Realm of Empires - you choose the game you want to play

This is my second installment in my attempt to answer the question of why Realm 2 is not as fast as Realm 1 (see first part http://realmofempires.blogspot.com/2008/11/is-game-too-slow-at-start.html )

Please note that Realm Of Empires is designed such that you can choose from a variety of game styles.

Realm 1 is a fast realm, Realm 2 is slower. If you find that you have a lot of time to dedicate to this game, Realm 1 should be your choice. If you only have a few minutes per day, Realm 2 is your option.

We plan to release many more realms. There will be:
  • super-speed realms (perhaps 100x normal speed)
  • tournament realms (fix-duration realms, probably also very fast)
  • slow realms (perhaps slower than Realm 2)
  • and a variety of in-betweens.
  • Later on, well introduce custom & private realms as well!



Note we are still in BETA. Yes, we do not have yet a completed game. Many features we feel are really needed are still missing. We are now experimenting with different parameters and we listen to your comments very, very closely.

Once we have a game we and you are satisfied with, then we'll work on growing its membership more and more numerous realm will make sense.

56 comments:

processgolem said...

I'm having fun in both realms and I have been playing for a week I joined clans in both from my understanding I would have been picked off in realm one and be out of the game if I had tried to run it alone!

I'm spending more than 15 minutes a day though but unlike when I played Nebulous I am sleeping and its a game not an obsession.

I have been nursing my silver/growth rate through the day in both realms,maybe a slight advantage that way or me being a quirky nerd

Some of my friends are in Realm 2 NEW to the game,with about equal growth,the slow speed means it will be a slow buzz so may relieve the stress of unsatisfying work situations longer when we get to battle,at least for me.
It's better than just clicking a button and waiting for the logarithm to pronounce your fate this game needs a bit of thought and planning first,when its not satisfying I'll leave.

New players joining after we founders in Realm 2 need a bit more protection in future to stop big players mashing them as they come out of protection

You want a quick kill Galaxians,Rocket Raiders,Star Trek Armada.

I'm meeting interesting people I would not think to talk to in my "ordinary"life.

So far top game I'd buy a T-shirt and recommend it in favour of some others I play on facebook

Anonymous said...

Love the game and the thoughtful approach to the gameplay.

As a pretty new player I'm enjoying getting involved early in Realm 2 and like the pace so ya-boo-sucks to the nay-sayers :)

My suggestion would be different parameters in different games such as Clan sizes/number of allies/NAPs and even joining random clans to help you meet new people.

Anyway keep up the good work!

Unknown said...

I started both Realms at the same time at the end of last week. I'm enjoying the variety in gameplay and don't see the point in making R2 more like R1. I would be interested to know how frequently new realms are likely to appear. Do you have a date in mind for Realm 3 yet? I think it's going to be important that new realms come frequently, maybe even 1 a month or every 6 weeks as it's currently very difficult for new players to get established in R1, and I reckon it'll be the same in R2 in a month or so. Loving RoE. Keep 'em coming.

G. said...

Bruce, its is our intention to open a new realm as often as needed but since we are still in beta and have few players, it may be impossible to open a new realm every month

Anonymous said...

The game speed is fine, however the cost of the buildings should be the same as R1.. But am loving the game none the less

Anonymous said...

I have just started playing this game. I seriously doubt that your game is friendly to new comers,I wont want to play it as it is. However if u introduce something like I mention below, the game will become much more interesting and balanced.
new unit : King , each new player has 1 by default (2nd one not allowed or maybe allowed say after 10 villages etc)
properties of King : can give a speech in a town to restore villager confidence and prevent losing it.
can travel to other village to give speech but travel is very slow.
Impact : u hav a high chance of not losing ur last village. However if u have a lot of villages, its easy to lose one.
That will however also reduce the village count vs player count, so you need to introduce a method of colonising... building a village from scratch.. would not cost too much but require some time from king and some spare military etc..

maybe introduce such an idea in only 1 realm to test it, as of otherwise I see the game reducing in numbers pretty fast and only 2 or 3 alliances playing it few months later.

Unknown said...

I would love to see more action in the attack phase. Some sort of defender of the crown style attack. Maybe even create a couple of little flash apps that are embedded in the game.

Anonymous said...

Exactly like Tribal Wars. Very original :)

Tentiqie said...

cool! I especially like the part about private realms but then there would be the problem of having too many of them...

dcipger said...

this sounds very cool! tournament realm sounds like it will be fun!

Anonymous said...

Yes, it is like Tribal Wars (and Travian), but Tribal Wars is not what you would call a novel concept.

Hopefully we can enjoy this game a while before it gets to the point of being ruined by pre-formed alliances, 2 hour accounts, and multis. That turned me and a lot of other dedicated players off TW a long time ago :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry, that should be 24 hour accounts, where players from different time zones run one position...

Anonymous said...

I like the game, i can't think of anything to improve it.

Anonymous said...

Noob questions here:

How do I find out which eralm I am in?

How do I get to the other realm?

Anonymous said...

yeah.. i can't type.

REALM*

Anonymous said...

Well i see no problem with the game so far. I just think there should be an option to transfer units from on village food supply to another villages food supply. Noting that you own the village that your transferring your units to.
Just so that your new village you take over can be well protected even at its beginning stages. Which would allow you to build more stuff, whether units or incomplete building upgrades in a previously established villages.
Its better than having to get rid of X amount of units in one village so you can get something better. Well unless you only have one village.

Anonymous said...

I still think, on a future Relm, you should limit the number of PLAYERS, one clan can have. They can have a many villages as they want, but limiting them to say 100 players per clan would stop these mega clans from (3 or 4 mega clans) from ruling the relm and making growth nearly impossible.

Anonymous said...

What is Realm 3 suppose to be? Just curious

Umar said...

I am really enjoying ROE.
It would be really great if the servant system should be removed and all the feature made available for all of the users.
Or rather make features available based on the village count of the user.

Anonymous said...

A suggestion to the makers --- and it may have been suggested before...

Is it at all possible to create a system that will allow new players choose which Quadrant of the realm they would spawn in when they first sign on?

That way, existing gamer friends can play in the same clans and not being scattered all over the place, making it nearly impossible to assist each other. ..

Just a thought.

Anonymous said...

it would be cool if we would be able to choose where we want are village on the map so it can be easier for beginners to grow there empire i mean if i was beginner wich i am i wouldint want to start beside mega clan and all with 300000000 points each lol!!!

DukTape said...

I'm really enjoying this game. I am playing in Realm 2, and am just happy as can be with it. Sometimes I wish it'd go faster, but mostly I don't. I signed up in 3 and 4, too, just to look them over, but I don't have time to play in all three realms.

I would like to see my facebook friends that are in the realm, but they are all far away form me. I'm making new friends, which is cool, too, though.

Lee said...

I am a new player. It took some figuring out but I started to get very interested in this game. I like the slow pace which gives me a chance to learn something before I get wiped out. Unfortunately a recent event may start draining that interest away.
What i would love to do is start or join a small local clan and build it up as the game progresses.
I was already sizing up the locals as potential enemies and allies. But then, BOOM, a neighbor joins an uber clan and now i see that continuing is probably pointless. If I attack him I get 500 enemies. if I don't it will be only a matter of time before he goes after me. The support he will get would overwhelm me. So the choices are join this mega clan or another one, or end up with a very limited game with me being absorbed into a mega-clan, dead or alive.
Perhaps when a realm starts there should be a limit on how fast a clan can grow. That way there would be more clans of equal power and players would have more choices of what to do. Starting a clan and slowly growing it would be much more fun than having goliath clans decide how the game progresses. I feel like a Mom & Pop store where Wal-mart has set up shop next door. Soon I will be only a parking lot.
Thanks for the fun,
Lee

raymond harbour said...

i see the very same comment over and over . and now i see why i am a small clan of 6 players put in the middle of 4 larger clans of over 100 players now i am being attact buy one and i see that 2 of the major clans have a nap well if i attack this person back i have 2 of the larges clans on the realm slotering me that really is bad my hard work to grow gone and my chose is to join them . other than that the game is fun and most time i cant wait to check it but now i am not sure.

Raj said...

love the game but would appreciate having lower cost of silver mine and introduce features like sending army to attack someone in the future,i.e.,timed attacks.

Anonymous said...

Love the game fast... But, I have noticed that you have to be lucky to enjoy the game for a long period. It is not really up to the individual to like the game, yet how much you are bullied and where your original village is placed on the map in the beginning. Probably the number one thing I would change is a cap on the number of clan members. This will create less of a disadvantage for newer players and also create more structured rivalry between clans. War would be more intense because you would have to prep well and travel further distances to wage war! Like in real life!

Anonymous said...

Only complaint I have is the fact that you lose spies even when the enemy has none.

Anonymous said...

This is a lot like Utopia on Swirve games, which I have been an addict to for many years, although I love to actually see graphics and not just text, so I left that place to be on here instead.

Anonymous said...

As this is a game of clans, would be more interesting if there were territorial considerations, as is, for example, to attack rebel villages far more than a certain number of spaces.

Clans should occupy a contiguous territory among its members. each player could only attack villages of the neighboring clan or independent players within the territory of his clan. That player would have the option to join the clan which is surrounded by or die. In the latter case, the algorithm of the game would give him a chance to re-establish itself in another location away from any clan a certain number of spaces along with other players in the same situation, ie not belonging to any clan. He would then have the chance to join a new clan or found one or remain independent.

There should be a process of founding new villages by the players themselves in the territory of its clam while there were empty spaces, with no defensive skills. It could be the ease of merging two or more contiguous villages belonging to the same player, creating a village larger and more powerful.

In the same clan would be allowed to give or exchange villages among its members, as well as resources, troops and money.

Alliances and non-aggression pacts would be allowed only between neighboring clans, which would not prevent the conclusion of treaties with distant clans, aimed at strategic and support. Treaties may be controlled by the game or not, and could be allowed the establishment of embassies in clans anywhere, it would be represented by a village empowered to defend themselves, but not to attack. If attacked successfully, an embassy could not become a normal village. If the entire territory of a clam is conquered, it can be revived from their embassies, which would be normal villages. Therefore, it could be exchanged for a village on the outskirts of the territory where it is through negotiations with the host clan.


Each member of a clan would be entitled to vote to elect their representatives and administrators, whose weight would be the sum total of points of each. After that occurred the first election, the public profile page could no longer be changed, remaining as a sort of Magna Carta or Constitution of the Clan.

Thainah de Thainahland

Anonymous said...

I think it would be cool if the player could actually see his/her army in action in movement and during battles.

Anonymous said...

I think it would be cool if the player could actually see his/her army during actual battles and movement.

Anonymous said...

I've only been in one realm as of yet, but I'd like to see assasins that you could send in stealth to take out specific people (a Governor perhaps).

Anonymous said...

well i just play on realm 6 and i think it is great but un fair that the bigger ppl can destroy you and you can't protect your seld so i mean we should make it like you can't attack ppl with a lower 4 title lower or higher then you because it is un fair

Don Gallgher said...

I would like to seen a north vs south realm or an east vs west, that would make for a very large fight and would offer protection to new players on each side if you can not be attacked by your neighbors, but you would have to worry about the enemy on the other side of the border.

Anonymous said...

Don't know if it's been asked for but It would be helpful if village tags showed when you view unit or building summaries.

Anonymous said...

I'm loving this game thus far so much I'm addicted. I'd love to see some archers in the game. I'm a huge history buff and archers were a staple of middle war. I'd also like to be able to transfer your troops to one of your other villages like we do the silver. Everything else is fantastic though.

Anonymous said...

I think that the handicap of smaller players should have a time limit on it like the no attack at the first of the game. Maybe after a month, a player shoul lose his/her handicap. This will encourage players to build up their villages and thus advance in the game.

Anonymous said...

I love the game. I would like to see who is supporting a village with spy reports. Also, I would like to be able to move govs from 1 palace to another to be used there. Also, even though it does not affect game play, I would like to see an animated fight scene showing one army conquering another when a village is taken over. Just something cool to see other than an onscreen report stating the same old thing... I would also like the ability to knock a village down and off the map completely so you dont have to take over a village in order to rid it of your enemy. Also, add a fire treb, or fire archers. Something that once you attack a building, walls, etc, it continues to create damage and lower the unit points until a certain goal has been reached. Something like the building must be upgraded 2 levels to stop the fire, or something like that. Anyways, keep up the great work and thank you for the game!!!

Unknown said...

I'm loving the game right now, and i think that it would be cool to introduce the idea of colonising so that way you don't have to take a village. Also the idea of being able to choose where you spawn your first town to is a nice idea for new comers.

Unknown said...

I'm loving the game right now. I would like a couple things added though that could make the game a little more intresting to play and more friendly to new comers.
1. You can colonise a town instead of having to take the town with a govener like if you don't like the area you're in you can abandon you're village and colise somewhere.
2. You can choose your coordinates you spawn in when you establish you're town.

thx if u can add these changes
-Xan

Anonymous said...

if can make it we can coordinate those attack where we set it from the beginning, for example

Current IGT 0200

A Villages att X Village 0310 0900
A Villages att X Village 0311 0901
B Villages att X Village 0510 0902
B Villages att X Village 0511 0903

when time reach 0310, those attacks will launch itself, =D

sorry for broken english..

Anonymous said...

Two Cents Worth: I have only been playing RoE for the last 6 months, and REALLY enjoy it as a game. Realm 4 was the first Realm I started, but soon started Realm 5...and switched to it as it was faster paced...and more enjoyable.

Realm 5 is @ 2.5 speed...correct? I think it would be interesting to have a Realm speed up again by 1, to 3.5x speed.

Also, I would REALLY like to see archers added. You could have a division between archers and longbow. A thought would be that archers are the cheaper, have a moderate attack, but poor defence. Longbows, on he other hand, would have a very poor attack, but very good defence.

People may decided to longbow all their villages, making it really hard to take. However, the reverse is also true, it would be hard to take a village, if your army is all longbows.

Anyways, just a thought.

Anonymous said...

Two cents worth again...

I read through all the comments, and being only a player myself, hear are my thoughts for those interested to hear such ramblings.

1) Assassin...
An assassin would not work for killing certain individuals...because there is only one individual worthy to kill...the governor. If it was introduced, the problem would be cost and effect. Does the assassin need an army for protection, or can he just slip in? If he is able to just slip in, then what is his counter-meassure...body guards? If he is killing govs that cost a load of money, then should the assassin price also be higher still? There would seem to be disadvantage then in the cost to have more governors, but someone only have one assassin that can do all the dirty work.The only way I could see this working, is like govs, assassins demand twice the pay for each mission across your kingdom. Thus, my first hit costs 75,000 the next 150,000...so why not just build govs?

2. Clan Cap
Many have voiced their desire to have such in this forum. I would suggest the next Realm tests this out, with having a 100, or 50 member clan cap.

3. Pick your own location
I think the pros and cons would weigh each other out. New players, in which we all were at one time, have no idea what RoE really is, until they play. Secondly, you don't know what the Realm looks like, until you have entered the Realm with a chosen village. By that I mean, why would one location be better then the other, if you don't know who exists there. If you did, then the Realm would get huge as everyone would pick locations far away from others...which sorta already happens being placed on the rim. So, overall...I would keep the current system.

4.Flash Screens
I hear the argument that motion is awesome, and maybe one day RoE will be made into a video game...wait, wouldn't that be kinda like "Age of Empires?" Who knows, but I would offer this thought being a gamer, the same flash screens can get as boring as a screen of text, as they lose originality after the first few views, in which case I get more annoyed at the wasted time it take to view the same battle scene...and then desire they make more...vicious circle.

5. Transferring Units of Food.
I think this boils down to being able to increase the Farm size of villages. Or, it could be allowing a food storage building, much like the silver treasury. For the latter, it might work if one village had a farm with extra food to ship to another, on say a harvest every 24h...but in the end I think the better solution would be having a speciality option for larger farm...get to that later.

5. Losing Spies
Losing spies when another player has none.
Personally, I think this is fine, as in reality, with RoE states, a community may catch spied every now and then on their own.

6. Quadrant wars
North vs. south, east vs. south. I think this would eventually happen naturally once large clans conquer smaller ones. Eventually, the Realm would be controlled by one Clan...much like in Risk. However, playing Axis and Allies, the one thing that really is annoying is having crapy teammates...which is why I think it would be better to form our own clans, like it currently is set, then being forced into one.

7. Colonizing Villages
To be able to take a village, and then leave it.
Personally, I totally agree with this. It would be nice to have a button that allows a person to leave a village, with the warning, once they do so it will become a rebel village to them, and everyone else!

So that's my two cents on what has been said thus far.Look forward to everyone's thoughts.

Anonymous said...

Two Cents worth...yet again.

(I should probably make an account, as this post and the two prior entitled "two cents worth" are from me...so call me Justin for now)

New ideas for the community to consider, especially RoE team.

1) Village expansions
Keep R0E villages the same way they currently are. However, offer expansions to them at large costs. So, for example the Farm can increase to level 31, offering 30,000 food for another 100,000,000 silver. That would mean the treasury would also have to increase. The cost seems high, but would be dependent also on the Realm speed. I play Realm 5, so you can get 80,000 silver from one village every 5 hours. Say I have 10 villages, that is 800,000 every 5 hours. It would take me 125 hours to get this from all 10 villages, or just over 5 days. Allows for continual upgrades. Next could be Farm at level 32, costs 1,000,000,000 and so forth.
RoE developers...you could also make money by allowing people to buy these expansions, for USD. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this about a 7 for wanting to happen soon.

2. Archers & longbows
Already mentioned...but I think this is really important for anyone that likes history, and something new. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this a 10 for wanting to happen soon.

3. Battlefield
This is getting a little more complicated, but might be fun. Similar to the "Axis and Allies" principle, land is worth various amount of points. Thus, you can take surrounding land to increase, say our farming potential. (This would work great with the food storage idea, mentioned earlier). This food could never be counted on, but could be stored while you own it. Thus, people would have to defend their land surrounding their village, much like in history. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this about a 3 for wanting to happen soon.

4. Natural Disasters
Would really spice up the game if earthquakes, tornados, etc, etc made players have to rebuild villages and troops occasionally. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this about a 5 for wanting to happen soon.

5. Terrain variations & pros and cons
Would be interesting to have villages that are able to be placed on islands (water element required get to that) mountains, desserts, forest...etc, etc. An advantage to the mountain would be able to kill troops at a 2:1 ratio...thus everyone would want such a place. Desserts could be loss of a certain number of troops, due to dehydration. Forest, plus advantage to the defenders for knowing the area. Island, like mountain better odds of defending, depending on attack method/vessel. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this about a 8 for wanting to happen soon, but a 5 for complication factor. (Note: you could make a Realm like this for experienced players, where you could join for free as you normally do, or "buy a location" for USD in which you can start your first village on a mountain, etc, etc.)

Anonymous said...

6. Water terrain factor
Lakes, rivers, and even oceans. Only villages on bodies of water could attack other villages via water, on the same body of water. Thus, rivers would serve as a connecting point, to some, but not all. Water vessels could be created, which could use food as the resource....but better yet would be wood/metal, needing another mine creation. Various vessels could be created, and this could be for just one Realm as a test round. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this about a 5 for wanting to happen soon.

Specialities
Could be exclusive for those who buy the nobility package (if you want to make money), or for everyone. Over a certain timeframe, let's say here a week, a village can save up strength for boiling oil defence, flaming arrows, etc, etc. You could pick the incoming attack you wish to use the skill on, which would still create the gamble of wish is the real attack, and could only be used once. Say the oil, kills 1,000 units...it could be better used on militia, then inf, and better inf then knights. However, it can only kill those in that attack wave, thus the gamble. Flaming arrows could be similar, but maybe like defensive towers, able to choose the target on a wave. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this about a 2 for wanting to happen soon.

duffchaz said...

when you've plundered a village and you look at incomming troops to see what troops are comming in can you show how much silver they are bringing with them,i know i can go to my reports but this would be easier,thanx duf

Anonymous said...

how do i locate lost servants? the button is not working and i am missing 15 servants right now

j said...

I love "Justin"'s ideas of specialties, as in boiling water and flaming arrows. As for the idea of a water element, I believe it would probably be more work than it's worth. Plus, that's an advantage some players would get right from the start.

I think there should be a way to keep upgrading your village like what "Justin" said- farm level 31. It should take an insane amount of time and money, and itd be a sign of dedication.

Another idea I had was the possibility of a capitol village. Mabye give it bonuses, like less desertion and a higher silver rate, while making recruiting faster...

Anonymous said...

well 1 thing is with the land differences idea: the land the troops woeuld travel across would affect them too like if you traveled through a desrt of up a mountain, even if the enemy troops werent there in the desert, you would still loose troops. once more you should be able to choose your route to go, which might take more time, allowing them to get support, to keep troops, or loose some troops, depending on how long you were in that location, and what location.

MiDOZ-Sweden said...

I like the idea of the Assassins...
The Archers and longbows too....
And the Natural disasters...
LIKES the idea of flash screens... and to see troop movement.

I didn't like the idea of:
Boiling oil/water...
FORESTS/MOUNTAINS... and others..

YES... THAT'S ALL FOLKS...

HAVE FUN... THIS IS JUST A GAME!!

BEST REGARDS... MiDOZ FROM REALM 10
.... THE PROVEN ....

Anonymous said...

thank-you, for creating this game.

Anonymous said...

I am a hard core Travian player and am now doing this one too..just have to say to all who dont like the mega clans and want to limit them..well you cant! They will just confed and be a bunch of smaller clans that are actually one..not much you can do. So far fun..but a little slow for me.. will have to figure out the rhelms and find a faster one at some point. Takes to long to build troopz, silver is slow going too but i guess i can raid vills for more (once the 800 hr troop ques are done).

Anonymous said...

Playing on the mobile version on a galaxy 3. I believe I am running ICE CREAM SANDWICH operating system. It will not allow me to recruit any less than the max. When I try to put a number in manually it deletes it instantly.

Your team is doing great! I quit realm 4 a year back cause I am never home. Love the mobile app and am now able to run the desktop version on my phone as well.
Gotta realm...

Anonymous said...

yes i have plaed both realm 1 and realm 2.. they are nice..but i love realm 1 that one is better than 2 part......
hey there is another game vinashi Empire building game .. really godone for timepass.

Unknown said...

So, um, still no private realms... not bad for 5 years...

Anonymous said...

Change the rules so stews can use troops from whoever they are stewing to support fellow clan members and allies -- If you can't do this then just do away with the stew completely!