When I started playing this game in early 2011, I fell in love with the gameplay. I started on Gamma (English server). In the early days, we played for the love of the game. Since then, gold buying has polluted the love and has driven people away. The playing field needs to be leveled. If not using gold is going to be hard on regular players, using gold should have some restrictions too. I went on hiatus before the gold craze started and I'm starting to wish I had stayed on hiatus. This insta-complete is the worst idea Grepo has ever had.
The old system of taking a percentage off the time was a check on players who would have otherwise abused the ability to buy gold. If money is all the devs care about, why not make this a "pay to play" game. get rid of the free playing aspect. Otherwise we need to go back to the days where premium, while having its perks, didn't make a player OP to the hilt. Currently I'm dealing with either an illegal scripter or a millionaire golder on my island. Even some of the most skilled and powerful golders are having a problem taking the player down. They keep sending forces and the player turns right around and automagically trains hundreds of soldiers and ships.
Look, I'm not the kind of guy that usually complains. I usually could care less about what a business does. However, when I am seeing what is being done to loyal players, that they are being discarded for enjoying the game but not paying to enjoy it, I tend to lose my cherub like demeanor. Those that abuse the gold system steal the enjoyment from other players. They become OP to the extreme and wipe out all the players who can't afford the cost of gold. If the devs don't place checks and balances, they won't have to worry about having a game anymore. When new players start to realize it is essentially a "pay to play" game already and get farmed hardcore, they will ghost the game. When I rejoined a week ago after my long hiatus, every member on the island was active. Now, their towns lay empty; obviously they didn't find some aspect of the game fun. Even longtime players, like myself, are returning to the game after hiatus only to find that this game is no longer fun.
The devs can keep catering to gold buyers, by all means, but they will lose their loyal players. Yep, buying gold is fun, and the added appeal of being able to insta-complete everything under the sun is great, however after awhile that gets boring. When the game gets boring, players will move on and not come back. The loyal players, the ones who play for the love of the game, many of them don't spend money on the game or spend very rarely. They are the ones that should be catered to. Wanna make some real money, why not charge people $3.99 to download the app and market it only to premium players. Essentially that is what the servers have become. The reason why the devs don't want to do that is because they do recognize that the free players are often the most loyal...however because loyal players aren't golding to the hilt like others, we get tossed aside while they grovel at the feet of those who will throw dollars and dimes at them.
So, to the devs that read these forums...Stop hiding behind the dollar signs and creating excuses. You know that the system you have created goes against the fair play rules, but because it is paying customers breaking the rules you are willing to look the other way and pretend its not happening. You can do that, you can look away...but your loyal players see what you are doing. If they all decide to up and leave, all you will have is a bunch of empty servers with a couple of wealthy players left. Without us free players, you don't have a game. Largely golders will stay because they want to conquer all the islands left empty, but even they too will leave eventually...it becomes a boring game when you have driven out every last player....
