"The Hundred Years War" Online Game
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Ever wanted to command an army, march across France besieging castles and then get blessed by the Pope in Avignon? 'The Hundred Years War' allows you to do just that by recreating the series of heavily connected conflicts between the kings of Britain and France over the latters' throne.
Players act as noblemen (there are noblewomen, but only a rare few are allowed to lead armies) or monarchs, with each getting ninety 'days' worth of action each turn which, as you might have guessed, represents a season.
Four seasons make a year and the game lasts for a grand total of 400 turns. At between three and four turns a week (on set days, for example Monday, Wednesday, Friday) the game can last for well over two years, but most have been won before then. Commitment is required.
Nobleman can use their days on the 'glamorous' activates of the medieval period ? raising troops, besieging castles, pillaging land and attacking other noble led armies ? or focus on the more mundane, but equally important tasks like managing your fiefs' tax rates, arranging marriages and flattering the pope. Indeed, the longer games last the more important breeding a strong dynasty of children becomes as your noble ages, dies and you succeed as their heir.
Players can choose to be English, French or 'Other', a selection of nobles from Scotland, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire and, occasionally, Islamic Spain and the Mongol east. Your noble is assigned from these groups randomly when you join, but if you enter in the first week you're normally allowed to pick on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Each is comprised of statistics and skills (this allows the game's mechanics to decide the outcome of everything you do) and although existing skills can be improved by training, additional skills have to be bred into your dynasty.
The first generation of nobles ? those with which you start the game ? are all genuine historical personages from the relevant era. Keen players often pick up biographies of their noble and roleplay accordingly. The victory conditions are divided by nation: the English and their 'Other' allies must gain a vote in the French Parliament making their leader king; the French and their friends must either do the same in England, last one hundred years, or hold a completely English free France when the English king dies.
Of course no medieval noble was free to act alone and all come under the aegis of more important nobles such as the Kings and Emperors, all of which are played by specially chosen players. These are vitally important positions as they organise the war, divvy out the treasury and generally organise things, but the game currently has a dearth of properly committed and suitably skilled players willing to be king and changeovers are common. This can really harm your experience, as the game's main positive feature is the teamwork required for any nation to win. Kings must organise lieutenants and nobles into a cohesive force, a task which frequently requires much persuasion, group discussions on the AOL Instant Messenger and the occasional threat of outlawing. Players can easily play as traitors and rebels, but avoiding being outlawed, tried and imprisoned for life is tricky.
The game requires players to hold certain key fiefs over 'reset', the change in seasons, if they want to capture overlordships such as Dukedoms or Counties. Reset happens at 21:00 Eastern Standard Time and teams frequently meet up to plan last minute strategies on AIM. It?s these team meetings which really give the game life.
If a group chat on an instant messenger sounds old fashioned, the rest of the game matches. The map is divided into hexes, the game uses a text only java interface and the behind the scenes maths can be identified and calculated. If you have to have graphics, skip this. In addition, the game has a number of known (and not so known) bugs, occasionally crashes at key moments (particularly resets) and hasn't received any noticeable repairs in the two years I've played.
The game has other problems. Roleplay is encouraged in the forums and message system but, in practice, most exchanges degenerate into highly ahistoric slanging matches thanks to a number of verbally belligerent players. There are only a few members of staff and most of the running is handled by volunteers. The quality of these volunteers, and of the staff, varies greatly, with some ignoring issues of gamesmanship, cheating and verbal abuse, simply unacceptable on a game where players pay. These people might be only human, but instances of 'herald' and 'sysop' ignoration have ruined games.
Please note: the staff currently aren't doing enough to protect players from the violent threats of other. As such, I cannot recommend the game and have removed all of its stars.
Visit Their Website
Ever wanted to command an army, march across France besieging castles and then get blessed by the Pope in Avignon? 'The Hundred Years War' allows you to do just that by recreating the series of heavily connected conflicts between the kings of Britain and France over the latters' throne.
Players act as noblemen (there are noblewomen, but only a rare few are allowed to lead armies) or monarchs, with each getting ninety 'days' worth of action each turn which, as you might have guessed, represents a season.
Four seasons make a year and the game lasts for a grand total of 400 turns. At between three and four turns a week (on set days, for example Monday, Wednesday, Friday) the game can last for well over two years, but most have been won before then. Commitment is required.
Nobleman can use their days on the 'glamorous' activates of the medieval period ? raising troops, besieging castles, pillaging land and attacking other noble led armies ? or focus on the more mundane, but equally important tasks like managing your fiefs' tax rates, arranging marriages and flattering the pope. Indeed, the longer games last the more important breeding a strong dynasty of children becomes as your noble ages, dies and you succeed as their heir.
Players can choose to be English, French or 'Other', a selection of nobles from Scotland, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire and, occasionally, Islamic Spain and the Mongol east. Your noble is assigned from these groups randomly when you join, but if you enter in the first week you're normally allowed to pick on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Each is comprised of statistics and skills (this allows the game's mechanics to decide the outcome of everything you do) and although existing skills can be improved by training, additional skills have to be bred into your dynasty.
The first generation of nobles ? those with which you start the game ? are all genuine historical personages from the relevant era. Keen players often pick up biographies of their noble and roleplay accordingly. The victory conditions are divided by nation: the English and their 'Other' allies must gain a vote in the French Parliament making their leader king; the French and their friends must either do the same in England, last one hundred years, or hold a completely English free France when the English king dies.
Of course no medieval noble was free to act alone and all come under the aegis of more important nobles such as the Kings and Emperors, all of which are played by specially chosen players. These are vitally important positions as they organise the war, divvy out the treasury and generally organise things, but the game currently has a dearth of properly committed and suitably skilled players willing to be king and changeovers are common. This can really harm your experience, as the game's main positive feature is the teamwork required for any nation to win. Kings must organise lieutenants and nobles into a cohesive force, a task which frequently requires much persuasion, group discussions on the AOL Instant Messenger and the occasional threat of outlawing. Players can easily play as traitors and rebels, but avoiding being outlawed, tried and imprisoned for life is tricky.
The game requires players to hold certain key fiefs over 'reset', the change in seasons, if they want to capture overlordships such as Dukedoms or Counties. Reset happens at 21:00 Eastern Standard Time and teams frequently meet up to plan last minute strategies on AIM. It?s these team meetings which really give the game life.
If a group chat on an instant messenger sounds old fashioned, the rest of the game matches. The map is divided into hexes, the game uses a text only java interface and the behind the scenes maths can be identified and calculated. If you have to have graphics, skip this. In addition, the game has a number of known (and not so known) bugs, occasionally crashes at key moments (particularly resets) and hasn't received any noticeable repairs in the two years I've played.
The game has other problems. Roleplay is encouraged in the forums and message system but, in practice, most exchanges degenerate into highly ahistoric slanging matches thanks to a number of verbally belligerent players. There are only a few members of staff and most of the running is handled by volunteers. The quality of these volunteers, and of the staff, varies greatly, with some ignoring issues of gamesmanship, cheating and verbal abuse, simply unacceptable on a game where players pay. These people might be only human, but instances of 'herald' and 'sysop' ignoration have ruined games.
Please note: the staff currently aren't doing enough to protect players from the violent threats of other. As such, I cannot recommend the game and have removed all of its stars.
Visit Their Website
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