Coming back after discouragement

[bmbeeman]

So I played last age that ended in January(?). It was a very discouraging experience for me. I went as a Human Sage and followed a strat dictated to me by a KDmate. I had absolutely no say in how my province was run and learned nothing on how the game worked or how to construct my own strategy in the future. Needless to say I left after a little while because it became no fun. I was just logging in and following instructions, felt like a job.

I really want to give this game another shot. I love online multiplayer games but don't have the time to invest in games like World of Warcraft. I like the premise behind these games. I have been very successful in playing the other games offered here such as Earth 2025 and NS2.

So I'm going to attempt to create and run another province using MY strat, not some borrowed one. The problem is I know little about the game and have no idea where to start. I've gotten as far as combos I am interested in, but no further. My interests this age are:

1. Human Sage/Merchant A/t
2. Dark Elf Mystic A/m
3. Orc Warrior A

So with that said, how do I go about building a strat. How do I calculate the %'s in a strat. Last time I played I shifted between three strats
1. Protection
2. OOW Pumping
3. Warring

Any help you can provide would be most appreciated. I really would like to give this game another go and I hope it ends better than it did last time because it looks like a lot of fun once you get past the initial curve. I can't wait until I can think for myself rather than having to ask for advice on just about everything.

[_greenie]

i would say Human - either Merch or Sage A/T would be your best bet =)

gives you a good prov, and you can turtle quite nicely

anyways, its a bit late to start now, but with new age just around the corner, you could join at just about the right time!

for protection, its pretty simple
1) banks and arms, ~40-50% of your land should be dedicated to these
~20-25% guilds, and you then decide where to put rest
(mills for growing, stables for attacking straight OOP)

2) the only thing you really should "pump" these days is elites...
in that case, once again, you'll want lots of banks and arms =)

3) warring, 15% TG's, 10% forts, 10% hosps 10% TD's should be the basis for your build (possibly drop the forts if feeling brave)

i would run 6-7 def specs per acre (the 0/6 dudes, not sure what they are called) rest go into elites, depending on your kd, with 3-4 raw theives per acre

[Palem]

So with that said, how do I go about building a strat. How do I calculate the %'s in a strat. Last time I played I shifted between three strats
1. Protection
2. OOW Pumping
3. Warring

This hasn't changed.

Don't let other people tell you how to play the game. Take advice when it's offered, but make your own build strats and such. Spend some time learning about the game, then worry about success.

[VT2]

Offense dominates over defense, but having turtle-power can be very, very useful.

[grimborn]

One of the questions he asked was how does he go about choosing the buildings he wants to and not just another strat. Truthfully go through the guild and look at what the buildings do, Choose 6 to 10 of them that interest your playing style and only build those. If you build to much of everything you suck at everything so you have to make decisions. Because your experimenting every war try and change the % of each buildings or try a different building if you can, get used to what they do and choose the buildings that best suite your needs and play style. There are many reasons to take any building out there and many reasons not to take them. But it depends on the way you play and somewhat how your kingdom plays depending how active and organized they are.

[bmbeeman]

thanks for the advice guys. I've got angel running and I'm playing around with the calculator. I've narrowed it down to two choices for my province next age.

Human sage looks good based on sciences and I get learn protection.

Human merchant was my first choice, but it doesn't protect me as much, I'm vulnerable to learns and gold can be stolen quite easily. It looks like sage unless someone can show me something I missed.

I've got some of the basic principles of a build strat down and I'm basing my strat on what I think I need. Enough rax to hit twice a day in war etc. Heck, I may even go warrior if I feel like hitting a lot. I'll get an account going and test out the waters, maybe the KD wil let me stick with them next round. Feel free to toss any other gems out there.

[WolfDGrey]

Feel free to toss any other gems out there.

Doesn't matter what you choose. Merch, sage or warrior. My first age was human/mystic (yea had no idea what that means in Utopia) but still ended at 3700 acres.

On the other hand, read everything you can about Utopia. Listen to advice people around you give. You can't make an effective province at this time anyway, unless you're a math geek. It takes several ages and more than one race to feel the game's pulse, then you'll be able to stand on your own feet. Until then, experiment a lot, and watch the results. Try to corelate buildings with draft, ME with BE, wizzies, self spells, thief efficiency... etc.

Allways pay attention to those little numbers in council... they halp you a lot.


And most of all: have fun!

[Jimmy]

I'd recommend you choose human/merchant. A race where you will be able to attack, and keep a decent economy at the same time! Especially for inexperienced or new players.

greenie's comments on the strategy part would be fine to start out with! Most people download angel, where the building calculator will tell one which effects the buildings got in %. Make sure to mark the "include: goal" box!

On a side-note, I'd recommend anyone to download mirc, and connect to utonet.org (the most used irc network for utopia players), and join #strategy

/server irc.utonet.org
/join #strategy

It's a real time help channel where anyone can ask questions related to utopia.
Usually between 150-200 people idling 24/7; by far the largest channel.

[VT2]

Pick anything that seems good, then roll with it.
If it sucks, just roll something else next age.

[0papa]

Sounds more like your KD mate was just giving you advise & you took it as "orders"
How was that different than what you do here? PPL here give you "orders" that you take as advise. Maybe you should have been nicer to your KD mate & asked more questions as to why he wanted you to do certain things. Sounds to me that he was helping you along until you understood the "why". If your next KD offers advise try talking to one of them on MSN. There are simple things like 7 archers per acre, 2 thvs per acre MINIMUM that help alot. If you know how to do even a byte os science you should do SAGE for sure.

[bmbeeman]

Well, when they threaten to raze me over so called "advice" than I think that's a bit more than just friendly pointers. I was given no freedom to run my province. I guess I just got into a bad situation. I know this game is about numbers, but I hope it's more than just number crunching. I was drawn to this game for it's fantasy atmosphere and I have spend time constructing my province based on the type of person I want to be. I want to play the game and be successful, but I am by no means a hardcore number cruncher. Before I left last time I made a great friend (who sadly doesn't communicate with me anymore.) who shared the same idea as me, and he got raised because he was different. He was an Orc Rogue A/t. He was very successful in what he did, but because he was not a warrior he was razed.

I'll see how it goes this age. My basis for choosing my race/personality is based on what was stated in the guide. Humans have a + to income, and so do merchants, nuff said. Same with sciences and sage. right now it looks like I'm going to give Merchant a go next age. as an A/t I should have some protection from thieves and will have no money problems, which should be nice. Sage gets bonuses to science, but with my + to income I should be able to just buy books, granted I don't get the learn protection, but I do get some income protection, and from what I've seen, protection from riots etc. can come in handy. I maximize my banks and run with it next age and see what happens, once I get a handle on things I want to move on to my next interest, elves. They look very powerful, but not quite in the areas I want to try right now. Wish me luck, and if you have any other tidbits please share, I would be glad to hear them. Thanks for all the help. Going to start the province even though the age is ending to throw myself into a kingdom. Names Batten Member if i end up in one of y'all's.

[Catwalk]

Three pieces of advice for you
1) random around until you find a kingdom that matches your ambition and preference, or advertise for one on Utopia Talk
2) play on Genesis, far more freedom there
3) join #strategy, instructions can be found in my signature

[durantz]

yo bmbeeman i got a spot in my kd. I like your attitude. The only time I raze someone off is if they go inactive. Sounds like you're an active guy though.

I'll be on the lookout next age for a couple more people to fill some spaces. Let me know if you're interested.

[bmbeeman]

Durantz, I'm assuming your are on WoL? Thanks for the kind invite, now that I'm back in town after my reenactment I'm planning on throwing an account together and preparing for the next age.