Impressions of alpha 8 startup

Now that the dust has settled from the start of alpha 8 just thought I would give my opinions.Again the placement of heroes makes no sense at all. When a dwelling is 2 cells from your neighbors dwelling it is a pointless positon for both players. The player with time and money to spare will be the winner of this space. If this is the reason for the placement then the game will lose a lot of players.I have started 5 heroes and not one is in a playable spot. I could put up screenshots, but I am sure everyone can see areas around them with the same problem. I have spent my entire start up budget and have no playable hero. I will have to delete and lose my start up bonus to start another hero if I want to play right now, if I auto delete I will be out of sync with the rest of my alliance. Not sure at this time what my decision will be or even if I will even keep playing.I never got a chance to play any points of interest. I noticed that some of my heroes had many of them and 1 hero had only 2. There did not seem to be any consistency with the placements of these either.I had one hero with new 'candy game', never played it much, but seems like it will be a good addition to the game.I am sure there will players who will criticize my comments and others that will agree with me. 

I have to agree with the critique of the placement algorithm.  We have a few players most of whom are dedicated to playing this game and even if in a final version things won't be crowded like they are now because of the transient nature of players, the fact is they are now and are likely to remain so until this game has a drastic increase in player numbers.  Why can't the algorithm be temporarily changed for the small numbers that exist as an experiment just to see how it works out and then changed back if it doesn't work out or when a lot more players come in?

I know and I've been here a while and sometimes it works and sometimes it may take a while to seem as it is.  One thing that seems different this time though is when people start new heroes (even a day apart) they are landing very close to the ones they are abandoning.    That sort of defeats the purpose lol.  Is that new? 

Oh and we did wait almost 2 weeks for just the reason you suggested.  :-)  Sometimes I do listen Bers.  :-)

So you recommend that all new players, the players without money to spend, the ones without powerful alliances, the ones that can not spend the first 36 hours of a new alpha on line do not start for 30 days? This should be added to the info about new alpha so we all know the 'rules'. When all you have to do is change how we are placed from the beginning. 

to me your first hero was in a very nice spot, with much room, and sure I was so happy when you deleted it. I also thought if you had grown it and stayed you would have had a great spot.

to me your first hero was in a very nice spot, with much room, and sure I was so happy when you deleted it. I also thought if you had grown it and stayed you would have had a great spot.

what first hero? I have all the ones I have started with still. I am boxed in and touching borders with everyone of them.

you had a hero Grimalkin up by tuey. I know it was you! Even now the other Grimalkin is not blocked in

my bad. yes I did have another hero. 12 minutes trade time from you. I am sure I would of got 'advise to relocate' very soon. and sorry the other grim has no chance to grow unless you can convince the players around her to delete.

my bad. yes I did have another hero. 12 minutes trade time from you. I am sure I would of got 'advise to relocate' very soon. and sorry the other grim has no chance to grow unless you can convince the players around her to delete.

This may sound dumb, but does it change anything if 

culture numbers required for cells are increased and

cell numbers required for settling are decreased?

so if it's too crowded for you, the advice is the same as with all previous alphas - wait a month or so.

With all due respect, berserker, I'm not so sure this is good business messaging. It takes 21 days for people to break a habit. And this game is a habit when it comes right down to it. You really do run the risk of your players (who are your customers) not coming back after 30 days because they have found another habit to take the place of this habit. There are many (at least 5 people have said this to me in the last 2 days) who are wondering 'why do I even play this game.' Maybe I just don't understand gaming and how the gaming world works, but I do understand marketing and how to engage and keep customers and this message (come back in 30 days) confuses me.

I'm curious. When we had many, many fewer players we had multiple continents to land on and with the exception of a couple of incidents, this kind of situation did not arise, naturally.  :-)  Is there a reason northern and southern tropics (just an example) couldn't be opened so people can select their hemisphere, if not their climate zone?

Yea the come back on 30 days comment is not right. I think those told to just deal with it or wait a month will just leave eventually and ultimately stopping possible future sales. No matter the reason, placing hero's 2-4 cells from each other is ridiculous. I know almost every long time player in this game and you all say the same thing in game. And let's be honest, we all tell people to move, or, attack for land. I think that is the main reason war starts and players feel bullied and leave. Fix placement and you solve most problems. 

I would like to ask again for some kind of function in the game that would allow you to delete the hero within say 12 hours of starting and keep everything you have. within that time frame, you will know who the neighbors are close at hand. It is very disheartening to play for a few days and have a neighbor ask you to leave and start over. If you delete you lose all the goodies, if you let it auto delete you have to wait a few days or a week to start again plus you lose all the goodies from the prior alpha or prior victory.  I am getting ready to come back in and that is my main concern at this time. 

There are two domains, not far from Diana, whose dwellings are literally 1 cell apart so that they form a line 3 cells long with the dwellings at either "end". 

Well just to add  some of the dedicated players didn't start right away.  Some of us waited 14 days to start and it was still the same crowding problem.   I just want to ask a question of the developers:  Is there a reason why you can't open both the Northern and Southern climate zones at the same time so there could be a choice where you want to land.   I will apologize if it has already been stated--I didn't see anything .

The way the game works right now can be put into a short sentence "kill (others or yourself (by constantly abandoning heroes))  or be killed". If that was the concept of the game all along, neither do I know, nor do I care (anymore). So lets make it clear: somehow those we call "bullies" , if they want it or not doesn't even matter - need to - no must (!) do that, 'cause otherwise they will be "bullied" by others...it's the game that sucks (or doesn't, if it was the concept) big time on that aspect.

The way the game works right now can be put into a short sentence "kill (others or yourself (by constantly abandoning heroes))  or be killed". If that was the concept of the game all along, neither do I know, nor do I care (anymore). So lets make it clear: somehow those we call "bullies" , if they want it or not doesn't even matter - need to - no must (!) do that, 'cause otherwise they will be "bullied" by others...it's the game that sucks (or doesn't, if it was the concept) big time on that aspect.

You're completely ignoring the core of a multiplayer game : competitivity .

Without that interaction between players this game has no sense .... By experience, in all the multiplayer game only the "strongest" will remain : peoples with money ( which are the best customers targets for the devs ) , peoples with a lot of time to play , peoples having the ability to create diplomatic / friendship relations ....this game is not suitable for lonely players , so , if this game doesnt match with your expectations, just leave it and stop insulting the devs ....this game will be a great one.

The way the game works right now can be put into a short sentence "kill (others or yourself (by constantly abandoning heroes))  or be killed". If that was the concept of the game all along, neither do I know, nor do I care (anymore). So lets make it clear: somehow those we call "bullies" , if they want it or not doesn't even matter - need to - no must (!) do that, 'cause otherwise they will be "bullied" by others...it's the game that sucks (or doesn't, if it was the concept) big time on that aspect.

You're completely ignoring the core of a multiplayer game : competitivity .

Without that interaction between players this game has no sense .... By experience, in all the multiplayer game only the "strongest" will remain : peoples with money ( which are the best customers targets for the devs ) , peoples with a lot of time to play , peoples having the ability to create diplomatic / friendship relations ....this game is not suitable for lonely players , so , if this game doesnt match with your expectations, just leave it and stop insulting the devs ....this game will be a great one.

Could you please quote the words where I was "insulting the devs" ? I even show some understanding, why players behave the way they do. So I'm sorry ,but you're on the wrong path, if you think, that putting words in other peoples' mouths they never said or intended to say, will stop them from stating their opinion- it won't work ! If you follow the history of the discussions regarding the way this game works, you will very well know, that there has always been discussion about the facts that have been brought up in this thread once again - and not by me. Oh, and one more thing: I have been spending quite some money to this game, just because I like the special places aspect of the game and wanted to support the devs. So, if you think only those interested in the war-game aspect (or "multiplayer game" aspect, as you would put it) are spending money, then that's just plain wrong.

If "this game will be a great one", remains to be seen...If it goes further down the "multiplayer-game"-path, then I must say, that there are already plenty on the internet.