Tribal Wars 2 is much like Lord Of Ultima in that you have to build up your resources, armies and alliances to advance in the game. I've found that I'm investing about the same amount of time in it on a daily basis as I was in Lord Of Ultima.
Make no mistake, however. While in Lord Of Ultima you could be a pacifist and still reign over a huge empire, it's just not so in Tribal Wars 2.
You fight to survive and resources are more often taken at the end of a blade than plowshare. Defense is your first concern as the "protection" afforded new players wears off quickly leaving you open to attack.
If you happen to be on a more established server, chances are you'll become a farm for a bigger tribe. So find some strength in numbers or move on to a less hostile world.
The game is still in beta so bugs and crashes do happen. For instance, my game will inevitably crash if I enable the background music while playing in the Chrome browser.
Slow servers and periodic maintenance intervals can interrupt your gameplay as well but thankfully that's an increasingly rare occurrence as the game moves closer to final release.
In fact many of the issues I've experienced will likely be gone in the final version. I've been playing Tribal Wars 2 for roughly 2 months now and built a respectable empire. On the down side, a friend of mine who started playing the same time as I did hasn't had the same opportunity.
The world he was started on contained advanced players who instantly attacked him. Worse, you can't choose your world so it's likely your friends will be of no use to you as game worlds are completely separate entities denying any contact even via the in-game mail system.
Of course such disappointments could be attributed to the BETA nature of the game as developers likely try to keep the server load balanced. There's also no word on whether current BETA players will have to start over once the game goes live.
While the gameplay is much like any other MMORPG, there are still aspects of the pay to play freemium model that I intensely dislike. Case in point, you have the ability to purchase troops which while pricey still allow a well heeled player to take an unfair shortcut.
On the other side of the equation a new player set upon by a bullying tribe could literally find themselves paying just to survive by purchasing upgrades and troops to fend them off.
Stat and resource boosters are fine but the prospect of purchasing entire armies invalidates all the time and effort that regular players have invested in the game.
Before it goes live that balance will have to be worked out or it runs the risk of being just another pay to win title like so many other doomed browser games that have gone before it.
Look to the mess created by the failed marketplace in Diablo 3 as an analog. Its abuse so severely unbalanced the game that it threatened the fledgling title's survival.
So far I haven't personally bought anything that gave an unfair advantage or that I couldn't earn over time. There is opportunity to earn in-game currency, however, by participating in sponsored activities such as surveys, marketing campaigns and the like to earn the in-game coins necessary to purchase upgrades.
The price? a lot of spam email and 10 minutes of questions about feminine hygiene products...
I've also been fortunate to build up my little empire enough to fend off the attacks of all but the largest enemy tribes but I have yet to test that belief.
I'll say this of the game. I've tried others and this is the only one that's held my interest so far. Unfortunately for my friend, his experience has been less enjoyable finally giving up on it last week.
If the game resets on launch perhaps my friend and I can have a better experience on the same world.
I've done a video overview of the game that should give you the basics of gameplay and even a few tactical hints.
Enjoy!
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