Ikariam
Posted on 21. Feb, 2008 by The Gimcracker in Gaming
A week ago I deleted my oGame account in a fit of rage. At the time, my rank was hovering in the mid 600s and I was about to start trying for moon shots. With thousands of rocket launchers, hundreds of levels of mines, 9 planets, and the almighty ability to start building Deathstars on the horizon, I was hit by a pro in 2 waves and lost everything.
I feel a little ashamed of the private message I sent him, which I most definitely will not post here. Judging by his lack of response, he’s either too good to respond to such a low-down, dirty message, or he’s Chinese. In either case it doesn’t matter because I proceeded to click the delete account button. When you click the delete button, oGame gives you something like 7 days to undo your decision by clicking the UNdelete button, just in case you were delerious when you clicked it or someone hax0red your account.
I did not click the undelete button.
I realize the point of the game is to attack people, but they’re not supposed to attack ME! It actually was a little dirty because I hadn’t been attacking anyone, didn’t have a fleet or very many resources stored up at the time for him to loot, and he did it in the middle of the day. His boldness infuriated me. All I had to do was click the oGame tab on my browser anytime between 11:00am and 1:00pm that day and see that he was on his way to kill me, and I could’ve fleetsaved. But this, by chance, happened to be the ONE day I happened to not check my oGame, by chance, over lunch break at work, coincidentally, by chance. It also happened, by chance, to be the first time, somehow, that anyone has attacked me at all in months, happenchance, oddly enough. Put those two together and you get one helluva coincidence.
I don’t like when people who are already experts, and don’t need any luck, get extremely lucky. It causes baby puppies to fall off cliffs and oGame accounts to be deleted.
Now that oGame’s out of the picture, I’ve started a new browser-based MMO game by the same creators – LOL. It’s called Ikariam and graphically it’s far superior to oGame. It’s got the look and feel of Age of Empires, and the setting to go along with it – taking place in the ancient Mediterranean Sea.
It works similarly to oGame. You build, research, and deploy buildings, technologies, and ships, respectively, but instead of space ships, deuterium mines, and hyperspace technology it’s catapult ships, taverns, and seafaring technology. There are a lot of differences besides the beautiful interface and graphics, however. One of the main differences so far is having to choose a research specialization from the get go. I’m not sure how easy it will be to research all 4 branches, if it’s even possible, but I know it will take a long time. It took 1.25 hours to research the first level, which was Conservation, and the level I’m currently on – Wine Press – takes 22 hours.
There is also more of a co-op feel in the addition of donations. You can donate to sawmills, vineyards, even the gods, to increase the wealth of your local island – which helps out the 10 or so other people with towns nearby. I suspect the effects of this new element will be quite interesting. What happens if you’re the only cheap miser not donating for the greater good? A stern warning from the other towns? An errant catapult or a wayward battalion of swordsmen “accidentally” showing up on your doorstep? I’m not going to find out.
I’ve only been playing for a few days so I can’t tell you how good the game is, or what it’s even truly about. When I started a few days back, there were only 3 servers to choose from (that number’s up to 5 already), as opposed to oGame which has something like 33. The game has only been around since Valentine’s Day this year, so I’m probably pretty high up in the ranks already. You should get in the game now while it’s still brand new! It’s really easy to create your account and get started, and there is even a “first steps” guide right on the main page which is well-written and gets you up on your feet in no time.
Best of all, it’s free!
So, what’s to stop the same thing from happening to me in Ikariam that happened to me in oGame? Nothing – what’s the point of your question?
I’m pretty close to deleting my account too. I just keep getting slammed. I haven’t made any progress in the last 2 months. Nothing new, no new research. It sucks. I am transferring 130K of crystal to my main planet and it will be there at 11:01am. I have a meeting from 11-12. If it’s gone when I get back from my meeting, then I’m done.
Speaking of which, remember when I tried to get you to fleet save me but Stephanie was waiting for me to leave for a meeting, so we had a horrible miscommunication and I got slammed? That sucked too.
Dude that sucks, it appears you are definitely a better sport than me.
I don’t remember that. You got slammed because of me? When was that? Did I do something wrong? Dang it.
I got an email about this Ikariam and was going to ask if you knew about it. But I forgot.
BTW, I’m in Gamma.
Another new element this game has is the economy. You have to make deals with people and trade to get what you need, sort of like the auction house in WoW. Each island only has one type of luxury resource, so everyone has some type of leverage. When you put your goods up for sale, you have to check the market to see what a good asking price is.
Pretty neat.
I just tried to log in to oGame and apparently left my account inactive too long. I thought that by putting it in vacation mode it would save it indefinitely. Oh well…
Playing Ikariam now, and it seems much more fun anyways.
You can’t be on vacation longer than a month. I agree, so far it is much more fun.
If you lack the knowlege of a PRO OGame player, why dont you just go to http://www.OGAMEBLOG.com and learn? They have articles, tips, and tricks very useful for a heavy weight OG player.
Once again, check out: http://www.OGAMEBLOG.com
That dude just made me quit OGame all by himself. I never want to be that guy. It’s just not worth it.
Heavy weight OG playa? Gah, I need to get out of the house more. Farewell, Universe 31.
I’m in. I spend all my time at work just sitting around anyway, so why not build a town while I’m at it, yeah? I joined the Gamma too, Bri, so maybe we should get an alliance if we ever get to that research level. The name’s Macarius of the town Perelandra. Yeah, I’m reading it so I couldn’t come up with anything better.
That’s great! I just changed my research field to Seafaring so I could research Foreign Cultures so I can build an Embassy so I can make a treaty! I hope it works. I’ll keep you abreast of the situation. That’s what she said.
Yeah I just wanted to get my townspeople drunk, but now that that’s almost ready, I’ll start getting there too. We should make an alliance when we can then start doing what they did to you in OGame. That’d be great. I’m Macarius on the Roohios Island just FYI, please don’t loot me. I’m gonna go do a post about this on WW. Thanks for making my work life fun. That’s what she said. wait…
Good – get em drunk and keep em happy. I think you can keep them happy with a museum too, but building a museum requires a treaty with another player. That’s what I’m trying to do now. I’m not sure if I’ll try to get a cultural goods treaty or start an alliance first. I guess it depends on how easy it is to upgrade my embassy.
If anyone is in Ikarium, please post the coordinates of your island so I can create an alliance and make treaties with you, and so I can send you messages in game.
My coordinates in Gamma are:
26:73; city: Caiuthus; name: cmcculloh
26:74; city: colony; name: cmcculloh
Brian and Leb, will you guys post your coordinates please? I can’t ever remember where your Islands are…
My capital is 300 Azeroth on Bayhios [35:70].
My other 3 towns are:
300 Outlands on Estietia [36:70]
300 Kalimdor on Tasyos [35:71]
300 Tanaris on Scholoios [36:71]
You guys may want to check
http://www.ikariamtips.com
there are guides, calculators, and stuff.
Btw, you dont need a treaty to build a musseum, nor to upgrade it, you need one to get an “art work” to display it in them. Also, you can rearrange them later on. Just check the website if you have some time.
Silvia
Thanks for the link. At first it was all in Spanish, but then I saw the English link… you almost lost me
It’s a good game if you have time to waste seeing that you have to make the moves and then just wait.
Yes, the whole site is also in English!
Sorry if the link wasnt visible enough! :S
That’s OK, I just have a really short attention span LOL.
Yeah, you hit the nail on the head about wasting time in between the moves you make in the game. That’s why it’s the PERFECT game to play while you’re at work.
I have been playing Ikariam since they had the beta set up on .net. I agree it is a lot better than Ogame.
dudes if your on elipsalon look for sons of spata and ask entry my man l lecha in for shure and war will be “helped out” by us in return you help with our wars so people underestamate one and get a clad type thingat there doors
and o game stiks images copied from unafacation wars wich is olso crap
I’m new to Ikariam. Here are my coordinates: Whoihios[77:80] Town name: Crete. I’m on the Gamma server as well
Hi, I’m new to Ikariam and just found this blog, thanks for the info. I need an alliance if anyone is sending out invites. I’m on the Gamma server and have 3 towns: Wes Vegas on Quotoos, 76:57; Wes Angeles on Bresulos, 75:57; and Wes Francisco on Chrokaos, 76:58.
the best space free game is sandal, i like more than ogame
http://www.softropic.com/sandal/im/battle.gif