This system has to go it destroys the point of playing after you have gotten enough behind in a game you have no chance of catching up. Bring back the old system instead where the diffrence between own killed and kills counted. There is no glory in going around killing off piles of ore, wood and their likes. In one game I now have killed twice as many as the second best , yet I'm only shared for 1st place . Thats just not the idea of the game I think. It's a wargame not a "keep a woodmill" game

I agree. I'd go back to having to use all the resources again and do as you suggest, kills minus deaths keeps people from fighting beyond sanity.

Too damn bad it will never happen, huh?

Yes, it is...what's too damn bad is all those that hailed the changes as the greatest thing and are almost all gone now...left behind is a few of us that warned against the changes but remain because we loved what the game once was.

There may still be an imbalance in that it's now possible to win a game with a minimum of fighting, I guess;
But however, this tribute system has caused (imho) a much needed change in the *player* incised/inscribed/imposed rules;

That is, because tribute is now so much more important, the unrealistic idea of an aggressive player leaving his territory unguarded while he traipes off to rush a neighboring castle, expecting other players to leave unclaimed buildings for him to claim later because the gamenews says he's at war, has always been totally absurd and is now a *thing (player rule)* of the past;

And it's also my humble opinion that some of you are still stumbling over that *player rule* of the past, unable to adjust whereas if you do adjust, you may find that the tribute system works fine and even causes a more realistic and enjoyable game ...

There have actually been circumstances in the past because of the *unrealistic player imposed rules* where while other players have been able to fatten their scores other players have had to sit idle which is also not my idea of a wargame either.

rex

Last Edited : Tuesday, 21 August 2012 - 00:59

I wish Req was able to reestablish the game back to the original version,on a server that everybody can access. Every library I go to will not let back on that old site,because of server problems.

If Requiem got money for his work he'd be a lot more likely to spend time here. He is so busy with his business and family that he just can't afford to spend time here any more, unfortunately.

I totally agree with what sugarleo said,and maybe if Req could find somebody that would be willing to manage the game for free,the game could get better. Or if he was willing to sell this game to some gaming company. That would be my option,if I didn't have the time to manage it,on a daily basis.

I would ask for money on a per hour basis in his case, he can then get payed for the time put in (he would ask us...the willing players)

I'd gladly pay a 'required' membership for the previous version....but not this one.

I came across an article recently speaking about games (in general) how popularity is decreasing. Now I don't play nor have had much experience with other games...but seems the general agreement was that games (like WOL) had been dumbed down, in hopes of attracting more members...even perhaps younger and younger members (in hopes of acquiring a player for longer years).
But appears (like here) it has resulted in the reverse...losing player base.

Many of us veteran players were happy to advise and teach newbies...helping maintain that base/capture those newly joining players.
That assisted those with the difficultly of learning the game....don't we all love challenges?...WOL was once a game that took a few weeks/months of learning and experience to actually feel you'd become at least an average player...longer and more experience to become skilled...that's what we liked...

Last Edited : Thursday, 30 August 2012 - 08:11

You also had to qualify to be able to play in the higher rank games. We had lvl 0-20 21-40 41-60 61-80 and so on, games. That in itself was motivation to become ever better, to be allowed to dance with the big elephants
Today there are so few of us that, that wouldn't be possible ofcourse.

EVE online is another game I play. The learning curve is pretty steep. In that game's case the whole appeal of it is how complicated it is. It actually attracts the right type of people. People whom it needs to be dumbed down for need not waste their time. If they do they lose interest quickly and leave the right kind of people behind. This creates the right type of community. EVE online has been gaining Subs consistently since it started. Never have they had a year of decline. I believe WoL to be the same type of game in that regard and it should therefore have at least the potential to reach that level of consistency in player base.

A game is only fun for as long as it is a challange and there are more things to learn. As soon as you feel it's too easy you lose interest. As UB said, players who are not willing to put in or have the mental abillity to keep up we do not need. There are many enough around who actually like difficulties and problemsolving.

I wonder if all of the active players paid 10 dollars a month,if that would be enough to persuade Req,to at least spend 1 or 2 days a month,on this game?

It might. I'd certainly chip in. If you or anyone else is serious, put some money in a Paypal account and start sending it!

I say we chip in and pay him an hourly rate for some of his time. Quite honestly us pitching in some kind of money so he sits down for periods of time to do things sounds better for such a small community than trying to get a monthly sub in and hope he works for a day or two. Just my humble opinion.

"Ultima Bahamut

Joined 1/12/2001
ICQ: Posted Saturday, 1 September 2012 - 03:40
"I say we chip in and pay him an hourly rate for some of his time.""

Twenty-seven of us @$10./head ought to be able to afford an hour of his time.


PS:
Well there are some professionals making as much as $350/hr.

rex

Last Edited : Saturday, 1 September 2012 - 07:11

Quite honestly that is a stretch. I doubt he makes that much in general. Of course I could always be wrong. I doubt he makes that much though.

Do anybody know what Req doe's for a living. Do his wife work?

Alex Fiedler, or Requiem, is in his mid-thirties, married with two young children. He lives in Sydney, Australia. He makes his living as a programmer and works with the Australian school systems making and maintaining their school administration software. I don't know if his wife works, but she does have two small kids and raises prize show bunnies!

Req began his programming career making patches and modules for the Quake series of games. That was when he was in his mid-teens. In about 1999 he began working on Waronline.net. The earliest members are from 2000, I believe. The game started with very crude overhead style maps, using ascii characters for the features, like troops and castles and mountains.

He then upgraded the game to a Flash-based map, what you see today. At the time, it was quite an innovation, allowing real-time graphic movement of troops using very slow modems. I played it in 56k for a number of years and it was as fast as was necessary.

The game gained popularity clans were formed. I myself joined in early 2004. Circa 2005 there were about a thousand active players here. Battles were constant and huge 40 player campaigns common. Shortly after I arrived the "double-trouble" two castles per player games began, so I learned how to play with that system.

All through this period the game was "tick-based" as opposed to "turn-based" as it is now. In a tick-based system your troops gain movement and health as time passes in the real world. Each hour (a tick) a troop would get a percentage of full movement and health added to it's potential. This allowed players to inch forward, hour by hour, day after day, sometimes going without sleep to keep from being wiped out overnight. Especially in clan games since you didn't want to let down your pals. It was pretty brutal.

In fact, it was SO brutal that many people were leaving because they couldn't possibly be online every minute of the day and night like some players I won't mention (Iceman ). Requiem decided to make the game turn-based to attempt to alleviate the problem of exhaustion.

Half the active players left immediately.

Some stopped playing campaigns and only played battles and duels. The main problem that had been the flaw of the tick-based game was gone, but a new one surfaced. In turn-based games everybody gets a new turn at the exact same time. If you aren't there for it you can get wiped out! So, now we had games where 10 people would all log on 30 seconds before the turn and have a miserable blind thrashing battle. In some cases I remember attempting to shoot an arrow only to have shot at a troop that just moved. The archer would see that as an order to move to that space. Usually, not a real good spot to be, either. Ah, the horror.

Anyway, the game was vastly changed and I think partly due to the change and partly due to web burnout, a lot of players were gone. Requiem was in a spot. There isn't a perfect simultaneous movement system for campaigns. Neither of the ones he had tried really solved all the problems of having multiple players moving around on a map in time.

He then decided to "simplify" the game to attract new players. Instead of using a number of resources (gems, wood, metal, stone) for each task that had to be accomplished, only gold would have a value beyond the small amount of tribute and experience one gets for destroying piles of resources. Instead of counting killed versus dead as a measure of the ranking, he used killed and tribute gained.

Half of the players left.

Slowly, as broadband arrived and people could play huge multiplayer games in realtime, simpler strategy games like this one suffered. Sadly, today there is only a small remnant of what was once an up and coming game, and as we who played it can attest, it was magnificent in its heyday. There was nothing on the web to compare to it, no matter how we looked.

continued...

Last Edited : Saturday, 1 September 2012 - 12:04

Requiem was and "is" working on another web game, called War of Kings, but realistically, it is unlikely to happen at all in my opinion, and certainly not while he is in the middle of raising a family. I have told him that he made a mistake in falling in love, getting married and having kids when he could be a bitter old computer fart in his folk's basement, making upwards of $10,000 a year from his games! Oh well, the follies of youth, eh?

So. We make suggestions and report bugs but unless the game is actually on fire Req won't look in our direction. However. If he was getting an extra $250 a month from us, I bet he would snap to a bit! Who wouldn't? He'd want to spend time fixing stuff and of course he'll want to hear from the old-timers about changing the game back to some period or other ad infinitum ad nauseum. Blah blah blah.

I'd be happy if the forum search worked and people couldn't move 6,000 hexes a turn in the Proving Grounds and people's troops didn't suddenly turn invisible and so on. I will send Requiem $10 US each month via PayPal. (Hey, I paid for Life Membership when it was cheap, so ha ha!)

If others wish to do the same it would be very cool. I know many people here may not have the money or possibly the age to do this, so I am not making it a demand of any kind. But if you think you can do this, you would be paving the way for some needed fixes and who knows what else. Those of us who stick with this game during this period will be the true wol-nuts and deserve recognition and benefits.("They'll never take our freeeeeeeeeedooooommmmmmmm!") Of course this would also entitle you to monthly membership.

I hope this little discourse has enlightened one and all and I thank you for your solicitude in reading this far!

The Mogerator