Otabenga
Private
Guild or no guild, tge game offers in either case an option. If you like being in guilds there are many to choose from. On the other hand no one is compeled to be in a guild with others: guilds of one are numerous.What has been balanced by this idea?
Guild goods become pointless as nobody needs them anymore. Teamwork means nothing. Guild means nothing. Guild ranking determined by GvG where mobile players cannot join anyway let alone there are players from different time zones.
BTW, you should stop any rewards which can generate diamonds (buildings, GE, GBG). then hope people will spend money to buy them.
Practically this means end of GBG, and for a mobile player, you can enjoy GE, do a bit of GBG, build your city, but then you can log off and forgot about this game for long time as the event buildings are just not worthy anymore. plus all events are the same mechanism every year, you can come back after 3 years, and they will be the similar.
I will see how this will turn out, but this may drive me away from the game. I spent a lot of time on this game since I started 18 months ago and now totally disheartened by this 're-balancing' idea.
The pros and cons of being in a group are the same everwhere (in real life also). The benefits are much more noticeable when building great buildings (GBs). If you have played the game long enough, this becomes apparent when trying to build GBs alone.
Forge of Empires I don't think was created with group synergy as the driving force behind the game. There is more than enough room for Individuality. One is not bounded by nor restricted to group activity if chosen. For me being in a guild restricts Individuality but at the same time it encourages team work and helps to achieve individual goals faster. This is why prefer a guild that supports/hosts smaller numbers of people: the smaller the guild the more Individuality has a chance. Also it allows admin/founders/leaders to easily reachout and support guildmates more easily. More administration
is required in large guilds to keep things in balance and bridge the void between freeloaders, occassional, and frequent players.
Forge of Empires in ktself is a vreat game guild or no guild. What you make of it has to do with what you ate willing to for yourself, not what a guild can do for you.