Uncle Junior said:

Rahna and TK's are the perfect example of teamwork and careful planning and an example that you dont need pan tournament in order to grab a pan.

It isn't a question of ability, but one of incentive.

And yes, yes we did.

Well orgonised coalition is all the incentive you need

Well, the problem is I can't even see the point to buying levels. And NO, it's NOT pay to WIN at all. You'll win NOTHING out of this.

As it has been pointed it's not even real experience, in the meaning of learning how to master the game.

We'll now be seeing complete beginners asking beginners questions on the forum but owning high level cities... Note that it's not really a problem on the forum after all, as everybody is welcome to ask questions and we'll answer them anyway, plus their city level is not shown anyway.

Maybe sometimes it won't help when someone would write "I don't understand how to transfer resources to my acropolis, my city is level 85"... LOL

Well, it will just be weird, but questions are questions, after all. ^^

As I said, the only problem is it's pointless. What we expect from  level 70+ players is having finished upgrading all their buildings, signed all agreements and upgraded them quite high, and having grown an army strong enough to join a high level coalition.

Now writing level requirements on the coalition front page message will mean nothing...

What's important to know for people being tempted by artificlally levelling up is they'll be evaluated on their capacity to cooperate, and if they're under-developped, don't meet troops requirements and are unable to master the game basics, they'll be kicked out of coalitions as deceivers...

... While simple logic would command those beginners would start by joining a beginners coalition and grow up together with their fellow members, building  bonds, making friends the same (real) level as them, etc.

Actually, i wouldn't advice buying this. Now the feature exists, so everybody is free to use or not to use it.

But I thought it was important to warn people who would be tempted that deceiving others won't give results. Nothing can replace a year or two of hard gaming. We've all earned our levels through patient building and battling, so they're meaning something for now.

Adding the possibility to buy a level will only give you an empty shell : no real experience, no developped city, no army.

So use it if you want, but please don't be surprised if it only has negative results, such as your actually defenseless city being farmed by real players who have quests about raiding or besiegeing high level cities (that are currently rare, but could become abundant with this feature).

As all decisions, this one requires wisdom, so always think twice. ;)

As you can see, there's no real reason to freak bout this new feature. We may just get more high level farms in the end... :p

Players who would follow that way will mostly be victims and would hope they could get back...

As it has only disadvantages :

- You'll have to compete in higher ranking ranges for tournaments, meaning  you'll never be able to catch up with your weak army.

- Levelling up the regular way grants scrolls and drachmas for every level : would you get them this way ?

- You'll be offered only quests about raiding or besiegeing cities that are far too strong for you, so you'll be unable to quest at all

- Plus in the end, the level itself gives NOTHING. Only the army you've gathered over months or years, and the agreements upgades you could have made during the same period would. And you won't have any of them. ^^

So what's he point of this ? Bragging about your level ? Well... Seriously ? :p

Anyway, this is pointless, but people would be using this would be actually much more pointless than the feature itself.

Chances are it has ben added because people actually asked for it, as usual. It's sometimes hard to imagine how many silly people demand silly changes, but in the end, Plarium is just giving what people are asking for, even f it looks weird. ;)

Seriously, suits themselves. There's no need to make a scandal about this.

Does it hurt your pride that some complete noobs would be bragging with an empty level 85 city ? Well, seriously... Don't care. It won't kill you, and would just give you good laughs.

We could say the same thing about moving cities.

Yes, it's a nonsense, from a historical simulation point of view.

But check the forum : it has been asked for, a long time ago already, and with insistance. Plarium had to detach the automatically generated coordinates from the game account ID so they could be swapped.

In the end, did you use them ? None of us in he coalition did.

It could still prove useful for isolated players. Some want to group with their friends and coaltion (a bad idea, because they'll have to fight for the same few farms, and will all be the same far away distance from targets such as pantheons  instead of covering the map, but their choice, after all). Or some would want to get closer to the centre (a much better idea, but beware, players in this area can be much stronger than you are. But still your choice).

Another use would be to escape raids. Well, here there could be a good an a bad reason. It could be a good reason if you're getting hopelessly bullied in your area. In this case, and if nothing else can be done, adding this opportunity could be a great relief to solve some extreme cases. The bad reason would be to escape any confrontation. That's not how to fight, nor to progress in the game. And it will end up being very expensive. But hey, once again, your choice, and your money. :)

One last word about the recent changes.

I disagree they were all negative. Some are, some have good and bad angles, some are unfairly turned down.

- Persians : I don't know about level 125 positions that may pose a specific problem, but honestly, once you've understood the bank is not, and has never been (as partial payouts could drop before, though rarely) only bsed on your large payout, but is calculated form te sum of all payouts you got on the way, you know better the amount to be paid back and you stop waiting for a new payout too early.

The fact you get partials does not affect the moment when your new big payout must drop : it's still based on your losses only, so nothing has changed. Not even talking about the fact partials can end up doubling your reward in the end. So please, even if each partial look weak separately, don't turn them down nor reason as if hey weren't there. They are, and they count quite a lot in the end.

- Political units are only negative. OK, the only "positive" point is lazy PVP. Seriously, then, something has to be done to rebalance this, as it totally spoils real combats. Was the idea everybody would log on everyday, dispatch 10 bombs and log off ?

We're missing real combats, retaliations, trip duration calculations to surprise the opponent, etc.

I really regret those assassins have been introduced. but, well, watching all this money getting wasted can sometimes be fun...

- Grain changes : well, now I'm rather glad I can almost feed my troops (at least when Dominion is on). But it's an egotistic feeling. Timber and bronze trading is still stricken.

But, well, at least, I can feed my army. As announced, it allows to feed larger armies, and yes, it fulfills its role.

So my opinion is rather shared on this one.

- Troops dismissing removal : our first feeling was it would advantage the strongest players, so they wouldn't be limitated anymore. And it's actually the case.

But ! We weren't aware at first sight of the actual range of this change. We had aways thought our troops could be affected wherever thay were garrisonned.

Actually, it was not the case. Only the ones that were guarding your walls were, so the main victims were actually beginners with low grain self production who were building troops, that were leaving as they were trained.

In this context, things appear very differently. Plarium received lost of complaints, and judged something had to be actally done.

Of course the high end players are no limiteless, but they're less numerous than the crowd of players who were losing the few troops they were hardly producing overnight, so we really can't blame Plarium to have eased their lives.

All players have to be taken in account, experienced (from real experience ! :D) ones and beginners alike, and Plarium was looking for a way to help beginners to get past the first difficulties as rookies, so they just wouldn't lose hope and leave prematurely.

I know it follows a general tendancy to make online games less challenging as a counterpart to making them more accessible to everybody... But it's not specific to Plarium.

@ElitePhantom

Moved our discussion here

Archons, even before this update you had a possibility to develop your City faster with the help of Drachmas. You can buy experience points only till the 70th level and this new feature doesn't influence on the game balance. If you want it, you buy it. If you don't like it, you won't buy it.

Nevertheless, the true experience you can earn only participating in Battles. In order to be more experienced Archon you should develop your City, troops, sign new agreements, upgrade them, take part in Tournaments, fight with Xerxes, capture Pans with your Coalition! But there are such situations when you need several points till the next Level and you want to reach it so much! Then you can buy some points It just points, but in order to be a true Archon you need working hard 

But...

Basileus Leonidas said:

"Nevertheless, the true experience you can earn only participating in Battles. In order to be more experienced Archon you should develop your City, troops, sign new agreements, upgrade them, take part in Tournaments, fight with Xerxes, capture Pans with your Coalition! But there are such situations when you need several points till the next Level and you want to reach it so much! Then you can buy some points It just points, but in order to be a true Archon you need working hard"

...or a credit card that isn't maxed out.  Perhaps, refinance your home on top of that?  

Plariums pixels aren't worth the colors on our screens, yet you people keep offering up pay-to-win strategies for those idiots out there who want to blow all their money on your pixels.  So let's just say some little level 35 decides to max out his credit card buying levels, drachma, units, articles, GPs, and all the other premium content in this game. He goes completely apeshit and levels himself up to your "max" level 70 with a full army of champs...how is that NOT pay-to-win?  The only one "winning" here is Plarium.  They get to laugh all the way to the bank, while this poor soul loses everything he owns to his credit card balance.  The rest of us go find another game to play.  Good luck with that strategy Plarium!  You won't be in business long with that kind of reputation!  Enjoy the ride while you can.

...or a credit card that isn't maxed out.  Perhaps, refinance your home on top of that?  

Plariums pixels aren't worth the colors on our screens, yet you people keep offering up pay-to-win strategies for those idiots out there who want to blow all their money on your pixels.  So let's just say some little level 35 decides to max out his credit card buying levels, drachma, units, articles, GPs, and all the other premium content in this game. He goes completely apeshit and levels himself up to your "max" level 70 with a full army of champs...how is that NOT pay-to-win?  The only one "winning" here is Plarium.  They get to laugh all the way to the bank, while this poor soul loses everything he owns to his credit card balance.  The rest of us go find another game to play.  Good luck with that strategy Plarium!  You won't be in business long with that kind of reputation!  Enjoy the ride while you can.

Yeah, it's more a "pay to brag" feature here... :p

Wha'ts moslty worrying us as veterans playing in a coaltion still having a bt of turnover, is we won't be able to judge applicants ability on their level anymore.

Yes, I know you said we'll have to learn to know them better, which is actually wise.

Well, we'll see... I think our level requirement is precisely 70... That's bad luck. ^^ LOL

There's a point I'm not agreeing with : this story of colonies...

Am I the only one who respects the fact someone was holding them first, then ?

I don't care for the level.

However, level is important to qualify a target to raid for PVP or quests... Some under defended fake veterans may think they were quieter before atificially levelling up... :p

I just read this whole post and the bottom line is you cannot pay for true experience and I have a feeling that those requesting to level up quickly are the new coiners trying to play catch up with those of us who had to work for over 8-12 months to get past level 70 with many trials and tribulations along the way.

Sure level does not dictate the player but actually earning the right to be a level 70 or above through actual game play in my opinion is a birthright of sorts and to know others can do it with the click of a button is disheartening. A real slap in the face to those who have fought hard to get here.

Loosening the belt a notch here and there is a clear indication that sales are slow, just like in the real world when the price of gas drops, it's a clear indication of a bad economy but the masses see it othwerwise.

Uncle Junior said:

Morteee I know the rules better than anyone, you and elite phantome incuded. I was a mod and quit because I didnt want to defend crap like this. So shhhhh please.

ElitePhantome, before I go rampage on infinity, here is an explanation of what experience means

Experience is the knowledge or mastery of an event or subject gained through involvement in or exposure to it

If you buy experience it means you werent involved in jack or were exposed to jack.

Now get ready to experience something

they are buying experience points, not the experience itself, the experience itself is what makes you better, not the accrual of points ;)

Need To Progress To The Next Level, Quickly? No Problem!

Now, Get Experience Points With Just One Click!

A message from the marathoners!

Archons!

You may now purchase Experience Points (XP) instantly. Though there are limits to such purchases, in many cases, you will be able to get enough to boost yourself to the next Level.

Making this step is easy. Simply click the "+" next to your Experience bar. You will see how many Points are needed to progress to the next Level, or, if it is too far away, how much closer you can get. Click "Purchase" to complete the transaction.

With the lands of Sparta so hotly contested, every minute is important, and experience is invaluable. Accelerate your development and put yourself on the path to glory!

Basileus Leonidas

You gave an answer to yourself, I thought you were educated. It makes a difference. Than rename the word EXPERIENCE points to Pointless Points, because experience is gained experiencing something, gaining it as you play. Do you know the meaning of the word? You really are spineless, I always thought mart was too harsh with you but hes spot on.

May I know the point to quoting other people's messages and say nothing else ? Did the last two posters forget their brains at home this morning, maybe ? :^p

I'm sorry, but on all forums in the world, this is jut called flood and has to be moderated. Please post only if you have something to say, or, in addition to your posts getting deleted to clean up the topic, you could get banned.

Thank you for your attention.