Custom Search
Evony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Evony (formerly known as Civony) is a browser-based multiplayer online game, with substantial similarities to Civilization. While the game itself received mixed critical reviews, its 2009 online ad campaign drew strong criticism.
Gameplay
A player starts with a civilian ranking with a level one town hall and 5000 each of gold, food, lumber, stone, iron, and population of 50. As with many real-time strategy games, one first has to acquire resources by building iron mines, quarries, farms and sawmills, and then start developing their town and building an army. Evony also introduces quests to guide new players so they do not get stuck at the beginning of the game. In the game, when a player logs out, the game continues while they are not around. For seven days after registering, a player is given protection so they have time to grasp the game's concepts and begin to achieve its goals. Evony has two different monetary systems. The real in-game monetary system revolves around gold. Gold can be obtained by way of quests, or by taxing the player's population. It is also possible to sell resources (food, lumber, stone, iron) for gold on the marketplace to other players. In lieu of this, a player can use real money to buy items from the in-game shop to advance faster through the game. Prestige is a measure of a player's rank in the game, like a score. Players gain prestige by following the Evony quests, building or upgrading structures and successfully attacking valleys and cities.
Critical reception
Reviews for the game itself have been mixed, although reception of its 2009 online ad campaign has been strongly negative. The game was cited as doing "an amazing job at making the game look and feel appealing to all gamers" by New Zealand-based Stuff, although was criticised for the amount of time, effort, and (optionally) money needed to excel in the game. Stuff also noted the shortcomings of a system like Evony's where one could essentially buy their way through the game. The Guardian disliked the game, and pointed out that it was so similar to Sid Meier's Civilization series that it felt like a ripoff of said series, going so far as to essentially steal its name. Evony's 2009 online advertising campaign was heavily panned for featuring what The Guardian called "a string of increasingly racy images." The images depicted females who, as the ad campaign continued, grew further and further unclothed, until the ad was simply a pair of breasts. A running slogan for the campaign was "Save the queen!", although within the game, there is no queen to save. Evony was also accused of using spam promotion. Criticism made regarding the game has been removed from Evony's forum by moderators. The game was developed by Universal Multiplayer Game Entertainment (UMGE), a corporation that has been linked to WoWMine, a Chinese operation known for online gold farming. Also of note, the building graphics were taken from the 1999 Microsoft strategy game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.
A player starts with a civilian ranking with a level one town hall and 5000 each of gold, food, lumber, stone, iron, and population of 50. As with many real-time strategy games, one first has to acquire resources by building iron mines, quarries, farms and sawmills, and then start developing their town and building an army. Evony also introduces quests to guide new players so they do not get stuck at the beginning of the game. In the game, when a player logs out, the game continues while they are not around. For seven days after registering, a player is given protection so they have time to grasp the game's concepts and begin to achieve its goals. Evony has two different monetary systems. The real in-game monetary system revolves around gold. Gold can be obtained by way of quests, or by taxing the player's population. It is also possible to sell resources (food, lumber, stone, iron) for gold on the marketplace to other players. In lieu of this, a player can use real money to buy items from the in-game shop to advance faster through the game. Prestige is a measure of a player's rank in the game, like a score. Players gain prestige by following the Evony quests, building or upgrading structures and successfully attacking valleys and cities.
Critical reception
Reviews for the game itself have been mixed, although reception of its 2009 online ad campaign has been strongly negative. The game was cited as doing "an amazing job at making the game look and feel appealing to all gamers" by New Zealand-based Stuff, although was criticised for the amount of time, effort, and (optionally) money needed to excel in the game. Stuff also noted the shortcomings of a system like Evony's where one could essentially buy their way through the game. The Guardian disliked the game, and pointed out that it was so similar to Sid Meier's Civilization series that it felt like a ripoff of said series, going so far as to essentially steal its name. Evony's 2009 online advertising campaign was heavily panned for featuring what The Guardian called "a string of increasingly racy images." The images depicted females who, as the ad campaign continued, grew further and further unclothed, until the ad was simply a pair of breasts. A running slogan for the campaign was "Save the queen!", although within the game, there is no queen to save. Evony was also accused of using spam promotion. Criticism made regarding the game has been removed from Evony's forum by moderators. The game was developed by Universal Multiplayer Game Entertainment (UMGE), a corporation that has been linked to WoWMine, a Chinese operation known for online gold farming. Also of note, the building graphics were taken from the 1999 Microsoft strategy game Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings.
