So this is my second real-ish round. Both rounds, I've intended to run an all-x demo techer. Both rounds, I've ended up getting hit and in almost every case the people who've hit me have come out with either a tiny net gain or a loss. I can't get on track because there are a lot of people playing who can't properly evaluate if they'll gain on a trade or no; the grabbing on this server is generally horrible. Both rounds I've had a high spal country bomb banks on me on a regular basis to try to increase their income, as well. That someone would do this is just mind numbing to me, I can't comprehend of someone running a country so bad that using bomb banks to increase income becomes a good idea.

I could adjust to this, but what's the point? There are definitely some skilled players on the server here, but they really seem to be few and far between; most appear to not be able to judge costs and benefits when trying to grow, and there are so many people willing to react to the smallest of provocations (or go out of their way to provoke themselves).

hey buddy, i understand your logic and all. Express its more chaos than your natural order of things that happen in Alliance.

Here, anything goes. For matter of fact.. joining gdi is only safe haven for not getting suicided on. But no one is gonna stop short of farming you if you play like do in other servers.

Here you want to be a top dog ? Most earn it others enforce it.

:)

Express is not for boys, you grow up here or you get fkd

Express is not for boys, you grow up here or you get fkd. Asks didn't you have like 4000+posts last week? How rod you get down to 200?

3800 failed the new bullfluff meter tester and were automatically removed

iccyh,

You are coming in to express with expectations of what to expect based on play on another server. It's quite different. There is no land trading on express. The cost/benefit analysis of when to grab is different as well, especially when someone is a commie and/or sitting on a bunch of turns.

Stick around for a few more sets before you decide it's not for you!

Is it that other servers shape my expectations, or that I'm aware of the costs and benefits of grabbing? An all-x country should easily be able to get in the $25m+ range on this server, yet people choose to get into exchanges that cost both parties more than they gain.

This has nothing to do with alliance and nothing to do with land trading, and everything to do with the general skill level of the players on the server.

You should use your superior knowledge of the game to take advantage of the lesser skilled players

To what end? To compete with the small handful of people who know what they're doing?

I might end up trying primary or maybe tournament at some point in the future, but I'm finding express is too shallow a pool for me to take seriously and want to put effort into. I like alliance 'cause even now, with the hugely reduced number of players, there's some real depth to the competition; there's different ways to try to do well and skilled players are trying all of them. Here, it seems relatively limited in comparison because of the server dynamics and the small player base.

Get off your high horse you chump

Best one Getafix!

don't let the door hit ya in the ass on the way out :)

Maybe I should have titled this post something like "convince me express is worth playing" and I've had received different replies. That's what I was looking for, but I suppose this is an understandable response given how I phased my first post.

I don't think this server is worth taking seriously, but I'll probably still play it as something to do while I'm bored.

just have fun!

is this guy for real?

Tried hard but always fail

Seriously, if you're hit 10 times, and you've been beat up like this two resets in a row, then maybe consider the fact that there could be something about your country that's drawing the grabbers' attention? iccyh, could this be possible?! Regardless of the fact that you were able to retal, could there in fact be something about the country you ran that attracted attacks. Can you accept that?

Or are you too narcissistic to consider such a thing? so that you'd rather just state that you're "not thrilled with the quality of play," and talk about moving onto another server, because you can't hang here and are being knocked around too much? oh wait we already have our answer, lol

Iccyh must be the guy whose "better than Xinhuan" farmer strat was "so turn efficient" it led to him getting fat and overgrabbed in Primary last set lol

blid: I know full well that if I don't want to get grabbed, I need to do things differently. Like I said, I could adapt to this server without too much trouble, but I don't really see the point in bothering to take it seriously when the talent pool seems so shallow and the play style seems rather limited in comparison to what I'm used to.

A talent pool that is showing to be much better than you could be.

the playstyle is pretty epic here because turns become an additional resource to stock and spend

The idea of express is interesting, which is why I tried it out, but with the small player base the turn mechanics encourage crazy market fragmentation where no one comes online to buy your goods in a reasonable window, or the goods you want aren't available. Cashers and indies get slightly less screwed by this than everyone else, which makes them stronger in a situation where they're already more than strong enough due to play style considerations.

So, a dysfunctional market, narrower strategy choices, and lots of lose/lose landgrabbing. What's not to love?

Learn to play, scrub!

you already admitted the lose/lose landgrabbing is your own fault

your analysis about the market and strategy type is dumb because techers are certainly as good as cashers

and the resource that gets fluffed up the most is probably food, so despite farmer being the weakest strategy, it has boom potential.

then there's the additional strategy of knowing when to hold turns, how to burn through them, etc., that makes express actually a higher strategy server than the others, or at least adds an additional variable.

this is obviously b itter grapes because you got owned two sets in a row, and refuse to adapt. indie is overpowered tho

This server sucks so much it isn't even worth me showing you how much better than you all I am.

Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's going to burn your house down! With the lemons! I'm going to get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!

A volatile market is a trader's dream. It's more complex, but also presents more opportunities.

ford: I have no idea how good I am compared to the better players on the server, but I'm not sure it is worth the effort to find out given how generally broken the game seems. I ended up just outside top 25 with a broke country that I didn't log in to see if my final batch of tech sold (if it had I'd have been close to the top 10 last 'set). I didn't care to log in and check 'cause I decided playing Smash with my roommates was a better use of my time than bothering to try to do well in express.

UpTheIrons: That's true to a point, but that requires being online for a large part of the day market watching to properly take advantage of those opportunities, and requires having a good amount of cash in the first place.

fluff, they seem to have turned the damn bullfluff meter off again

Is your name Ryan McCaffrey?

Need the cash to trade, that is a given. Express requires a lot more frequency and time due to the pace at which turns are accrued. I log in a few times a day to play, a bit more on Sunday if I'm not busy with something else. It's a different animal for sure.

Please tell us more. Your story is captivating. I'd like to also enquire about what meals you had today.

I could give you a real reply, or I could go do dishes. Has to suck when dishes rate higher than anything beyond cursory acknowledgement.

newby

coming in here and posting stuff claiming that the talent pool is shallow is a bad way to start the conversation buddy :/

Guys that have been winning here also have been winning in other servers. Blid's got most part right and as well as others about strategy and uniqueness of this server.. rapid turns, erratic market, low numbers are netgainers paradise if one knows how to play it well.

we have seen ppl score 40+m networth finishes and loads of high 30's in a variety of strat's (techers, farmers, rep's, indi's and etc) . they screwed up ? i dont think so.

either you stay and adapt or ...

good god.. i agreed to blid.. :/

:D

Always funny to see people from other servers ( specially alliance ) trying their luck here.

On alliance you can stay with 500k defense / on 30-40k land and produce 30 million / turn. No one will attack you - and if they do, they have retal policies that makes you pay every penny back ( with interest ).

Here, there is no retal policy. You must adjust your military levels to match your land and outrun potential threats. You must grab, build, trade goods on the market and maybe you will get a top 10 spot... MAYBE.

If you come with 1A or primary tactics here you are just meet for this server. They will tear you apart with 10 farms / day.

Alin: If you think your post is relevant to my situation, you'd be pretty mistaken.

silentwolf: Coming in here and stating that the talent pool is shallow is stating the obvious, as fewer people play Express than any other server. In order for there to be a reasonable talent pool, the level of play would have to be above that of other servers, which is certainly not what I've seen. I'm not saying there aren't good players here; I'm saying that there aren't enough for me to take this server seriously.

http://i.imgur.com/QatvS7h.gif

we need more players of course.. to be part of the "family" here takes some getting used to though. We have the likes of all kinds here.. from blid to rich to alin .. braden.. getafix.. to buttman.. celphi.. netsquash.. crest.. crimson .. gogy..mr curry .. oh yeah.. sswellusmc .. and many more colorful characters.. you can call them bull fluff of talents i call them my weekend ee buds.

Stating the obvious ? Maybe because those that gave up couldnt adapt to the gameplay and like to stick to the "easier" servers like 1a or primary ? Their 1 hit and hide behind gdi tactics ? oh please.. live life.. hit and get hit for gods sake. not throw tantrums and politics.. its a war game. Get up there however you can (looks at cx lae).

giving up after a couple of tries and saying this is not for you is just wrong.. learn buddy.. if you think you can do it efficiently, then lead the way. each server is unique and this one imo is the mother of all unique server.. 120 hours and 1800 turns to show em all who is the boss and not wait 2 freaking months..

well then, put on your dancing shoes.. lets dance.

come on buddy.. i know you wanna.

p.s. if i forgot to mention names .. i swear there is just too many of you.. :p but i love you all..

Where is cable?

YOU GET THE QUALITY OF PLAY YOU DESERVE
NOT THE QUALITY OF PLAY YOU NEED
I AM BATMAN!

---

iccyh,

congrats on becoming a Game Moderator

x10..... if there was 200 players the game would be more epic.... thats why we encourage new players

UpTheIrons: Thanks.

silentwolf: Let me phrase this differently.

This server is chaos. The market is wild, countries can change hugely in a short amount of time, people take risks they wouldn't elsewhere due to the short resets, and people get crushed for minor issues or for no reason at all. I can absolutely see why some people would really enjoy this, but I am not one of them. My complaints about play quality are an aspect of that, as it is an environment where it is easy to miss the difference between "can grab" and "should grab".

Maybe I'll try again later, but for now I can't and won't, heh.

The horse is in orbit.

There are some situations to bomb banks. Such as a dictator farmer late in the game.

The spy bonus helps make it successful, you don't need oil / jets.

If you do it later in the game, you get about 5-10 mil per op if they sitting on tons of cash, plus you get about 7-8 mil a turn from bushels. The problem is you can only attempt / do it once per country. Using it more once disables your GDI towards that country which isn't worth it.

And since this server is small, even if you don't fail and you complete bomb banks x2 or more on a country, that country can simply try to AB each country starting with #1 and find out who the person is.

On a side note iccyh, I give you props for standing your ground here.

It is easy to stand your ground when you've reasons for what you're saying. Of course, since no one here knows me what I post comes off as me complaining about how I can't adapt to the server and how that's everyone else's fault. I get that, so I'm not really bothered by the response I got, as it is mostly deserved.

i know u :)

u been around waaaay to long :p

which server are you moderating ?