Evony - Free Forever! www.evony.com

So I started playing Evony this week... and I have been very impressed. Evony is a FREE MMORTS (massive multiplayer online real time stratergy) game that since it's live launch in mid 09, has blew it's competetors out the water. Based in medievil time and stretched across 16 lands, you start with a small settlement that you can develop to become pretty much whatever you wish. Although like other RTS games evony is based on construction and upgrade by resources, there is a lot that sets Evony aside from (or well infront of) the rest.

Evony has took the standard online RTS and added genious detail to it, there is a huge range of buildings, upgrades & units that enable you to build up however you want. You can become a peaceful farming settlement taking advantage of the LIVE bid & offer market place system, or build up your forces and join one of the many alliances to battle against other clans or the NPC barbarians that have took over derelict citys, there are a huge range of item's you can earn which range from speeding up building time to increasing your production rate to +25% for 24hrs, there is research to do in your academy which gives you attack & defence bonus's or better reports when a scouting group return from an expedition.

Evony offers so much more than the standard online RTS and at the same time keeps it user friendly with a 'Quest' system (kind of a fun tutorial to get you started) that gives you objectives to help get your settlement built up and familiarise yourself with the game, this will also award you with items/resources when you have completed a task. There is also the chat window where you can talk to other people in the game, in your alliance, or just one on one to ask questions or just pass time while your buildings complete construction. So join the adventure today and get started at www.evony.com

...and dont forget to look up BOFFERDan, ruler of Leicester on server 113 :D.

Evony: Free Forever

Evony; it seems like only yesterday that I began to play this online war-game oh wait, it was! What attracted me to the website all those hours ago? I'd have to say it was the widespread advertising on other websites, and the promise of something for nothing during these recessionary times. I am glad to say I am not disappointed. The set-up took only a few minutes, and though faced with a momentary confusion the first time I saw that "town" view, with icons flashing and text scrolling, soon I was motoring through the "Quests", finding my way around the game and feeling all the more accomplished for it.

Your town comes equipped with a town hall and several empty lots. Then, following the prompts of those scrolling texts I mentioned, you click on the "Quests" icon. This very helpful dialogue box then persuades you that building a cottage on one of those empty lots might be a good idea, to boost your population, you know? People won't come to live in your city to sleep on the ground, now will they? So the quests icon gives you these lovely little tasks for a while and it's all happy and dandy. Your prestige goes up, up, up, along with all those other numbers on the side of your screen, and before you know it, "Alliances" are made known to you. They are when a group of Lords (Oh yes, you get to be a Lord in this game, too!) come together with the purpose of being in an Alliance. I joined one because my Quests told me to, but there are some positive side-effects! You either apply to one through your Embassy (Yes, you have an embassy! Well, if you follow the quests you do) or go into the world chat, make your Alliance-joining intent known and wait for an invitation. Alliances are my favourite part of this game. It's based on that philosophy, "I got your back you got mine." Though you will be under the 7-day Beginners Protection, meaning you can neither attack, nor be attacked by another Lord; you can be safe in the knowledge that, once those enemies come a-knocking at your gates, you're not alone.

Oh, and you can also conquer other places, like mountains and deserts and forests and swamps to make your city better, too, which is fun. If you conquer a "flat", you can have more than one city, build up an empire, and that's when you really start lording it up! So what makes Evony a cut above all the other internet war-game sites? I don't know, but I do know that my first venture into an online-gaming community has been very pleasurable and not scary at all. 10/10

By Lord Friedy, Server 103. 

Hey guys. So let's start off by addressing the old Evony game ads. Yeah, ok. It was a little bit of using women to sell, taken to a whole new level. Now, I'm sure you've heard by now that the game has nothing to do with semi-nude elves calling you master but that's besides the point.

This game has become one of my addictions. With careful consideration to the minute detailing of time and sequences of running a city, you are in essence playing King, or Queen (Lord and Lady as they refer to you in the game). I don't know about you but the idea of ruling a whole city kinda sounds familiar....like...10 years familiar. Sim City anyone? Well, yes, I know that it sounds similar and yes on a very basic level it is roughly the same idea.

Build a city.

Sustain the city.

Repeat.

With Evony however, they went the added distance and put Sim City on steroids. The game allows you a 7 day beginner protection (which is REAAAALY useful as you sort out your strategy). Why would you offer protection on a city building game? No, its not from tornadoes, fires, earthquakes and godzilla like creatures. It's from fellow players.

WHA?!?!

Ok so now that I've piqued your interest, here's how to play. When you sign up, you'll be loaded onto one of their many servers. You will then be shown your city. You can expand to look at the town, the whole city and the map view. In the "City" view, you are shown fields where you build resources. Say wha? Resources are lumber, stone, iron and food which you need all of in order to build things in your city. Building these will take some time. Changing to the "Town" view, you will be able to see your actual city in which the real part (in my opinion) of your 7 day beginner's protection should take place. Here, you build cottages for people to live in, barracks to recruit soldiers, marketplace to sell any excess resources, warehouses to store stuff in, stables, workshops, inns, embassies, feasting halls and....hold on....yeah I did say barracks to build soldiers. Why the heck do you need soldiers? To fight people of course ^_^. See, this game is a strategy game which takes time and resources to build and upgrade buildings to make your city into the ultimate medieval metropolis. But, sometimes, waiting for resources isn't what your fellow players have in mind. So, often enough you have people that will plunder your city for its resources.

Plunder (n) - The act of stealing things from another player and making yourself more awesome.

Your soldiers will allow you to attack other cities, or what are called valleys. Valleys don't always have an owner, but you can attack any of them just the same. You use troops called scouts to find out what kind of an army is sitting in the valley, then you can send out an army to attack the valley and use it to better your city. How? Well, depending on the valley, it would help you get more of a certain resource.

Are there hacks?

I've heard of some people using outside programs to hack in it, but all in all, it's nothing that would affect you as another player. Their hacks involve the distortion of time in order to rapidly increase their resources. However, the Evony team seems to be thorough in getting these players off. So for me, (coming from a game like Combat Arms where I swear Nexon has a hand in selling the cheats) Evony is super refreshing.

Is it really free?

Yeah. You have the option of buying what are called Game Coins which can purchase items that will help build your city but you also have a chance to win these items when you sign on each day. Every day, you will be awarded and amulet just for signing on and you use it to spin "The Wheel of Fortune" (no there is no Vanna White). So really, it's up to you.

I don't want to be attacked after the 7-day proteciton.

Form friendships and join an alliance. Joining an alliance will help ward off potential attackers. It will also mean that if someone is picking on you, your alliance members who are more experienced can help you defend yourself or coach you along.

Is it entertaining?

Like I said, I find this game very addicting. BUT.....you must be prepared to wait a while if you don't buy game coins. The way the game is designed is rather genius in that when you are building or researching or even traveling across the map..IT TAKES TIME. Real time. It will not allow you to build more than one building at a time and you can only research 1 thing at a time. My remedy for that? Get more than one city. How? Attack places with your army.

All in all, the only thing I would do to make this game more entertaining for me would be to show my army as it marches to attack someone else. But then again, that would be pretty depressing to watch when you are the one being attacked.

So, you have it from me. I like the game. Very entertaining and addicting pvp command and conquer type game. It doesn't have sound and yeah it takes time. But it's one of those games that when you figure out what you want to do, it becomes more and more fun.

What do I suggest? Don't have this as your primary game after the first ...I'd say 2 weeks of playing. Because the time things take to complete gets longer. Personally, I will play the game by updating things and go take care of the things I need to, timing it so I can be back when things are finished. Later on in the night, I'll sit down and attack people and valleys to have fun or make a better empire for myself.

So, anyway...there's waaaaay too many possibilities depending on your strategy for me to chose from.

If you do decide to jump in on Evony, and you need advice, look around for me on server 77. The name's Xenonalay.

Cheers!

I thought the game was the best game in the whole entire universe and when I saw Evony I was so happy that I could play a game I could relate to because I'm a master swordman and my mom,dad and brothers say that I'm a HERO because I stoped a pack of coyotes from eating my family and I love to attack things that attack me after that pack of coyotes atacked me I wasn't afraid of anything ever again. I actually look forward to having something attacking me at night and at daylight because then I can kill things.

Upon first seeing advertising for Evony: Age I like all players I was intrigued. One second you saw a raging knight, the next a scantily clad seductress. I decided try it with no hope of more than my curiosity being aroused. There were the odd players who left, claiming frustration over false advertising, no doubt expecting more scantily clad women. However, I did appreciate the marketing strategy toward people to help pass the time at the office and other such venues. As Lord Ravensfeld of Ravenshead, late of Bohemia, now of Swabia on Server 78, the game seemed confusing at first. I found Evony to be very similar in concept to PC games like Civilization, Age of Empires, Heroes of Might and Magic and the like. As soon as I realized this, having had experience with those games, Evony became simpler over time. The challenge of Evony is not so much getting started. It is after you have begun to establish yourself that the real effort begins, especially when balancing supply and demand. My biggest challenge was in trying to raise the population while building an army and a workforce within the limited resources I had. Thank goodness for Beginner Protection. You are given one week to build your city and armies without fear of attack or reprisal. I also found it helpful to become part of an alliance once my Prestige was over 8000. The contacts are nice to have and the awards gained are well worth it; not to mention the fun you will have making acquaintances from all over the world. Other players, specifically in alliances with you are extremely helpful when it comes to understanding the game and building up your kingdom through shared resources. Despite all of the fun one can have, I find the cost of actually paying for game items a bit steep and would suggest a monthly membership good for so many game coins per month. Plus, some structures and personnel take two hours or more of real time to construct and train. If that could somehow be narrowed down by more than increased skill this would also be beneficial and make the game more attractive to new players. All in all I find Evony to be an enjoyable if not time consuming experience. On a five star scale, I would give Evony: Age I a 4.5 for playability and enjoyment.

Evony -

Believe it or not is one of the best games I have enjoyed for a while

At the beginning the game is a little more than hard but you must only utter the words

'Hi I'm new to this game' in world chat, when a world of opportunity arises from near and far lands

Experienced players are more than willing to give a helping hand in the game and not only advice but tactical and in-game goodies too, when I started to play the game i was a bit unwise to its setup however once you familiarize yourself with the interface which lets you control most aspects of your game, it's easy going the game is based on and around roman times however some technologies and aspects of the game are slightly further up the timeline; the game setup is quite unique from the beginning you are given quests to do and those quests are easy which is fitting for a beginner - however fret not as the game progresses so do the quests; getting harder and harder but none the less interesting - the stronger/faster you progress in the game the more exciting it gets.

Many players wish to become stronger in the game due to the fact that the game is WAR based and the stronger you are the better your chances of survival are in the harsh environments surrounding you however own strength does not limit your ability - as the game offers a great gathering spot for communities;

If you are deemed worthy enough and 'lucky' you may get an 'invite/request to join' from/to an alliance which is nearby who is willing to guide you and help you in your quests and battles; this is one of the best aspects of the game, once in an alliance you are able to converse in their 'Alliance Chat' which is also where you are able to ask for help during the game - and most of the players in your alliance are able to physically help you; either by sending resources or their armies to your city/s to help you avert a crisis or build a stronger force (there are many alliances to chose from)

The World chat; is always filled with interesting conversations and offers of a battle to anyone willing and daring to take up the challenge

The battlefields of the game are another very interesting aspect of the game here you are able to attack other players and plunder their resources or attack computer generated valleys, such as; Swamps, Forests, Deserts, Lakes, Flats and Grassland- each of which will bring a generous income percentage - via adding to the resources % which you are able to receive

You are also able to attack NPC (non playable character) which is either generated by the system or is player made, battling those NPC's you are again able to plunder resources however because they are NPC's the resources you can plunder are very limited however fret not! As the NPC's offer a greater bounty when attacking NPC's (valleys or towns) you are able to receive other items besides resources items such as the Medals which are thought after by all players new and experienced alike

The medals are one of the greatest treasure in-game; when doing the quests you are also able to advance your main PC (playable character) this is done by updating the ranks and titles of the PC

The higher the title of the PC the more you are able to control I'm talking about cities of course; although at the beginning you are able to control only a single city which is more than enough for a beginner to handle - the further on you progress in the game and the more medals you gain the further your empire grows and the bigger your empire grows the more you are thought after by alliances for the purpose of either war or peace

Each task in the game gives you a sort of rating called prestige the higher yours is the higher you are ranked in the game

However the higher it is the more you are likely to be attacked under the assumption that you hold resources which are unbelievable in numbers

Over all the game is fun!

You get to control armies and battalions which are made up of; simple workers to highly sophisticated catapults and battering rams

I would rate this game at;

Game play duration: 10/10 (real time)

Graphics: 2D 10/10

Community: 10/10

Addictiveness: 10/10

Environment Setup: 9/10

User-friendliness: 10/10

Value for money: 10/10 (it's FREE!)

Special comments:

Sound: None 4/10 (this is because I'm able to listen to music whilst playing and don't need to fidget with sound controls)

Overall Rating 10/10

Evony one of the BEST games I have encountered:-

Believe it or not Evony - Free Forever! is one of the best games I have enjoyed for a while

At the beginning the game is a little more than hard but you must only utter the words

'Hi I'm new to this game' in world chat, when a world of opportunity arises from near and far lands

Experienced players are more than willing to give a helping hand in the game and not only advice but tactical and in-game goodies too, when I started to play the game i was a bit unwise to its setup however once you familiarize yourself with the interface which lets you control most aspects of your game, it's easy going the game is based on and around roman times however some technologies and aspects of the game are slightly further up the timeline; the game setup is quite unique from the beginning you are given quests to do and those quests are easy which is fitting for a beginner - however fret not as the game progresses so do the quests; getting harder and harder but none the less interesting - the stronger/faster you progress in the game the more exciting it gets.

Many players wish to become stronger in the game due to the fact that the game is WAR based and the stronger you are the better your chances of survival are in the harsh environments surrounding you however own strength does not limit your ability - as the game offers a great gathering spot for communities;

If you are deemed worthy enough and 'lucky' you may get an 'invite/request to join' from/to an alliance which is nearby who is willing to guide you and help you in your quests and battles; this is one of the best aspects of the game, once in an alliance you are able to converse in their 'Alliance Chat' which is also where you are able to ask for help during the game - and most of the players in your alliance are able to physically help you; either by sending resources or their armies to your city/s to help you avert a crisis or build a stronger force (there are many alliances to chose from)

The World chat; is always filled with interesting conversations and offers of a battle to anyone willing and daring to take up the challenge

The battlefields of the game are another very interesting aspect of the game here you are able to attack other players and plunder their resources or attack computer generated valleys, such as; Swamps, Forests, Deserts, Lakes, Flats and Grassland- each of which will bring a generous income percentage - via adding to the resources % which you are able to receive

You are also able to attack NPC (non playable character) which is either generated by the system or is player made, battling those NPC's you are again able to plunder resources however because they are NPC's the resources you can plunder are very limited however fret not! As the NPC's offer a greater bounty when attacking NPC's (valleys or towns) you are able to receive other items besides resources items such as the Medals which are thought after by all players new and experienced alike

The medals are one of the greatest treasure in-game; when doing the quests you are also able to advance your main PC (playable character) this is done by updating the ranks and titles of the PC

The higher the title of the PC the more you are able to control I'm talking about cities of course; although at the beginning you are able to control only a single city which is more than enough for a beginner to handle - the further on you progress in the game and the more medals you gain the further your empire grows and the bigger your empire grows the more you are thought after by alliances for the purpose of either war or peace

Each task in the game gives you a sort of rating called prestige the higher yours is the higher you are ranked in the game

However the higher it is the more you are likely to be attacked under the assumption that you hold resources which are unbelievable in numbers

Over all the game is fun!

You get to control armies and battalions which are made up of; simple workers to highly sophisticated catapults and battering rams

I would rate this game at;

Game play duration: 10/10 (real time)

Graphics: 2D 10/10

Community: 10/10

Addictiveness: 10/10

Environment Setup: 9/10

User-friendliness: 10/10

Value for money: 10/10 (it's FREE!)

Special comments:

Sound: None 4/10 (this is because I'm able to listen to music whilst playing and don't need to fidget with sound controls)

Overall Rating 10/10

Evony one of the BEST games I have encountered!

Evony -

Believe it or not is one of the best games I have enjoyed for a while

At the beginning the game is a little more than hard but you must only utter the words

'Hi I'm new to this game' in world chat, when a world of opportunity arises from near and far lands

Experienced players are more than willing to give a helping hand in the game and not only advice but tactical and in-game goodies too, when I started to play the game i was a bit unwise to its setup however once you familiarize yourself with the interface which lets you control most aspects of your game, it's easy going the game is based on and around roman times however some technologies and aspects of the game are slightly further up the timeline; the game setup is quite unique from the beginning you are given quests to do and those quests are easy which is fitting for a beginner - however fret not as the game progresses so do the quests; getting harder and harder but none the less interesting - the stronger/faster you progress in the game the more exciting it gets.

Many players wish to become stronger in the game due to the fact that the game is WAR based and the stronger you are the better your chances of survival are in the harsh environments surrounding you however own strength does not limit your ability - as the game offers a great gathering spot for communities;

If you are deemed worthy enough and 'lucky' you may get an 'invite/request to join' from/to an alliance which is nearby who is willing to guide you and help you in your quests and battles; this is one of the best aspects of the game, once in an alliance you are able to converse in their 'Alliance Chat' which is also where you are able to ask for help during the game - and most of the players in your alliance are able to physically help you; either by sending resources or their armies to your city/s to help you avert a crisis or build a stronger force (there are many alliances to chose from)

The World chat; is always filled with interesting conversations and offers of a battle to anyone willing and daring to take up the challenge

The battlefields of the game are another very interesting aspect of the game here you are able to attack other players and plunder their resources or attack computer generated valleys, such as; Swamps, Forests, Deserts, Lakes, Flats and Grassland- each of which will bring a generous income percentage - via adding to the resources % which you are able to receive

You are also able to attack NPC (non playable character) which is either generated by the system or is player made, battling those NPC's you are again able to plunder resources however because they are NPC's the resources you can plunder are very limited however fret not! As the NPC's offer a greater bounty when attacking NPC's (valleys or towns) you are able to receive other items besides resources items such as the Medals which are thought after by all players new and experienced alike

The medals are one of the greatest treasure in-game; when doing the quests you are also able to advance your main PC (playable character) this is done by updating the ranks and titles of the PC

The higher the title of the PC the more you are able to control I'm talking about cities of course; although at the beginning you are able to control only a single city which is more than enough for a beginner to handle - the further on you progress in the game and the more medals you gain the further your empire grows and the bigger your empire grows the more you are thought after by alliances for the purpose of either war or peace

Each task in the game gives you a sort of rating called prestige the higher yours is the higher you are ranked in the game

However the higher it is the more you are likely to be attacked under the assumption that you hold resources which are unbelievable in numbers

Over all the game is fun!

You get to control armies and battalions which are made up of; simple workers to highly sophisticated catapults and battering rams

I would rate this game at;

Game play duration: 10/10 (real time)

Graphics: 2D 10/10

Community: 10/10

Addictiveness: 10/10

Environment Setup: 9/10

User-friendliness: 10/10

Value for money: 10/10 (it's FREE!)

Special comments:

Sound: None 4/10 (this is because I'm able to listen to music whilst playing and don't need to fidget with sound controls)

Overall Rating 10/10

Evony one of the BEST games I have encountered:-

If you're like me and like computer games but grow tired of them getting more and more demanding on your pc then you should take a look at one of the fastest growing games on the Internet - even more so if your pocket is hit as hard as mine in the credit crunch as this one they claim is free forever!

Evony is created in the same vein as Civilisation, Age of Empires etc and set in medieval times - with the aim of the game to dominate your enemies and grow your Alliance to No. 1 !

You first start off with a city and begin to build walls, cottage, food supplies - many people used to this type of game will be familiar with the premise and pick it up very easily. There is a chat window for beginners on the screen at all times and if you need to ask a "newbie" question you can and the other players are quick to help.

As the game progresses you build armies and attack other players in order to gain prestige - the more prestige the greater your ranking in the game but you quickly realise that you can get nowhere in the game without being in an Alliance. As the title suggests the Alliance is a group of players who group together and basically help each other - they are the main reason the game is so addictive!

You Evony alliance help you with resource (food, gold Iron etc) as well as tips on how to defend and attack - it's an absolute must to be in one. The players in the game and in the Alliance I joined when I started are from all over the world (South Africa, USA, Sweden, Canada etc) which adds an whole new aspect of the game! In fact at the end of this month I'm actually meeting someone from the Alliance who is travelling to the UK!

Just in case your thinking that people may get too far a start on you don't forget you have alliances to help you with that and also new games are starting on a regular basis - this means you don't need to start at the way behind everyone just on a new server. I joined server 50 and if you consider its been going since May - the new games are pretty frequent.

As with all things the Evony creators need to make money but fortunately it's not with advertising all over your screen - it's through the use of game coins. Yes they cost real money - $30 (£18) for 300 cents in the Evony world but these are purely optional and you can get by without them. To encourage you to spend occasionally some of the offers to buy the cents come with packages that earn medals and leg ups in the game which can be helpful - it's really up to you if you decided to buy them or not.

Fights, Alliances, wars, truces, cities, walls, technology builds, archers, catapults, scouts, resource fields - the list is endless - well worth a look at http://evony.com/ - oh and did I mention it runs real time - so when you sleep the game doesn't !