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Plarium's plans for its strategy games once browsers stop supporting Flash

Plarium's plans for its strategy games once browsers stop supporting Flash

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AlinaCommunity Manager
Sep 12, 2019, 12:3909/12/19
05/21/19
3512

Plarium's plans for its strategy games once browsers stop supporting Flash

In 2016, Adobe announced that they would stop developing Flash. By December 2020, Flash will no longer be supported by any web browser. As many of you know, most of Plarium’s strategy games run on the Flash engine. If the browsers block Flash, it would spell the end of an incredible gaming community. It would be a disaster, and we’re not about to let it happen.


Adobe suggested we transfer our games from Flash to WebGL to avoid the problem entirely. As an experiment, we began to transfer one of our games - Sparta: War of Empires - to WebGL in the middle of 2016.


It took 2 years, and the results were disappointing. The WebGL engine was not as powerful as Flash: the minimum system requirements went up, the visual quality went down, the load times were 5-7 times longer, and the game was much less responsive. After 3 years of awesome gameplay, players had come to expect more. WebGL would not do!


Our top priority was, and will always be, the development of high-quality games for our players. WebGL was unacceptable, so we built an alternative: Plarium Play, an independent desktop application. It enables us to safely and reliably use Flash even after Adobe stops supporting the engine. It’s convenient for you, it’s convenient for us, and it’s already the solution being implemented by others facing this problem.


What does this mean?


Chrome will support Flash till the end of 2020. We recommend switching to Chrome if your browser cuts support early.


Players who are currently playing on plarium.com should switch directly to Plarium Play as soon as possible.


Players who are using facebook.com should switch to Facebook’s Gameroom application.


Other social platforms hosting our games are currently developing desktop applications. Once those are out, you should switch over.


While Flash is available on browsers, we will do everything we can to help you play our games on your format of choice. Once that’s no longer an option, you can still keep playing on Plarium Play or your platform’s desktop application.


We want to assure you that our strategy games will keep using Flash. Our best developers will continue working on improving the game quality, adding new content, and implementing new features to provide you with the best game experience. We will also continue collecting feedback from our gaming community so we can create a perfect game together.


Thank you for sticking with us. We will keep you updated!


Plarium Team


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3k
Comments
29
Comments
Sep 12, 2019, 15:3309/12/19
02/20/17
3
Glad they are trying.  Still need some work on Plarium play.  I have it freeze up on my frequently.  Need to be able to run multiple accounts similtaneoulsy.  End up using chrome most of the time.
Sep 12, 2019, 15:5509/12/19
12/19/16
1

Biggest issue I see with the app is the lack of quick change from one account to another, which we can do with Chrome.

The app requires me to remember each password set...  unfortunatley my old brain freezes up as often as the app...

I still use Chrome just for this one issue, but of course, computers fight me every time I sign in..  haha...

My playing time is reduced because of issues, but I still like Plarium Pirates.

Sep 12, 2019, 17:3809/12/19
09/11/15
29

Abandonner les navigateurs web au profit d’une application spécifique comme Plarium Play est un choix stratégique bien risqué si on compare l’audience des navigateurs et celles des applications de ce genre.

La première solution de rechange qui vient à l’esprit c’est HTML5 déjà choisi par YouTube, FoE, et bien d’autres.

Pourquoi Plarium ne choisit pas HTML5 ?



Abandoning web browsers in favor of a specific application such as Plarium Play seems a very risky strategic choice when comparing the audience of browsers with that of applications of this kind.

The first alternative that comes to mind is HTML5 which has already been chosen by Youtube, Forge of Empires, and many others.

What is the reason for Plarium not choosing HTML5?

Sep 12, 2019, 20:5809/12/19
05/12/15
1
Forge of empires is using html? is that an option for you ? Thanks Jim 
Sep 12, 2019, 21:1809/12/19
02/20/17
1
I have subscribed to Plarium Play since it was first released.  Since your shutdown for service two days ago, I have been unable to launch Plarium Play.  All I get is a 503 message.
CrowbarModerator
Sep 12, 2019, 22:2909/12/19
03/07/16
2334

Revenge said:

Forge of empires is using html? is that an option for you ? Thanks Jim 

It seems that there is a setting. Look around or ask on their forum.

HTML 5 is more than capable of much more complex things than P:ToF, but - sadly - Plarium made another bad call: a frequently glitching app limited to Win and Mac (AFAIK no Linux, Android, iOS,...) that requires Plarium's constant attention, instead of a widely spread, reliable technology that's constantly developed and well maintained.

Fifty-One said:

I have subscribed to Plarium Play since it was first released. Since your shutdown for service two days ago, I have been unable to launch Plarium Play. All I get is a 503 message.bullgod said:

Uninstall the app and install it again. If it's still not working, please report it in the Bugs subforum.

bullgod said:

im on INTERNET EXPLORER HERE .. NOT A FAN OF FACEBOOK LAGS... NEWEST WINDOWS... ..IS THIS A PROBLEM ? IM ON THE APP ..MY BACK UP IS IE TO GET SIGNNED IN ? PLEASE WRITE BACK

If you're on the app, you're good. Only browsers' Flash will die.

Sep 13, 2019, 02:5509/13/19
08/20/16
10

I don't have Windows 10 at home yet, but at work we have web apps that require Flash. I discovered Flash is built into IE 10 as an add-on. I had to enable it in the Add-ons settings and for that particular app, I also had to toggle Active-X from the Safety menu in options. Has Pirates: Tides of Fortune been tested  with Internet Explorer (NOT the Edge browser) in Windows 10?


Snidely Whiplash 
Sep 13, 2019, 12:1809/13/19
07/07/14
30

Hello, if have any possibility to pirates run on mobile phone, would be more comfortable and faster, probably with more time spend in game due to mobile phone are in nowadays always with us?

Thanks
Sep 13, 2019, 12:5909/13/19
09/27/16
5
Plarium play is very inferior to flash, at this time. Seems like a long way to go. I play a lot but not computer savvy at all. Simplicity, ease and speed are greatly needed.
AlinaCommunity Manager
Sep 24, 2019, 09:4709/24/19
05/21/19
3512

SnidelyWhiplash said:


I don't have Windows 10 at home yet, but at work we have web apps that require Flash. I discovered Flash is built into IE 10 as an add-on. I had to enable it in the Add-ons settings and for that particular app, I also had to toggle Active-X from the Safety menu in options. Has Pirates: Tides of Fortune been tested  with Internet Explorer (NOT the Edge browser) in Windows 10?


Snidely Whiplash 

Hello Snidely!


As far as I know, the announcement above is about every browser. I believe you won't be able to play without Flash Player after December 2020 in Internet Explorer as well.


Cheers!
AlinaCommunity Manager
Sep 24, 2019, 09:4809/24/19
05/21/19
3512

AnchorBay said:


Hello, if have any possibility to pirates run on mobile phone, would be more comfortable and faster, probably with more time spend in game due to mobile phone are in nowadays always with us?

Thanks

Hello!


Thanks for this suggestion. Yes, I agree that it would be more comfortable, but Pirates wasn't designed as a mobile game, so it's really difficult to change it now.


We do hope for your understanding. 
AlinaCommunity Manager
Sep 24, 2019, 09:5009/24/19
05/21/19
3512

allmyfriends said:


Plarium play is very inferior to flash, at this time. Seems like a long way to go. I play a lot but not computer savvy at all. Simplicity, ease and speed are greatly needed.

Hello!


Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Yes, we agree that Plarium Play still needs improvements. We've got a whole team dedicated to this and we have reasons to believe that it will be significantly improved in future. 


Cheers!
Nov 20, 2019, 11:5611/20/19
12/25/14
10
Previously we were able to play pirates on the phone using puffin browser and photon flash browser. Is there anything that could be implemented into plarium play that would allow us to play pirates like this? Note: about 6 months ago puffin browser and photon flash browser stopped allowing playability on pirates. I am unsure why but I assumed it had something to do with the flash problem. Having the ability To play pirates on the phone was incredibly useful. Thanks
AlinaCommunity Manager
Nov 20, 2019, 13:0111/20/19
05/21/19
3512

Fred *DA* said:


Previously we were able to play pirates on the phone using puffin browser and photon flash browser. Is there anything that could be implemented into plarium play that would allow us to play pirates like this? Note: about 6 months ago puffin browser and photon flash browser stopped allowing playability on pirates. I am unsure why but I assumed it had something to do with the flash problem. Having the ability To play pirates on the phone was incredibly useful. Thanks

Hello!


Thanks for your question!


Pirates: Tides of Fortune was designed as a browser game and it's not optimized for mobile devices, I'm afraid. I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but so far there are no such plans. 

Good luck in the seven seas! 

Nov 22, 2019, 11:1611/22/19
12/25/14
10
I understand, thank you Alina. If they ever decide to try to implement this I would be glad to help in any way I can. I think if they did ever decide to toy with the idea and were successful it would bring a lot more new players into the game. I appreciate the straight forward sincere response. Have a great day
AlinaCommunity Manager
Nov 22, 2019, 13:1311/22/19
05/21/19
3512

Fred *DA* said:


I understand, thank you Alina. If they ever decide to try to implement this I would be glad to help in any way I can. I think if they did ever decide to toy with the idea and were successful it would bring a lot more new players into the game. I appreciate the straight forward sincere response. Have a great day

Hi there! Thanks a lot for your understanding. It's a pleasure to get such nice replies 


Have a great day, too!


Mar 13, 2020, 01:2103/13/20
03/13/18
8

Will Flash still work after 2020?

Although Adobe will stop support and development of flash in 2020 that doesn't mean you Will no longer able to us flash from that point. Most web browsers now no longer officially support flash but you can still install it and use it.

CrowbarModerator
Mar 13, 2020, 11:1603/13/20
03/07/16
2334

Good question. I took it for granted that the answer is "yes", but you're absolutely right: we need to know for sure.

So, I asked and they have confirmed: if we manage to get Flash running in our browsers after 2020, the game will work.

I'm not sure that the browsers will allow us to install it, so it may be useful to set up a separate browser, before the end of the year, used only for the game, and never update it again, at least until you're sure you will be able to get Flash installed in your usual one.

May 15, 2020, 05:2205/15/20
02/20/17
1
You need to develop a logout and login button on the plarium application.  Other accounts play on my computer...cannot get into them without a major effort of erase and reload
CrowbarModerator
May 15, 2020, 14:0005/15/20
03/07/16
2334

bush1980 said:

You need to develop a logout and login button on the plarium application.  Other accounts play on my computer...cannot get into them without a major effort of erase and reload

What is wrong with this:

?