Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - updated 21 September 2013

[DeletedUser]

(last update: 21 September, 2013)

(new content shows in yellow)



Hello players and forum goers,

Welcome to the FAQ section!

I assume you are here because you have a question about the game – and you have come to the right place. The forum is a great source of information. Thank you for using it!

Here’s a hopefully easy to navigate thread with frequently asked questions, which I will try to keep up to date (obsolete topics will be removed, new ones may be added).
With many thanks to Checkered Jester and Blacksmith who posted similar threads before, the topics of which I’ve merged into this one.

This is not a guide!
For detailed information about certain topics, please check out our great guides section (click) that you can find on these forums. In this FAQ I have linked to some of the guides you can find there, but that doesn’t mean they’re the only good guides So, of course, many, many thanks as well to all those players who put in so much effort to gather all that splendid information.

Also, if there's anything that I've missed, please let me know and I'll see if it needs adding

~Pendragon




Table of contents


Click on the headlines below to quickly navigate to the questions & answers related to that topic:

1. Forum

2. Game: general features

3. Game: buildings, goods, coins & supplies new content

4. Game: research & forgepoints

5. Game: the continental map adjusted content

6. Game: battles

7. Game: quests

8. Game: trading

9. Game: neighbourhood, guilds & friends adjusted content

10. Game: Great Buildings

11. Diamonds

12. Miscellaneous

 

[DeletedUser]

1. Forum


Are there any forum rules?
Absolutely!
Please check this thread (click). If you break the rules, you may get an infraction and can eventually be banned. So make sure that you have read them!

What do the titles/functions mean in these forums?
There are a lot of people working behind the scenes of this game. To see at a glance who is doing what, they are “colour-coded”.
Please check this thread (click) for a full explanation.

What do the "military" ranks below someone's forum name mean?
These ranks represent the number of posts (click) someone has made in these forums.
Posts in the soapbox-square section of the forums don't count, and don't "double or triple post" - a few posts in a row. Those might get merged into one to keep the count fair and to avoid forum cluttering - and might earn you a reprimand . So the best thing, if you forgot to say something, is to click that little button at the bottom of your post, saying "edit post" - and change it the way you want it to be.

What do these icons below someone’s forum name mean?
1) The sheriff’s badge, for reputation.
This forum feature was added at the start of June 2012. It will give an idea about the poster being helpful, or informative, or trustworthy. Clicking the sheriff’s badge will bring up a pop-up window. If you want, you can add a short explanation. Giving reputation is purely anonymous and players won’t see where the reputation came from unless you sign your name on it. Just remember: don’t do reputation swaps, it is unfair to the community as a whole.
You can check how many reputation points you have yourself by going to the top of your (forum) screen and click the blue settings button. There your reputation will be listed. To see someone’s reputation rank in the forum, check the green bar under his name. Everybody starts off as a noob . This number is visualised in the forum by that green dot below your name - the more dots, the higher reputation!
2) The small triangle, for reports.
If you see a post that is against the rules in any way, please click this button. It will bring up a pop-up window where you can enter what is wrong, and it is the best way to make sure that it will be dealt with as soon as possible.

What should I be aware of before I post?
1) Always check the other threads to avoid creating new threads on existing topics; use the search button at the top right of the screen.
2) List all the relevant information so we can help you solve your problem or question. Be very precise. If necessary, post a screenshot – after all, a picture says more than a thousand words!
(How to make a screenshot) (click).
3) Remember also, that we are a community and should support each other. Everybody starts a new game with limited game knowledge, so be friendly and respectful. If you have nothing constructive to say, do not post. Trolls and bullies will be punished.

How do I tell everybody about this wonderful idea of mine?
If you have any suggestions or ideas for the game, why don't you post them in the Ideas section? Make sure that you have searched the forum before to see if a similar idea has been posted already so you could leave your feedback in that thread instead.
Also, don't forget to read the two stickied threads at the top of the forum, which will tell you which ideas have been suggested before (so don't suggest again), and also give the templates (click) that you need to use in order for your idea to get noticed and read.
Do you have a nice idea, but don't you think it's ready for a "real" idea yet? Please post it in our Games discussion section (click) first then, so it can be discussed and improved.

How do I report bugs?
If you find what you think is a bug ingame please post it in the bug report section (click) of these forums. Before you do, be sure to read this thread (click) first. When you post a new bug, you will now find the template given in your post - please fill it out as well as you can!
If it concerns an urgent matter, you can submit an ingame support ticket: right-click anywhere in your village screen, choose support from the pop-up window and follow up from there. This allows us access to your account directly, which makes our jobs easier! Please pay attention to filling out the correct world and type of ticket. This is also possible if your game is stuck loading (e.g. at 70%).
In case you cannot get into the game at all: click this link. Scroll down in the list that pops up and choose Forge of Empires.

I keep being logged out of the forums . How can I prevent that?
When you log in, there’s a little box “remember me” right next to the place where you enter your name and password, please tick it. That should solve this matter.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

2. Game: general features


Are there any in-game rules?
Absolutely!
Please check this thread (click). If you break the rules, you can eventually be banned permanently. So make sure you have read them!

I’m new here, how do I play this game?
There is a great guide for beginners, so I will just link (click) you to that one . It was drafted a long time ago, and some features have changed, but the basics are still there!

When I logged into the game, I saw an events screen. How can I return to it later?
Simply click on your town hall, click the news tab and you will see it again!
Among other things, the event history will keep you posted of who visited your village (attacked, polished, motivated), who plundered, who accepted your trades, and will give information about your guild.
It also has a tab that will give you information about the great buildings that you are currently supporting, and which may be helpful in tracking down where you had spent your forgepoints again!

What can I do to get my log-in screen past the 70% loading? It is stuck there.
This is a communication problem between your isp and the game server. Please use a hard refresh (control+F5) to bypass this. Also, clearing your cache and refreshing your browser may help.

How are the points for the global ranking calculated?
Points are currently calculated like this:
- Supplies + Coins pickup / 300
- Battle points / 50
- Each building gives building points. Remember that tearing down buildings will cost you points.

Is there any use for the inventory button (menu bottom left)?
Yes! Although it has been sitting idle there for a long time, as of Hallowe'en 2012 it is being used. Here special items are being held: for instance, your rewards from holiday events (as long as you didn't build them in your village). Also forgepoint packages are stored here, and there is a special tab for the great buildings, which will show the blueprints that you have collected so far.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

3. Game: buildings; goods, coins & supplies


First of all, you can find very good information about buildings and their statistics in this thread (click). Unfortunately, it doesn't contain information for the Industrial Age (yet), but more information about that you can find here (click)


How can I sell/move a building?
Choose the “build tile” from your tools menu (bottom left of your screen; tile with hammer on it), and a small menu appears at the top middle of your screen. You will see three buttons: sell ($-sign), move (arrow) and cancel (stop sign).

Can I rotate my buildings so that they fit better in my village plan?
I’m afraid not. It’s part of the game to try and fit everything in there the way it is. See it as a big jig-saw puzzle!
That said, there’s a great helpful City planning tool (click).

Why should I build cultural buildings?
Cultural buildings, as well as decorations, provide a certain amount of happiness. And your population needs to be happy, for better production!
Once your happiness points are 1.4x your population, the population will even become enthusiastic, which means that when you collect your buildings, you will get 120% of what you would normally get. The reverse is true as well: if your happiness points drop below your population, you will only gain 50% of what you would get normally. So it is important to keep the happiness up!
Mind you, battle points are affected by this as well .

Do you keep your (premium) buildings when you proceed to the next age?
Yes, you keep all your buildings until you delete them yourself. The rewards from the various holiday events are considered premium buildings - so if you delete them, they're gone forever!
Note: if you delete a military building, you will also lose the units that were in it.

I need more space to fit everything into my village, how can I expand?
At this moment you can unlock expansions in the following ways, and in the following eras (you do not have to use them at once, but can save them for a later moment - remember that the cost of each next expansion will be higher than the previous one).
All unlocked expansions can be found in the building menu, in the bottom tab with the grid on it:

	B.A.	I.A.	EMA	HMA	LMA	C.A.	IndA
research	4	5	4	5	5	3	2
map	1	2	2	2	3	2	2
medals	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
diamonds	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

How is it possible to have a negative population?
Unfortunately, this is a stubborn bug. The population counter is known to be off and to add population when it should not (often when building).
A refresh usually solves the problem, unless you have accidentally built something that required that amount of population. A refresh then will show the negative population, and you will either have to build more houses, or demolish a building that required population.
Please refresh the game before you start building to make sure!

What are goods for?
Goods (like lumber and stone) are being used for unlocking researches in the research tree, and are used for negotiating territories on the map (instead of fighting to conquer them).

I want to make dye*, but I didn’t get a deposit on the map. Now what?
(*dye is just an example)
It is good to know that you don’t need a deposit on the map to produce certain goods, provided you have researched, unlocked and built the matching factories. However, if you have a deposit, you will produce with a bonus: without a deposit it is 1 item per 4 hours, with a deposit it is 5 per 4 hours.
It’s is often recommended to produce only those goods that you have found a deposit of, and to trade for the others goods. Check out this thread (click) to learn more about that.

There are only a few people in my neighbourhood! I can never trade this way
Please be patient. At the end of July 2013 a new merge system for neighbourhoods was introduced, which in effect divided existing neighbourhoods into smaller chunks, and then combined these smaller chunks with comparable chunks from other neighbourhoods, so that they will be close to full (80 members), and this will happen every other week.
More information about this system you can read in the announcement (click) which was made by our community manager, The Countess.

How long does it take before goods spoil?
Goods (such as lumber and dye) do not spoil, and neither do coins from your houses.
However, supplies do.
Supplies will spoil after three times their production time, or one hour, whichever is longer, starting to count from the moment you set the production.
Example:
If you set the production time to 15 minutes, the goods will stale after 1 hour (as 1 hour is longer than 3x15 minutes); if you set it at 1 hour, it will stale after 3 hours (3x1 hour, which of course is longer than 1 hour). Again: the counter starts the moment you set the production.

How can I get more coins/supplies?
All houses yield coins, all supply buildings (like the pottery) yield supplies.

How long does a polish on my happiness buildings last?
A polish lasts for 12 hours, all that time the happiness bonus is doubled. A golden star over your cultural building or decoration shows that it’s polished and a timer indicates how much time there is left for it.
If a house or a supply building is motivated, the next time it’s collected, it will have a double yield - the crate showing it's ready for collection will then be golden as well.
You have only one action in someone else’s village (polish/motivate/attack&plunder) every 24 hours.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

4. Game: research & forgepoints


When is a research completed?
A research in the research tree (accessible through the tools menu in the bottom left corner of your screen, click the tile with two vials on it) is considered completed when you have both paid all the necessary forgepoints, and the other requirements: goods/supplies/coins. The exact unlock costs can be seen by mousing over the various researches and it is colour-indicated whether you have enough of them or not (red for no, green for yes).
You can research everything you like (there is no limit), and there is no penalty if you skip any research.
There are two exceptions to this, both in the Early Middle Ages: multistory houses can only be completely unlocked by paying diamonds (but it's no pre-requisite for anything else, so it's not a necessary research) - and crop rotations does not have any other unlock costs apart from the forgepoints that all researches need.

How do I get forgepoints?
Simply wait. Each hour, a new forge point is added automatically.
You can also buy a forge point by clicking on the little + symbol next to them. The cost of forge points will increase each time you buy one. Other ways of gaining forgepoints is doing quests that reward them, or by contributing to great buildings and ending up in one of the top spots of a level.

How many forgepoints can I have?
You can have a maximum of 10 forge points at once. To get more, you will have to spend some first.

How do I proceed to the next age?
As soon as you completely unlock the first research of that age (tile next to it is green and checked), your town hall will be updated automatically and you will have gone into that age.
You will not lose anything you have built/collected up to then, and you can still build things from the previous ages. You can also still complete researches of previous ages if you had not done so before.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

5. Game: the continental map


First of all, you can find the full world map(s) for Forge of Empires, up to and including the Progressive Era, here (click).


What are the rewards for conquering the map?
The bronze age will give you a pvp-tower, one expansion, and two goods deposits. For each of the other ages you will find: a pvp-tower to unlock, two expansions (three in Late Middle Ages), two provinces you can get loot from and two goods deposits. Everybody will find all these in the same provinces – but which two deposits you get, is random for everyone.
Moreover, there is now a whole bonus-area (between Late Middle Ages and Colonial Age), with its own quest-line, better loot, and more challenging battles!

How can I conquer these provinces on the map?
There are two ways to do so:
1) by negotiating. This requires a variety of goods, after which you peacefully acquired the land section. No fighting involved!
2) by attacking. In this case you will have to defeat the enemy army. You can choose to infiltrate them first, which means each of the enemy units will lose 1 square on their health bars. The points you earn for these battles, count for the pvp-rankings.

Does everybody get the same deposits on the map?
No. Each age comes with five goods, and everybody will find two of them on the map. Although you can always produce each good once you have unlocked the factories in the research tree and built them, you will be able to produce goods of which you have a deposit, with a bonus. Others may have found different deposits, so there is your incentive to start trading .
Example: you find flowers on the map; this is the raw material for dye. You will now be able to produce dye with a bonus (5 items per 4 hours instead of 1 every 4 hours), provided you have the corresponding factory. A deposit will never be exhausted.

Help! I'm on the Industrial Age map, but I had some unfinished business in the previous ages!
No worries, you can always return there. Just click the ship again that took you to the Industrial Age map and you'll return to the first map in seconds. No days waiting now! And you can get back to the Industrial Age the same way, instantly again.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

6. Game: battles


Battles earn you points for the pvp-tower tournaments. Both battles on the map, and those against your neighbours count.
You can find very good information about military buildings, units and their statistics in this thread (click). There is also a list of the amount of medals you can earn in the various pvp-tournaments.
More information, including Industrial Age, can be found in this thread (click).



”You can’t attack someone without an army.”
Sometimes, when you try to attack, you may come across this message.
Unfortunately, it’s rather ambiguous, but what it means is this:
At this moment you do not have units in your attacking army, so you cannot attack!
It is possible that you have units in your defensive army, in that case you only have to switch them to attack, or that you do not have any units at all, which means you will have to train some.
It does not mean that your opponent is without an army!

Can I have more than 8 units in my “army”?
No, that is not possible. However, you can build more barracks, so you can replace units faster, or can choose from various units: (long)ranged, mounted or infantry.
And don’t forget that there is both a defensive, and an offensive “army” .

Can I see or manage what barracks my units come from?
No, unfortunately that’s not possible at this moment. There have been suggestions proposed to improve this, so hopefully the developers are working on it!

Some of my units have "unattached" behind their names... what does that mean?
These units have been rewarded by quests, and they are not attached to any of the barracks that you have built in your village - they are extras. This also means that they cannot be deleted by deleting buildings - but also that they cannot be replaced when they die if you don't have their barracks. Many players put these units (that are often from a better age than you're in) in their defensive army where they can never get lost.

Can I determine the attack order of my units?
No, you cannot. However, fast units (e.g. cavalry) always go first, and slow units (e.g. catapults) are always last – if both you and your enemy have the units of the same speed, yours go first.
You can also skip a unit’s turn by clicking on the hex it is on, but it won’t get the chance to move again until the next round.

Can I defend my village manually?
Unfortunately, this is not possible right now.
However, the developers mentioned they were looking into this, so it may be included one day.

Is the battlefield always the same?
Each sector on the continental map has its own lay-out that does not change.
However, when you attack your neighbours, you will find that the battle-maps there are generated randomly and will be different each time.

How do the pvp-tower tournaments work?
Tournaments last from Monday morning to Sunday (the exact finishing time is stated in the towers themselves). You do NOT receive battle points for battles fought between tournaments (see question below). You can participate in all towers, that you have units for.
For the towers that you have not unlocked on the map yet: although you can participate in these tournaments, you cannot check the points you have (so you will only see them in the battle reports you get at the end of a battle, not in the towers and not in the event history either). The good part is, that you will get medals in those towers, if you earned them (this has been confirmed as "not intended", but as it's not hurting any players, it has no high priority on the list of things to fix).
If you are eligible for medals when the tournament ended, they will be added to your account within 24 hours. If after that you still haven’t received the medals, please file an ingame ticket, stating:
- what tower you should have had your medals from;
- how many medals you should’ve had from each tower you were in.

Where do battlepoints earned between tournaments go?
Battle points that are earned between tournaments, do not count to any tournament.
Technically, this is because in that period (between late Sunday evening and early Monday morning) the neighbourhoods are merged. Practically, you may see it like this: as there are no tournaments running, you can just not gain points in them - you can't win something that isn't there.
So, if you do battles for the tournament rankings only, please refrain from doing any in this period, and don't resume fighting until the tournaments have started again on Monday.

Where did my battle points go? I don’t see them!
They will go to the pvp-tower of the age of the highest age unit you attacked with – so if this was a spearman, the points would be in the bronze age tower, but as soon as you use one archer, they will go to the iron age tower, and so on.

What's this? I was attacked and won, but the replay shows the other guy got points?!
The points that are shown for your attacker, are the points he had accumulated so far in the battle, and would have received if he had won - as he lost, he will not get them .

I’m first in my tower, but this other guy is current champion?!
The current champion is the one who won the previous tournament. Your name will be there in the next round, provided you will still be first at the very moment this tournament finishes . Please note that if you are in a neighbourhood that merged, it is possible that the champion of the other neighbourhood is shown instead.
By the way, if it is the first time this tower is unlocked in your neighbourhood, it may say “no champion yet!” or it’ll show a random player.

Who can I attack, and how often?
You have one action for each of your neighbours available every 24 hours, whether it’s polish, motivate, or attack. You can only attack people who are in your neighbourhood, but not if they are in the same guild as you are, or on your friendslist.
If you successfully attacked someone, so won, you can plunder him/her (coins or supplies or goods). If nothing is available, you can revisit later to try, but have to do so within those 24 hours.
Remember that if you are attacked and plundered, these two will show up in your events log as two different events.

I’ve been attacked and plundered, but I’ve got a defence up which is unharmed?
As the AI leads your defensive troops (and is not very good at doing so, to be honest), it would be a harsh punishment if you were attacked and your troops were left injured. Your defence will have done its job, but your units will return to their posts after the battle safe and sound

Is this all there is for pvp? I’m disappointed.
Although the pvp feature has become much more prominent in-game, the main goal of the game is to balance expanding your village, doing research and fighting your way across the map.
There is mentioning of so-called "guild-wars" to be released. As far as is known now, guilds will have to prove themselves against other guilds - but it isn't known yet how it will be exactly. Stay tuned to the forums for more news



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

7. Game: quests


I completed a quest but don’t get a new one – what’s wrong?
Quests are mainly triggered by two things: your progress on the world map, and your progress in the research tree. Just keep making progress and you’ll soon get a new one!

What does this Jester wants from me? Long quests & silly rewards
All I can say is: be very patient with the Jester. He wants a lot of things and only gives silly rewards… apparently. However, these are quest chains and if you don’t break them, you will be rewarded in the end, and some of these chains give diamonds too!

This quest tells me to build 4 huts but I already have plenty, why doesn’t it complete?
Well, it asked you to build them, not to have them, and it starts counting from the moment you accepted the quest. This means you still have to build these huts.
If a quest asks you to have e.g. all five goods buildings of a certain age, you must have them all at the same time before it completes.

This quest tells me to infiltrate four sectors, but I’ve only one sector left to conquer. Now what?
This happens sometimes because of how quests are triggered. Please infiltrate the remaining sectors before you conquer them. When you’ve conquered the complete province (so all sectors) a fail-safe should complete the quest after all!



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

8. Game: trading


First of all, please head over to the guides section and read this guide (link), where an excellent explanation is given of how trades work in this game.
Apart from that, you can now see all the trades that have been set up by your fellow guild mates, whether they were checked for guild-only or not. Best part is, as a fellow guild-member, you still do not have to pay forgepoints for them.


With whom can I trade?
You can trade with all your neighbours and fellow guild members. And let's not forget: with your friends too, of course.

Are trades free?
Trades with guild members are free, trades with neighbours or friends will cost you a forgepoint.

Can I set up any trade I like?
Yes, but within the ratios 0.5 - 2. Which effectively means you can offer (or ask) two goods for one at the most. Although this implies that you could offer 1 lumber for 2 textiles for instance, it's doubtful that anyone would accept such a trade, as producing textiles costs a lot more coins and supplies than producing lumber. Many guilds will ask you to limit trades to trading goods of the same age, or one age apart at most - and that's good advice for trading in your neighbourhood as well .



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

9. Game: neighbourhood, guilds & friends


First of all, please head over to the guides section and read this guide (link), where an excellent explanation is given of how guilds work.


How many people are there in my world?
First off, you should know that you are playing in a neighbourhood, which consists of 80 players maximum. There are many, many neighbourhoods in a world (a.k.a. server). New worlds open up regularly: when the Beta went open, Arvahal (EN1) was the first, then Brisgard (EN2), then Cirgard (EN3), and more after that So far, Houndsmoor is the latest world.
There are also guilds, which consist of 80 players maximum, all coming from one world (so from various neighbourhoods).

There are less and less people in my neighbourhood! What is happening?!
Inactive players will be hidden after a few days (those in bronze, iron and early middle age after three days, those in later ages after seven days), hence the decrease in numbers. As soon as they become active, they will be visible again.
Also, under some circumstances, accounts get deleted by the system. This will only happen if you have less than 50 diamonds in your account and are completely inactive for 30 days in a row. Once you have more than 50 diamonds, the counter resets.
Note that this is also world-specific.
It is explained very well in this post (click).

There are hardly neighbours left to trade with, or to attack
As I have said in a previous post: please be patient. Every other week neighbourhoods are divided into smaller chunks and these chunks are reshuffled into more balanced neighbourhoods. Maybe it helps to realise that your neighbours are in the same situation - each of you still has the same chances in the pvp-tournaments.

What is so good about guilds?
The best part is that a guild can contain players from the whole world, so not just your neighbourhood. There is free trade among members, and you cannot be attacked by them. More often than not, you will find that within a guild players are very helpful, will come to visit to polish your cultural buildings regularly (less buildings necessary for enthusiastic population) and will trade with you at reasonable rates. Of course, they will expect the same thing from you.
In short, they will help you progress through the game.

I have invited a friend but I can’t see him in my friendslist?
If it is a friend from within the game, you merely have to invite him, and he needs to accept.
If it is a friend from outside the game, he must follow the link you sent him exactly and make sure that he is on the same world as you are.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

10. Great Buildings

Since the end of November 2012 there are Great Buildings in the game. These are buildings that give a considerable boost, increasing per level, for instance for your attacking army, but also for defending armies, or rewarding goods, coins, supplies or medals, and much more.
Please remember that it has been said more than once that these Great Buildings will play a role later in the game, when the “guild-wars” (so-called popularly) will be released!


A lot of very helpful information about them can be found in this thread (click), and it includes the Great Buildings of the Industrial Age. Information can be found in this thread (click) as well.


How do I start a Great Building?
In order to start one, you need to find its blueprints. Each Great Building needs a set of nine unique blueprints (you can always check the ones you have in your inventory – one of the buttons at the bottom left of your village screen). Once you have all nine, you can then start the Great Building in your village, provided you also have the goods to start it. It will begin at level 0, showing a construction site. Once enough forgepoints are added (varies per building), it will then be level 1, and it will start giving its bonus(es). For daily bonuses (like goods), the counter will reset the moment the building moves to its next level.

Where do I find the blueprints for the Great Buildings?
There are several ways of getting a (always random) blueprint:
1) by polishing or motivating (coins or production, doesn’t matter) buildings of your neighbours, friends and guild members;
2) by plundering neighbours (a smaller chance than polishing/motivating);
(In these two ways you will always get a blueprint of a Great Building of the era that the structure that you polished/motivated/plundered is too. As there are no Great Buildings of the Stone Age, it stands to reason that you should not choose any structures of that age, if you want a blueprint .)
3) by contributing forgepoints to the Great Buildings of others;
(In this case you have a chance of receiving a blueprint of that specific building that you are contributing to – please note that you will have to end in the top five of contributors to get one (or even top three for the lower levels/ages).
4) by buying them with diamonds.
(In this case you need at least one blueprint of the building already. The good part is, you will know exactly which blueprint you will get!)

I hardly find blueprints! Is that a bug?
No, that is not a bug. Great Buildings are supposed to be rare, and it will not be easy to find all the blueprints. Expect weeks, if not months, if you polish/motivate/plunder very much, or even longer, to get all nine blueprints.
You can narrow it down a little by only choosing structures of the era you want the blueprints of, but you can still get random ones (that’s what random means, after all).
Despite common complaint, it is possible to get all necessary blueprints without buying them with diamonds though! There are plenty players who have achieved just that, so don’t complain that you need to pay real money for them .

Why do I still get blueprints of a Great Building I already have?
As said, getting blueprints is random. So you can get all blueprints of a certain building, including the ones that you already have built. If you don’t want blueprints of a specific age anymore, you better avoid the buildings that can reward them .
As each age comes with two Great Buildings, and you only have one, but want the other too, yes, you stand the chance of still getting blueprints of the one you already have.

I keep getting duplicates - is there any use for them?
As said, you will always get a random blueprint. So what to do with the ones that you already have, the duplicates?
1) duplicates of blueprints of a building you haven’t built yet
As soon as you have two duplicates (whether you have more of a single one, or more of various blueprints), you will get the option to trade them in. It is always two duplicate blueprints, for one blueprint that you do not just trade in, but it is still random, so you might end up with another duplicate. Note that if you want to trade in two of the same, you must have a third one in your inventory as well (this one you’ll keep, of course).
2) duplicates of blueprints of a building you have built already
As you can’t build two of the same Great Building, it’s already “unfair” that you can still get blueprints of them, but… you can even get duplicates! As you cannot use them to trade in for one you don’t have yet in this case, they’ll just add up. It has been mentioned that there will be use for these duplicates later on, and that it will be something “wonderful” – but no one has yet elaborated on what it will be. We’ll just have to be patient!

Can my Great Building be plundered?
No. Simply: no. Your Great Building cannot be plundered. Never. Guess that answers it?



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

11. Diamonds


First and foremost, diamonds are bound to your account on the server.
This means that (contrary to the other totals displayed at the top of your village screen, which are meant for one specific world only) the amount of diamonds displayed apply to your whole account: if you have 100 diamonds, these 100 diamonds will be shown in each of the worlds that you play in. If you spend some in one world, and you go to another world - the amount of diamonds will have changed there as well then, obviously.


How can I get diamonds?
There are several ways to get diamonds. The most obvious one is to buy them (click on + next to the diamond icon in the top right corner of your screen and proceed from there; you will also get the option to earn them through surveys).
Other ways to get diamonds are: doing certain quests, validating your e-mail, inviting friends and sometimes player competitions reward them.

Why are diamonds so expensive?
It’s better to charge more for them now and let them go down in price when we can figure out how things work, than make them cheap now and realise they have to be more expensive later on – it will only make people complain. The price will go down eventually, but it will be a slow, long process.
That said, you don’t have to buy diamonds to play this game. It’s been said time and again that you may want to wait for costs to drop and stabilise.

I've earned diamonds by doing surveys, but I don't get them!
The "earn your diamonds" possibility in the buying diamonds screen is actually offered by a third party (sponsorpay). If the promised diamonds are not paid out, please try the following:
- go to the "earn your diamonds" screen'
- in the bottom left corner you will find a support button, click it;
- that should give you the possibility to go to their support.
You will most likely be asked to offer proof that you've done what they have requested - so make screenshots, and make very sure you read the small print, so that you are certain you did exactly what they asked!
Also, please be aware that not all the offers are completely "free" - again the fine print comes to mind. Read carefully, make sure you don't do anything you do not want to (send text messages, receive them, et cetera).

If I move to another server, can I take the diamonds I bought with me?
The diamonds you buy for one server (for example the .en one) will stay on that server, but you can use them in all worlds (Arvahall, Brisgard, etc.). You can not take them along if you start anew on another server (for example .us or .fr).

How can I fix the white-screen when I try to buy diamonds?
Unfortunately, this is a common thing if you use Internet Explorer. Without being too technical, this game is actually played best on Chrome or Opera, or even Mozilla Firefox. Using these browsers should prevent the white-screen from popping up and you’ll be able to purchase your diamonds.

I have deleted a premium building – do I get a diamond refund for that?
At this moment, there is no diamond refund for premium buildings, or any premium features, for that matter. Once you have spent your diamonds, they are spent. So be careful what you use them for, or what buildings you delete! To prevent mistakes, there is a confirmation screen in place for deleting buildings. It states the name of the building that you are about to delete, so read it well and please don't tell us you "accidentally" deleted something and would like to have it restored!

Can’t I get better customer service, being a paying customer?
The fact that you have bought diamonds, does not mean that you should get a preferential treatment. By buying diamonds, you can unlock extra features, or speed through the game faster. It does not mean that you get treated better than a player who does not spend money - we try to give everyone optimal support.



back to top

 

[DeletedUser]

12. Miscellaneous


How come there are so many bugs in this game?
Although the game has left the beta stage very recently (May 2013) and the major bugs have been fixed, there are still smaller ones. New ones can appear with new updates and expansions of the game as well (after all, the game isn't fully released yet). We want you, the players, to help us find the bugs and report them, so that we can improve the game.
There will remain one server where new updates will be tested first.

Is there an ingame chat feature?
Yes! Early 2013 a chat feature was added to the game, with three separate tabs, allowing you to talk to
a) everyone else in your world;
b) everyone else in your guild;
c) everyone else in your neighbourhood.
You can find the ingame chat at the top right of your village screen. As the system is still new, it may still have some bugs. We are monitoring the chats, but if someone uses abusive or offensive language, please don't hesitate to report them (right-click on their name, choose report, proceed from there).
There is also a player chat available (skype) for those who would like to ask questions etc, please contact (click) Blacksmith for that, or check out this link (click).

I will be absent for the next period. Where can I find the holiday mode?
Unfortunately, this game has no such feature (at this moment), although it has been suggested.
Best thing to do is to collect everything before you leave, and not to start new productions, so that your goods cannot be plundered while you’re away. You cannot stop coin production, so your houses are not protected.
Also, notice that your village cannot be taken over while you are away, so everything is safe. It may be good to know, that buildings that have been motivated, cannot be plundered - so instead of disconnecting buildings (some people do this in their absence), it may be worthwhile to ask your guild mates or friends to motivate as much as they can: that way plunderers won't have a chance, and you'll get good yields when you come back!
Do remember though, that if you have not progressed to the High Middle Ages yet and had less than 50 diamonds in your account, your village will be deleted from the game entirely after about 30 days of complete inactivity and you will have to start over. That said, it also means that you hadn't progressed very far yet, and will get back to the point where you were quite easily.

My friend and I want to play this game on the same computer. Is that allowed?
Please check the ingame rules (click) for the exact rules, but here's the gist of it: if a friend logs into the same computer as you there are certain things you need to do to ensure your accounts do not get banned for co-play or multi-accounting. It is basically not really worth it.
1. do not log in within 30 minutes of each other;
2. NEVER trade with each other;
3. you must let ingame moderators know that you both will be sharing the same computer for x amount of time in advance. You can do this via the support panel (right-click ingame and select support).

I've chosen a very silly name... where can I change it?
Unfortunately, players cannot change their own ingame names currently.
However, if you have accidentally used your own name, or your email address, or maybe even an abusive or offensive name, please don't hesitate to contact support by sending a ticket: right-click anywhere on your village screen, choose support from the pop-up window and proceed from there. To avoid delay, please add a choice of three names to what you would like it changed to.
We will look into it then and if necessary, shall try to change it.

I logged in and everything’s gone! What on earth happened?
This is probably very simple. When you logged in, you will have gone to the wrong server. Please check if you are in the correct world, or even the correct language server.
You can do this by logging out, then check the flag next to where you need to log in or at the top of your screen and see if it’s the correct one, and check if you’re in the right world too. That will most likely fix it!

Is it possible to delete my account?
No, at this moment it’s not possible to delete your account. However, you can start over on another world or server.

Where can I find the answers to my support tickets?
The answers are sent to the e-mail address that you have registered (so not to your ingame mail-box). You can also find the replies by right-clicking on your village screen, choosing support and then clicking through to the "overview" of your currently open tickets.
Please note that issues related to diamonds can sometimes take a while, since fewer staff are authorised to deal with them.



back to top