Raiding

[Funky White Boy]

The main problem I had with ascension is to stop my account being massed/raided for resources I needed to make it uneconomic for the big three alliances to do so by having huge defences and using rank modifier. These were not personal attacks they were economic attacks. In effect anyone outside this group of alliances was having to do this whilst those within tended to have relatively lower defence/income planet ratio and therefore faster growth. Also they had the benefit of easy planet pickings when the defences of other accounts were lowered by the larger accounts again speeding their growth relative to their peers. I personally have been raided in this way and learnt my lessons.

This update has come too late for the Top 50 ranks where change is less likely to be seen but it will allow a much more level playing field for growth amongst the lower ranks. It will slow those in the lower ranks would are allied to the bigger ones and allow more fluidity.

I don't like the rank changes it has taken some of the skills of the ascension server away where a fine balance needed to be struck between the various different stats.

[Chris M]

My 2 cents

The better you are, the more screwed you are...
You put effort in, sacraficing main accounts for ascended and what do you get? frozen at a rank and stupid modifiers preventing much action. this server will become dead at this rate.
Im rank 29, little chance to improve that now. ive reconed a few above me and the gaps are huge (except to rank 28) even the gap to 30, a good mate is huge.
I build a strike now with no effect to my rank and i cant even farm. by the time i get to non-allies and people i dont hit the modifier has reduced the point in the hit.
The only modifier i approve of is the raid one. You should be able to raid targets within a percentage of your influence, not rank. Obviously, bigger the number bigger the gap the set percentage makes. seems fair given the hugeness of the gaps in ascended (and great credit to those about me).

I think i mentioned before i like the raid update. Well thats only partly true.
As it is, Initiate Revolution doesnt work. So, no raiding can profitably happen. With rank modifiers, no one can farm much.
Raid helps in some ways, prevents you being smashed and having resource taken, but what happens to the people trying to keep this server alive, the new blood trying to seriously get into it.
They are at a distinct disadvange because they cant raid like we (the top end which im very low on) did. so they have no chance.

Raiding could be improved. Maybe taking away guided altogether was too steep a move? untrained could be taken no matter what but guided could be taken and a calculation based on influence. again what i earlier mentioned. close to your size or above, you can take guided. this reduces significantly to no guided as the gap between influence powers increases. i dont know a fair percentage mind, im just giving my opinion. but it would allow the lower end to potentially raid resources of people around them.
wars of people around their level whilst significantly better players cant raid them. still, i suppose a disadvantage to the likes of me who cant raid anymore at all but atleast someone could play!

anyways, my longest babble in a post on sgw draws to a end
please comment.

[Gandalf the White]

[quote]The better you are, the more screwed you are...
You put effort in, sacraficing main accounts for ascended and what do you get? frozen at a rank and stupid modifiers preventing much action.[/quote]

Couldn't agree more. Even though I'm rank 651 and stuck there, I'm still in a position where a big ascension will help me - a little. (It can't happen because I've just chosen to render my main account inactive). I did do a biggish initial ascention without realising it and thats why I've gotten a fair way in 4 months. But the reality is I can't raid because any decent targets around me are active and hence have no untrained planets. The good (for me) raid targets around rank 1300 are 'too distant'. There is virtually no farming anymore (apart from SW - thankyou Sinister and Mojo - if I were in your position I too would hate having to spend my income 'keeping it in the family'). Most of us are too afraid of war (you would think thats the purpose of Ascended 'Wars') because it takes at least 2 months to rebuild to where you were and longer if someone really goes to town on you.

All I do now is convert dmu to LF and upgrade CEF. I used to like having my strike and Star pull me up another hundred ranks. The way I see it if I did another 8 massive ascentions and get bigger I would still encounter the same issues only 10 times worse like Chris M. I feel like I've been reduced to a mechanical button pusher on this game convert DMU to LF , convert DMU to LF, convert DMU to LF, convert DMU to LF.

[Maulwurf05]

i like the raid update in it protecting dmu-planets as it does help me

but it is weird to see my rank in the 80s with neither attack nor CS ... and the ranks being rather static seems rather boring too

[urogard]

IF the initiate revolution would be working then i think making income planets unraidable was a good and long needed step...

BUT (and don't get me wrong, i'm glad about this update, even though myself can't raid anyone anymore) this update has come far too late, just like descencion and for many the knowledge that a decent ascended account is just as important as a decent main account, and the damage is already done. Yes it would be far worse without this update, but due to a certain alliance group the strong were untouchable for everyone feared their account to be reset if he/she attempted any retaliation or raiding on said accounts within a certain alliance group, and now even without it exististing in its full strength it can easily be noticed who is holding the top 4 pages, and people will certainly avoid touching these accounts for now they are pretty much untouchable on their own for most of the part (and with untouchable i don't mean unmassable but that any significant attack will result in the attackers account be reset to 0 literally)

I am not moaning in any way just stating that raidable income planets helped to create the current situation in ascencion just as much, if not more, than the fact that most people neglected their ascencion accounts and ascended merely for the main bonuses.