[FAQ] Suffering from massive attacks, destruction, game without war, defenses...

HiThank you for creating this thread Bers, it is very informative and helpful.If it is ok, I would like to add some advice for the newer players of the game. This is only my second Alpha and believe me, I am still learning all the time!!In any pvp game, there will always be bigger and more experienced players, casual players and newbies, so the fact it is happening here is inevitable.Yes, there are three very large Alliances who look like they are 'running' the game but they are not. They are experienced players who have been playing for quite some time and know how to build faster and get their armies up and running very quickly, with or without donating. Each Alpha only lasts 6 months approximately because this game is still being 'tested'. Everyone will start from scratch in a few months or so again, including the biggest players.Frodo made a very good point in his reply about being constructive and not taking anything personal. It is just a game after all. Border building a larger player is not advisable without talking to that player first and trying to find  a compromise. Real life is just the same when you look at it. You build a house near a neighbours garden fence without permission, they will complain and take action against you for obvious reasons, it is no different here really. Alliances WILL NOT attack for no reason whatsoever, there is ALWAYS some sort of contact made with the player first. After playing for a week or two, getting a message from an alliance Leader/Deputy asking you to delete your town and start again somewhere else is a complete and utter pain in the ???? but it is better to listen to this advice than be attacked is it not? Believe me, starting again with another town is easier than you think because you have already learnt something from the first time! Many players here have started many times before settling their towns permanently. Also, instead of replying to an Alliance leader/deputy in a negative or rude way or just ignoring them (which WILL cause friction) ask advice, ask why you are being asked to move, ask questions, you will find almost any of the more experienced players here will answer questions and help you. If asked to relocate by an Alliance Leader, or by the neighbour who would like the room where your town is, request a compromise, if you agree to starting up again elsewhere, ask if they will offer assistance with relocation by helping with resources to speed your building time up, you can also ask if they can provide a Protector possibly until you are back on your feet. As Bers explained, there is protection already in the game for you but there is also help from other players too and compromises that can be made to avoid ruining the experience of the game.

My suggestion still is as is from when i started to play this game, to make to two games. One for the ones who want to fight, attack, bully and one game for the ones that want to enjoy  friendly interaction, play the games, explore etc. Only small attacks possible. No total wipe-out.

Despite what you write it should not be possible to be constantly attack a player many, many levels lower especially with weapons from a much higher tech level.  There should be a balance, but there is no balance. 

I support the game still, but please create two worlds. Because the war aspect as is now is no fun for me. I have lost many ttj-friends because of the war, attack. The fun was gone.

I understand the desire for a separate area for despots and collect, but the other side of that is that without it being balanced in the way that it is, I would have played for a year or 2 as a collect player, then gotten bored and moved on to another game. I am still here because after I learned enough to be a decent farmer, I wanted something more challenging, and this game provided that for me.

At the same time that I was getting bored with farming, I met a really strong despot, who took me under his wing. He was really a nice person, despite all the horrible things I had heard about him. He taught me that despots are not "evil" people, just someone who liked the challenge of the war aspect. 

My worst experience in the game, actually came from another collect who constantly border built and even attacked me more than once. 

So my experience has been that collects can be just as mean and nasty of a neighbor, as any despot can be.

Most despots are nice people. Reach out to them. Make them see you as a person. You would be surprised how much of a difference that can make. 

I like most players in the game and truly enjoy helping new players learn the game.  I hope that all of you will think of new strategies to "test" and make many new friends. 

Sprite, thanks. I do onderstand that to get further, especially when getting a little bored. I also know that most people are nice and are open to conversation. It has lead to some nice conversations and a lot of help and advice. 

But although my critism is not constructive and i apparently do not give a solution enough towards creating a balance, there is a frustration which many do not dare to mention, or at least not recognizable name,  that some players to not give a warning and are not open to conversation.

My solution, besides the choice of choosing between two 'planets' should be to have similar hero with similar tech and similar level that are able to battle eachother fair. But that a hero/alliance with (much) higher levels do not have the possibilty to attack more than say once/twice a day within say 24 hrs. So a lower level hero has a chance to build up again and maybe start a conversation towards a solution.

Sorry, send twice

Everyone blaming the big bad bullies. I for one have been on both sides of the blade, so to speak, and when I started I was sure that I would never be an attacker, but, simply said, I got bored. Big despot alliance didn't appear all of a sudden in one day. They formed over a period of time and are still forming. People who are bored with farming don't just switch to despot and attack others from the alliance they were in, they go and  join those BBBs. So the despot alliances become bigger.Many of the despot alliance members have been attacked at some point by others who were stronger, bigger, bullier (know its not a real word, but fits here :)). There are good collect alliances here also. They are good because they don't neglect defense and work together against the attackers. As an attacker I could call them the bullies for killing my armies, making me spend resources on rebuilding said armies, then waiting for my storages to fill and army to retrain to be able to do anything. Every coin has two sides.So instead of saying that everyone is a bully around you, talk to other alliances/people, and don't just listen to their advice, hear it and try it out.This thread was created for constructive feedback and ideas, not for everyone's opinion on other alliances.

Thanks for this some very useful advice I now have some understanding of why I am being smashed to pieces, wry smile.  I would challenge the assertion that you cannot spend your way to victory as the willingness to spend a lot of money on unlimited speedups is obviously a factor in some players success.  I would suggest a rationing system to allow those of modest means to compete.  This would level the playing field and should not effect the cash flow as more players would probably be willing to donate if the amounts were kept at reasonable levels.

What if collective players could only attack collectives, despots only despots, etc?  I know that people could start out as one and switch to another, but would this create a more fair playing field?  And/or could tech level figure in somehow, so that tanks would not be attacking archers and braves?  This would need a requirement that people cannot stay at a certain tech level forever, but maybe it would help.  Final idea is limiting the number of troops or heroes that can attack at once.  I have known many people, including myself, attacked by overwhelming numbers of troops that can break down even the best defenses.  Just some thoughts!  

Hey Bers, why don't you just remove the brig nerf for despot vs despot attacks? Then you got your big dream of actual wars too, instead of despots just focussing on your now-waning collectivist population...

Why not just lower the amount of attack points gotten from lower aged players? That way, it is not that interesting for info age players to attack slow-classical/normal-medieval/faster-renaissance players, thus cutting out much of the heard criticism (both constructive and unconstructive...

30-day rule means both of those players in your example started at the same time and had relatively same starting position. If one player didn't played the game much and the other maxed it out as much as possible, who is the one to blame that first player is at disadvantage?

What about warning for new players: This game need to be played at least 3 hrs daily + donation or at least 6 hrs daily without donation. You better do not start if you can not meet these conditions.

There is plenty players started this game with conviction they can play peacefully. After while they find it was mistake. They was told to find an alliance to help with defense, to build up towers, walls, etc. Alliance members can help to defend for few first times, but they can not build, repair, re-train units, revive hero instead of them. So their towns become easy target without towers, walls and other defensive buildings. It is useless to send reinforce to towns like this.

They end up in this game with the belief that they was deceived.

I do not mean this as trolling. You wrote that is their fault that they are to slow. So, do you want from them to quit work, school etc to play more? Would not it be better if they were warned in advance? Now they are just building target towns to enjoy stronger players. This is not playing a game.

We have few of this very slow players who plays only few hrs weekly, and is unable to defend them by alliance cause they cannot build enough towers, army buildings and train enough units to defend themself. We cannot stand against DR + PB attacking hand in hand slowest that cannot rebuild, cause they are not online. We cannot defend stronger players either, it is not so hard to figure out who is when online and attack 1st time before targets offline time and 2nd attack plan in 2-4 hrs while is target still online, sometimes they manage 3rd too. With nukes, which destroy or damage most towers in all attacks.

YES I would love a game that would allow a player to play with out threats from aggressive players. If they want to be aggressive and participate in war then there should be a feature or separate game play for them. They do not go after the players that have the ability to protect themselves, but after the lower level players (and then you get the one who JUST do not like you.)The game play is not fair to all players, the higher level players who have progressed up through the research never are attacked by their peers, and the 30 day rule is a joke. I've been trying to play this game every since it started, and never seem to get as far as the higher level hero's, and they are all the same ones every alpha who have a choke hold on the game, and tell the other players where and how they can build their towns. It is true about the sulfur and other items that they may want. I am very much considering not coming back when the delta phase starts. I'm tired of starting over and then having to defend myself, which also slows down the progress for the player being attacked, you cant even build fast enough to defend yourself once your are in their sight, and they get mad if you refuse to move your hero, which I have done because I had already invested time, money and other into this town (so where is this fair, they can just tell you to move or they will attack, when they can just as easily move as a lower level player can?).

I agree there should be a game with NO WAR (the earlier totem tribes had not war, and were tons of fun :)), if you have not noticed you are loosing players, and soon your game will be only for the selected few that have dominated the game (and they complain about being bored, what do you think is going to happen when we stop coming back because of the constant attacking by the chosen few who apparently have a HUGE say in the way the game should be developed. You also have a FB following and there are negative comments about the game, even players who have played from the beginning are starting to quit all together. I believe, and I truly believe you would get move players it the game had a NO WAR option. Also you talked about hero's being wiped after 5 months even if they have not met a victory, this is another issue when you cant progress because you are at the mercy of a hero that is at 10+ levels ahead of you. Your are slowed down when you have to keep rebuilding, and the truces are a joke they are at all different time levels, which then makes a player have to spends money if they hope to have even the slightest chance of leveling up. So please explain how this game is in anyway fair to your players? 

HiThank you for creating this thread Bers, it is very informative and helpful.If it is ok, I would like to add some advice for the newer players of the game. This is only my second Alpha and believe me, I am still learning all the time!!In any pvp game, there will always be bigger and more experienced players, casual players and newbies, so the fact it is happening here is inevitable.Yes, there are three very large Alliances who look like they are 'running' the game but they are not. They are experienced players who have been playing for quite some time and know how to build faster and get their armies up and running very quickly, with or without donating. Each Alpha only lasts 6 months approximately because this game is still being 'tested'. Everyone will start from scratch in a few months or so again, including the biggest players.Frodo made a very good point in his reply about being constructive and not taking anything personal. It is just a game after all. Border building a larger player is not advisable without talking to that player first and trying to find  a compromise. Real life is just the same when you look at it. You build a house near a neighbours garden fence without permission, they will complain and take action against you for obvious reasons, it is no different here really. Alliances WILL NOT attack for no reason whatsoever, there is ALWAYS some sort of contact made with the player first. After playing for a week or two, getting a message from an alliance Leader/Deputy asking you to delete your town and start again somewhere else is a complete and utter pain in the ???? but it is better to listen to this advice than be attacked is it not? Believe me, starting again with another town is easier than you think because you have already learnt something from the first time! Many players here have started many times before settling their towns permanently. Also, instead of replying to an Alliance leader/deputy in a negative or rude way or just ignoring them (which WILL cause friction) ask advice, ask why you are being asked to move, ask questions, you will find almost any of the more experienced players here will answer questions and help you. If asked to relocate by an Alliance Leader, or by the neighbour who would like the room where your town is, request a compromise, if you agree to starting up again elsewhere, ask if they will offer assistance with relocation by helping with resources to speed your building time up, you can also ask if they can provide a Protector possibly until you are back on your feet. As Bers explained, there is protection already in the game for you but there is also help from other players too and compromises that can be made to avoid ruining the experience of the game.

This is totally not true, I have played from the beginning too, and the 1st alpha there were some really nasty PMing going on, and they are still apart of this game, they have just been shut down from making nasty comments (I have been on the receiving end of a couple of these so called larger players (and yes it is always the same ones) I am assuming you are one of the players have a choke hold on the game, and you are one of the reasons this game is no longer fun for all, because you believe it is ok to just tell a player to move because you want something they have, or you just plain do not like the person (and there is tons of that going on right now), so no I do not believe you are right in your statement, it is just another way to try and placate the players who are tired of the one sidedness of the game. If this is truly how you feel then I now see why Ber's feels he is justified in ignoring the players who just want to play the game for the friendships, and the challenges. where as you who rule the game get bored and then gang up on a hero. Example Helena is being attacked by not just one, not just two but three big alliances (all because one of the alliances does not like her). She will soon be completely wiped out all but her original town. So you call this fair, she spent as much money and time as the rest of you so called rulers of Totem Tribe II). The only reason the nastiness is not showing is because Ber's has stopped it, it still does not take away the nasty way the rulers of Totem Tribe II play. I really am weighing my return to this game, when there at players who post things like this to justify their way of playing the game (REALLY!)

I have an idea why some folks are upset by being attacked. The game does not state that it is a PVP only game when you start to play it. I, as many,  I think,  have taken Totem Tribe 2 to be a second game to the original which was not, in my opinion, a war game. It seemed to be a game in which the hero defeated monsters and completed quests to win the game and was one of the best games I have ever played. I play a few MMO games and all of them have PVP as an option not a given, allowing players who would rather quest and kill monsters to play the game too. Maybe the title screen should show the PVP only state of the game............just a thought :)

I have an idea why some folks are upset by being attacked. The game does not state that it is a PVP only game when you start to play it. I, as many,  I think,  have taken Totem Tribe 2 to be a second game to the original which was not, in my opinion, a war game. It seemed to be a game in which the hero defeated monsters and completed quests to win the game and was one of the best games I have ever played. I play a few MMO games and all of them have PVP as an option not a given, allowing players who would rather quest and kill monsters to play the game too. Maybe the title screen should show the PVP only state of the game............just a thought :)

In other hand war is required to balance this game, for example without war player wouldn't need to build towers and can get culture high faster. 

But in other hand I think joining alliance could be more optional than it is now. Alliance is helpful for new players, but requiring alliance for defending as well is uncool. :(