For the last few weeks, I have been trying out a new game: Illyriad. It's not something I'd normally play, but twitter folk were talking about it so I figured I'd five it a shot. It's a browser based game (HTML 5 I believe) where you build up a kingdom in an expansive persistent world.
I'll cut straight to the point. So far, I have not had much fun in the game. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things to do, but as of yet none of them are very interesting. Actions such as improving a resource and researching new technologies take time (up to days) to complete.
Since I have started playing, all I've been doing is logging in, improving resources and setting up research. This has gone on for weeks and I have yet to experience any other part of the game. There is a military and sovereignty system (expand to other parcels of land), but I need to have a larger population and meet other requirements in order to experience those. For example, my Storehouse needs to be upgraded 15 times before I can research Sovereignty.
As I have dabbled in making web games, Illyriad has taught me an important lesson. I need to give the player interesting decisions to make as early in their experience as possible. Upgrading resources and building for several weeks has not been very interesting.
There is a microtransaction system called Prestige. It lets you take some shortcuts, but nothing overpowering that i have seen so far. You can even get this currency free for logging in once a day. I have not used any of the prestige I started out with yet either.
Illyriad may have a lot of depth once I get past the building up stage, but I'm not sure that i am going to make it that far. I would like to mention its very kind community though. They are quite helpful and tend to be very generous. I asked a question, got a good answer and someone sent me a bunch of resources.
V Rising - Released
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