Declaring War suggestion

It is hard to watch Alpha after Alpha the War alliances declaring War on the same alliances/players. Perhaps things could be stirred a little by for example setting a time frame on duration of the war, lets say 30 days, and granting 30 day Truce period to prevent declaring the war by the same War alliance right away. It would force the war alliances to look for other targets and make the game less repetitive :)

I can not speak for all war alliances, but most fights are due to close borders. Building towns on borders, pushing culture to grab globals, destroying a neighbor to get globals. It's all the same, does not make a difference if the player is collect or despot, we are still aggressive for space on both sides. A 30 day truce would just allow the cultural expanding aggressors to grow without the warriors being able to fight back. My alliance has been in a war with a same alliance a few alphas now for this exact reason. The devs are looking for ways to help such alliances from such attacks, but personally I feel if players in game used a diplomatic approach with other alliance leaders this problem could be solved. Space will never change, the devs want us all to be packed in like sardines and naturally it will cause aggression. Just my opinion.

I can second what dBarns has said.  I don't declare war without reason and it's 99% the result of culture warriors and their behaviors.

The problem is that the game is too small. There aren't even that many alliances. According to the rankings (all time), only 12 alliances have 10 towns or more. Even if you choose alliances at random to declare war on, you'll end up with similar wars all the time.

How does that explain what happened to my country? Obviously, my alliance had already had war declared, but I wasn't aggressive and didn't build on any borders. So while I get that I was in someone's way of a harbor town, I received no overtures of diplomacy. I can't speak for any alliance, war or otherwise, as I was new to the game and I don't have any experience. If I'm lumped into a category because of the alliance I chose, then so be it. Though I can't see how you can claim to only target people that are aggressive or are taking up space. I wasn't. 

As I've expressed before, I'm done with this game. I had my fun with naming my towns and antagonizing my neighbors. I would have been happy to be left alone to do puzzles and monster dens. Strategy games are not my thing, so I won't be returning to play. I hope you all, with the devs, can make this a more welcoming community and a game that new people will want to keep playing. As of right now, it's incredibly frustrating to have months of work wiped out in a day.

As a suggestion to the devs: Maybe see if you can find out how many players have abandoned this game. And get a survey of some sort that tells you why they left. I can guarantee that I am not the only one that feels this way.

How many times should a player have to delete a domain to make you happy?  Everyone wants space, I have been told by 4 different alliances  to move. Some politely, some demanding, some by fireworks and some by attack. The problem is we are spaced  to close together when the hero is started. Even now when many players are starting a second or third hero, many are placed 2 cells from each other. It then becomes a race, and usually the player willing to spend money on speed up wins. 

I had my fun with naming my towns and antagonizing my neighbors.

I do not know why that alliance targeted you, but you did border build on them using town names like "Come At Me Bro" i mean really? That is asking for trouble... 

And i did say in my post that we are too close at start, as long as the game plants us 2 cells away from each other the aggression will just continue to get worse. Sorry but this is just true.

When alliance leaders and/or alliance members do those type of aggressive things it does fall badly on their entire alliance when war is declared, this is also a sad truth. I do not know why you personally was attacked, again i can not speak for other alliances. But those town names even had me wanting to come for a visit :)

But the points already made in this thread are 100% accurate, the game is just too small, no matter how many times you play through you will still end up fighting with the same people eventually. And the devs set the game to place us 2 cells away from each other, and naturally, cause aggression. Maybe they want players to get upset? Or maybe they want players to rush progress using speedups in hopes of expanding faster than your neighbor? Idk, but the town placements are the largest problem i would say.

I've been saying for a long time that domains drop too close to one another and too close to more developed, larger kingdoms.  Bers has said that this is a problem in this environment because the players here now are dedicated and not likely to leave or move.  He has said he expects there to be more of a transient nature to the beginning heroes as the game gets larger.  I don't know and don't think anyone can know until it happens but for this alpha testing I still think the placement algorithm puts us too close together. 

I won't repeat what was said before but I can say with certainty that I am one of those that requests or advises people to move out of my way and that of my alliance members.  There are reasons for this. 

One, I grow fast and large as do many of my members and eventually, we will fight for space that is inhabited by someone else whom we have advised to move.  Lots of small domains dotting the landscape belonging to accounts with 3, 4 and 5 heroes are obstacles and can't all be played to the advantage of the player/owner tbh.  I and many of my members have but one hero.  We do not take up space with a bunch of heroes we can't possibly nurture to strength or size.  If we see someone taking up space we want and that person has a bunch of small heroes (some in proximity to one another btw) we will attack.  It's as simple as that.

Second, my alliance works best when the members are near one another for a variety of reasons I won't detail here.  But we will advise people to relocate so we can share a block of land by design. 

What I sense is going on here is people are taking  attacks personally.  For most of us, players in the way are obstacles and just another element of the game we have to overcome.  While I agree that it is very hard to start over after some months I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a competitive game.  So, if you can't compete or keep up with a neighbor it's best to limit your heroes to one or two and to move out of the way of the larger players.  Failing that, perhaps it's something to consider talking to your neighbors and saying, "hey I know I won't get as big as you but I would like to stay here.  Perhaps we can come to an agreement whereby I lend you resources you need if I have them and I will not build toward your borders unless you say it's okay to do so."   Border building, especially to steal globals is a no no.  I, for one, have entered into those agreements and it has worked out just fine.  :-)  That being said, if someone advises relocation early, and tells you that you will be hit if you stay where you are, don't take that lightly if you want a fun experience.  Move.  Early and often if necessary, but move or start a few weeks after day one of the stage. :-)

The bottom line is proactive game play taking into consideration your neighbors and your own game play style can go a long way toward making your game a much more pleasant experience.

f we see someone taking up space we want and that person has a bunch of small heroes (some in proximity to one another btw) we will attack.  It's as simple as that.So now you are deciding how another plays? What gives you the right to decide how many heros anyone has?Many heros are started in hope that one will be left alone so that we can also enjoy some of the puzzles and games.

I am not deciding anything.  I'm just giving advice based on my experiences since Alpha 2 is all.  Take it or leave it.  It makes no difference to me.  :-)

Another reason for the same alliances being at war every time is that the game is slow enough such that the most in-game power belongs to the same core group of players every time. These players do not have the same interests, and so, will be in conflict. This creates a kind of stagnation of the game state, in simple terms.

A fix could be to add incentive for players to win the game (ie. achieving a victory condition). Right now, 'winning' the game is the same as losing the game, in that you are wiped.

It is hard to watch Alpha after Alpha the War alliances declaring War on the same alliances/players. Perhaps things could be stirred a little by for example setting a time frame on duration of the war, lets say 30 days, and granting 30 day Truce period to prevent declaring the war by the same War alliance right away. It would force the war alliances to look for other targets and make the game less repetitive :)

Instead of asking for more and more features for protection , why dont you learn to use correctly ALL the other features already installed? You have taverns and lighthouses to speed up the speed of the reinforcements send. This has been implemented since months now...

Currently we are snailed more than 1h before the attacks. That means all Teya have time to send units to reinforce! lBut, the point is, in most of the alliances we've attacked all we found as reinforcements were 20 or 30 classical or medieval units by player who've send to reinforce...kidding? I've always said that being selfish and being in an alliance is NOT compatible sorry! I know tough defensive alliances perfectly able to defend and wiping out several armies, is doable, yes....maybe your alliance is attacked since alphas cause the attackers knows that you're not sending reinforcements and that your members are easy targets, with tiny defences, that's all. Think about that !

So, before accusing big alliances atttacking over and over again , maybe have a discussion with your alliance members..why they are reinfocing only 2 or 3 members exclusively and let the others without protection or reinforced with tiny armies? Is easy to say that is always the other's fault, never your's. 

****I will answer here to anonymous who post here : 

This is a strategy game.: farm aspects, puzzles, quests , hidden objects AND PvP! Maybe peoples just have to ask themselves if this game suits with their attempts, that's all. All strategy games have a stressfull part, is normal , is one of the purpose of the game. If a player cant handle it, maybe all he/she have to do is to go play Farm Up type games, there are hundreds outthere...and let here playing peoples who likes chalenges and ALL the aspects of the game...Dont accuse devs and the other players if this game is not corresponding to your idea of relaxing :-(( And keep in mind that if the PvP aspect of the game is completely "killed" the game will have no interest as a strategy game , it will be just another farmville game..;-(( 

Devs are doing hardly to balance all the aspects of the game and threatening  THEM that you gonna leave the game just because the game doesnt match with YOUR idea of the game is not fair imo...

Dont forget that we are here to test, the game of course, but to test also if we would like to play the game when it will be released ...testing every alpha, learning and restarting with a new strategy every time, is the best way to enjoy fully this great game :-)

By the way, lest we forget this is a 6 month session based game.  Currently there are only two victories implemented making potential boredom a factor.  30 days of forced truce removes the ability to war for 1/6 of the game session.  Considering wars have not usually started until we are three months in I don't think the 30 day cease fire is a workable plan. 

Instead, as Arya suggests, use the first three months to build defenses and coordinate reinforcements.  :-)

Is this session 3 months old already?  If not then the last statement does not hold any water. 

If I am understanding all the comments correctly..when I start a hero I need to check to see if there is anyone close to me, which is impossible because of the fog, ask if I can stay here, and if not not delete and restart. But only one hero because I should not dot landscape with small domains, that seem to an invitation for attacks.

If I find a spot that no one objects to me building in, I can not build to fast or use jumper towns because someone in a large alliance might find that aggressive. But at the same time I am told to use all the build in game defences so I can defend. The warring alliances can build and grow, while the defending ones can build defences and wait til attacks start. Not so much fun on this side of the game.

Is this session 3 months old already?  If not then the last statement does not hold any water. 

If I am understanding all the comments correctly..when I start a hero I need to check to see if there is anyone close to me, which is impossible because of the fog, ask if I can stay here, and if not not delete and restart. But only one hero because I should not dot landscape with small domains, that seem to an invitation for attacks.

If I find a spot that no one objects to me building in, I can not build to fast or use jumper towns because someone in a large alliance might find that aggressive. But at the same time I am told to use all the build in game defences so I can defend. The warring alliances can build and grow, while the defending ones can build defences and wait til attacks start. Not so much fun on this side of the game.

Yes, we are playing this alpha since more than 3 months now...

Some players are focusing on clearing huge areas of fog, so, prolly, in the beginning of each alpha your neighbours will found you before you've found them...You're missing a very important point in this game : communication / relationship ...I cant speak for the other alliances, but I'm always ask very early to a player to relocate if needed. I am doing that to avoid to the other player to invest time, ressources and sometimes money. Is easier to relocate when the country is only few cells big... Some players decide to stay tho...despite our warnings.

When the player accept to relocate without insults and call names, and he/she is listening my arguments I'm always offering ressources , protection and / or I'm recommending the new hero created in a friend alliance. Sometimes I 'm even proposing to take the second hero in our alliance.  A player who've negociated wisely his relocation wont be bother for his second hero, he will have the chance to play safe and enjoy the game. I see now on the map nice countries of neutrals players under veteran's protections. Those players were wise and understood that they will have a lot to win if they are accepting a fair proposal as soon as possible. 

FYI : a  player under a veteran's protection is protected for the whole alpha  - is one of Teya's unwritten rules -  no one will attack him. 

I guess that the new people (Anonymous) have to be told again that this is not a released game we are in TEST MODE.  The same alliances are attacked because you all haven't learned yet to use what's been given to collective players.  Despot player are always testing the new restriction that are given to them each stage.  So if you want to be here and are tired of being hit then READ the forum and build all items that are given to you and pay attention to how they work.  Then I suggest that you switch your politics and play despot.   We have 2 more politics to be tested this stage.   Give them a try and also try diplomacy with your neighbors you might find you like it. 

Is this session 3 months old already?  If not then the last statement does not hold any water. 

Why not check your facts before attacking my statements.  :-)  I've been both attacked and attacker and I am aware how painful it can be to lose what you've spent months building.  That is precisely the reason I advise people and ask people to move from near me and my people.  I have always offered to send resources to someone who moves at my request and like Arya have offered protection. 

There is a balance that needs to be maintained and for now, the stages are small and closed and the world itself is small so the balance is harder to achieve.   People have histories here and have played in the same alliances for several stages or more. 

Bers is right in that warrior players will get bored.  It's difficult as it is to mount an attack with long snail times, inefficient travel routes, the nerfed weapons and the sheer cost of trying to maintain and build an army and do research.  A lot of defensive tools have been implemented since I started here in A2.  It's a whole lot better for alliances to defend to the tune of a magnitude.  I don't know that anonymous has any basis for comparison but the veteran players from the earliest alphas do.  While the defensive tools are great and a necessary development I think that if war is watered down too much warriors won't play either.  :-)

Is this session 3 months old already?  If not then the last statement does not hold any water. 

Your hero may be 3 months but mine is not. I did not start at the beginning of alpha and had to restart hero many times before finding a place that was not wanted by anyone else.

You need both war and defensive players for people to pay for the game (and sustain it).

If war players start leaving because war is too weak, not many peaceful players will pay for the game, because they can just develop at their own pace. If war is too strong, it will be risky to spend money when your towns and cash can be wiped easily (assuming defenses are made weaker).

This is why defensive capabilities of players cannot keep increasing indefinitely.

It might sound contradictory, but a possible answer may be to make getting wiped more 'fun'. War players can still attack, while peaceful players are more likely to continue playing after being wiped. I know it's very easy to say, not to implement. Just some ideas.