What rule did Catwalk break?

[VT2]

I want to know, since you saw fit to delete his thread for no real reason.

[Lydias]

Deleted for being off topic - take it to the Kingdoms forums

[VT2]

What does Catwalk saying your company's not trusthworthy have to do with that game?

[ovard]

But we were not supposed to post in the UK forum? I tried that already.

[Fate1316]

wow?!?! VT2 stood up for Catwalk?!?!?

[Catwalk]

Lydias, it has a lot to do with Utopia (real version, not the fake one) since UK was announced and discussed at length here and OMAC has a very clever plan to hitch Utopia players on UK. Do you not allow criticism of your company on your forums? Btw Palem's post criticizing OMAC and UK on the UK forums was also deleted. If you say you're sorry it's all good, I have the thread saved and can repost :D

[VT2]

As can I, and at least one other person I'm currently talking to.

[Spliff]

I think your all freaking out. Both games are great! Both forums is great. I can't see the problem here.

[VT2]

The lack of come-backs by the people in power leads me to believe that Catwalk didn't break any rules at all, and OMAC simply tried to silence all the people who cry foul.

It didn't wok when they tried it during the latest CGI-fit, and it won't work this time, either.
All it does is make sure their reputation drops even lower.

[ovard]

You are mistaken, Spliff.

[Fate1316]

With the launch of Utopia Kingdoms, we're finally able to examine the claims and promises made about it earlier. One at a time:

It’s based in the same universe and is based on reasonably similar principles to the current game. Building up resources is still a major part of gameplay, as is combat.

I fail to see the similarity, other than keeping many names. Acres don't work the same, units don't work the same, production doesn't work the same, science doesn't work the same, buildings don't work the same, thievery and magic don't work the same. I suppose "reasonably similar principles" means that we'll still have buildings, resources and combat in UK. A stretch, IMO.
Quote:

we’re announcing (tomorrow) a brand new Utopia game
It's not a brand new Utopia game, as shown above. Apparently it's not brand new either, being very similar to many other online games that aren't related to Utopia (such as Tribal Wars).

About the pay-to-win aspect of UK:

Primarily, it's acceleration of certain aspects. So, an in-game advantage to a certain degree. But not one that you can't match if you're a dedicated/good player. Apologies for vagueness, keeping it under wraps until we open game up.

A few examples of what you can buy in UK (taken ):
- produce buildings at triple speed
- restore loyalty in your settlements (keeping you from losing them and countering enemy attempts at subversion)
- purchase resources (like ToG, except you pay $ instead of mana and runes)
- motivate marches (different way of saying boost your troops temporarily)
- hire workers (temporary population bonus, provides capacity as well)
- rituals (essentially a lottery, small chance of getting cool stuff if you pay enough)

The full list is much longer. How does this fall under "acceleration of certain aspects", and how are dedicated/good players expected to overcome these advantages used by other players? In Utopia, sitting is a good example of an advantage that can be overcome by dedicated players. You don't need sitting. It's a convenience that you can do without. Are extra resources, population, troop strength and loyalty a convenience that you can do without?

I'm not passing judgement on UK. I haven't played it, and I'm not going to. It may well turn out to be a fun game to play, in spite of being pay-to-win by nature. But it's not Utopia. And OMAC have been dishonest with us about it. I have a problem with false and aggressive advertising, and I do see this as a threat against Utopia. The reason OMAC are launching this under the Utopia name is that you intend to capture players from Utopia. Less players for Utopia is certainly not what we need at this time. I don't mind OMAC seeking to make a profit, not at all. It's in our best interest that Utopia is a profitable operation. But I'm starting to wonder if that profit will come through improving and restoring Utopia to glory (I still think this can be done via good management and marketing) or by pillaging the remains of the community.

OMAC stated that it would not be financially sound to put money into improving Utopia (Classic), if they end up neglecting it anyway. I think that logic can be disputed. They need a reasonable amount of goodwill in order to recruit the Utopia community for their new game/clone. Simply shutting Utopia down and announcing that we can play a different game which is similar to Utopia because we can also play gnome or dwarf there would not be a good approach. Based on the need to lie to us (and subsequently suppressing discussion about UK with various excuses), I don't have faith in OMAC's good intentions anymore. I don't believe they care much about Utopia, and I suspect that they're only trying to keep it running long enough to transfer the community to more profitable games via clever disguises and aggressive marketing.

Lastly, Brian and Sean have made a good impression so far. Updating us once a week is a nice improvement that they seem to be keeping up with. But they're still working for the evil corporation, so it's doubtful how much they can accomplish. Good luck to both of you.

I have it as well

[MorbidAngel]

omg censoring.... when you cannot beat them with arguments, censor them.. Good riddance omac. One Bambie to you

[Catwalk]

I think OMAC are fully justified in deleting criticism that isn't polite and civil, and there's been a lot of criticism which was rude and unconstructive.

Lydias, should I take your post as permission to criticize OMAC's integrity to my heart's delight here as long as I don't mention UK? If so, I'd like to criticize you for sneaking in censorship with a technicality, trying to conceal your true intentions. As is evident from the original post, that's a recurring trend with OMAC.

[VT2]

The problem, catty, is that this community is very civil, and few of us actually whine out loud unless we're given a very real reason to do so.
Even then, we manage to keep our language tidy.

[Catwalk]

I think the forum community in general is rotten and rude. Which has made it easier for OMAC to ignore criticism so far.