SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

USA 4 was Closed following the Final Age completion.
DekeYoungAtlanta
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Joined: Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:18 pm

SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by DekeYoungAtlanta »

I played SHK as a form of entertainment, and those days have passed.
In the distant, distant past you would meet new people on a SHK server, and interact with them based on your position and their position on that server, and in that county.
The current state of affairs in SHK is that the game is dominated by large political blocks based on TeamSpeak groups that cross multiple servers. Now groups have adopted the “you are with us or you are against us” mindset.
Large political groups have determined that one house rule and domination of servers is the “only true way to play the game.” If you do not accept his mindset you are frequently labeled as a “farmer.” To the point that “farmer” has become a meaningless term other than to convey a negative opinion of other players. Back in 2014 players had their own goals and played in different styles without being judged.
SHK has always been a “real-time” game, but it has progressed to a 24x7 game where TeamSpeak servers are manned on rotating shifts by players from multiple time zones that check the activity level of the entire map. Given a choice between monitoring SHK maps and spending my Saturdays with Youth football and Sundays watching NFL football with my real life friends, I choose people I can actually meet and see in person. Watching my 11-year old players progress in the game, and sharing a beer with 34 other NFL fans screaming at the ebb and flow of a football game that has a real winner in and loser inside a 4 hours window are much more satisfying times then staring at a computer screen on SHK.
I am tracking all the English-Speaking servers, and can say that in most cases server domination is determined before the day 1 launch and is based on the commitment level of the political blocks involved. There will be some who claim that their skill level prevails. There will be others that say that how many crowns a player can purchase is the path to victory. I contend that the telling path to domination is to have a core group of players that are truly committed to SHK as this single most important activity in their life.
For me, SHK has been a gaming distraction from the responsibilities I have in my real line. Years ago when I had a travelling job that left me isolated in hotel rooms during predictable hours I played World of Warcraft. I met and developed bonds with a group of players in similar circumstances and progressed through raid content together. This required that I spend 3-6 hours a night wearing a headset and either listening to or issuing raid leader commands. But my life has changed and I can no longer commit to predictably schedule long time periods to be online with my fellow guild members
I then moved on to SHK as it allowed me to play when I could spare the time. An hour here and there, or a few minutes while doing something else allowed me to progress. I met some players and forged some friendships on SHK servers. Players with more experience taught me some things and in turn I showed newer player what I could offer.
Now, there appears to be only a few ways to progress in SHK. The ERA rule set is a bitter disappointment for me, especially since it looks like Firefly has decided that ERA rules are not a variant but an “evolution” of the game rules.
As such I have noticed that I am spending fewer hours enjoying my time at the keyboard, interacting less and less with fellow players, and saddest of all I know longer offer my opinion when other players self-talk on how they are the righteous side of a battle with an inferior opponent that justifies their behavior.
I am writing this mostly for the players that have followed me from other servers to my failed experiments on the USA-4 server. By no means should you continue playing on my account. Nobody should think less of each other if you choose to spend your efforts another way.
I am still going to monitor the game just to watch the variance in player behaviors on the remaining servers. UK-1 and2 still have large blocks of players committed to preventing one-house rule that has accelerated the way other servers have closed. There has yet to be a final age on a server that I am monitoring that was contested. The dominant house pressed the button whenever they wanted. In the case of USA-2 this happened in under 24 hours.
I will still post on the forums from time to time. There are many players that have my cell phone number, and I will still talk to them. I am not the type of person to rage quit and uninstall the game, as I am not the type of person to do anything rash based on emotions.
Sure, I will be flamed and taunted by players that will read part of this and find a way to fuel their egos that they are “better players”. Players that need external affirmation of their play styles is one of the reasons the game is not enjoyable for me. Way too many messages are posted in game that are more that self-talk that the “other guys” are losers, or don’t have a life, or are “pay to win” or whatever they says that makes them feel better.
No, Firefly is not going to read this and make any changes to the game. Great players have left before, and I am far less than a great player. There were large expectations for the game to expand with the introduction of the mobile market. Anyone who is playing entirely from a phone should stick with Clash of Clans or Mobile Strike. And even if 10,000 new players joined SHK tomorrow, it would not make a difference in how the existing TeamSpeak power blocks operate.
If SHK still works for you, then you should continue to play the game and be entertained. My true hope is that each of us is spending hours at the keyboards because it is what we want and enjoy doing.
- Deke
MeSoBored
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Joined: Tue Jul 12, 2016 10:30 pm

Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by MeSoBored »

you seem a little depressed bro, depression is a serious ailment that can lead to death.

it's a game, a medieval war game at that, which is both competitive and cooperative. built to group players in factions, and those factions into houses. then have those houses fight over prizes. there's a heavy social element to this game.a few quest even push you to meet other players. Maybe you thought this game was something other than what it is. maybe you're just hating on the teamwork ability of your enemies and frustrated by your allies inability to match it. not really sure who you are so i can't really say.

anyways Pay Tribute...Bend the Knee, you'll be ok
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MiladySkye
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by MiladySkye »

Hey Deke . . . I've never played alongside you on any world, never spoke in TS to you and have had little discourse/interaction on the forums. That being said, I've enjoyed reading many of your posts over the years and am sorry to see you go, but I completely understand.

Much of what you say in this particular post strikes a chord in me as well. I also am not a great player and never claimed to be. I know the kind of players you refer to . . . who try to belittle others with their claim to greatness, who use the word "farmer" like a racial slur and whose game objectives consist of making others' gameplay as miserable as possible. I've been called W9's "moral police" for speaking out against cheaters who use TeamViewer, alt accounts, sharing account details, bots of various sorts or supporting/using neutral trolls to sneak in and delete parish guilds and castles. The cross-world politics are ridiculous. There's been a serious lack of decency and sense of fair game play in the player base of late and things like honourable respect for fellow players (teammates and adversaries alike) has substantially deteriorated over the past couple of years.

If not for (literally) a handful of players, I would have left this game long ago. The Era Rules fell short of expectations and the mobile app is nearly impossible to use effectively. I will see W9 to its end, then I expect that will be the end of me in this game . . . which I'm sure will make a whole lot of players ecstatic. :D

So, best of luck to you, Deke . . . I hope you enjoy spending your time on real life pursuits instead of this game.
When injustice is law, resistance becomes duty . . .
Samoto
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by Samoto »

The game is full of neckbeard tribalism. Don't know any of you here, but thought this was the perfect place to mention it. And I'm not trying to insult anyone in particular, I just can't think of a more perfect phrase to describe the behavior of much of this player base. :)

It's no secret that the top groups of the game share accounts, share bots, share army and castle formations, spend huge amounts of money when all of these shared resources and cheats aren't enough of an advantage, spend an inordinate amount of time in game, and form large exclusive blocs which are often used as safe-spaces for cowards who take the opportunity to harass players not in their bloc because they know they can get away with it. Some think that membership in a powerful alliance proves that they're somehow a better or smarter player than everyone else until they lose their position, their majority or are shunned by their own group and then whine about the status quo publicly and wonder why no one is sympathetic. Many just aren't interested in helping new players, in being friendly with casual players, or in the the long-term health of the game. They just want to protect their egos.

So I disagree about mobile-only SK worlds. Mobile-only worlds are the last saving grace of this game because it's the only opportunity for a new player base to try SK without the overwhelming number of alts, bots, and shared accounts of smelly old blocs of veteran players trying to secure another world and drive out everyone else. Unfortunately the mobile app is DOA. Instead of making a fully functional mobile game app, the developers have released a broken extension of the PC game which is supposed to frustrate new players into trying the PC version, which is where all the problems lie.

I'm not sure who hates casual players more, the game's developers or veteran players.
Ray Black
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Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:41 pm

Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by Ray Black »

Deke has right , I started 2011 when game was early beta... was really enjoyable, was fights betwean houses...
right now it's a total joke, especially eu4, join where you want, you need to support one house or you will be wiped
off from the map.. joined on day 130 and i have feeling like i allready missed the egame.

I want to play shk, but i can't see the way how to not get bored...
everyone wants to get that bloody wheel spins,
than there is faction rotation betwean houses, member rotation...
it's completly wrong, i stop played shk when i noticed this start happening,
there is more managment than in normal office,
why people just not enjoy the game..

there need to set some limits, rules, goals whtever, but this is not really entertining...

(excuse my english grammar)

Ray-
DekeYoungAtlanta
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by DekeYoungAtlanta »

The newest German server is being launched with ERA rules instead of AGE rules.

I view this as a disappointment. My concern is that Firefly considers the ERA ruleset to be an Evolution rather than a variant rule set.

Firefly has received much negative feedback on ERA rules, yet they seem reluctant to admit that the ERA rules are a mistake.

- Deke
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MiladySkye
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by MiladySkye »

DekeYoungAtlanta wrote:The newest German server is being launched with ERA rules instead of AGE rules.

I view this as a disappointment. My concern is that Firefly considers the ERA ruleset to be an Evolution rather than a variant rule set.

Firefly has received much negative feedback on ERA rules, yet they seem reluctant to admit that the ERA rules are a mistake.

- Deke
You are far too generous.

They aren't reluctant. They absolutely refuse to admit it.

Perhaps it's a cultural sign of the times . . . I see it happening all over the place. :(
When injustice is law, resistance becomes duty . . .
meatball2k
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by meatball2k »

Deke you have always been one of most hones dedocated players to shk amd never in it for world domination or to be feared by all.

You are 100% right on what you are saying.

There is a handful of groups killing worlds and there is nothing anyone can do to stop as there is no fresh blood in the game and now everyone knows each other which leads to all strong groups gathering in 1 server killing it quickly and moving on.

The game is * era system sucks. FF refuse to change it but you have always been one of the most respectful players ive come across on this game.
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DontBeaWuss
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by DontBeaWuss »

Totally agree on all points. When I began on W6 Age 1, I met and joined a lot of really good and helpful players and had a lot of fun and excitement helping my House win the Glory Race. Unfortunately, a lot of those players began to leave, one by one and most have never come back.

Now, with the introduction of worlds ending and eventually all that will be left is the Era worlds, the game is far away from what it used to be. It also seems that, no matter what improvements players come up with to bring fresh oomph and fairness to the game, the developers are unable or unwilling to make the game great again.

So yes, it's rubbish that it's generally a handful of players with alts who dictate how each world is to be run but I suppose most of them part with their money and that's the bread and butter for the developers so they ain't going to do much, if anything, about it....imo of course.
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Lord Alacrity
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Re: SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke

Post by Lord Alacrity »

I came across this thread while searching for feedback about the Era system in general and was disappointed to see the pervasive view that we are committed to making players miserable. We are very open to changing certain elements of the Era system, but we need consensus from a broad base of players as to what specific changes are needed. While we can't ban a group of players you don't like or give you a million crowns, we are actively looking for constructive feedback.

From what I have read on the forums, we will most likely be making changes to:

[*]Increase the honor cost and the rank at which ransack research unlocks
[*]Decrease the rank required to raze


These were the most salient points and seemed to have the broadest support. We are still very eager to hear constructive arguments for any changes that players think are needed to the Era system and while I can't reply to every post I do read them.
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