There is nothing stopping others from building an Arc and leveling it to 80. There are strategies to speed that up, form an Arc club of 4 to 6 people, put points on Arcs outside the swap club. My Arc is the fastest leveling GB I own and its level cap is rising nearly as fast, both because of the Arc club.
Of course your lvl 80 Arc gives you a big advantage over people who don't have one, but you put the time and effort into leveling it that high, so you SHOULD have an advantage over those without one.
I don't know why you hark on that anybody can do it.
Of course, anybody can do it.
Not everybody can run a mile in 4 minutes but everybody can piss around on a computer with the sole objective of amassing a 'The Arc' (don't blame me for that grammar) in Forge of Empires. And once they have that level 80 The Arc, what then?
NOTHING is left as a challenge. Can't do x or why? That's OK, just pick the right Great Building, whip it up to level 40 or whatever in a few DAYS and carry on. 'Carry on what?' is a good question because this sure has nothing to do with "Build your Empire!" nor with "Create your own great city" no even with "challenge other players" - not only because you can't really do that but even the battles you do have are just auto-battled, soon without even
seeing the enemy (that's in beta right now) - nor does it have anything to do with a strategy game much beyond that single purpose of getting that level 80 Arc.
Sure, everyone can yawn.
It's like introducing a new rule in chess that it is OK to blast all the opponent's pieces off the board with a shotgun. Sure, everyone plays by the same rules, everyone can do it. But it isn't chess and it isn't a challenge.
What some people - and notably including people who have had a high Arc for a while - are saying is that Forge of Empires could be such a good game. But it is losing itself.
Bridgeman says I should have stayed in HMA. I was thinking of doing just that, playing against people at that level and enjoying the reqular quests (and the Daily Challenges when all but just a minority of players are allowed to play them). However, Inno forced me to either quit the forthcoming Halloween Quest (gone though beta) or move up an age, and they make it clear that players can no longer be sure that Events will not force them to research technologies.
So what game can I play? I can't play the strategy game of deciding my technological progress while taking on quests that can improve my city. I can't stay low-tech and enjoy it because several people in the middle ages have Arc, Alcatraz, Orangery and now (yes, right now, already) Kraken levelled to 50+
Can I do that? Yes, of course I can. Especially if I create a horde of cities on other worlds which I don't really
play as such but use the loophole of being able to transfer diamonds all to one city. But that isn't much fun, not for me and not for most people.
And why should it be fun for me, when the alternative is harming the game for those who have a level 80 Arc (and a level 60+ anything else)?
Because once you have that much power, there is no strategy left to play in the game advertised as a strategy game.
