Bring Angel and Pimp onboard

[Puck]

Over the years, this game's developers have responded to Utopia's deficiencies in an appropriate way. I notice this particularly because of my heavy involvement in alliances from yesteryear and the fact that most alliances have gone from the game today. This to me indicates the developers' success at removing flaws which some people exploited and made defensive alliances necessary.

Similarly, Utopia Temple is no longer the place to discuss Utopia. Utopia's own forums have the substance, functionality and the administration which make them the preferred place to discuss the game.
Even the little shoutbox applet has reduced the need for irc channels in every kingdom.

There remain two glaring areas where players rely on resources outside of the game mechanic or the kingdom. Intel storage (such as Pimp) and a user-friendly calculator like Angel.

Come on developers - complete the game and add these components to what is still one of the best online games. (And allow MoleSquirrel and Brother Green to retire gracefully, with kudos and without being guilted into maintaining their respective assets).

[MrPresident07]

Agreed. Have no idea why this hasn't been done yet.

[chalsdk]

pimp is bad for startes & angel is hardly a core part of the game, and good as it is.. since its owned by someone else.

[Puck]

Pimp is bad? Nonsense. Pimp is bloody good, especially considering it is no longer being maintained in the slightest. Pimp was the cleverest Utopian invention since Angel, and Angel is the single best Utopian innovation since the game started. And I'm tempted to go further and say it is the component which has given Utopia it's longevity. How many new players would consider playing more than a week without the assistance Angel gives?

I don't know Brother Green well, but I will wager he would happily agree to sharing his invention with the current game owners if he was given appropriate kudos.

Has anyone thought to ask?

[Palem]

There are only a couple useful features remaining on Angel that aren't completely outdated.

As far as putting intel storage into the game, why? Does anyone actually benefit from having intel storage in the game itself rather than on Pimp (yuck) or Upoopu, or an IRC bot, or whatever other kds use?

[E_Boko]

everybody benefits palem. why turn to 3rd party support when it clearly should ALL be in game. if it wasnt neccesary to play the game it WOULDNT HAVE BEEN MADE. every kd uses bots, pimp, angel, stingernet because its something needed to make the game complete.

[Rummy]

Pimp is crap, stinger is good. Why use angel when you got a calculator

[Araqiel]

I ditched angel a long time ago, have to agree a calculator is better.

Intel storage would make a massive strain on the servers. I think it is fine externally.

[Palem]

if it wasnt neccesary to play the game it WOULDNT HAVE BEEN MADE. every kd uses bots, pimp, angel, stingernet because its something needed to make the game complete.

That's just not true at all. Target finders aren't necessary, but those have been made. News formatters aren't necessary but those have been made.

Intel storage/organizers are a nice tool especially for war time, but they're certainly not necessary. The forums provide a space to post and organize intel for kds that actually refuse to use an outside system.

[Puck]

You ask for ideas for growing and improving the game. This one to me is a no-brainer. The ingame alternative to Pimp would be a simple extension of the top 100 charts to include everybody in the game. And to include an indicative (if not specific) table showing the DPA of all provinces not currently at war.

The War Room could easily be updated to allow the user to input the target defense values and get a real estimation of the likelihood of success.

If Utopia does not move in this direction, I shudder to think how many will stop playing when Angel stops being updated.

[idiocy]

There should be a way to export intel data within the game. Putting an export line on the throne page shouldn't be too hard, nor is it difficult to put together a formatter page.

[Palem]

You ask for ideas for growing and improving the game. This one to me is a no-brainer.

It's not to me though...

Why waste dev time on a "problem" that's already been solved by the community when they could be doing better things for the game like developing a mobile app or new game mechanics?

[StratOcastle]

It's playing styles. Top kingdoms employ more tech, but may be misleading as to why. Consistency is important up top because the mathematical minds desire foundation and order. Down here bots are replaced with instinct and the population won't stand in virtual lunch lines to achieve desired ends. Its handmade vs machine made; both have their place.

[E_Boko]

develop a new mechanic? the devs have nothing better to do then to make this happen. getting a new mechanic is more about getting the idea then making it happen. whatever dude. keep uto in medieval times. dont level a playing field or make it easier for monarchs to organize and strategize. thats fine...

[StratOcastle]

Not saying the additions wouldn't be nice. To my eyes this is similar to guitarists that like to play through a pedal board vs guitarists that plugs straight into the amp. Obviously the game attracts folks that enjoy the extras and the top activity level proves that. I think it would be cool if eoa activity records would semi-random similar activity players together. Say, 2 recruit box provinces would land in a kingdom together. I'd even support a credit based random program as recruiting I've found kingdoms not as active as they advertise. No offense, I get RL, but I'm ready to go where the action is. ;-)