Imperion

[Tezkat]

After Galava shut down, several members of the Thugz migrated to Imperion (on the .org server--there are several).

It's very pretty. The game is a sort of 4X browser-based MMO with StarCraft-like races (Terrans = Tarrans, Titans = Protoss, Xen = Zerg). There aren't any discrete turns; it merely takes time to do things, so very active players are richly rewarded. It's made by the same people who created Travian, if anyone's ever tried that. It supposedly has very similar gameplay. (I wouldn't know, not being a Travian player and all.) It resets once a year. The current iteration has been up since July.

Anyways... llearch and I have joined the Thug remnant in Imperion. Aside from llearch, we're all in Galaxy 1. You're all welcome to come on by. Even though we've only been playing for a few weeks, a lot of us are now big enough to offer helpful tips or aids. I doubt we'll create a separate DMFA league there any time soon, though. (With all of us spread across the galaxy, league membership doesn't really do much anyway.)

[techmaster-glitch]

Checking out the wiki right now, and this looks like a game I can get into. But, there is no pay to play, right?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

You _can_ pay, but you don't have to.

Note also that it appears to reset every year or so, which is, I think, a bit of a shame, since it means you might never get some of the higher stuff.

But that's _way_ in the future...

[Tezkat]

The commercial side is a sort of micropayment system. You fill up on "Coins" and pay a few cents a shot to do things like temporarily boost your income, instantly build structures without waiting, or transform one resource into another without going through the market. It's mostly for convenience--far from necessary to get ahead in the game.

They give you a bunch during the tutorial to try to get you hooked.

[techmaster-glitch]

Speaking of which, I looked over the rules/terms of service, and it says something about "oine account per server", or something like that. My actual question is, suppose I want to test out the game to get a feel of it, and try out all three races (or maybe just two) before settling down with a "real" account. Is this possible/allowed? If so, how would this work? Is is possible to create an empire in an account, then scrap the empire and start over?

[Tezkat]

Multis are against the rules, but they don't appear to be punished that often. There are a few different servers, although some of them are localized to German (the developers are based in Germany).

You can try out one race, delete your empire, and start over as another on the same server. There's a 72 hour delay to process a deletion request (and you can cancel within the first 24 hours).

[techmaster-glitch]

You can try out one race, delete your empire, and start over as another on the same server.

Cool, thanks. Also, the wiki mentioned something about a ".org" Imperion and a ".net" Imperion. What's the difference? Also, how do the "servers" work? Can you just log into any one you want, or are your empire(s?) specific to whatever server you start them in?

[Tezkat]

Er... as far as I know, each account is server-specific. At the very least, I can't log into any of the other servers. Support and localization are targeted at specific regions (although I believe all the servers are actually hosted in Germany).

Imperion.ORG - International
Imperion.US - USA
Imperion.NET - UK
Imperion.ES - Spain
Imperion.DE - Germany

On each server, you have a choice of three Galaxies. They're nominally connected, but you need to be extremely powerful to cross over from one to another (via the black hole in the center of the galaxy).

[techmaster-glitch]

On each server, you have a choice of three Galaxies. They're nominally connected, but you need to be extremely powerful to cross over from one to another (via the black hole in the center of the galaxy).

Hmm...this leads into my next thoughts and questions...

So, you and llearch are on the same server, but different galaxies...I am interested in a DMFA league/guild/alliance/whatever at some time in the future, so to help this, I could start in yours or llearch's (with my eventual "real" empire, not my planned test ones). Depending on the degree you can choose where in a galaxy you start (if at all) and if there is any "distance" between players/empires and the density of the galaxies will determine who i try to start near... While you are near the est of the Thugz, you are also in galaxy1 on the international server, so I have to imagine that galaxy to have a fairly high density of players. With that in mind, I'd lean towards trying to start near llearch, and maybe future DMFA members also starting there as well. depending on exactly how easy/difficult it is for leagues to communicate across galaxies might work out if it's easy, as you could be our go-between guy with the Thugz (who I imagine DMFA would be allied to).

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Worst case, we'll be a sub-arm of Thugz, since the way alliances work on Imperion is somewhat strange.

Imperion.NET - UK

Hrm. Tempting to go have a look at that one, and start up another account... if I had more time. :-/

[Tezkat]

Well... the galaxies are pretty big, so it's unlikely that you'll start all that close to anyone you know. And it you do, that might actually be a bad thing, since you'll both be competing for raiding rights to the same planets and comets.

llearch actually has a lot more big neighbours than I do. My little corner of Galaxy 1 is mostly full of inactive newbies, so I've become master of my domain in fairly short order.

I suspect it will be some months before we're individually strong enough to consider strategic positioning of secondary planets closer to our allies.

[techmaster-glitch]

Alright, from that, it sounds like you can't choose a region within a galaxy to start in, so...with all this in mind, and with respect for potential future development of the DMFA alliance, who's galaxy should I start in, yours or llearch's? (one thing I am slightly concerned about is that if I and future members start in your galaxy, llearch will be left out there all alone...I don't know how much of a problem that actually is though, if at all)

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Even if it is a problem, it's one I more or less expected. So I'm ramping away merrily. Don't worry about me.

[techmaster-glitch]

  alright, got started with my first test empire as Terrans in galaxy 2 (I will scrap it and start over as Titans once I feel ready), and am currently playing. And, holy dang you were right, there's almost no one here, and almost all of them are completely inactive accounts, never even started. <starry-eyed idealism of a newbie who knows nothing>If the DMFA-Thugz alliance gets cracking soon, we might really be able to carve out a chunk of power for ourselves, I think!</starry-eyed idealism of a newbie who knows nothing> It appears that I can only see people who have the same amount of points as me or less on the statistics window The stats page starts me out on the page I am ranked in...looks like there are many MANY MANY more people than I thought

Question: How do I scrap my empire and start over, once the time has come?

[Valynth]

I've decided to get involved in this, my user name is the same as here, I'm in galaxy 2 surrounded by inactives and my planet is named "Mentar" under the titan race cookie for those who get the reference.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Gonna join the thugs, Val?

tech, look in the user prefs. It's right at the bottom.

[techmaster-glitch]

thanks, llearch.

Incidentally, what galaxy are you in, boxy?

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

2(31|6)

[techmaster-glitch]

aww, that's not fair. If x|y is a mathematical operation, I don't know what it is/haven't learned it yet (It's certainly not division...)

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Look closely at your star map, padawan.

[techmaster-glitch]

Oho, I see. Thanks.

[Darkdragon]

I'm interested, but would like to ask how much time the game tends to eat.

Is half an hour a day at five minute intervals spread about the day would be a good balance between online staring at the game for long intervals and taking advantage of the wait times to do other stuff?

[Valynth]

Gonna join the thugs, Val?

tech, look in the user prefs. It's right at the bottom.

I'll join as soon as I can build an embassy, but it might take a while, right now I'm saving for a recycling ship to complete the newbie quests.

Also, it seems the crystal resource is going to be the main choke point for me, since that's the one holding me back right now.

[Tezkat]

Heh... all the cool kids play in G1. G2 is for the hippies who thought a less populated galaxy would keep them safer... and for the players who prey on them.


Anyways...
I put together a quick newbie guide. Not very polished or organized, but it should help with some of the common issues those who went before you had.

I'll join as soon as I can build an embassy, but it might take a while, right now I'm saving for a recycling ship to complete the newbie quests.

Also, it seems the crystal resource is going to be the main choke point for me, since that's the one holding me back right now.

Don't be in any hurry to build an Embassy. League membership at this point does little more than keep score. Also, I think only the league founder (ViolentJ) can send out invites at the moment. If you're interested in joining eventually, I'll pass your name on so you can have an invite pending for when you do get around to building it.

Need stuffs? I can help powerlevel you...

I'm interested, but would like to ask how much time the game tends to eat.

Is half an hour a day at five minute intervals spread about the day would be a good balance between online staring at the game for long intervals and taking advantage of the wait times to do other stuff?

Well, the more frequently you're on, the faster you grow. Your raiding fleets usually will take around an hour to make a round trip, so if you're on often enough to send them out again promptly, you'll grow quite quickly.

Actually playing "turns" (basically just buying buildings/fleet and sending out a new raiding party) only takes a couple of minutes at a time.

On the other hand, there's no particular benefit to sitting there watching your timers count down. After you've done your stuff, go out and do useful things.

Basically, you'll get the fastest growth rate from being on for a couple of minutes every hour and a half or so.

[techmaster-glitch]

I just finished the last tutorial quest. I'm going to experiment a bit more, then scrap my empire and start over, like I've been saying. I think when I start over as the Titans, I'm going to stay that way, I think they might be more suited to my play style (although I certainly prefer the aesthetic of the Terrans...)

[Darkdragon]

I'll give it a shot. Here I am again, pushing back my list of things which should get done for the sake of... well, something.

I've signed up using the same name in Cybernations, and the location of my Terran base is 1(-84|37). It seems the people around me aren't that large, so I should be fine for now.

We should have a list of whose where so we can keep track of the people.

[Tezkat]

So... ViolentJ granted me league admin rights in the Thugz. I've invited Valynth and Illizad. The invitations will stand even if you don't have an Embassy yet, but you can't actually accept it until you build one.

I guess I'll wait until techmaster-glitch has a colony he's happy with before inviting him...

[techmaster-glitch]

But I dun wanna actually join the thugz! I wanna join the DMFA, who joins the thugz, after it is formed! That's the whole reason I'm here! (okay, not really, but still...)

[Darkdragon]

So... ViolentJ granted me league admin rights in the Thugz. I've invited Valynth and Illizad. The invitations will stand even if you don't have an Embassy yet, but you can't actually accept it until you build one.

I guess I'll wait until techmaster-glitch has a colony he's happy with before inviting him...

I was about to mention you sending them a tad early, but... Ah, nevermind.

ADDENDUM: Do any of you know where I can find a technical raiding guide with numbers detailing suggested numbers et cetera? I'd like to try and start raiding ASAP but also would not like to be underprepared for it. Thanks in advance.

[techmaster-glitch]

ADDENDUM: Do any of you know where I can find a technical raiding guide with numbers detailing suggested numbers et cetera? I'd like to try and start raiding ASAP but also would not like to be underprepared for it. Thanks in advance.

Try the combat simulator in your fleetbase?