Stupid offline block

[Adramelech]

 Ok I have no idea why this rule was invented in the first place. I tried to find some explanations but nothing came up.
The way I see it, it was invented only to piss people off. Whats the !/'[p#% point of this !!!!! rule ?   It got me so pissed off and i hate IO now. It was a cool game before, i played it and everything was fine. Heard of the new version, and now this. I just cant put up with this. Today I had a block 2 freaking times. You have idea how frustrating it is when you see that counter? And...yes if you break the rule you get a ban for 24 hrs. Its not fair.

 This game is not worth that much that i get stress everytime i get blocked. So adios, it was a good time playing till that 1k points but game is downright frustrating now and its not fun !!!! 

[Sheremetev]

This block was implemented just to give normal players a chance against zombies (and zombies a reason to sleep atleast 6 hours a day). I know it is frustrating, but imagine attacking a player who is 24/7 online- not an easy task.

There is a way to play and don't let the 6h block get into your way. You need to remember, that this "block" simply requires you to be offline for a period of no less than 6 hours (without any logins in the meanwhile).

E.g: you login today at 2:25. The clock starts ticking...You can do the following: login whenever you want... and then, let's say at 02:20 TOMORROW you go to sleep. You wake up at 07:50, but you don't login until 6 hours have passed since your last login. You make yourself a nice coffee, drink it, read todays news... and, what do you know, it is already 08:25! Your "timer" is reset and you can login the game without any penalties!
Now, let's say you do not login the game from 14:30 to 20:35- your timer will be reset once more (since you haven't played for 6 hours). So you will be able to play during the whole night and until the next afternoon...

This means, with a little planning, you can reset your timer so (during times it is not important or possible to play), that you will be able to be online when you want.

[fragmaster]

Its not only zombies,but other kind of cheaters: shifters. Without offline rule,in 24/7h mode ,many many aspects of game die,player mistakes become impossible to punish.If u can check ur account all the time,build orders and strategy just doesnt exist anymore,it becomes only invest,invest,invest,without risk of overexpansion weakness.Players become invulnerable in certain situations,they keep their armies always in forts,and nobody can catch them offguard.With offline rule ,networth leaders can be killed if they dont army save & turtle on big amounts of gold with big armies,exploiting their only vulnerability (army present in province) which provided their high rank.It may not seem logical in early game ,but later priorities change: attacks arent profitable,armies are being made for weeks/months,and game becomes sudden death race.If nw top players cant die ,competetive play doesnt exist.

Every player who is against 6h off is dirty player,because he doesnt play alone.I know that i was always sleepy when offline timer reaches yellow zone (6h remaining) ,only people with health issues cant fit in 6-(up to 24)-6-(up to 24)-6-.... dynamic.

[tiger]

+ you dont get ban on 24 h, but your acc is locked on 6 h, duration of mandatory 6 h offline.

[sheridon]

i agree with the 6hr offline rule but i think its should be split in 2 sets of 3 hr offline, that way your enemies cannot completely empty you out or completely pillage you. in 6 hrs they can practiacally hit you in all 15 or 16 provinces in 6hrs. but in slots of 3hr breaks you can at least defend some. well anyways i guess you just keep getting pillaged until you decide its enough and quit.

[Adramelech]

Well, if its to prevent cheaters then its ok.  Although i don't fully understand all the reasons and that zombie thing..my guess it has its purpose...

 cheers

[dejavu_et_all]

Its not only zombies,but other kind of cheaters: shifters. Without offline rule,in 24/7h mode ,many many aspects of game die,player mistakes become impossible to punish.If u can check ur account all the time,build orders and strategy just doesnt exist anymore,it becomes only invest,invest,invest,without risk of overexpansion weakness.Players become invulnerable in certain situations,they keep their armies always in forts,and nobody can catch them offguard.With offline rule ,networth leaders can be killed if they dont army save & turtle on big amounts of gold with big armies,exploiting their only vulnerability (army present in province) which provided their high rank.It may not seem logical in early game ,but later priorities change: attacks arent profitable,armies are being made for weeks/months,and game becomes sudden death race.If nw top players cant die ,competetive play doesnt exist.

Every player who is against 6h off is dirty player,because he doesnt play alone.I know that i was always sleepy when offline timer reaches yellow zone (6h remaining) ,only people with health issues cant fit in 6-(up to 24)-6-(up to 24)-6-.... dynamic.

Aside cheater, the offline block also affect right thinking players too...the block will just allow ones enemies wipe out the fleets they can lay hands on.

[Sheremetev]

Well, the idea is to give you some tips how to enjoy the game regardless of the block. Unfortunately, due to cheating, 6h block is the only present solution to the situation. So, just play and plan a little more ahead. After all, the block is not only for you. It is obligatory for everyone, including your enemies- play, plan, win

[nekodrugi]

Well, if its to prevent cheaters then its ok.  Although i don't fully understand all the reasons and that zombie thing..my guess it has its purpose...

 cheers

I'm a long player of IO and i saw A LOT of troubles (read cheats) without 6 hour rule. The smallest one was babysitting other accounts BUT than i learn of cheat done by  "some" players (read few alliances)

They actually set up web site where website was actually babysitting their accounts with preprogrammed functions.

I had A TRUCK load of wars against that alliance and trust me it was damn hard to kill even one of their members. Always online, always killing your spies.

Only way i could kill any of them was to PERFECTLY time their army returning back home and damn i did it but i lost A TON of nerves and time doing that.

So i understand and welcome IO doing forced 6 hour brake. If nothing it stops that kind of cheats.


P.S. i just gave borderline cheats. From simplest one (almost considered as no cheat) to worst i could see. Between are cheats that send sms to player if under attack or if spied and much more.

[Hurricane]

Without offline rule,in 24/7h mode , xxx strategy just doesnt exist anymore,it becomes only invest,invest,invest,without risk of overexpansion weakness. Players become invulnerable in certain situations,they keep their armies always in forts,and nobody can catch them offguard.

\
  You only see it on the defensive side, but what about on the offensive side? if I want to attack a player at a specific time  but cant do it because the time you are supposed to launch the attack falls will break the straight 6 hours.  So in order not to disrupt 6 hour offline ban, you will find some other non profitable targets because you cant afford that your army will be back when the 6 hour ban is on effect and your army will be sitting ducks in your province..

Every player who is against 6h off is dirty player,because he doesnt play alone.I know that i was always sleepy when offline timer reaches yellow zone (6h remaining) ,only people with health issues cant fit in 6-(up to 24)-6-(up to 24)-6-.... dynamic.

Such a sweeping generalization.. Too bad.. Perhaps what you mean players who is online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week..  But if you are against the Rule for tactical reasons, that does not make you dirty..   

i agree with the 6hr offline rule but i think its should be split in 2 sets of 3 hr offline, that way your enemies cannot completely empty you out or completely pillage you. in 6 hrs they can practiacally hit you in all 15 or 16 provinces in 6hrs. but in slots of 3hr breaks you can at least defend some. well anyways i guess you just keep getting pillaged until you decide its enough and quit.

Nice Thinking.. Better than the 6 hour straight offline..  But a suggestion for your consideration, Can IO have a counter of the time you are offline such that the game has 2 counters 1 for the hours online, the others hour for offline.. and lets make the mandatory offlline 8 hours (for the dirty players  )  but this time the offline counter will be cumulative.. In 24 hours, a player can be online only 16 hours.. Its up to him when whether he plays at night or during the day, but he can only be online 16 hours

[fragmaster]

  .You really dont see how stupid idea of additive offline time is?? Its exactly same as no offline rule : player check there are no blood swords,and sneak 50 offline minutes ,without any risk for  empire.Even if granularity of offline pieces is bigger than 1h ,player on top has very limited number of enemies who can kill him,and  if closest stronger is on 3 hours distance,u know exactly when u can sneak a piece (when he is home without possibility of arriving on time).Main idea of offline time is to make players vulnerable. And to force them to make additional  blocks if they want to change pattern.

[Hurricane]

.You really dont see how stupid idea of additive offline time is?? Its exactly same as no offline rule : player check there are no blood swords,and sneak 50 offline minutes ,without any risk for  empire.

Not if you set a minimum of hours before that period you are offline is cumulated or added...  I see what you mean, players who will check their accounts every other hour hence they will see any attacks in their provinces, that would be as if no offline rule is in effect.. but if the suggestion of sheridon of having two set of 3 hour offline per day is adopted, a player has to be offline for 3 straight hours twice a day to cumulate the 6 hour offline..   And if the offline is extended to 8 hours with a minimum of 2 hour period to cumulate, a player has the option to take 4 2-hour offline or if he choose to, he could compelete 8 hours offline straight or whatever combination as long as he complete the 8 hour rule with a minimum of 2 hours offline straight.  With the 2 hour period, a player can not detect an attack for an hour which will still leave him vulnerable for an hour..  With the unpredictability of the offline period from 2 to 8 hours, that will make the game more exciting as each players has to devise traps against each other..  The problem with the 6-hour straight is it makes you predictable because players normal players (not zombies) chose their offline hours from 11pm to 6 am in their country..  

Even if granularity of offline pieces is bigger than 1h ,player on top has very limited number of enemies who can kill him,and  if closest stronger is on 3 hours distance,u know exactly when u can sneak a piece (when he is home without possibility of arriving on time).

Closest is 3 hours distance? I must be doomed.. The nearest active player I had played in one realm before was 116, with level 15 Cartography that would be 47 minutes with trebs, 42 minutes on Pillage with Horses.. Just imagine how many fortresses he could empty in 6 hours.. But, it cut both ways.. siege for siege, pillage for pillage.. the first one to quit lose  

[fragmaster]

Its futile to defend such idea.If pieces are smaller,it becomes impossible to track someone and to know when he is locked in block.With 6h it is realistic to write down military points,notice changes etc and have checkpoints...Im absolutely sure it will never be replaced with additive offline time.If u had strong enemy on 100 distance,u must take care of him ,better earlier than later. better player win in those duels.Assumption is that best players defeat all their 1000-1500 distance enemies,or keep them in weaker position.So i understand that consecutive block means much bigger vulnerability than 2x3 or even 2x4,exactly because good player can after 4-5 hours be sure nothing moved on enemy account and hit him 5th-6th hour of block (we dont enter in any argue about faking offlines and detecting if someone fake it whole different level of strategy).When piece is 3-4 hours,there is no time to notice someone is offline,react and send attack and arrive before he logged .because enemies are mostly on bigger distances.

[stein1214]

The problem with this rule is that it makes it nearly impossible for smaller players to save up the resources for higher level research or buildings without getting cleaned out during the 6 hour block. I just spent almost 5 days saving up enough for my first level 8 Fort ever, was about an hour away from having it, and then had to log off for 6 hours. Guess what happened? Yeah, 15 mil in resources taken away when I logged back on. No way to stop the big bullies from doing this as long as this 6 hour block rule is in place. Makes the game a lot less fun and this might be the last era I play.

[samyoboy]

The problem with this rule is that it makes it nearly impossible for smaller players to save up the resources for higher level research or buildings without getting cleaned out during the 6 hour block. I just spent almost 5 days saving up enough for my first level 8 Fort ever, was about an hour away from having it, and then had to log off for 6 hours. Guess what happened? Yeah, 15 mil in resources taken away when I logged back on. No way to stop the big bullies from doing this as long as this 6 hour block rule is in place. Makes the game a lot less fun and this might be the last era I play.

What would you have spent 5 days logged in 24/7 with no sleep watching for attackers and protecting your resources. Thats seriously not healthy and actually life threatening. The 6 hour rule is and was part of the very 1st versions of this game. If it is possible for player to take all those resources from you then it possible for you to do the same to another player.