Evony
| Evony | |
|---|---|
 Evony's logo | |
| Developer(s) | Evony, LLC |
| Publisher(s) | Evony, LLC |
| Platform(s) | (Flash reliant) |
| Release | May 6, 2009 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy Medieval MMORTS |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Evony (formerly known as Civony) is a browser-based multiplayer online game with graphic elements reminiscent of Civilization and Age of Empires II. The game receives generally favorable reviews, and its ongoing online advertisement campaign featuring provocatively dressed women, begun in the game's inaugural year, 2009, no longer continues to draw strong criticism.
Gameplay
Evony is set in a persistent world - when a player logs out, the game continues.[1] A new player is given "beginner's protection" which prevents other players from attacking their cities. This gives new players the opportunity to get accustomed to the game before the challenges begin to surface.[1]
A player begins by acting as mayor of a city. The player gives instructions on production and construction with the initial resources. The resources in the game are Gold, Food, Lumber, Stone, and Iron, and the city's population. As with many real-time strategy games, one first has to increase the city's population and hourly resource-collection rates through the construction of certain buildings in the city, and then start developing other aspects of their city and building an army.[2]
Evony features player versus player (PvP) gameplay, making it possible to attack another player's cities. Evony offers many items through its Item Mall, most of them in some way accelerating the player's progression through the game.
The construction of buildings, researching of technologies, and training of units consume time and resources and have various prerequisites. Each building and technology can be independently upgraded from level 1 (initial construction) to level 10. Initial construction may take from under a minute to half an hour, during which the player must find other aspects of the city or army to manage. Each upgrade requires double the cost of the previous level in every resource and time required.
The game sports over a dozen technologies, and allows the player to control up to ten cities, each of which has 74 building slots. There are queue options for army unit production and wall defenses, but not for building and research.
Evony has two different monetary systems. The in-game monetary system revolves around gold. Gold can be obtained by completing quests and by taxing the player's population. It is also possible to sell resources for gold on the marketplace to other players. In lieu of this, a player can use real money to buy game cents with which to purchase items and resources from the in-game shop.[1]
Prestige is a measure of a player's rank in the game. Players gain prestige by following quests, building and upgrading structures, training armies and successfully attacking valleys and cities often during the game. Honor is also a ranking system; however, it only changes with a successful or unsuccessful attack of or defense against another player. These are two of the main ways in which player rankings are visible. The overall ranking system that is displayed in the players window is based solely on their prestige compared to the remaining server population. Evony allows the player to control up to ten cities depending on title, not rank. To increase the number of cities the player can control, the player must obtain higher titles through the collection of certain medals.
Critical reception
Reviews for Evony have praised the appearance, but have been mostly critical of its derivative gameplay.
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 and effort needed to excel in the game.[1] Stuff also noted the shortcomings of a system like Evony's where one could essentially buy one's way through the game.[1] Although in actuality such an assessment is shortsighted as the expense of doing so could be considered prohibitive due to the cost structure of real currency for game cents.
The Guardian pointed out that it was so similar to Sid Meier's Civilization series that it felt like a ripoff, going so far as to essentially steal its name.[3]
Controversy
Advertising campaign
Evony's 2009 online advertising campaign was criticized for featuring what The Guardian called "a string of increasingly racy images."[3] The images depicted females who, as the ad campaign continued, became more and more unclothed, culminating in an ad that was simply a bra-clad pair of breasts and were in sexually suggestive poses,[4] none of which had any relevance to the game itself. A more recent ad features what appears to be a fogged shower door with what appears to be a nude woman behind it. The next two ads displayed a topless woman lying on her stomach in a bed and another woman in bed lying on her back, wearing only her undergarments. More recently, there has been a new ad of two women in suggestive poses, only wearing their undergarments, seen on download sites.[5] The slogans used to advertise the game also frequently included references to a "queen" or a "lover" to save, although there is no queen or lover within the game. Additionally, they frequently state that the user can "play discreetly".[4]
Evony has also been accused of promoting the game through "millions of spam comments left on blogs".[3]
A campaign for PopCap Games' game, Plants vs. Zombies, included online advertisements that parodied Evony's.[6] They featured cartoon images of female zombies like those featured in the game, in similar poses to the women in Evony's advertisements.[6] Similar slogans were also used; instead of "Save the queen!", one ad tells the onlooker to "Save Your Brains!"[6] AdventureQuest Worlds has also parodied the campaign. Its ad shows a warrior's shadows who is shown to be in blue boxers; it also says "play indiscreetly". The game Alteil also parodied the Evony campaign, with an ad the contained a picture of a female character, and the text "She is actually in our game my lord."
Gold farming
Allegations have been made that the game is linked to WoWMine, a Chinese operation known for online gold farming.[3]
Censorship
On 25 August 2009, Evony's lawyers threatened to sue a critical blogger for defamation over a variety of allegations as to the game's provenance and the practices of the companies behind it.[7] The developers of Evony have denied the allegations from internet blogger Bruce Everiss, and have sent a cease and desist letter for defamation based on Australian law.[8] Everiss responded by linking to a documentary which reportedly shows evidence of Evony's fraudulent history.[9] The case would have potentially created a legal precedent over defamation charges for worldwide defamation being ordered from a domestic court had Everiss been found liable. However, shortly before the case was due to begin in Sydney, Evony parted with their legal team and asked for an adjournment of the case.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e Lauterbach, Joel (2009-07-08). "Review: Evony". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2009-07-22. Cite error: The named reference "stuff" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Evony : Game Information About Evony for Mac, PC and Linux at MMORPG.COM". MMORPG.com. 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
- ^ a b c d Johnson, Bobbie (2009-07-15). "Has Evony become the most despised game on the web?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ a b Tate, Ryan (2009-07-13). "Everything Wrong with the Internet in One Gaming Banner Ad Campaign". Gawker. Retrieved 2009-07-22.
- ^ Mannion, Gavin (13 August 2009). "History of Evony Ads". LazyGamer. Retrieved 2009-09-25.
- ^ a b c Ng, Keane (2009-08-04). "PopCap's Evony Spoof Ads for Plants vs. Zombies Keep Coming". The Escapist. Retrieved 2009-08-24.
- ^ Everiss, Bruce (25 August 2009). "Evony want to sue me for telling the truth". Bruce on Games. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Everiss, Bruce (26 August 2009). "Why use Warren McKeon Dickson to threaten me?". Bruce on Games. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Everiss, Bruce (26 August 2009). "Interesting Video". Bruce on Games. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
- ^ Everiss, Bruce (13 December 2009). "High drama in Evony LLC Vs Bruce Everiss". Bruce on Games. Retrieved 2009-12-20.