There needs to be some kind of a limit set on the cripple spell. Whether it is a change in the cost, the number of times you can cast it on a single kingdom, or changing it to only affect a certain number of heroes. Watching heroes go from 1,000+ exp to 171 - 42 exp in 5 minutes is just plain bullshit. The only way to block this is to have 2.00+ mages per acre, and tons of spires. If no change is warranted, then why don't more people just pump mages and spies early on to guarantee certain relics stay out of others hands? There are random suiciders every round anyways. Hell, why doesn't a pac of people do this deliberately to the exp packs every round?

4% spires should solve that problem for you, after the spire buff that was recently introduced.

The round I devoted to XP I totally had a kingdom to do that, and another to play a land-starved normal kingdom to just crush the opposition.

That was a good round. VERY fun.

_________________
Zehahaha

Dante is right; Spires are the solution.

Now that spires have been boosted by 300%, War/offensive spells are obsolete from XP play; unless you are not running spires which is hardly the case now in normal XP play. As an XPer w/heroes in relic it is now a required part of your build or you are screwed.

I got caught with Cripple spell too and got a couple of my heroes toasted. Props to the mage... It was my own fault though for not running spires. Easy fix though now thanks to the Mega boost.

Were you crippled badly this round, bobill?

Given that 3% spires gives you just over a 57% reflection rate and 8% would give you a full 90%. There really is no reason to complain so much as you could have built some. or trained more mages or took the iron thong.

Were you running xp?

It isn't that hard to mix in spires same land as ft's usually, and cripple isn't an easy spell to pull off if you have decent mage count. You should almost never get hit by it sucessfully or repeatedly. Though i guess there are those xpers that run low mage and spy count because they want to get hit. Are you one of those type of xp player?

Either way Spires, relic, and good mpa all can protect you 90% of the time. you can't ask for more than that from this game, can you?

If you do. I have one thing to say about it. This is a land based game not xp, deal with it and adapt like the rest of us. Balance changes will rarely affect xp in a positive way. IT isn't a complaint just the way it is. Xp tends to get relegated to a lesser spot on the totem pole when balance issues come up unless it negatively affects land play.


On a side note
Bobill you are right dropping them that little in 5 minutes is bullshit I dropped a kingdom a few rounds back almost 20k hero power in just over three minutes five minutes is way too damn long.

I would like to nominate Quatro for the dev team. I think it is important to have some more representation for the xp element there, especially with this fundamental understanding intact.

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The empty handed painter on your street..
is drawing crazy patterns in your sheets...
The sky, too, is falling over you...
and it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Well how about just one major change then.

Get rid of the land penalty on xp. It would be great to see the little kingdoms being able to compete again in xp. It would be kinda cool to see a six hundred land guy being able to compete in the xp ranks with the 1800 land guy. It will take away the majority of the interference of xp in land play, Not all of it mind you, since a few players like myself still want to see the impossible. An xp strat winning land.



I accept that xp is not catered to. I know it will never be so, but i really would like to see at least one or two positive changes to xp each age. I mean changes that actually make xp more fun and sometimes more challenging, like the quest system did when it replaced population penalty. I won't lie I do miss that pop bonus still, though. I am not so much of a fan of it really but even ruler hero losses is an interesting strategic concept when balanced.

When I say changes I don't mean a flavor of the week "over powered" xp race, barbarian for instance, Races like barbs that blur the line between xp and land are great but making them stronger in ways that hinder xp growth is a weird contradiction. Truthfully i kinda hate races like this. If you want to make an xp race cool, but can we do so in a way that won't get nerfed because it is way too strong as an xper? I will say more about this at end of round.

I would like to see a glimmer of hope that the development team while the majority is not really xp players can find a way to make both sides fun and challenging. Since i know land players feed off of fat xp I know you don't want to entirely seperate teh two games as it would take away a vital growth source.

This game is land based, yes, but there are those that go for networth and xp wins and various hybrids of the three. So while i don't want to see massive changes, subtle positive tweaks are always appreciated since if you are only going for changes that make the game great for top tier land players you will continue to lose players and while that may be great for you guys it hurts the game we all enjoy.

I am a realist. I don't always see eye to eye with land players(Ok I almost never see eye to eye with them i even get to the point I am quite angered at times) but this game is still okay. At one point it was great. I would like to see it be so again. Though truthfully part of the loss of its appeal is the dwindling player base after so many have left due to changes that were made. Like i said, I am a realist. I just want the game to stick around and be considered fun for all so i will end with this question.

If there was ever a time there were more xp players than land would you still balance for land play?

This is the change that I would like to see; or something like it. Something that is an option for XPers to control their land intake. I know Robes and Fergy also made suggestions in the past regarding XP related land reduction attacks, whether it be attached to the raid attack or whether it be a spell; as long as it is an option and not a forced requirement it could be very good for the game. It would help keep land fat XPers from feeding top land KDs and it would help XPers from getting the incessant beat-down by said KDs. A SLIGHT bonus to XP would also be another incentive to use this type of attack (or spell).

@bobill:

Ok, fine. You get my virgin post....
I was the one who did it.

IT wasn't as easy as you said.
The only way to do it is to have 2.5-3.0mpa.
And lots of stored magic dust/towers. You caught me with 160,000+ stockpile to unload as there wasn't any war lately. (it's already not cheap now mind you!)

Just 2% spires can negate the 20% towers, 10% spires and the several % homes for the population space and income to build and maintain the mages. I do think you have a better deal than me. (maybe R15 can speak) (oh and my race's spies/mages are damn expensive)

Oh, and with such crappy econ, growing out of my range is viable also. I cant cripple the heroes guarding the juicy relics because the land players are out of crippling range.

All in all, i think that OPS do add an interesting dimension to this game, else its just about training troops for attacking/defending.

Sorry if i royally screwed up your heroes, have 0 intention to destroy your round (we do need the relic), hope this doesn't cause the game to lose you, the game need passionate players, hope to see you next round.