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Guild Forge of Traders

DeletedUser

I am a noob.

What is a noob? It is a new person. An inexperienced person. An innocent. Ouch!

That’s what Kepler told me when he asked me to write about our Guild, the Forge of Traders. And even though I know absolutely, positively that it is true, it still bites. One way I know that it is true is because I have previewed this post and found all my careful formatting is GONE! My wonderful fonts, the generous spacing, the COLORS. But that's another story.

This story is about our Guild. You won’t hear it from our founder nor our leaders. You’re going to hear it from me. A noob. So forget about how it all started, cause I wasn’t there. And who cares about who got kicked out last week or how many tons of stone we shifted or battles won. No boasting, just the story in my own words.

What do you think I’ll give away? Bet you want to know about all our hints and strategy. Tsk, tsk, that’s for MEMBERS. I’ll never tell.

Just come back tomorrow and I’ll tell you more about Kepler and the Guild and me, the noob.
 

DeletedUser

So what will I tell you? I’ll tell you that I started this game just for the pleasure of building a city. I love simming – a simulation of real life, preferably having as little to do with real life as possible. What’s better than putting me in the Stone Age? I played about 15,000 points of it alone. Don’t bother me. I like gamers, but hate game-players. You know what I mean. I hate the spam, the nasty comments, the self-gratifiers with big heads and big mouths and small achievements…
Get back on point. The game was going very, very slow. And lonely. I tried to join a Guild, one that would match my game style which is trader-oriented.
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August 1312
I was all alone. I sent out messengers to contact other worlds. Despite the rumors that they were looking for Friendship, the messengers never
returned. I hope their death was merciful. They shall not be forgotten.
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Was an answer too much to expect? I didn’t demand to be invited, but I thought they would at least answer my post with a polite No thank you. But then, I am a noob and didn't know better.
What happened next? See you tomorrow.
 

DeletedUser

When that failed, I was happy to get an invitation to join a Guild in my little neighborhood of 40. I went about polishing (because that’s what I needed (and in my noobiness had no idea that anyone might have a different need) and getting a few in return. We were only 6 members. It earned me a few coins and I was content because no one bothered me. But then no one helped me very much, either. Then there was a flurry of that stuff I told you I don’t like and then the announcement, “This Guild is desolved.” Being a noob I didn’t understand the lack of spelling skills. I wondered whether desolved was the opposite of resolve, another form of the word resolution. A resolution, in English, is the happy ending to a problem. Maybe desolution was a break down and rebuild of the Guild. The Guild disappeared and I, the noob waited for a new resolution or desolution to happen. Then I got it. It meant dissolution, another word for dissolved. Gone. Kaput. Oh, dear.
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It is time for bold action! And after this long introduction, you finally get to hear about our Guild.
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15 September 1312
I am desperate for fellowship. My scouts return with news of another Guild. Quickly I send a message. At once a messenger returns with news from a royal personage named Kepler. He invites me to the Forge of Traders. I accept and without delay send gifts in gratitude. I am up half the night sending gifts. Never have I dreamed of so many kingdoms! 79 ! The couriers arrive back with gifts in return. My city hums and glows.
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We are a page one Guild. Yes, you can find us listed on the first page of Guilds, no need to look further. That means big. Big means Points to some, but it also means lots and lots of active players to polish/motivate your city. Lots and lots of active traders with stores of goods to trade. Now I have a confession to make. This hurts but you need to know it. I was such a noob, I didn’t understand that everyone had different deposits. Obviously that bit of knowledge changes your game strategy drastically. Obviously, when you improve your game strategy, you move along faster and have more fun playing.
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18 September, 1312
Alas there is no glass to be found, neither in my land nor from afar. Aha, my scouts report a possible source. It is Kepler, but he wants something in return I cannot give. I shall not beg, but if I can find something else to offer….
18 September, 1312
The messenger has returned. The King is willing to negotiate, but is confused by my offers. My couriers have noted that there is a mysterious emblem on his royal raiment. Two letters IT.. They signify great learning. I am awed and humbled at his wisdom. I venture to ask about the meaning of many things and he gives generously. At last we agree on a price and he sends me 12 beautiful glass. Time flies swiftly after this exchange.
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At last help has arrived! The mysterious IT, which even I, a noob, knows means Technical Support. He KNOWS stuff. He teaches me where things are and the meaning of buttons and symbols. The game is no longer so slow.
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What else about my Guild? See tomorrow.
 

DeletedUser

I told you time flies. It is much faster to play when you're in an active Guild. I have reached the Late Middle Age. It pleases me. I told you that I play the game to build a city. I also love the trading, negotiating for territories, calculating the best use of my resources. I build cultural building to ensure happiness, then buy a house to get more people and more money to get a production building to get more supplies to get a goods building to get goods to trade and negotiate for a territory to get more resources…..I don’t why she swallowed a fly, perhaps she’ll die. (Just a children’s song that sounds like my run on sentence.) That means that I am just as competitive for success as the warrior players. I just don’t have a mean bone in my body. Hence my profile:
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20, September 1412
At my command the scribe has composed a proclamation to appear at the gates of the city. It says
“Welcome to Hawkesland where citizens, friends and wildlife are valued and nurtured. Fighting is forbidden.”
So far we have kept the fighting from the city gates, but the outerlands are continually harassed by brigands. They have plundered only a little, but every bit hurts.
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I am a merchant player. We are the Forge of Traders, but there are warrior players in our Guild. In fact, our leader Artinian is outstanding.
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27 September 1412
What news! We have heard with awe that Artinian has 21,000 points worth of kills in a single week. They say he is from an exotic land beyond imagination. I have never seen him but he exists in my dreams; dark, mysterious, strong. We rise at his call.
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It is true, Artinian is from a country I can only have contact with in a game like this. I would love to have a real conversation with him, but this is a game andnot a social network. What I do know is that he made 21K (even I know that means 21,000) points in a single week and shared his strategies with another expert warrior Fergus. Their conversation appears on the Guild forum, a conversation that I, the noob, could not follow but must be enthralling to those who enjoy pounding their fellow man.
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Would you like to know what they said? Nah ah, ah.
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So Forge of Traders has traders AND warriors. And interesting players. Tomorrow I will talk about them.
 

DeletedUser

This is my last post.
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Remember I said that you would not hear from me regarding how the Guild started because I wasn’t there. Still it is important to incorporate the story of the Guild in this section. Alwinal, our founder wrote the following in the Journal Response section where you can go over and read it in its entirity.
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“The Forge of Traders was one of the first guilds settled. I founded this guild. At the moment we have one founder (me) and a leader (Artinian). Removing inactive members and inviting new members are mostly taken by Artinian. He has a good overview of who is active and who is not. This results in 80 active members at the moment. Got at least 20 motivations/day from team members. The guild is now stable at position 10 in Arvahall. That one of our team members writes in this journal proves the activity in the guild. Well done!”
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Thank you, Alwinal, for your gracious comment.
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It’s a little hard to talk about your fellow players when you know so little about them. Forge of Empires is a game, not a social network. Still, I think about my fellow Guild members. What I have to go on is a name, a stock picture, and a profile. That’s it.
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Speaking of profiles, have I told you how I learned to read them so as to polish/motivate much more effectively? I used to just polish everyone until my Guild taught me that if you looked at their profile, they might state another preference. Sometimes we get an urgent note asking for a polish or motivation or a trade right now as there is something at stake. Everyone rushes to help. It is fun to hear that someone was able to reach their goal. I also used to try to produce EVERYTHING because I didn’t understand the concept of trading 5 for 1. Now I can do it point free and count on fair trades. I just added Basalt to my production line.
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Back to profiles. Sometimes a profile is just plain entertaining. Take Kepler’s:
“My doctor ended up being a quack so I booted him. We have returned to the tried and true practices of bloodletting and exorcisms. Visit one of the many Churches of Keplerology to be healed. Bloodletting leeches can be found at either public bath.
In other words – I need polishes.”
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Other profiles I just don’t understand. Here’s one: “Vocare Ad Regnum”. It’s Latin, that much I know. (Latin must be the language in this world? I guess it wasn’t a good idea to behead the translator. But then again, he shouldn’t have told me I’m a noob.)
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I like “Sange and Onoare”. Are they names? I could name my baby girl Onoare, I think it’s pretty. And what about” Italian Player?” That’s all, just Italian Player. Mmm. Ti voglio bene pisano.
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Many of them reflect the combative nature of this game. There’s “ Last Stand: Waterloo The brittish Gnl: you are surrounded surrender. Gnl Grouchy: Nuts”. I’m almost sure that gnl stands for General. Soooo… General Grouchy Nuts? Must mean something to him. And, “If you are reading this you are not watching your town get pillaged.” Honestly, I thought we were friends. Peace, brother.
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Names intrigue me, too. I think mine, Hawkwing, sounds good. Actually, I liked it so much on a family member that I took it for myself. Only a noob doesn’t know that’s just plain wrong. Also I like Princess of Florin. What little girl hasn’t dreamed of being a princess? Black Chandelier -- she comes with the picture of the pretty, young blonde, but I imagine a beautiful Nubian. Or maybe it’s a name from a novel or movie I haven’t seen. Or Funshiba? Don’t you like her already?
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I think females have it all over males when it comes to names. For example MSP3063. Like reading a license plate and I don’t mean the vanity ones. And No.32. That’s it. Just a number. What am I missing? No. 32 comes with the picture of the knight’s helmet and only an eye-slit. No face, no name. Is he a medieval hitman? Then there’s BiggestMan. He wears the cowl so he could be a midget on stilts but I doubt it. I noticed he made 4,450 points this week and I only made 1, 789. You’re a bigger man than I am, BiggestMan. And RamenSurprise sounds like dinner on a night I’m focused on the game.
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There’s always events going on….you know that Event History box that pops up when you open up. Mine is always full of reports of polishing and motivating, my people wear a perpetually happy face. And players are always moving into the next age. And at least there are 79 players I can always count on NOT to beat me up.
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It’s good to be in a Guild and I like MY Guild, Forge of Traders. Points and kills are all very well, but the essence of what we all play for is a little fun and relaxation. It’s not just about the founders and leaders and experienced players, but for the noobs, too. I think I’m a way better player now. My progress is steady, and as a team player I help others to progress, too, whatever their game style. Things happen every day in our Guild and I look forward to checking in to see what it will hold.
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4 October, 1412
I stand in the tower and look out in the distance. I see the dust of a horse’s hooves. A rider approaches. The Gatekeeper calls out, “Ho! What news?”
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See you on the playing field.
 

DeletedUser

I had not intended to make any further posts, but after re-reading the rules I thought I should make the following amendment:
Ti voglio bene, pisano is Italian and means I love you, fellow countryman.
 
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