Posts by TrainMaster Hemi

what i have noticed is as soon as there are 100-125 people logged in, the server starts to lag noticeably.

at about 150 people pretty much everything is very slow to respond, and freezes start to happen fairly often.

by the time 175-200+ are logged in, like during EG, the servers became nearly unplayable.

at this point reloads and browser re-boots are required at least 10 times an hour, with logins taking up to several minutes.

on some of the faster paced servers i play, this dramatically impacts efforts to follow calls, be on point for recalc changes, ect.

i don't know what the devil your techs are doing, but whatever it is, they are causing players to leave the game entirely.

in servers i play, we have lost several people due to this problem.

don't believe me? no problem. simply track the numbers over the last 6-9 months, it's pretty clear.

Perdita wrote:

think of this idea you have an association of 10 members and no other association in your city, at some time you hardly can level your city, no chance to reach the endgame then you move ot another city so you have the chance to build that city to the endgame .....

....So there must find another way to avoid the situation you give right now.

if we shift the "cutoff" to the end of Era 3, people would have ample time to realise they can't win with their city, and work out a partner or partners in a close by neighboring city, or bring a team or 2 into their own city to help. you know by the end of Era 1, early Era 2 at the lastest, what your realistic prospects are. This would also add some urgency to work out partnerships and/or mergers far earlier, and stick to them to have a legitimate chance.

again, this would allow for 7-10 cities with 80-100 players competing on a far more level field for an EG win.

One thing to consider: this issue i understand is in the classic servers as well, tho i don't play those, so that is not something i can really speak to.

i do however know that participation in US servers has fallen way off in just the time i have played. primarily due to the ability of a very few associations to dominate at will.

MuchachoNL wrote:

That would make moving to another city to join a corporation nearly impossible, wouldn't it?

ok, i see this point. so perhaps move the cutoff to Era 3.

Same for MokMonster's concern.

Perdita wrote:

There are a lot of players who move halfway to another city, often with the whole association and when only era 1 counts you exclude them from the bonusses while they work half the server for that city.

This is precisely the situation that needs to change. whole associations only move significant distances to team up with the purpose of dominating an EG without actually competing. gathering 150-200+ players in 1 city is not competition.

this is why typically there are only 2 viable EG cities in US servers.

Limiting the ability to create these "super alliances" would open the door to having 7-10 viable EG cities with populations in the 80-100 range actually competing on a field where any of these cities could win.

the concern is that far too many players are resorting to "gaming" the system.

they are simply watching the dominant associations and following them to 1 of MAYBE 3 viable End Game cities, where you will have 100-200+ players in a single city just for the EG.

I have the following suggestion to attempt to add a new dynamic to balance the server somewhat:

Players only get End Game win Bonuses if they were connected to AND delivering (WITH A MINIMUM TONNAGE REQUIREMENT) to the winning EG city IN ERA 1. this should include ANY winning EG city prize/bonus: Prestige, Career Points or gold.

54

trainmaster hemi

com202 loch ness

"bump"

US103 Broadway (Express) 227

No, it does not force you to use them strategically. IF you want to save a -35% building upgrade for a upper level lab upgrade that you are $5,000,000 shy of for example, you're buggered for 2-3 days on average.
This is a particular sore spot when most Vouchers we can not buy as needed outside of some random package option, i think there are currently 4 we can buy with gold ... boost, mechanic, instant dispatch, and bonus engine upgrades.
A simple solution to this issue would be to add an additional button to the pertinent screens: "Purchase/Upgrade with Cash and 1 voucher"
OR a Check box to "Activate/Use Voucher"
One of these solutions along with the ability to buy all vouchers with gold would pretty much make this argument go away.

Ohh ... and it is not "A little problematic" ... it is a pain in the (insert imaginary word here) .....

waste of time to me. if they are on screen where i happen to be working, i'll click them away. very rarely do i go hunting for them anymore, no i haven't completed a set. with the rewards i've seen posted so far, waste of players time given the amount of time needed to find the last 3 spotters.

Would be good to look into adding a widget such as Google translate to the chat/message planes. I have only completed 1 game round so far, 3 more in the works, plenty of time however to see that there can be a significant language barrier on many servers. It does not seem to matter what country or regional server you join. that language barrier is always there.
Add your thoughts if you agree or not, let's get a discussion going on this one.
Hemi

I would like to have the Choice regarding when/how to use different vouchers, IE engine, wagon, various reduced cost types, ect.. a simple popup "use voucher?" with a tick box for yes, and a tickbox for "don't ask again" would suffice.