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Ancient Wonders

  • Thread starter Deleted User - 67582
  • Start date

Deleted User - 67582

Guest
I apologise if this topic has been raised and discussed previously.
I am confused and a bit frustrated in the distribution of rune shards. I completed the monastery after about 30 province gains and am now 7/9 through the lighthouse (+5 broken shards). What I don't understand is why I have 5 broken runes collecting in the monastery. I've heard tantalising snippets and mentions that these runes can be used to upgrade the AW - if that's the case it must be a well hidden secret , cos I can't find a way to do this. So what are these idle runes to be used for please?

Wouldn't it be kinder to allow the player to select where these hard earned runes are allocated. It takes for ever and a lot of resources to earn 1, that it is quite deflating to find it whisked away to the backwater of an already built AW.

Is the whole thing random or is there some Machiavellian mastermind chortling in the shadows at the antics of us (lesser) players?

On a different point. It has become more long-winded moving from the game to the forum these days. I have to log out of the game completely, then run the first page and select forum from that. It's one reason why I don't visit the forum very often - of course vice versa to get back to the game. It would be better if we could jump easily from game to forum/wiki; I think more people would be likely to use it.

Thanks, Saski
 

DeletedUser

Guest
  • Runes are evenly distributed on the World Map, and you have an equal chance of getting any Rune for which you have unlocked the associated Ancient Wonder technology
  • You can also get specific Runes by placing well in the associated AW. The number of Runes distributed, round-robin to the top five contributors other than the owner, equals the level of the Ancient Wonder.
  • You'll need 18 Runes, on average, to fill a Rune Circle, as there's a 50% chance that the shard will break.
  • Broken shards, you can accumulate a maximum of 10, may be used in any Ancient Wonder.
  • Levels 1 and 6 and probably future n/5 levels require you to fill a 9 slot Rune Ring
  • https://en.wiki.elvenar.com/index.php?title=Ancient_Wonders#Upgrade_Ancient_Wonders between the 2nd and 3rd pictures
  • Levels 2-5, 7-10, etc require Relics.
 

Deleted User - 67582

Guest
Good points and well explained. My experience doesn't quite match the facts though.
1. Evenly distributed runes. ok I guess it's just pot luck if you pick the ones you would like. Wouldn't it be more helpful and considerate to know beforehand which AW would be selected ?
2. Assisting with an AW u/grade all very well, but it seems to me an upgrade can take weeks to achieve, unless you forgo any tech advance or help to others. And all that for just 1 specific rune.
3. My first AW took 7 runes + 20 broken shards =28. 50% above the average, not very encouraging.
4. Second AW in progress; so far 7 runes + 6 broken shards + 8 runes diverted to my already existing AW. Equalling 21 and counting. Quite likely to reach 30 before completion. On top of that runes are costing more in goods (fighting not generally being an option), so harder and longer to make.

It seems to me that in reality it's a lot more arduous to collect AW's than is suggested. Well done to those who persevered.

 

Deleted User - 67582

Guest
Wow, thank you so much. It is so easy (when you know). I must be losing it not to work that one out :rolleyes:
 

DeletedUser108

Guest
I discovered that one by accident. Originally, I always got to the forum from the game by clicking the settings gearwheel in the bottom right, then the question mark for help, then choosing the forum option.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
The random nature of the AW is indeed actually an unfair system. Some may consider this fun, but practically leaving something so difficult to achieve down to luck causes an imbalance in players. I have 2 cities, one human and one elven. To get both AW in the elven town I needed 42 rune shards. To achieve the same thing in the human city, it took over 60 of them. Observing that data, it becomes evident that people with a lot of luck are at a major advantage compared to people with less luck. They can build the AW earlier, reap its benefits and start amassing runes for the next upgrade, while others will have had to labour through 20 + more provinces to achieve the same thing.
 

Deleted User - 67582

Guest
I'm getting more and more done with the AW/rune game. If the runes are distributed evenly round the map then my situation shouldn't arise.
I have expanded into the provinces in a very even circular fashion and therefore, according to the even distribution of runes rule, should have encountered a roughly equal number of monastery and l/houses runes, with the broken shards again being evenly distributed.
In fact I have collected 20 monastery runes (includes 20 broken shards for 2 runes) and only 7 l/house runes + 7 broken shards as yet unused... say 3 of each. That amounts to 23 monastery runes and 10 l/house runes!! What is the criteria in even distribution that meets these figures? As I say, it is really annoying and making what is supposed to be an enjoyable game a chore...:mad:
 

DeletedUser219

Guest
Except that some of the broken shards you used for the monastery may well have come from the lighthouse. Once a shard is broken it loses its type. Mathematically, it is likely that the only attribute assigned to a province rune is its number (where it fits around the circle), possibly assigned according tho the province type. In other words, when you do a steel province you get a rune shard with a particular number. The type of rune is assigned by RNG based on the AWs that the player has researched. Since I completed my Human Wonders I have collected 24 and 29 of each type of shard (of course I will have no idea what number they have until I try to upgrade to level 5). I would expect a statistically valid sample (1500 provinces or so :eek:) to be very close to even.
 

Deleted User - 67582

Guest
Interesting points Horanda. I considered the broken shards selected to the monastery (but ignored them in my argument to cut down on words) and thought that as I had expended fairly evenly, the 20 broken shards should have been shared equally with the 2 AW's. This amendment would indicate that I have collected 30 monastery runes and 22 l/house runs. Ok, more like 3:2 than 2:1, but still iffy in my eyes. I imagine some players are lucky and gain their quests easily, and to counteract this others will gain their quests frustratingly. Fine if you are the former :p.
I've no idea on the maths and RNG used and don't really care about the science in this, but the basic aim should be to have fun, a reasonable challenge and fairness. So why not let the player know beforehand which shard will appear in which province; it can't be hard to set up.
:)
 

DeletedUser219

Guest
If my surmise is correct, they CAN'T, because they don't know. You come along to a province, slaughter the inhabitants, and collect a rune shard. Before you started the system knew there was a rune for the third slot of an AW in that province. When you finish it looks at the AWs you have researched and flips a coin to decide whether it's a lighthouse or monastery rune. At the same time, one of your neighbours is completing the same province, but he is further along the tech tree than you are and has researched the Dwarven AWs as well. So when he finishes, the system flips a four-sided coin :)confused:) to decide which rune HE will get. Doing it beforehand, when you scout the province, would require a LOT of extra stored information, as well as meaning that when you are going for Dwarven runes you would have to scout new provinces for all of them.
It would be possible to check out my premise if some OCD player recorded which slot was filled from each type of province, but I don't have the patience for that kind of thing.:p

(Edited to add): I am not saying you shouldn't be frustrated/annoyed/dubious, just that it is the nature of computer RNG to be sadistic.
 

DeletedUser

Guest
ODC Sign.png

Horanda said:
if some OCD player recorded which slot was filled from each type of province,
Click to expand...
Yeah, OCD players like everything to be orderly.

As we get more and more types of Rune Shard, the Random Number Generator does better and better.
For example, how is the program supposed to know that I have no intention of updating my
Crystal Lighthouse, but do want more Rune Shards for my Marital Monastery?

If the program is "too smart" you'll just end up having to figure out how to beat it.
 
Malibu

Malibu

Dreamer
It's a freemium game, all about the money isn't it. It could be very easily sorted with the chance of awarding of a generic rune which you could choose to add to whatever you like. But that would not be frustrating enough and therefore not tempting enough to get wallets out. I love the game, but certain things are disappointing purely down to the business model. Keep at it, don't make it your lifes work, grab a coffee and relax. It will pop eventualy ;)
 
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