Greeks: The Bonus That Nobody Understands

[yemen]

The feature is good enough that I wish they would give it to everyone. Just like league boats, and ads and wonders reset after 23 hours to make it easy to time things by getting on in the same 1hr window each day, this would be ideal for doing that with upgrades. So if one day I am late starting the next building, I don't have to wait a whole day to be back on schedule. He is right that this is a good perk - it should be a basic part of the game design, as they have recognized in other areas.

And the Greek tanks are actually very nice, if you want to do a tank heavy attack that DPS is a significant plus.

But despite the lifestyle improvement benefits, from a practical standpoint the perk now isn't even as good as Chinese (extra worker), much less one of the better war nations (British, German). I think everyone should get 1 hour free finishes. The greeks should get 10%, and round it to the nearest full day after 4 - so a 5,6 or 7 day upgrade gets 1 day off, and a 8,9, or 10, gets 2. With a minimum of 2 hour free finishes, so it is a perk even in the very early game. That would make them a highly competitive choice. Rather than a convenience perk, it would be a real improvement in gameplay and advancement.

 

[Persia]

Lol. This thread is nonsense. Greeks need a buff, full stop.

 

[MSS-Gaming]

This topic proves that Exiliado should become a lawyer, because he can defend anything. lol

 

[Manifesto]

MSS-Gaming , couldn't agree more! LOL

 

[shukra]

the reframe is fine; make it 15m+/age and it might be noticeable.
still too weak to be comperable.

 

[mkm1g15]

Exiliado This is absolute crap. I'm really sorry mate, read every line, but did you tell everyone that you're still in the industrial age.
You're still advocating the importance of doing walls, etc in the extra time, but understand that different buildings take different citizens and times. Speaking of other nations, each one of them have dynamic discounts, French get 20% off, whereas we're stuck with those stupid minutes.
I'm not going to waste time on your stupid defending on how you think the Greeks are good, just listen to your comments mate

 

[Mcnasty]

I have an account that’s Greek. I’m building my crowns to switch. The only thing I will miss is the tanks. If you really need something done with in the final hour crowns are cheap enough to do it. The discount you get back after would be much more useful it it was just a discount off the original price but even that is worthless if you raid a lot

 

[forgetthis]

Agreed, Exiliado, that your argument is terrible.

Problem 1: As others have noted, the building bonus is a tiny bonus percentage-wise when compared to build times. And because the bonus only increases by fives minutes each age rather than matching the percentage increase in build times, it is the only nation bonus that gets less valuable with each successive age.

Problem 2: The Greek building bonus doesn't apply to everything. For example, University work cannot be completed early. You cannot hurry fruit and gold mine production. You cannot hurry troop, air support, factory or tactic replenishment. Etc. It applies only to build upgrades and library research. By the time later ages roll around, that bonus is reduced to helping to get additional towers and other early-age buildings upgraded to to a usable level slightly faster, and then quickly becomes something that can apply about four times per week due to the 5- to 14-day builds. Meanwhile, other civilizations get once-per-day or constant bonuses in other areas. It's not even close to even.

Problem 3: It's the only bonus in the game that is 100% use it or lose it at a specific time. If you don't show up during the window or if you don't have the resources to start another build during that window, that bonus vanishes. I cannot name another nation bonus that isn't always available to the civilization. (This is also why your "player flexibility" argument is bunk.)

So, summing up the Greeks in the Atomic Age:
* On builds and some research, players can finish up to 40 minutes earlier on builds, if they show up during the last forty-five minutes and if they have the resources to start another build.
* Get a 5% refund on purchases. This is also a small bonus. Note that you still have to put together the full resource cost of each purchase, and the net effect is that 5% refund immediately becomes available to be raided, so over time that bonus has a hidden tax on it (as opposed to a 5% discount).
* Greek tanks get +25% damage and +10% hit points. Most people do not have more than 5 tanks in a late-age army build due to the unit's space requirements, the biggest buff adds a max of an extra 150-200 DPS for five units. Whee. The 10% hit point bonus isn't nothing, but it certainly isn't enough to make up for the weaknesses of the remaining nation bonuses.

(If Nexon actually wanted to buff the Greeks - which I don't believe they'll ever do for reasons I'll cover below - they should lower the space requirement for the Greek tank by 3. That might make the Greek tank compelling enough to make the Greeks somewhat legit.)

To sum up, the Greeks have the tiny-percentage-gain use-it-or-lose-it building bonus that gets less valuable every age, a five-percent refund on purchases, and the most counter-intuitive unit buff in Dominations. Blech.

---

A while back, the Greeks went from a legitimate option to a revenue source for Nexon. Many people starting the game will gravitate to Greeks in the early ages, when the time bonus feels meaningful while build times are shorter. Then, in the later ages, when build times reduce the number of times the bonus is used and savvy players recognize how big a disadvantage the Greek nation has, those players will feel forced to spend crowns to switch. Nexon knows this will increase their revenue, and increase the likelihood that the person will switch again and hopefully buy crowns later.

Nexon also knows that increasing the Greek building-finishing bonus to something meaningful would cause more players to use the Greek nation to avoid paying crowns, which would decrease revenues. Those two things, in combination, are why the Greek nation will never see any game change benefit just the Greeks. They'll always be a step behind the other nations. Nexon wants people to start with Greeks early and then pay to switch.

 

[Saruman the White]

Agreed to all, except the part of the buff possibility. If they don't do something about it, it'll hurt the gameplay inevitably. It'll end up having only 7 nations again. Unless they regretted including them.
Secondly, they should buff it, just like they did for the Chinese. Why would the Chinese be buffed and the Greeks not?