you should be forgiven for not knowing what a "1.9 thread" even is. You also have no idea whether a given GB is part of such a thread or not (although you'll see a pattern or donations that tend to confirm that it is- but, again, as a new player you really have no way of knowing that).

The player could have just sent you a note and threatened to attack and plunder you rather than just going ahead and doing so, giving you a chance to tell him that, being a new player, you were not familiar with such things. Frankly, were it me I'd be grateful for your donations, as others have pointed out that it really cost me nothing that I cannot recover and I now have a GB one level higher and affording me better bonuses.
 

DevaCat

Well-Known Member
Man I had absolutely no idea. Someone politely messaged me that they're in a 1.9 thread once (and I matched it) but I didn't know it was considered impolite to donate to neighbors gbs. Some of them level the whole thing on their own. The ledger is like 359, 1, 1,1 so i go in and drop a 50 (and get a return of a few fps)
I think Jern2017 meant to say "friends" rather than "neighbors" in the quote you referenced. Any notion of prior consent does not apply to neighbors, they are the competition -- since when are empire builders polite? Now some neighbors might get testy and attack to show their displeasure at an unwanted donation at less than what their sense of entitlement demands, but tough lol.

People on my friend list I handle differently. I had an Arc in a guild 1.85 leveling thread which was working well except when at times the regulars weren't on or were otherwise engaged. A couple of friends at different times dropped fps on it, fairly close to but under the 1.85 amount for those spots. I sent a polite message explaining what I was doing and asked if they could stretch a bit to meet the full amount, not because I minded my cost for the level increasing a little, but because I'd have the pita to recalculate the following spots. :) I also thanked them for donating and invited them to keep an eye out for opportunities to take a locked spot. Worked very well. They got secured investments and I got fast levels when I needed them.

Over time you can recognize the pattern of a 1.x thread, likewise when a friend is heavy into guild swaps or when one is self-leveling -- it's always safe to ask first. I don't ask neighbors first -- unless he's top of the hood, has every military gb known to man, and flys the plunder badge. Then I ask! :D
 

planetofthehumans2

Well-Known Member
I'd advise against donating to peoples gb unless they ask. There's a lot of nuances that will also cost YOU FP. People who don't understand 1.9 over or under donate to my GB then they can be sniped or knocked off the list. I just had someone put 100FP on my arc before I was ready, but the proper amount would have been 113 so they got sniped and ended up with a whopping 15FP.

Its also a lot of maths. Like what's the least amount of FP I can donate and lock my position without being sniped and get the most FP back?
 

emmagirl2

Active Member
I'd advise against donating to peoples gb unless they ask. There's a lot of nuances that will also cost YOU FP. People who don't understand 1.9 over or under donate to my GB then they can be sniped or knocked off the list. I just had someone put 100FP on my arc before I was ready, but the proper amount would have been 113 so they got sniped and ended up with a whopping 15FP.

Its also a lot of maths. Like what's the least amount of FP I can donate and lock my position without being sniped and get the most FP back?
if someone snipes me i send a thank you letter but at the end
DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN WITH OUT TELLING ME IM A GUILD FOUNDER I NEED TO HELP MY GUILDMATES WITH BLUEPRINTS ECT
 

Iroh the Tea Maker

Active Member
I think Jern2017 meant to say "friends" rather than "neighbors" in the quote you referenced. Any notion of prior consent does not apply to neighbors, they are the competition -- since when are empire builders polite? Now some neighbors might get testy and attack to show their displeasure at an unwanted donation at less than what their sense of entitlement demands, but tough lol.

People on my friend list I handle differently. I had an Arc in a guild 1.85 leveling thread which was working well except when at times the regulars weren't on or were otherwise engaged. A couple of friends at different times dropped fps on it, fairly close to but under the 1.85 amount for those spots. I sent a polite message explaining what I was doing and asked if they could stretch a bit to meet the full amount, not because I minded my cost for the level increasing a little, but because I'd have the pita to recalculate the following spots. :) I also thanked them for donating and invited them to keep an eye out for opportunities to take a locked spot. Worked very well. They got secured investments and I got fast levels when I needed them.

Over time you can recognize the pattern of a 1.x thread, likewise when a friend is heavy into guild swaps or when one is self-leveling -- it's always safe to ask first. I don't ask neighbors first -- unless he's top of the hood, has every military gb known to man, and flys the plunder badge. Then I ask! :D

thanks, I appreciate this. I really didnt know this. I probably pissed off enough people by now in the process of hunting for blueprints. I can recall at least one person "ending friendship" abruptly after I "helped" their Zeus. Fortunately, this player was kind enough to point out to me (he was a helpful guy too, with higher age goods).

I guess there is no harm in doing a 1.9 no. of FPs so they are still qualified in 1.9 threads. But then I don't have a level 80 arc (more like...level 10 lmao), so I'd do it only for high value BPs (Traz/Arc/CdM) for example.
 

Vger

Well-Known Member
if someone snipes me i send a thank you letter but at the end
DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN WITH OUT TELLING ME IM A GUILD FOUNDER I NEED TO HELP MY GUILDMATES WITH BLUEPRINTS ECT
Does that actually work? If you were a hoodie and sent me that, I would start checking your GBs 3 or 4 times a day, just in case you slip up again.
So you're a guild founder. I'm a Sagittarius. Neither of those facts are the least bit relevant when it comes to sniping.
 
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