PDA

View Full Version : Damned if you do and damned if you don't....



Agent Orange
12-30-2011, 10:10 AM
I got that funny feeling that the poor blokes at Funzio are thinking that this morning after they changed the way the rivals list works. Up until yesterday it took into account your level but also the number of allies you had. Because of that setup two things would happen. Those with a lot of allies but poor defense would get tossed into the lists of those with similar number of allies. That meant a massacre.

Now the way the list works is based entirely on your level so those who were using this 'feature' to hide because they had low or no allies suddenly got a real nasty surprise this morning when they logged in because many were tossed into the rivals lists of players at their level but with a lot more allies and more attack and defence power.

There now appears to be several thresholds I can't comment on levels below 40 so if anyone in the 10's, 20's, and 30's could look at their rivals lists and plot the range in terms of lowest level they see, highest they see and range of allies that would be great.

Here is what I can say based on data from my bros.

If you are in the 40's it looks like the range is from the high 30's to low 50's in terms of rivals levels. The number of allies doesn't seem to factor in as I am getting reports of a big spread although looking over the shoulder of a friend at L 44 it looks like all the rivals on his list are in the 200's so perhaps there is some tweeking taking place.

In the 50's I'm hearing that the spread is from the low 40's to 50's.

And for those over L 60 you are totally screwed because you got lumped in with everyone above 60!

I suspect these ranges are approximate as it may have a lot to do with your exact level...

The good part of this is that the devs seem to be listening. Not sure if this was the best thing to try though it actually feels better than the way it was before and it is in keeping with how the game seems to want to be played which is leveling up.

I guess this also underlines some problems with the mechanics of the game, someone posted I think it was z that their rivals list now only shows 4 rivals and I suspect that is because everyone else could be an ally I had about 8 at one point but it seems to have grown since then.

I think the game needs to take into account a rivals attack and defense score otherwise it is still too lopsided granted it may mean that those who have paid insane amounts of $$ to become the most powerful will wind up with nothing to attack. But that would be their own fault for fasttracking....

If attack and defense could not be a factor I think one other parameter could be used. If you have attacked or raided someone recently, say in the past 24 hours. If yes you turn up in the rivals list and if no then you don't. That migt give those being bombed into oblivion a breather and if they stick their heads up then they are fair game.

sonicbuzz
12-30-2011, 10:37 AM
I am L55 and throughout today have been seeing a spread from min 48 to max 64

With regards to alliances I am one of those that is screwed as I have 7!! The minimum I have seen is 23 and the maximum 300 the average is 203 so I don't stand a chance and am being constantly attacked and raided! I will give it 48 hours for them to fix otherwise I will find something else to do with my time because with the other change that seems to have been made (high casualties when completing high value missions e.g. everytime I hit a building 300 energy I lose a flamethrower 26k) it will take days to make any progress at the moment I have no cash to buy another flamethrower and keep getting raided so taking a long time to get some!!

frenda
12-30-2011, 11:00 AM
I'm a L37 and have seen 35-38 in my rivals list today. Allies numbers are all over the place. I think I'm liking this better than before. It seems to be working, but I've maintained a balance in all things, so I'm not getting whacked like some who played the low allies game or didn't build forces to keep up with their levels. Not smarter than others, I just believe in balance. :)

Agent Orange
12-30-2011, 11:20 AM
The one big problem is that all these changes midstream do not a strategy game make.....

Perhaps Funzio needs to post this kind of change in that unused News forum.....

Wildfire
12-30-2011, 11:20 AM
At Level 40 I'm seeing the same as you frenda, I also have gone for a balanced approach and it does seem to be the best way when the game changes like this. At our level if you had gone with very low numbers of allies, you are now easy prey for those PVP consecutive kill challanges. I've just done the 20 in a row one at the loss of 2 combat boats, 1 Avenger and 2 Rangers, 3 high value low casualty units and 2 low value high casualty ones across 20 attacks, go figure that out. However, I probably lost 35-40 units doing the 19 in a row a few days ago, so at some levels there's definitely more incentive to attack again.

Tramp Stamp
12-30-2011, 11:28 AM
Level 13, no noticeable change in rival list.

Dover
12-30-2011, 11:34 AM
Can anyone say if we should be ramping our allies up ASAP to avoid getting caught with too few allies? Is there truely no focus on the amount of allies you have and who can see you on their rival list?

Tramp Stamp
12-30-2011, 11:38 AM
I say keep tabs on what's going on in your rival list. The players at greatest risk are high level with low allies. Otherwise you'll notice yourself gradually falling behind.

Dover
12-30-2011, 11:41 AM
sounds good, i am L22 with 38 allies and was not getting attacked more than 3-4 times a day unless I left money unprotected, then it was 5-7 times, but nothing to write home about. I really need to get home and see if anything happened to my base after following you guys today.

chuck norris
12-30-2011, 11:59 AM
I'm rampin my allies as fast as bloody possible. Hammered is a light word to describe my base today. HF. I'm considering selling off a building or two to get more defense units.

Dover
12-30-2011, 12:05 PM
I'm considering selling off a building or two to get more defense units.

If you come across which defesive unit has the best bang for the buck give me a shout, I think it may be time to look into them in the next few levels.

Neruid
12-30-2011, 12:31 PM
I follow these general rules
1. Make sure you are at your effective ally cap per lvl. Just before you level up recruit another 5.
2. Similarly. Just before you level up buy 20 of the best defensive units you can afford to fit out your new allies
3. Expand the base sufficiently before you lvl so you can buy/ place all new available buildings.

Sure, this is a strategy game and although effective til now, keeping a low ally count just for the purposes of staying under the radar isn't really an effective strategy. Even with 200x 8 defence transports for a level 10 player with 50 allies is still going to keep you well protected with 1600 defence + player defence for example

Wildfire
12-30-2011, 01:06 PM
I'm playing cautious and sticking to my normal middle ground strategy. We are all assuming this change is going to stick but what if it's just a work experience kid in Funzio having a play while most of the the devs are still on their Christmas holidays!;) Just joking I think......

Agent Orange
12-30-2011, 01:21 PM
Yes that is the problem we don't have any way of knowing if this will be the end of it. Most likely not.

Something I do, I keep ally requests on hold until I need them. One of my bros had almost 200 pending this morning. He accepted 70 and he says it was interesting to see how fast his attack and defense pts rose. He had nuked a lot to try and get out from under the constant attacks and was just about there. Now he's back under attack.

chuck norris
12-30-2011, 04:37 PM
Sure, this is a strategy game and although effective til now, keeping a low ally count just for the purposes of staying under the radar isn't really an effective strategy.

LOL. that is the understatement of the day. Its actually completely stupid now.

Why, why, why...

whocareswhatmynameis
12-30-2011, 04:50 PM
i use "lean and mean" strategy. lvl 17, size 25. i see players with similar lvl (17-18) and size (25-38) in my rival list. i have noticed i'm being attacked more. not sure if players with higher military size can see me though.

Speed ump
12-30-2011, 08:56 PM
My list includes level 60 and up. Not many either. Before I saw many level 60s, but now not many. You would think I would see the level 200 guy omeone was talking about. Did see a level 174 who had just a couple of allies, that I had never seen before. I m at level 93 now.