Shield

[Black Panther 0]

Will there be a shield option in the future?

[ValarMorghulis 31]

What I think he meant is for new players to basically have a shield preventing anyone to attack for X amount of time. The idea is that once a new player joins from my city I am strong enough to prevent him from expanding anywhere since I will constantly attack him.

So a shield would be nice for new players starting so they can grow for an X amount of time so they could atleast have a chance to retaliate.

[Mr. D 622]

Please define "shield"!  

Would that be a shield for the base or your army?

We are planning to introduce combat items eventually that will have various effects during army battles.
As for the base shield, there's already a variety of walls that absorb damage from invasions and explosions.

Is there something we missed that you'd like to have added?

[Mr. D 622]

11 hours ago, ValarMorghulis said:

What I think he meant is for new players to basically have a shield preventing anyone to attack for X amount of time. The idea is that once a new player joins from my city I am strong enough to prevent him from expanding anywhere since I will constantly attack him.

So a shield would be nice for new players starting so they can grow for an X amount of time so they could atleast have a chance to retaliate.

Ah, that makes sense, yes.
I don't think this needs to be a building of any sort though, just a non-optional protection until the new player attacks someone themselves.

Will add that to the list!

[Ruvox 159]

Although I really like the idea of some sort of shield for new players, there are some difficulties you should consider before.
 

1 hour ago, Mr. D said:

non-optional protection until the new player attacks someone themselves

This would lead to a scenario where some players who leave and uninstall the game have their lands protected forever and nobody would be able to capture this land. Additionally, players who never attacked someone and are not willing to do so, might have build defence structures and mobilised big armies which would become totally obsolete for them. 
I think there should be at least one additional mechanism for the shield to stop other than just attacking someone. Maybe a timer with several days or even weeks, maybe a specific amount of captured land i combination with a timer, maybe you have to keep it active with daily logins or even something completely different.

I think what I would like the most would be a shield that is active for new player as long as they keep it active by clicking a button under My Lands at least once a week. But the shield should be deactivated no later than a player collected a specific amount of resources in total since this is a way to make sure the player had the chance to build or mobilise enough for defense. 
This would at least solve the possible problems I mentioned.
New player should be able to attack other players also earlier (with the shield activated) but then the attacked player (maybe also his allies) should get the chance for revenge

Edited December 20, 2017 by Ruvox

[Mr. D 622]

Sorry, my comment was brief as I generally agreed with the idea, but it by no means explains the entire implementation plan for this logic.  

I've actually written this down in my notes as "Attack protection for new players that disappears in 7 days", so yes, time-based restraints are planned.
It's also impossible to end up with a scenario where a player uninstalls the game and causes difficulties for others, as all of your bases and lands disappear completely (and become impossible to attack, see or interact with in any way) in 7 days of inactivity.
I.e. if you don't login within a week, your empire ceases to exist and frees space for new players (but logging back in again after that period will re-enable your lands, so nothing is lost permanently).

I don't think there's much point in limiting this defence by the amount of resources you've collected, as the amount of "minimum resources needed to survive" varies greatly per area.
I've seen some cities with regular battles of 50 vs. 50 soldiers, while the last time I checked the UK one of the largest armies amassed included thousands of soldiers.
So it's really hard to estimate where this "shield" should end resource-wise!

I think a time-based restraint should be sufficient, as a player can determine their course of action by looking at the surrounding circumstances themselves: if I see a neighbour with 10,000 soldiers I'll know that I have to work really hard in the next 7 days of protection (or move! ).
On the other hand, players in non-populated areas will feel more relaxed and simply won't rush to collect resources; things will balance themselves out.

Please let me know if you disagree though!

[maximus43 3]

need to adjust the balance accurately . Initially, you need to understand the process of the battle. Many have not seen it yet. For example. what if multiple players attack one. This could be would be interesting. This would encourage alliances. To create multiple armies in one base.