Neighborhood merge feedback thread

[DeletedUser]

ACK! Is my neighborhood going to disappear completely? The En6 merge removed the lowest 70 out of the 80 inhabitants of my neighborhood in Fel Draghar [sp?]. And now the lowest two players have disappeared, leaving eight of us -- three recent Iron Age and five relatively developed Bronze Age. I guess these two got discouraged when I fought them and won, although I did NOT plunder them, because I did not want to discourage them, and left them each a long message thanking them for being in the neighborhood, wishing them well, etc. But I guess they still got discouraged. Having so few people in the hood, however, means little chance of getting blueprint pieces for the two Bronze Age (or Iron Age) GBs and only 7 x 20 gold per day for each of the eight of us. A HUGE difference from the 79 x 20 gold per day I was earning before the recent En6 merge! A number of the people I have been chatting with on Global Chat have reported similar extremely high reductions of their hood population -- down to 6, 7, 8, 9, etc. I don't understand what is going on. Just the luck of the draw, I guess. But it IS rather discouraging. Hope this was a bug or, if not, that it will be corrected quickly.

 

[DeletedUser]

People like me spent hours on this forum making logical suggestions. It doesn't seem that the admins have ears or eyes for the suggestions the community has been giving on these forums. There is absolutely no respect for the time and effort people spend on the game or on making the game better than it could ever be.

I would just like to point out that the whole reason there were changes to the way the neighborhood merge system worked was because of the game developers listening to player feedback. Remember this thread?

 

[DeletedUser]

seems like most of the problems in that thread were in relation to hood size. I would posit that they still ignored what most people were complaining about and fixed a problem that few were complaining about. Very little of what has been done was necessary to fix hood size.

In the process of responding to the minority view, they messed over the larger group. How is my hood any larger when 25% of it is made up of my own guild? I had 74 people in my hood before the merge (I had just gotten a merge after 3-4 months of waiting) and only 3 of them were guild mates.

I am also confused by the comments you linked to b/c they say hoods shouldn't be over the size of 80. The first merge under this system put my hood at 85

It also seemed like some of the moderator comments earlier in this thread were saying that the whole reason these changes were made is because "something" coming "soon" required hood sizes to be even. If that is the case, it seems disingenuous to say this was all to fix our complaints. If guild wars is going to be giving us lots more battles, why is this faux balancing even necessary? It surely wasn't necessary to make hoods the same size. I also don't understand why these changes would be made so far before the thing that makes them necessary is implemented.

@knockpg what is sad is that I would be happy to only have 15 guild members in my hood right now and I know that people in the other top guild on Houndsmoor will say the same thing. Unless something is changed, you will probably be getting more guild members in you hood unless people start jumping

 

[DeletedUser1983]

I would just like to point out that the whole reason there were changes to the way the neighborhood merge system worked was because of the game developers listening to player feedback. Remember this thread?

Yes I do. But that thread was full of players who were unhappy about being stuck in inactive hoods. And this thread has been primarily about how uneven the logic of this new system is that some hoods have 15 guildmates and some hoods have 0-2. Earlier there was some variety in the hoods, now it's all uniform and monotonous....
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I have exactly the same problem as Leeroy mentioned above. I had 69 neighbors before the merge and I was scoring 480k points a day. I have 83 neighbors now but with 14 guildies and I am now scoring 430k points a day after beating everyone in the hood that's not my guildmate. How do you explain that? There is a player in Brisgard with 16 guildies in his hood. And there is a player from my guild who has no other guildies in teh hood.... Surely there could have been a better way of distributing these top players across multiple hoods rather than putting all the PE towns together into a randomizer function on the excel sheet and then giving away whatever came out of it. Even a 2 year old child can do that these days, what do we need the devs for?

 

[DeletedUser13805]

Yes I do. But that thread was full of players who were unhappy about being stuck in inactive hoods. And this thread has been primarily about how uneven the logic of this new system is that some hoods have 15 guildmates and some hoods have 0-2. Earlier there was some variety in the hoods, now it's all uniform and monotonous....
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I have exactly the same problem as Leeroy mentioned above. I had 69 neighbors before the merge and I was scoring 480k points a day. I have 83 neighbors now but with 14 guildies and I am now scoring 430k points a day after beating everyone in the hood that's not my guildmate. How do you explain that? There is a player in Brisgard with 16 guildies in his hood. And there is a player from my guild who has no other guildies in teh hood.... Surely there could have been a better way of distributing these top players across multiple hoods rather than putting all the PE towns together into a randomizer function on the excel sheet and then giving away whatever came out of it. Even a 2 year old child can do that these days, what do we need the devs for?

how i would explain that is you couldnt do 480k points a day unless you have a huge castle boost, most the hood you would of been in would be players who couldnt even give you a chase it seems your not really interested in pvp only the points for you and how many you can make.
from the merge yesterday some really keen and battle type players have said to me there not going to carry on anymore as they have no chance anymore, its sad to see so many people who have enjoyed a steady growth in pvp now see there old hoods over run with the monsters. these players are not new players there players that have been fighting for months and got sucess in hoods that were more to there strengths, unless something isnt done to protect the weaker players then there is no future for pvp and all those of you who are chasing huge scores etc will lose your enjoyment as you will end up in weaker and weaker hoods. so for everyones interest something really does need to be done as there have been so many changes to pvp all of them have had the result of loseing even more players to farming.
just think about it if you was the player on 500k who has been king in a hood or was winning or competing in towers and having sucess then suddenly your faced who huge opersition with huge armys and huge castle boosts dont you honestly think you would feel you dont stand a chance ?

 

[DeletedUser17220]

so is the summer event the reason why we need to have all neighborhoods of the same size?
http://forum.en.forgeofempires.com/...only-if-wanting-future-updates-spoiled/page36

 

[DeletedUser12086]

Guilds: Yes we realise that in some cases, there are neighborhoods with multiple guild members in the same guild. This, however, is not due to any design flaw, but due to the sheer chance factor of a group of players who share a guild being in similar positions in the tech tree. Previously, we had some neighborhoods that were extremely small, but most of them were still smaller than the ~80 member neighborhoods now. So even with some guild members being in the neighborhood, there are still plenty of people to fight.

Now, with regards to the PvP towers, before the new merge system it was common for only one or two people to be able to compete in a PvP tower of a certain age. Now there is challenge in PvP, where players are pitted against others who can actually fight back. This is not a bad thing, it is just different, and will take some getting used to.

We realise the merge was a shock, however the shock is somewhat due to the old merge system not working in the way it was intended to, resulting in no merges a lot of the time, and huge gaps between players. The first new merge needed to restore some balance back to the neighborhoods, and so a huge amount of shuffling was done.

 

[DeletedUser]

Previously, we had some neighborhoods that were extremely small

I have just 5 people in my neighbourhood now, and I am the only active player. Many other players in the iron or bronze ages are complaining of having fewer than 10 neighbours as well. This new merger has been a disaster for us, and unless it is revised quickly, I expect most of us newer players will simply leave the game.

 

[DeletedUser16793]

The new merger sucks and does not work, why cant they see this and change it. Might of been better if say there were 40 neighbourhoods ranking 1 to 40 put one each in the hoods, then go to 41 to 80 and put them in each neighbourhood and so on so on. Might work the how many guilds members are in the hood out seeing has most of hood members are grouped together, and it would give the neighbourhoods a much diverse and varied look. I am losing interest has it is now. Might oas well pack the game up and go and play outside at chucking a piece of cotton wool against the window to try and brake it. It will have the same effect, only at least i will be out in the fresh air

 

[DeletedUser4906]

A simple solution would be to put the Diamond user's in their own world & leave the intelligent folks to carry on as before, let those who want to bang out threats of plunder etc fight similar Diamond user's & see where they get then.....

 

[DeletedUser14349]

I was hoping for a bit a better merge on Fel D and Greifental but there is`s even worse. I`m pointwise ranked somewhere in the middle but I am together with PA and InA players who most also compete for the CA tower. I have no more chances to compete on those worlds seeing as my houndsmoor hood is so competitive that I really have no time to play on others worlds any more. So I think I will give up Greifental and only continue playing on Fel D because I like the guild so much there. But no real point in doing anything. I got from ranked 1 on all hoods into a much worse situation. My previous neighbor on Fel D was more lucky. She is ranked first now. All my hard work was for nothing and I see no reason to seriously play on those worlds any more. Battling has become a real time suck. More like a full time job and not the fun a game is supposed to be

 

[DeletedUser276]

I have just 5 people in my neighbourhood now, and I am the only active player. Many other players in the iron or bronze ages are complaining of having fewer than 10 neighbours as well. This new merger has been a disaster for us, and unless it is revised quickly, I expect most of us newer players will simply leave the game.

that should change with the next merge. There probably wasnt enough people available in your tech area to add more to your hood. Dont worry as time goes on these things will correct themselves. In the meantime enjoy the easy medals.

Thanks for the feedback folks. We have gone through everything here and wieghed things. As it stands there isnt much that is actually wrong with the merge. If we had more people than the same 5-6 people having a rotating discussion it might make things a bit easier to go through. with so little varied posters there isnt much to go on. As far as things stand the hoods will have this kind of setup. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[DeletedUser13805]

that should change with the next merge. There probably wasnt enough people available in your tech area to add more to your hood. Dont worry as time goes on these things will correct themselves. In the meantime enjoy the easy medals.

Thanks for the feedback folks. We have gone through everything here and wieghed things. As it stands there isnt much that is actually wrong with the merge. If we had more people than the same 5-6 people having a rotating discussion it might make things a bit easier to go through. with so little varied posters there isnt much to go on. As far as things stand the hoods will have this kind of setup. Thanks for your feedback.

i guess the only way the devs will listen is when there is hardly anyone left playing pvp as it stands people are leaving and not bothering with pvp so i wouldnt worry to much about feedback as i am sure the numbers will speak for themselves in time and its sad to see people who enjoyed pvp now giving up because of unfair merges, to long to battle etc

 

[DeletedUser16793]

that should change with the next merge. There probably wasnt enough people available in your tech area to add more to your hood. Dont worry as time goes on these things will correct themselves. In the meantime enjoy the easy medals.

Thanks for the feedback folks. We have gone through everything here and wieghed things. As it stands there isnt much that is actually wrong with the merge.

His he on the same planet has us?????????????????????

 

[bilboman]

From what I have heard here and elsewhere, people don't like the new merge method but it seems to be very unclear what the method used actually was. The advantages of the old method were that there was a blend of levels in each neighbourhood, that changes in neighbourhoods were not drastic and that changes weren't too frequent. I think that it is not a bad thing to have changes more often but then some level of continuity in neighbourhood membership should be kept rather than throwing all the cities up in the air and then regrouping them. Also, it would be good if technology level could be used as well as points to group cities into neighbourhoods. There seems to be a great unevenness in the current neighbourhoods.

 

[bilboman]

I think that the new merge is fundamentally flawed, as in "the world is flat" instead of "the world is round".

 

[DeletedUser9756]

I am average player that ranks in 300 in the global and was put into a neighborhood of 84 people where 26 players were in the top 100 players in the entire game. They plunder us and attack all the time and we do not stand a chance against them due to them being so overpowered. Please make it more logical and fair that the difference between 1 and last person is challenging but not ridiculous like in my neighborhood.

 

[DeletedUser276]

From what I have heard here and elsewhere, people don't like the new merge method but it seems to be very unclear what the method used actually was. The advantages of the old method were that there was a blend of levels in each neighbourhood, that changes in neighbourhoods were not drastic and that changes weren't too frequent. I think that it is not a bad thing to have changes more often but then some level of continuity in neighbourhood membership should be kept rather than throwing all the cities up in the air and then regrouping them. Also, it would be good if technology level could be used as well as points to group cities into neighbourhoods. There seems to be a great unevenness in the current neighbourhoods.

I can explain if you want how this system works... I have tried to do so in the past but players took my "advice" as talking down to them so I refrained since my effort was wasted.

 

[DeletedUser]

Also, it would be good if technology level could be used as well as points to group cities into neighbourhoods. There seems to be a great unevenness in the current neighbourhoods.

The use of tech level is the biggest difference... Before, it was based on score and start date and average of points between 'merge-able' hoods.

Now, it breaks up hoods into chunks, it splits it where the gaps are biggest and it does so according to tech level, which is why we are seeing lost of similar aged players being merged together - I have also seen many hoods with EMA players with higher scores than HMA player who are now in the same hood.


(My personal opinion from here on in)

Furthermore, what is this crazy focus on score all about? If you started now, you will never get near the number 1 spot as they are increasing with score often at a greater rate than lower players. If everyone in that world started at around the same time, fair enough, but they didn't so your score is more of a reference to how long you have been playing, it certainly has no resemblance at all on how good you are.

That said, if the rankings were organised by a score system of value, then it would be very different, for example having a rank for each age/era and basing it on average income and/or average score per battle and/or value of goods earned. With those 3 you could see who performs better to an extent across different playing styles - certainly more so than a total player score that's for sure. A formula could even be worked out to calculate those 3 figures into one 'total score'.

But hey, that's just my thoughts on the crazy focus (obsession?) with score.

 

[Amy Steele]

I find it highly ironic that the principal reason I have not had the time or energy thus far to post in this thread - or anywhere else in the forum for that matter recently - is because of the new neighbourhood merge system :p

Having been through 3 new-style merges (2 on H and 1 on F) I have simply been too busy and tired to post here. My first merge on H (the trial one) was the merge from hell. I went from #7 in a largely peaceful hood of 60+ ranging from IndA on 170k points down to IA on 10k, to #30 in a hood where the top ranked players were on 500k in PE (on the day PE was released :eek and the bottom ranked players were in LMA on around 20k (I was in CA on 100k). This was a much worse balanced hood than the one I had been in before. In addition I had been in a strongly hood-based guild with a spread of players from IA to IndA, and now we found ourselves all in different hoods... this blew my old guild apart most of the top players (myself included) have either left for bigger guilds - I am now with Hanseatic Academy - or have quit the game altogether.

A new hood and a new guild all at the same time also necessitated a new style of play for me (yes folks, I have now started pvping, even if only 10 fights a day ). In short the merge was literally a total game-changer, overnight - new hood, guild, style of play, and also friends (most of my former guildies, plus, after the second merge on H, some of the hoodies I was briefly with after the first merge).

The second merge on H has evened things out a little, the latest hood has only a 200k points spread, and all are either in IndA or CA (we may even all be in IndA now - I made it there the day before the latest merge). It looks to me as though the hoods were so unbalanced tech tree wise before that it is taking a couple of new-style merges to even things out. Trade is much easier since the new style merge. I was struggling in my original hood, being one of a tiny handful in CA. The merges (plus change of guild) have also vastly increased my friends list, making it even easier to pick up goods I can't yet produce myself. Great for someone who is a trader at heart. I've also never before had so many chances to pick up blueprints for those GBs I don't yet have.

The merge this week on F is the same horror story as the first on H... gone from #7 in my old hood (which had a points spread of only about 40k and players from LMA down to IA) to a hood where I am #45 and the points/age spread is from 22k in LMA to 400k in PE - the top 6 players in hood are all there now, and the top 3 attacked me overnight. My trebs and heavy infantry were no match for their armoured cars and rapid fire cannon. Never mind - they'll be facing my imperial guards tonight so long as they don't plunder me I don't mind at all... I have only been plundered once in all 3 new hoods and that was in my first new hood on H, I was plundered just a couple of minutes before I collected my overnights - I just plundered right back lol (I never plunder unless plundered).

On F I haven't changed my guild (we are a much less strongly hood-based guild) nor my style of play... I am not pvping, just keeping my head down, timing my collections and hoping the next merge will balance things out in the same way it has on H.

As on H, trade is now much better in my new hood on F. On both worlds I was stuck, unable to obtain the goods I needed to progress on the tech tree, treading water, sinking FPs into GBs and picking up some BPs along the way. Now I am moving again, though I have found I am making better progress in the global rankings than within hood (before the new-style merge it was the other way around, easier to progress in hood than global) :confused: I was just hovering around the #380-400 mark on H, and had been for weeks - since the merges I have shot up to #350

All-in-all, my impression is that this is a better system than the old one. Though it has changed the game out of all recognition for me, I am now actually enjoying myself more. In a good (but tough) hood on H, good guild, more friends, making progress at last. I give it a somewhat cautious thumbs up. Waiting to see what the next merge on F brings.


Right-ho, finally got around to saying my piece on the new neighbourhood merge... now back to polishing/motivating my vastly increased guild and friends lists, and going into battle with at least a few of my neighbours... carry on Forging folks!