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3 years ago I was in game-limbo.
The PvP game that I played on Android was catastrophically broken on Samsung devices and the developers gave up on it. It is still around but it hasn't seen an update and is a ghost town.
I saw a link advertised to this game that came with a referral promo. I think I got a crate roll and some refills with it. (I rolled Diablo)
I played the game and there was an event going on. I made one blue chip that was promptly stolen. I also got a free Nautica.
I got to level 10 and put the game down and mulled it over for awhile unsure if this was going to be the next thing for me.
A day or two later I picked up the game (still at level 10) and decided if I was going to give the game a fair shake, I needed to join an empire. I started fishing for one in World Chat.
Boy! Was it hostile in there back then! The worst part was how many suggested that I just abandon the game. There was much negativity at the time which has improved a great deal since then. (WC aside from a few usual suspects feels a lot more like a community of players who enjoy the game together now than then.)
The first player to actually be kind to this then noob was a member of the Pokأ©mon empire. I knocked on the door to the then platinum empire thinking it would be a good entry point for me as an experienced gamer. I was 1/2 of the leadership in my old PvP game so I figured I would pick up on things rather quickly. I wasn't entirely wrong but it took longer than anticipated. I really liked that they had a soft-sounding name too. I deliberately take soft names in PvP arenas because it gets you those who judge a book by the cover on your feed. My original game name was carried over from the other game. Happy Love.
It was great PvP bait 
Luckily I decided to look for information in the forums early on before I had done a lot with my now main but then only toon. I decided the guide that proposed the LSI build was likely my best bet and ran with that. I chose enforcer because the support role seemed underrepresented at the time and I figured being the stim guy was perfect for the player who was going to be squishy for a long time.
Funny thing about that is that I was discouraged from the LSI build type by many back at the time. I stuck it out anyway - it made sense that more levels would mean more strength eventually. I compared a BSI to a sportscar and an LSI to that slow rumbling V8 that wouldn't win a quarter mile but would win a distance race. It paid off - I was stronger than a lot of the purist BSI in my empire in about a year that told me I would be squishy forever. Those of you who know me know that though I may give advice, my strongest advice is to "Never let people tell you how to build your toon.". Take suggestions, fine but the magic of the build is your own unique take on the matter. Diversity is a good thing!
In that other game I was a leader in what was an undefeated faction in my old game save for one week where we took pity upon our number one competitors to keep them from getting too discouraged. They were losing players outright and out of the spirit of the community we sacrificed our w:l there. It was fun to shake it up but unfortunately their dev team was spread too thin between too many properties to give any one of them aside from their crown jewel any solid attention. (Spoiler alert: I was playing the acquisition they seemed to care the least about.)
I took that knowledge from the other game and started organizing the empire by doing what I called "Secretarial" work. Recruiting, organizing the upgrade priorities, etc. I did this before making officer I got the hook soon after that so I could edit the news myself. It was about this time that I changed my in-game name to Poliwrath to fully commit to the cause.
Eventually I made it to UB and I really enjoyed the role. I became more active in these forums and DL_Joker took an interest into some of the odd but effective strategies I was employing. He was very encouraging in his own way. I was the 1st stim 3 enforcer some knew and I was foiling traps to beat the band
Soon after becoming UB, the leader stepped down to officer and let me run the show. It has been a really incredible learning experience. Managing a team of 80 is crazy in any environment. It's like herding cats and sometimes you have to use treats, the spray bottle and the garden hose all in the same hour. :'D
The game has changed a lot over the years, and so have empire members and the community as a whole. I would like to think I have helped make a difference in some of that by being that odd guy who gives up his strategies so that others can be more effective and force me to evolve to become the better player when facing my own tactics against our empire. This is a PvP game in part, sure - and as PvP games go it can be quite cathartic to victory against someone who may have bullied you when you were smaller. Overall though we all share a love for the game that keeps us playing. All personalities are represented in this kinship of UE and thankfully many of us are now discouraging the "creepy uncle" types at our daily reunion instead of encouraging them to beat up the kiddie tables. I'm not saying there isn't a place for that but I am glad to see that as a whole we're not griefing undeserving players away from the game as when I first got here.
Will I be here another 3 years from today? Only time will tell but I wanted to share this story with the lot of you that I have spoken to over the years and made friendships with throughout the game space.
Thanks for reading and thank you all for keeping this game entertaining!
TL;DR:
3 years ago today I picked up a game that would become a daily routine and usurp my other gaming habits and I'm not mad about it at all.
The PvP game that I played on Android was catastrophically broken on Samsung devices and the developers gave up on it. It is still around but it hasn't seen an update and is a ghost town.
I saw a link advertised to this game that came with a referral promo. I think I got a crate roll and some refills with it. (I rolled Diablo)
I played the game and there was an event going on. I made one blue chip that was promptly stolen. I also got a free Nautica.
I got to level 10 and put the game down and mulled it over for awhile unsure if this was going to be the next thing for me.
A day or two later I picked up the game (still at level 10) and decided if I was going to give the game a fair shake, I needed to join an empire. I started fishing for one in World Chat.
Boy! Was it hostile in there back then! The worst part was how many suggested that I just abandon the game. There was much negativity at the time which has improved a great deal since then. (WC aside from a few usual suspects feels a lot more like a community of players who enjoy the game together now than then.)
The first player to actually be kind to this then noob was a member of the Pokأ©mon empire. I knocked on the door to the then platinum empire thinking it would be a good entry point for me as an experienced gamer. I was 1/2 of the leadership in my old PvP game so I figured I would pick up on things rather quickly. I wasn't entirely wrong but it took longer than anticipated. I really liked that they had a soft-sounding name too. I deliberately take soft names in PvP arenas because it gets you those who judge a book by the cover on your feed. My original game name was carried over from the other game. Happy Love.
It was great PvP bait Luckily I decided to look for information in the forums early on before I had done a lot with my now main but then only toon. I decided the guide that proposed the LSI build was likely my best bet and ran with that. I chose enforcer because the support role seemed underrepresented at the time and I figured being the stim guy was perfect for the player who was going to be squishy for a long time.
Funny thing about that is that I was discouraged from the LSI build type by many back at the time. I stuck it out anyway - it made sense that more levels would mean more strength eventually. I compared a BSI to a sportscar and an LSI to that slow rumbling V8 that wouldn't win a quarter mile but would win a distance race. It paid off - I was stronger than a lot of the purist BSI in my empire in about a year that told me I would be squishy forever. Those of you who know me know that though I may give advice, my strongest advice is to "Never let people tell you how to build your toon.". Take suggestions, fine but the magic of the build is your own unique take on the matter. Diversity is a good thing!
In that other game I was a leader in what was an undefeated faction in my old game save for one week where we took pity upon our number one competitors to keep them from getting too discouraged. They were losing players outright and out of the spirit of the community we sacrificed our w:l there. It was fun to shake it up but unfortunately their dev team was spread too thin between too many properties to give any one of them aside from their crown jewel any solid attention. (Spoiler alert: I was playing the acquisition they seemed to care the least about.)
I took that knowledge from the other game and started organizing the empire by doing what I called "Secretarial" work. Recruiting, organizing the upgrade priorities, etc. I did this before making officer I got the hook soon after that so I could edit the news myself. It was about this time that I changed my in-game name to Poliwrath to fully commit to the cause.
Eventually I made it to UB and I really enjoyed the role. I became more active in these forums and DL_Joker took an interest into some of the odd but effective strategies I was employing. He was very encouraging in his own way. I was the 1st stim 3 enforcer some knew and I was foiling traps to beat the band
Soon after becoming UB, the leader stepped down to officer and let me run the show. It has been a really incredible learning experience. Managing a team of 80 is crazy in any environment. It's like herding cats and sometimes you have to use treats, the spray bottle and the garden hose all in the same hour. :'D
The game has changed a lot over the years, and so have empire members and the community as a whole. I would like to think I have helped make a difference in some of that by being that odd guy who gives up his strategies so that others can be more effective and force me to evolve to become the better player when facing my own tactics against our empire. This is a PvP game in part, sure - and as PvP games go it can be quite cathartic to victory against someone who may have bullied you when you were smaller. Overall though we all share a love for the game that keeps us playing. All personalities are represented in this kinship of UE and thankfully many of us are now discouraging the "creepy uncle" types at our daily reunion instead of encouraging them to beat up the kiddie tables.
I'm not saying there isn't a place for that but I am glad to see that as a whole we're not griefing undeserving players away from the game as when I first got here.Will I be here another 3 years from today? Only time will tell but I wanted to share this story with the lot of you that I have spoken to over the years and made friendships with throughout the game space.
Thanks for reading and thank you all for keeping this game entertaining!
TL;DR:
3 years ago today I picked up a game that would become a daily routine and usurp my other gaming habits and I'm not mad about it at all.
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