Hello, Archon! Welcome! 

Try to play safe as long as you can. 

Use diplomacy. Talk to other players. A simple message can change the whole future outcomes. As most players are extremely friendly, make as many friends as you can. 

Never overestimate your troops. There is always someone bigger than anyone else. Never make blind attack with everything you have. If you lose all by any chance, you might get into trouble.

Play everyday. Build troops continuously. Join an active coalition. Know your neighbours. 

I've been playing since 2014. Game is on for me (at least minimized on the background) as long as i'm in front of computer. 

Most important of all - however you play, try to have maximum fun. 

Mortee said play every day at least, and indeed it helps because people won't wait for you to be online to raid you, you may be attacked at any moment.

But don't take it as more than an advice, this is only a game... Don't forget real life is much more important, so if you can't afford spendind to much time on it that's fine, just avoid having too-high ambitions and have fun whenever you can come and play.

Beware I am the Grinch...

I have played the game for 40 days invested about $75 and reached level 60. I think I've given it a fair shot.  I joined a coalition, participated in trade, tournaments, wars.  I've learned the game mechanics quite well. Even worked on some algorithms to minimizes losses when attacking/defending Persian positions. (BTW that is one of the black holes in the game that suck away your units and Drachmas).

My conclusion: The game is a pointless waste of time.  It is not fun, it is tedious.  The entire mechanics are not built to entertain the players but to extract money from them while they are lured into a false sense of accomplishment.

First you must think of Drachmas as real $$$ - after initially being generous the game meters them out with an eye-dropper so you have to buy them.  Anything that costs Drachmas in the game costs real money.

There is very little skill involved other than being quick at learning the ins and outs of the game menus, understanding the functions of the different items, buildings, screens, units etc. There is plenty of repetitive, idiotic tasks like clicking on divine quests every five minutes, logging in frequently to save new units in Acropolis, starting new building upgrades or study courses and killing off the Persian positions... No way to schedule things to happen ahead of time.  This is weird because most games that require you to log in frequently are advertising-based thus need the traffic.  SWOE is not an advertising-based game so why the tedium of forcing players to micro-manage 100's of tasks many times a day?

Plarium even charges you real money to hide your newly built units so they don't slaughtered.  Cheesy! As a Spartan Commander I order my troops to walk from the training grounds into the Acropolis and they won't do it unless I am there in person? Or I pay Plarium their "protection money" to make it happen?

I could understand spending Drachmas (Real money) if the game was fun to play but alas it is not.  There is only crude graphics, barely any animation, very little skills and very little strategy that actually changes the outcome.

If the game allowed you to crush enemies with a good strategy (as opposed to a fat wallet) the losing player might quit and Plarium would lose that income... Oh no we can't have that!  So huge battle - Player A crushes player B - but both get the same experience and tourney points +/- 5%. Both take huge losses and have to revive units with more Drachmas.

So why would one stay in the game?

1. A false feeling of accomplishment... adding another level, building, unit... and feeling like it will "change something" - Trust me, it does not. There is no pot of gold buried under any technology, building, unit... You cannot "unlock" the game. Around the next bend is just another sign saying "spend your Drachmas here".  The more you invest the more difficult it is to walk away.

2. Building a beautiful city with lots of decorations (=Drachmas) and thinking than anyone other than you cares.  Newsflash: Nobody else "visits" your city, nobody cares about your city.

3. Getting the high score on the tournament board - Again who cares?

4. Hoarding huge armies and feeling like they are "something"... Like the guy that goes into his online banking account to "admire" the balance.

5. Releasing pent up aggression by "killing and destroying" other players although you accomplish very little in the game by doing so, other than destroying yours and his units that will have to be revived and paid for with more Drachmas.

At its core I think the game lacks a soul.  It is not "fun" to play, there is no real goal, there is very little you can do to improve your position.

Meanwhile those bronze mines in the upper part of the screen?  They are busy mining your wallet.

6. What is your opinion about the game:

Actually, BOISDEJUSTICE, it is still possible to get drachmas without paying, though much longer...

I earned thousands of them and that's what gives me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction 

Second, believe me, people do visit your city. It helps you know more about someone you want to help...or to attack !

Finally, you're right, there is no point in playing... But that's what a game is, isn't it ?

boisdejustice said:

Beware I am the Grinch...

I have played the game for 40 days invested about $75 and reached level 60. I think I've given it a fair shot.  I joined a coalition, participated in trade, tournaments, wars.  I've learned the game mechanics quite well. Even worked on some algorithms to minimizes losses when attacking/defending Persian positions. (BTW that is one of the black holes in the game that suck away your units and Drachmas).

My conclusion: The game is a pointless waste of time.  It is not fun, it is tedious.  The entire mechanics are not built to entertain the players but to extract money from them while they are lured into a false sense of accomplishment.

Archon, thank you for detailed feedback. I'm glad that you became such an experienced player in such a short term. It is hard to understand game mechanics so fast.

Let me add some points. Sparta:War of Empires was created like a military, strategy game. Of course there are a lot of activity that you should perform by yourself. What would be the purpose of the game if all actions could be done without your presence? If players wouldn't need to hide their units, how many players would be disappointed that they can't catch the Troops of other Archons?

There are a lot of players who don't buy Drachmas and reach top players only because they understand how the game works, know how to get units from Persian Positions, how to attack your opponent and lose less troops. Spending Drachmas can speed up the process and give you some of the advantages, but still without learning the game Drachmas mean less.

Some of the players prefer building their Cities, while others like to develop Coalitions, build strategies for competition between Coalitions. There are also players who want to fight only on Persian Positions. In short, every player finds something interesting in the game, something that means more for him/her. Since you are playing only 40 days, I believe that you will find this interest as well.

There are a lot of players who don't buy Drachmas and reach top players only because they understand how the game works, know how to get units from Persian Positions, how to attack your opponent and lose less troops. Spending Drachmas can speed up the process and give you some of the advantages, but still without learning the game Drachmas mean less.

Aleksandra: I agree that the game can be played without spending real money but spending the money is not my gripe.

My gripe is that you can buy your way through the game. It is like competing to see which fool can throw the most money down a bottomless pit.  

I’d prefer to pay a fee for the right to play but keep the playing field level for all players that paid a fixed amount so your skills not your money determines the outcome.

LeFeuBleu: The reason I call the game “pointless” is not because it is a game.

You are correct in that all games are pointless but this one lacks tangible goals.  

I play many strategy games where you can actually destroy your enemies and win.  This one lacks true results.

It is set up to make everyone feel like a winner… no losers (Except for the poor guy who sinks his life saving into it)

The fact that the winner and loser of a battle see different reports tells it all.  Plarium “adjusts” the results so neither party will feel that they were truly beaten.

Case in point the raids where the raider comes away with resources but the victim loses none… everyone wins!

It feels like playing a sport to get a “participation” trophy.

There are many good parts to the game that got me to join.  

The game’s primary focus should be to entertain the players so they will enjoy the game and THEN reward Plarium.

If the focus becomes making the players spend more money without regard for the integrity of the game then there is problem.

I feel too many of the game’s mechanics are “adjusted” to get more Drachmas into Plarium’s coffers.

I would like to see the pendulum swing the other way where more improvements are made for play ability and less for profit.

A better game means more players which does improve profits.

Just my two cents ...

Allow players to trade additional items, like scrolls, elixirs etc...  I know there is a concern about players building “feeder cities” to give resources to their main city but this could be averted by making it accessible only above a certain level (50-60 range) or with a certain agreement (Phoenicia comes to mind) that could only be achieved after playing several months.

The Infirmary and the market tab are the same unique feature.

Just two different ways to access it.