Tel said:

I usually have 3 bot cities under siege and for as long as I can remember, they used to give (if not raided) a consistent figure around 3.5 to 4.0k overnight (depending how long I was AFK). Suddenly, the collection rate is approx one quarter of the previous rate (they are now full at 1104). I've checked with other regulars on the BOT column and they are saying the same and so it's not just me.

Obviously, I've no idea if a bug or planned change but maybe someone can enlighten me

Thanks

Sorry, cant enlighten you much except that Plaruíum will tell ya that they have nothin to do with bot cities, its just some other dudes.

Plarium is lying out of their bucktoothed arses, players cannot modify timber and bronze output, players can only modify grain by building more troops. I have seen plarium do this more than 6 months ago to a line of lvl 42 bots that were close by and relocoated awhile back to a line of lvl 54 bot cities that just reduced output to a 1/4 of what it used to be a couple of days ago. Bronze and timber ouput used to be 4400 now it is 1104/ I checked the line of lvl 67 bots and the same thing but not as bad of a recuction as the line of 54 bots.

Talking with others in the COA they are seeing the same - big reduction in the bronze / timber output of bot cities at whatever level they might be. Over the last day or so I've checked loads in a L54 column and a L53 row near me and they are all reduced in the same way.

Does kind of make it hard to believe that the bot cities are nothing to do with Plarium.

On the plus side, many a battle erupts over bot cities (never understood that myself) but now that the hourly rate is so much lower it makes it less attractive to have them under siege - I would suggest less attractive to the point of not worth bothering when 12 hours gives just over 1k. 

Tel said:

Talking with others in the COA they are seeing the same - big reduction in the bronze / timber output of bot cities at whatever level they might be. Over the last day or so I've checked loads in a L54 column and a L53 row near me and they are all reduced in the same way.

Does kind of make it hard to believe that the bot cities are nothing to do with Plarium.

On the plus side, many a battle erupts over bot cities (never understood that myself) but now that the hourly rate is so much lower it makes it less attractive to have them under siege - I would suggest less attractive to the point of not worth bothering when 12 hours gives just over 1k. 

Sadly, I am seeing the same reduction in my bot cities. What was once a thriving bot line has dwindled down to nothing. Two weeks ago, raids were in the 90-100k range. Along with an extra 5 raids from the capitol tournament, it was a great week to raid.

 It seemed that all of the bots were filled to capacity. However, all that has changed. There has been a change in the resources in these cities.

Remember, all we see is for graphics purposes. Behind that is a set of algorithms, that for all practical purposes, can be changed at will. 

The Plarium platform of games is basically the same-with minor graphic differences-but they all run the same mathematical algorithm(s)-spread out (on hosted servers) all over the world.

There is nothing we as players can change in the way Sparta WOE operates. Some small changes yes-but overall, changing the algorithm(s) requires a lot of back-end programming.

If I change the algorithm and make resources "scarce"-there will  be more player movement to gain resources. Bot raids and city raids leads to fights. Fights lead to wars...and subsequent troop losses and revivals. I have seen this particular "cycle" before here in Sparta. 

This "is" a business platform-it makes money. To think there is a static game environment would be erroneous. Also add to the equation is that Plarium has been sold.The  plans should be finalized in the next few months. What would you as the new owner want to see? 

I myself  play for the social aspect-when I notice a change like we are discussing, I just shrug it off.

Respect.

Mick

Hello, everyone. I'd like to clarify a few points that have been brought up to give you guys more information on this particular matter. 

Who made Bot Cities ? => Plarium

Who decrease the Resource Production of Bot Cities ? => Plarium

So the cities Owner is Plarium. These cities Owner (=>Plarium) is inactive since there are no real players behind them like all other cities which the owner make them active when login every day/week etc.

I would like to see old bot system immediately restored!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Dimitri Molchanov said:

Hello, everyone. I'd like to clarify a few points that have been brought up to give you guys more information on this particular matter. 

We do not manually adjust the amount of resources that these bot Cities produce, but we do have a system in place that will decrease the overall Resource production of a City whose owner has not been active for a certain amount of time. So I suspect what you are seeing is a gradual drop that is natural for abandoned Cities in our game. I should also emphasize that we are constantly working to encourage our players to focus on their main account and decrease the advantages that bot owners would hold over other players. In addition, Cities that are associated with illicit Resource sellers are periodically removed, which would explain why you might see a cluster of "farms" disappear overnight. Having multitudes of such clusters would lead to the gameplay stagnating, which is naturally something to avoid.

Not being picky here .... but it was not a 'gradual' drop. It went from 370/hour to 92/hour whilst I was asleep !! All regular players get to know their particular bot row/column and changes such as this are not going to simply slip by under the radar.

Plarium could do so much better at avoiding the negativity that flourishes. Just like real life - people don't like surprises that are not 'nice'

IOANNIS TSIAMANTANIS said:

Who made Bot Cities ? => Plarium

Who decrease the Resource Production of Bot Cities ? => Plarium

So the cities Owner is Plarium. These cities Owner (=>Plarium) is inactive since there are no real players behind them like all other cities which the owner make them active when login every day/week etc.

We did not make those Cities, Ioannis. They are created by people who are trying to boost the Resources on their main account or are hoping to sell Resources/Troops to other players and use these bot Cities to gain the Resources quickly. This is not something we approve of or encouarge.

Dimitri Molchanov said:

IOANNIS TSIAMANTANIS said:

Who made Bot Cities ? => Plarium

Who decrease the Resource Production of Bot Cities ? => Plarium

So the cities Owner is Plarium. These cities Owner (=>Plarium) is inactive since there are no real players behind them like all other cities which the owner make them active when login every day/week etc.

We did not make those Cities, Ioannis. They are created by people who are trying to boost the Resources on their main account or are hoping to sell Resources/Troops to other players and use these bot Cities to gain the Resources quickly. This is not something we approve of or encouarge.

And Tel, we have never made a secret of our work against bot Cities. This resource drop is normal, and you should not be surprised to see the Cities removed completely when another wipe is in process. We encourage our players to find a better way of gaining the Resources they need.

One of yours moderators made an chart with those bot lines ,and posted some times ago here ? If you don't encourage that why he made that ??

 Wipe all bot cities on the botline  if you don't encourage   cheating 

One important question is   -Do bot cities help players and improve  game play?

I believe 'yes'.  I don't know who made bot cities. But  so many players use them and like them.  They are good for farming and sieges, missions.  Without bot cities, game mechanics would slow. Game interest could go down. Players maybe play less or stop playing.

More resources in Sparta  = more unit training and upgrading, with less time

More training and upgrading, with less time  = more player interactions  - pve or pvp

More player interactions = more frequent playing and better playing experiences

More frequent and better playing   experiences = more interest in Sparta and player-friend advertising

More game interest and advertising = more new players and happier  older players

More new and happier players =  more possible player   purchases.

Bot cities look like win-win.  Good  for players, good for Plarium.    But that is just my opinion.

Bria Alexandru, to clarify, we do not encourage creating and managing bots. If players are raiding and besieging those Cities, they are not breaking any rules and are allowed to take advantage of the situation while it lasts. But they need to be aware that at some point their "farms" can disappear or will experience a drop in Resource production.

can you guys finally as promissed remove te limit off buying recources a day ? thank you 

Well, the Plarium police closed in and the "this resource drop is normal" has somehow reversed itself and - at least for the bot row nearest to me - the rate is suddenly back to 370 / hour.

And people sometimes wonder why there is a credibility gap in what we are told .

All good fun.

Tel said:

Well, the Plarium police closed in and the "this resource drop is normal" has somehow reversed itself and - at least for the bot row nearest to me - the rate is suddenly back to 370 / hour.

And people sometimes wonder why there is a credibility gap in what we are told .

All good fun.

Dimitri Molchanov said:

Tel said:

Well, the Plarium police closed in and the "this resource drop is normal" has somehow reversed itself and - at least for the bot row nearest to me - the rate is suddenly back to 370 / hour.

And people sometimes wonder why there is a credibility gap in what we are told .

All good fun.

There is a very simple explanation for it, Tel. There was activity in the Cities you mentioned, if they are indeed bots then the owner likely checked in and were doing something, so the Resource production went up. 

Well, they are indeed bots as there are like several hundred all lined up :-) As i'm sure you know, some rows or columns are much longer. I started to map them all but went screen-blind LOL

I'm far from an expert in the game mechanics but if there is a plausible reason then, for me at least, it feels better.

I always try for 'positive dissatisfaction' if there is something that needs improving/explanation/whatever. As I said somewhere earlier, things changing without plausible explanation or reasoning will always create negativity from many.

Thanks for the response.

What is the problem with the bot cities and their resources ?

Productivity stats dropped again this week ;(