Discussion Future of Forge of Empires?

[Astrid]

In terms of player base, game is going down. Compared to 2020, lots of players just quit and the remaining ones acquired most of their accounts. Now the remaining players figured out that it's not worth anymore to just use / buy tens of diamonds in order to empower their own cities, but are spending money to improve the secondary accounts that they acquired through different means. The most powerful guilds have lots of accounts shared among their own players and players from allied guilds that allows them to jump in on the guild battleground map to beat the competition. Not to mention the illegal scripts that they are using.

That's the state of the game right now, obviously Inno likes it because they get quite a nice bunch of $$$ from what the remaining active players are spending, but it just won't last. Guild Raids will probably be just another nest of cheating wasps, exactly what GvG is right now. While the game is overall great and enjoyable, as long as you Inno don't start to enforce at least some of the rules and permanently ban the accounts that are using all kind of scripts and hacks, the game won't attract new players.

 

[Charles el Britannia]

Guild Raids will probably be just another nest of cheating wasps, exactly what GvG is right now.

I don't think so. Guild Raids is not about doing tons of attacks in a fast succession. On the contrary, it will require massive boosts and will feature few fights. More like GE5 but on steroids. There are no cheaters in GE5. So that can be a consolation.

 

[drakenridder]

W/O hard numbers, supportive evidence, verifiable historical trends, etc. anyone can claim anything on the web.
We'll see what comes out. Probs % gets more important, feature specific buffs getting more common and more special upgrades are likely. It's easy to back this up. Looking at GbG diamond league reward's feature specific buffs, confirmation of % planned for the future, 3 special upgrades after golden upgrades where introduced, information we've gotten on GR that it's held back to be improved upon. Looking at the trend of GE5 it's likely % gets more important.
Proving the existence of cheaters has been done in the past, sure. However what hasn't been proven up to this point what % of active participants falls under the group of cheaters. What hasn't been proven either is what % of the whales is part of that group either. Nor hard numbers have been shared from trustworthy sources in regards of the decline of active players. So, anything can me claimed but w/o the prove to back it up, it's as valuable as to claim an event building in the upcoming year to come with consumabel 40% buffs.

 

[Outlaw Dread]

Where originally ages, city building and the cmap were the main drive to me. Nowadays GbG feels like the main game. With GE1-5 the weekly secondary game and the ages a side feature. Like FoE “story mode.”

Pretty much the same perception as I have. I find the over-emphasis on fighting and attack stats getting to be a bit boring. I preferred the "in it for the long haul" aspect of city building. Yet, this seems to be increasingly replaced by a frenzied short-term focus on getting higher attack stats via event buildings, while those buildings have a progressively shorter useful lifespan. It's "built-in obsolescence" taken to an extreme.

It's true that currently there's no satisfactory gaming alternative to FOE, at least not for me. Yet, other things that I can spend my time and money on are really starting to look better in comparison.

 

[Vic.Vicious]

I do not think this is a good time to really look at the state of the game. I mean look at the state of the world. It will spill over to every sector and household and impact the gaming industry as a whole. Movies, gaming, misc spending, and recreation are not the same anymore. Entertainment as a whole has changed. When things level out and get better, FOE will too.

 

[GwenGwen]

Regarding the risk of Foe's decline, there is a new element that I would like to clarify: I will define it as an error in commercial policy

Foe is a very beautiful game.
But lately events can only be done in full by:
1Players who don't work because they continually take too long
2 Players who have a lot of money to throw out the window, hoping that they don't go into debt to pay it off.

In addition, we must not forget that there are not only adults or older people who play but also young people, even adolescents.
And inviting them to spend their time building and destroying is educationally incorrect and harmful to their education.
This has already existed since the beginning of the events, but is in the process of intensifying with the arrival of buildings which self-destruct.

So foe' is becoming a game for a certain type of player while its initial quality was to be suitable for everyone.

This has never been the basic spirit of this game but it is unfortunately becoming one. .

This is my opinion.

 

[LafThePirate]

It's true that currently there's no satisfactory gaming alternative to FOE, at least not for me. Yet, other things that I can spend my time and money on are really starting to look better in comparison.

Plenty of other games out there that are not PtW.

In addition, we must not forget that there are not only adults or older people who play but also young people, even adolescents.
And inviting them to spend their time building and destroying is educationally incorrect and harmful to their education.

This game isn't fast enough paced to keep the current adolescents entertained. it's not "beautiful" like some others which are currently in development by FAR.

 

[Sibel]

Regarding the risk of Foe's decline, there is a new element that I would like to clarify: I will define it as an error in commercial policy

Foe is a very beautiful game.
But lately events can only be done in full by:
1Players who don't work because they continually take too long
2 Players who have a lot of money to throw out the window, hoping that they don't go into debt to pay it off.

In addition, we must not forget that there are not only adults or older people who play but also young people, even adolescents.
And inviting them to spend their time building and destroying is educationally incorrect and harmful to their education.
This has already existed since the beginning of the events, but is in the process of intensifying with the arrival of buildings which self-destruct.

So foe' is becoming a game for a certain type of player while its initial quality was to be suitable for everyone.

This has never been the basic spirit of this game but it is unfortunately becoming one. .

This is my opinion.

Absolutely correct.

Further, up to some years ago you started a 2nd, 3rd, ... world if the first world left you too much spare time. Even if you played there from time to time olny, you came forward with good chances to finish events completely, and the highest level of GEX, thus you were able join a good guild.
Now, you need the time (and money) for the first world, no time left to play other worlds "normal" as before.
Covering up with Diamond players was possible in the past, now ... simply forget about it.

I (and several others) have drawn our conclusions and - after 10 and more years FoE - started another similar game, which seems to be f2p. Somehow sad, but things here changed too much, and this is no longer a game that fits my spare time and my life.

 

[GwenGwen]

I forgot a detail that I saw again today and which perplexes me.
Asking a player/general to kill his own soldiers is even more serious than asking him to build and destroy. It's a very negative teaching which risks having repercussions in real life depending on the player who finds himself faced with this type of request.
Wouldn't it be better and instructive to ask a player/general to heal his troops, feed them or clothe them depending on the climate since this is a very current subject?
Just like not asking to sabotage a neighbor but to win a tournament against a neighbor and receive a reward. It's still a little different as a concept.

I believe that foe should take into consideration the impact of the image that he transmits to his players through his messages and revise them so that an exemplary message become and not a pernicious one....

 

[Charley Horse]

I forgot a detail that I saw again today and which perplexes me.
Asking a player/general to kill his own soldiers is even more serious than asking him to build and destroy. It's a very negative teaching which risks having repercussions in real life depending on the player who finds himself faced with this type of request.
Wouldn't it be better and instructive to ask a player/general to heal his troops, feed them or clothe them depending on the climate since this is a very current subject?
Just like not asking to sabotage a neighbor but to win a tournament against a neighbor and receive a reward. It's still a little different as a concept.

I believe that foe should take into consideration the impact of the image that he transmits to his players through his messages and revise them so that an exemplary message become and not a pernicious one....

I have never been asked to kill my own soldiers, when did this happen? I have had quest that ask me to delete but never had one ask me to kill my own soldiers.

 

[CrashBoom]

Asking a player/general to kill his own soldiers is even more serious than asking him to build and destroy. It's a very negative teaching which risks having repercussions in real life depending on the player who finds himself faced with this type of request.

lol

playing a game where you attack other and then telling what is negative teaching for real life

I believe that foe should take into consideration the impact of the image that he transmits to his players through his messages and revise them so that an exemplary message become and not a pernicious one....

I believe that foe should take that into consideration and remove fighting from all of their games

Wouldn't it be better and instructive to ask a player/general to heal his troops,

best would be not to harm any troops

because healing troops would already give the wrong impression to people
it would be ok to fight and troops getting harmed as long as you heal them after that

I have never been asked to kill my own soldiers, when did this happen? I have had quest that ask me to delete but never had one ask me to kill my own soldiers.

and deleting is positive
because deleting a unit from an army just means: you are FIRED

go home and never fight in a war again

 

[Vic.Vicious]

I forgot a detail that I saw again today and which perplexes me.
Asking a player/general to kill his own soldiers is even more serious than asking him to build and destroy. It's a very negative teaching which risks having repercussions in real life depending on the player who finds himself faced with this type of request.
Wouldn't it be better and instructive to ask a player/general to heal his troops, feed them or clothe them depending on the climate since this is a very current subject?
Just like not asking to sabotage a neighbor but to win a tournament against a neighbor and receive a reward. It's still a little different as a concept.

I believe that foe should take into consideration the impact of the image that he transmits to his players through his messages and revise them so that an exemplary message become and not a pernicious one....

I looked at it as releasing a troop from active duty. Giving them retirement papers.

 

[einzauberengel]

Funny how community work. Some farmer account (so not really active) is throughing some rumors around, missing confirmed sources, and people are getting nervous. I asked myself why? Is this a kind of trend? And the mose funny...

CaodeAqua​

is not reacting at all. But started a discussion for what reason? making the company cheaper, destroy it?

 

[Grzechu Junior]

Funny how community work. Some farmer account (so not really active) is throughing some rumors around, missing confirmed sources, and people are getting nervous. I asked myself why? Is this a kind of trend? And the mose funny...

CaodeAqua​

is not reacting at all. But started a discussion for what reason? making the company cheaper, destroy it?

it was written by AI, chatgpt.... look at the last line with gem to diamond correction. It is 100% AI chat generated

 

[terim]

published on the Spanish server (google translation)

Hello everyone,
I'm delighted to share with you our plans for the future of Forge of Empires, especially our vision for 2024 . Our approach aligns with InnoGames' strategic vision, and for Forge of Empires our goal is to "Find the right balance between engaging gameplay and strategic depth; providing each archetype with an epic and engaging player experience without compromising the integrity of the game." All while striking a balance between accessibility for new players and depth for experienced players."

Based on your feedback, we have identified key areas of improvement and innovation :

1. Reduce repetitive tasks: Our goal is to streamline army management, improve the donation process in Large Buildings, and improve messaging.
2. Guild Improvements: Recognizing the role of guilds in player retention and deeper exploration of the game, we plan to overhaul guild search features and expand guild activities.
3. City Focus: We will continue to support and improve the city building portion of the game, a key enjoyment factor for many.
4. Expand competitiveness: Exploring competitiveness between worlds and adding seasonal challenges will create more dynamic interactions between players.
5. Reward System: Introduce new avenues for relevant rewards outside of events.

Addressing these goals will likely take 2-3 years, but our priority is to create a smoother, more engaging experience while maintaining the integrity and financial sustainability of the game. Our immediate priorities are:

• New reward areas: Diversify the rewards and add depth to the game.
• Improving user experience: focusing on reducing frustration in interactive features.
• Improved social gameplay: Improve guild integration for new players and improve guild functionality.

For 2024, we have some interesting improvements:

• Event Evolution: We are refining our top 10 events, accompanied by mini events and challenges. Each event will be supported by a selection of mini events or challenges. For the most part, they are based on quest lines that are designed to help you in each event and put the focus on areas that can make a difference for you - and give you access to more rewards - in both the mini event and the main event. .
• Cultural Settlements: The introduction of the Polynesian settlement and a reset of rewards in all settlements. We will also be making some general improvements to the entire cultural settlement system, improving game balance.
• Guild Expeditions: We will be introducing 5 new difficulties with a smoother difficulty curve and more frequent transitions between offensive and defensive upgrades. We'll make the later levels deliberately difficult so that you have a goal to work towards for the next two years.
• Guild Battlegrounds: Implement various improvements (boosts) and overhaul the league settings and matchmaking system.
• Quantum Raids: A new hero raid system, details of which will be revealed later.

In addition to these major updates, we will be introducing smaller features throughout the year with a focus on transparency and community engagement.

You may have noticed that we are discussing adding both offensive and defensive improvements to more features, this will vary the gameplay but will also stop the "one size fits all" city designs we are seeing. We want to inspire varied gameplay and varied city settings, and also allow us to offer rewards in multiple directions rather than just pushing power gains higher and higher. This also means that guilds will need players from both factions, so to speak, to contribute to the guild-based features and really stand out. Overall, I think this will be better for the game in the long term, although I'm aware that it will cause some controversy in the short term.

We also plan to hold two "Community Sprints" in 2024. These will be dedicated periods where we will focus on implementing changes requested directly by you, our players. Our community managers will give you more details soon, including a voting process to determine the topics.

Like everything, this should be taken as a living document. As the game and the industry change, we have to react to those changes. That means we can alter our trajectory and not do some of the things described above. As we want to maintain more constant communication on our part, we will keep you as informed as possible in case something changes.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. We are committed to making Forge of Empires not only last but thrive over the next decade and beyond. Stay tuned for more news from us!

Best wishes,
Matt (Product Manager, Forge of Empires)

 

[Emberguard]

published on the Spanish server (google translation)

Hello everyone,
I'm delighted to share with you our plans for the future of Forge of Empires, especially our vision for 2024 . Our approach aligns with InnoGames' strategic vision, and for Forge of Empires our goal is to "Find the right balance between engaging gameplay and strategic depth; providing each archetype with an epic and engaging player experience without compromising the integrity of the game." All while striking a balance between accessibility for new players and depth for experienced players."

Based on your feedback, we have identified key areas of improvement and innovation :

1. Reduce repetitive tasks: Our goal is to streamline army management, improve the donation process in Large Buildings, and improve messaging.
2. Guild Improvements: Recognizing the role of guilds in player retention and deeper exploration of the game, we plan to overhaul guild search features and expand guild activities.
3. City Focus: We will continue to support and improve the city building portion of the game, a key enjoyment factor for many.
4. Expand competitiveness: Exploring competitiveness between worlds and adding seasonal challenges will create more dynamic interactions between players.
5. Reward System: Introduce new avenues for relevant rewards outside of events.

Addressing these goals will likely take 2-3 years, but our priority is to create a smoother, more engaging experience while maintaining the integrity and financial sustainability of the game. Our immediate priorities are:

• New reward areas: Diversify the rewards and add depth to the game.
• Improving user experience: focusing on reducing frustration in interactive features.
• Improved social gameplay: Improve guild integration for new players and improve guild functionality.

For 2024, we have some interesting improvements:

• Event Evolution: We are refining our top 10 events, accompanied by mini events and challenges. Each event will be supported by a selection of mini events or challenges. For the most part, they are based on quest lines that are designed to help you in each event and put the focus on areas that can make a difference for you - and give you access to more rewards - in both the mini event and the main event. .
• Cultural Settlements: The introduction of the Polynesian settlement and a reset of rewards in all settlements. We will also be making some general improvements to the entire cultural settlement system, improving game balance.
• Guild Expeditions: We will be introducing 5 new difficulties with a smoother difficulty curve and more frequent transitions between offensive and defensive upgrades. We'll make the later levels deliberately difficult so that you have a goal to work towards for the next two years.
• Guild Battlegrounds: Implement various improvements (boosts) and overhaul the league settings and matchmaking system.
• Quantum Raids: A new hero raid system, details of which will be revealed later.

In addition to these major updates, we will be introducing smaller features throughout the year with a focus on transparency and community engagement.

You may have noticed that we are discussing adding both offensive and defensive improvements to more features, this will vary the gameplay but will also stop the "one size fits all" city designs we are seeing. We want to inspire varied gameplay and varied city settings, and also allow us to offer rewards in multiple directions rather than just pushing power gains higher and higher. This also means that guilds will need players from both factions, so to speak, to contribute to the guild-based features and really stand out. Overall, I think this will be better for the game in the long term, although I'm aware that it will cause some controversy in the short term.

We also plan to hold two "Community Sprints" in 2024. These will be dedicated periods where we will focus on implementing changes requested directly by you, our players. Our community managers will give you more details soon, including a voting process to determine the topics.

Like everything, this should be taken as a living document. As the game and the industry change, we have to react to those changes. That means we can alter our trajectory and not do some of the things described above. As we want to maintain more constant communication on our part, we will keep you as informed as possible in case something changes.

Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm. We are committed to making Forge of Empires not only last but thrive over the next decade and beyond. Stay tuned for more news from us!

Best wishes,
Matt (Product Manager, Forge of Empires)

That’s already in the Beta announcements

 

[Dessire]

That’s already in the Beta announcements

It does not mention era/ages importance at all! They could rename ages with numbers from 1 to X and nothing changes! The only reason to reach new ages is to have more expansions and earn more ranking points, but in terms of look/esthetic/design, ages does not matter because 99% of the damn event buildings represent old ages!!! INNOGAMES HATE ALL AGES FROM CONTEMPORARY ERA TO TITAN AGE!!! INNOGAMES HATES THOSE AGES AND PLAYERS WHO LOVE FUTURISTIC BUILDINGS!!!

Please, go to suggestion section and support the idea of a new type of event as test!

 

[SlytherinAttack]

After reading the new beta announcement, felt very good. It's giving a big hope for avoiding bored gameplay.

But inner mind giving a cross finger thoughts, because the effect of the changes were not so impressive in the past in which mostly they are money looting changes.

Anyways, going to wait and see how the new changes were going to satisfy the inner child in me to play the game for another decade.

 

[grandmaster ubero]

i like to clearify i never posted anyhting here before, but im concerned about the direction of the game, having for instance two massive features run mostly same time (GB ,QI) could become to much for most people, and there are other things i like to suggest to "save" the game from further decline cause it used to be pretty good once, but is now cluttered beyond recognition.

many of these suggestion are in line with IG's latest long term plans recently posted in public.

i compiled a list of wishes or changes, i think need to happen, to save and improve FoE, if it's going to be alive and vibrant, in the future.

Ub's Wishlist for improving and saving FoE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. No more event buildings that require roads.
Pretty much every player do not want any new ones with road required, based on forums posts and player experience. Most player towns are now to big to accomodate for more such buildings without very extensive, and complicated city redsigns, and even then, these buildings hurt the overall efficincy of players towns, wich makes small town lower era towns very difficult and expensive to develop, to be competive higher era players d do not diversify playe base for those that want to stay in lower ages for various reasons.

the road requirments where workable, when all players towns where much smaller, when we didnt have all the expansions from space ages. No more event sets either, for same reasons read above section.

2. Upgrade and speed up each of the games settlements, or remove it alltogether, its become
very useless due to the time it takes its not at all worth the poor performance from the rewards.

3. Upgrade and expand the Antiques Dealer, develop a Great building or event building, that allows you to open more slots and also get extra free changes for new items inshop and purge older items, reduce items to about 100 overall. If GE is removed make its so ToR produces coins and gems for the Dealer to make it relevant again (instead of the current bonuses we get).

4. Remove GE! with QI its become redundant and just adds more work for guilds and players.
Give players alot more time to compete in QI and GBG instead. QI is the new "GE", so the old GE is not needed anymore.
Also GE is not hard enough for most due to event powercreep and the rewards are not worth the time anymore for most players.
It would free up in game resources also for new features i guess?

5.Keep a "frozen" leaderboard GvG all-time in game soewhere, as a tribute on each world to the old feature
that many guilds competed hard in for years (global servers).

6.A.Diversify new event buidlings, instead of adding more powerful stats. Adding more powerful stats than already reached, devalues the investment in many Great Buildings and make them useless to build, or even ineffective (useless) to keep if already built to higher levels in many cases.
Less one-dimensional event items to make it more interesting and challenging to pick and use each building.

6B.More buildings that generate guild resources for GBG and QI to make them game more centered on guild effort and not personal rewards alone.

7.Make trading (negotiation) a viable town- and playstyle in competion, by having each sucessful negotiation generate 4 advancements on each tile instead of the current 2.

8.Reduce the max number of guilds on each GB map from current max of 8 to 4-6 in any round and league. Allow the merger of guilds while retaining resources and points with the option to retain the highest point and win scoring guilds after merger (max 120 player merger allowed).
this should make most rounds more interesting and alot more compettive.

9. increase guild size to 120 players, this should lower demand on each single player to geenrate sufficient points each season to win and also make it far easier to take tiles even with high attrtion and also make it faster to level players Gbs when posted and more rewards from when you aid gulkmates and also allow merging guilds that no longer can compete with those that can to make GBG far more competive again and interesting without need to increase the active player base.

10. shorten events from over 30 days to no more than 21 days to allow for more breaks, players are human beeings and we need breaks.

11. shorten GBG and QI to 5 1/2 days and run them in succession , this would prolong each championship but allow for mnore engagement in each as they dont take time frome ach other and allows guilds to focuse one each one more than if they run at the same time.

12. allow disable reward popup after each successfull battle (winning goods, units, etc.) to reduce time spent doing repttive actions to avoid fysical strain and also improve speed of fighting in GB and QI.

13. Integrate the best functions from FoE helper addon to both versions of the game
to add more functionality into the game. Many of them are very good.

14. Add more visual and weather & sound effects, like nightmode and buildings with more sound effects, smoke effects, fog and buildings that play music when tuched ,etc. Make them game more fun and not just a grind and points chase.

15. Make attrition gain linear in GB (1 gain per 5 battles) for more fair competion within all guilds each day. All players should get same amount of rewards for same amount of wins or sucessfull negotiations (when trading the rewards could be incresed further to make trading more viable also, cause its usually alot slower) it should not be reliant upon luck (RNG) each day or season.

 

[Tudor Almighty]

I resonate with most of what you said, except removing the GE, and I am even ok with them adding 5 more levels to it and probably making it a 14 day long event as well, they did improve and diversify event buildings, we have now buildings that give both current and previous era goods, which is fantastic, and we do gain fragments of smaller buildings which give about everything from self aid kits, store buildings, one up/renno kits, fp, supply, units, finish productions.. all which are fantastic too in my opinion.

I completely agree with removing road requirements for small event buildings, I am ok with having roads for GB, the standard and the main event buildings, but for everything else, which is obtained from fragments of event buildings, please no more roads, it's just too annoying.