Whilst in the main, this game is an excellent example of its genre, and should be highly commended, I cannot help feeling that the inability to preserve your gold is a major drawback. Of course, there has to be a balance, between those that are 'playing for free' and paying players, and the morale/score penalty goes a long way to do that, but with the current system, it is possible for a player to be targeted by just a couple of players, and even with the capitulation option, not be able to progress in the game, as gold is so essential. Player A has 250K score - he gets hit by Player B with 500K score - fortress knocked down, zero gold, so now he is forced to sell any res he produces on the market to get gold levels back up and he capitulates. Following day, Player C, also with 500K score hits Player A (this time with a fortress still destroyed as he has been forced to sell any res) - any gold he has made is now taken. Again - he capitulates. Repeats selling res - and guess what - capitulation from Player B runs out - and he returns - cycle repeats. Sure, you can spend the gold on research to stop the opponent getting it, but what happens if you need to save up for lvl 7 centralisation for example. And, of course, you need gold to have any hope of a reasonable army. It becomes completely impossible to do. Now add player D, E, F - you can end up with a player who realises that he cannot progress in the game, so then leaves and finds another. This is my main issue - getting players to try the game is one thing - but the percentage of those that carry on playing needs to be as high as possible, so that the game makes more money for the developers, and ensures it doesn't become just another MMO strategy that falls by the wayside.
Even if you are online 24/7, you are powerless to protect your gold, and I genuinely feel that is something that will put more people off, than it pleases.
Whilst not new to this genre of game, I am new to this particular one, so don't shoot me down if this a bad idea - but to me it seems to be the only major criticism - you cannot have situations where new players are unable to progress, or you will lose them to one of the other hundreds of games out there - this game, especially its support, is far better than the competition. But I think this is an issue that should be looked at. (of course, if its just my lack of experience showing, then tips on how to improve the situation would be appreciated
I haven't personally suffered as bad a scenario as I portray, although it has been close, but its easy to see how it can happen. The only reason was my opponents choosing not to hit again, they could have made the game impossible if they chose.
