The disappointment of a warring newbie.

/me does not want a throne but will pay for a recliner with yummy cupcakes

One thing you miss COMPLETELY, is that this is a perpetual game with no end and therefore the only true goals are your own. This what what makes Illy unique as well as complex.

Many people want a McDonlds type game where you can build quick, kill quicker, and have the game end in quick measure so you can hold your reign just long enough to make it, but not establish anything. Thus the McD's mentality - get it fast, eat it quick, and it's over before you really enjoyed it. This doesn't mean you wont enjoy it, but you wont get to enjoy the full benefits of what you accomplished, nor see the end results of your accomplishments - for good or ill.

This game is much akin (in my mind) to the book/TV series - Game of Thrones.
This is as much if not more about subtleties and diplomatic strategies (long term) than mass armies and brute force. There is MUCH more to this game than the surface armies and diplomatic units as the tides of battle, leading to wars can turn on dime or a traitors leaked information.

The Dwarven Lords is much like the Dwarves in books, they are quiet and no one really knows what they are doing or what they are capable of. But one thing is certain, like the ancient wars of legend, the Dwarves were a part of every War and deadly when they entered the battle frey.  However like the fantasy books, they did war on their own but most often came into battle with their allies. They knew, as the Dwarven Lords do, that while the mass armies of your enemies are fearsome to behold, it matter little when they are surrounded by friends.

It is easy to sign a pact, but more difficult to keep it when you don't know if you can trust the ones you align yourself with. It is an easy thing to have 15 confederations.. it is more difficult to keep them together once the heat of war burns their homes to the ground (and months of work are laid waste). Many might be willing fight, but few are willing to give such large scale sacrifices.

Thus there are many battlefields here with armies, politics, diplomacy, secrets/spies, and the like. To win on the battlefield will not depend whole on your ability to fight but to keep others from joining in - THAT takes a great deal of diplomatic negotiating, a high degree of trust, and proof, your cause is a 'right' one OR.. that aligning with you has enough benefits to negate any fear that might take hold.

If you are looking for a bloody game.. learn the full depth of this one for it is not the blood on ground you need worry about, but that which is spilled in the silence of word or shadows of your own room. Welcome to the - Game of Thrones

Edited by belargyle - 21 Jun 2012 at 20:16

I think there's a disconnect regarding the definition of 'bullying'. I don't consider threatening to send troops at player who is being obnoxious in chat to be bullying. That's just the community self-policing itself in order to maintain a civil level of conduct. Bullying would be if a player threatened/sent troops at a smaller player just for the thrill of being able to do so without consequences.

Edited by Beecks - 17 Jun 2012 at 08:00

Jarko,