Update:

I am setting up my own drug cartel here..

Capital: MethLab1 60:52(Crystal island of course)
Size:3
Town Hall: Currently building to level 4
Wall: size 3 (going to have to wait a bit to build this)
Academy: Level 3
I have every building I can currently build at current research level (most at size 1).. I have 2 red flags and an open spot for a building that is available at Bureaucracy (Bank?)

1st colony: CrackHouse1 59:50(Set up on a Marble island)
Size: 2
Town Hall: Size 2
Walls: Level 1
Academy: Level 1
Trading port and Trading post both at size 1

Research (known techs):
Navy:
8 Trading ships

Army:
1 Slinger [:P]

Plan of Action:
Build up both cities pop A.S.A.P until it is reasonable to think of a 3rd city

Build Governors Mansion in CrackHouse A.S.A.P.

Figure out 'what type of player I will be'

What kind of Marble/Wine deal did you have in mind?

Possibly you send to me now and I will keep sending it to you as I grow?

I do not need a tremendous amount of Marble at this stage..

Something like...

500 wine now...

I will send you 600 marble within 3 days?

I do not know if this is fair but..

Is there a way to move some ships from my capital to my colony?

never mind it seems that I can use ships to and from anywhere as long as I have movement points.

btw.. smalltalk.. my lonely spy has a 44% chance of success at small precioius

Methlab 1 02.05.2008 16:46 Unfortunately your trade fleet got away from Lolvile empty-handed and is now returning to Methlab 1.

what the hell does this mean? I was buying wine from this guy?

my gold is gone and my wine will not arrive?

What the hell is up with this? that is 2 times now that people have agreed to buy from me.. waited til the shipment was almost there and then decided to withdraw? he just wasted action points

Thanks. That's good. I'll get back to you, after I've got another spy. Maybe I'll do a number thread where stuff like this can be collected.

Somebody else grabbed it before were able to.

Only if you got a trade agreement with somebody you can be sure to get the stuff.

What do you mean with "they agreed". Did you see incoming trades at your port?

If so, well, I still don't have an explanation. ;)

someone else must have gotten his goods to him before I could. It still seems odd to me though.

1.) I see someone that is selling 900 wine @ 35 gpw
2.) I click on 'trade' and want 300 wine
3.) it takes the 10500 gold out of my treasury
4.) my ship heads out
5.) by the time my ship gets there someone else has bought up all of the wine. and I get the 'empty handed' message
6.) my ship returns

the problem is.. where the hell did my money go?

This is what I have.. where should I be heading? I turned off my research while I was building to expand to my second colony. but once I have built up my Gov Res I will be turning it back on.. what is more important?

You should probably go into science and get invention (Allows building workshop) and ink (4% more research points)
or maybe a little further in economy like geometry (4% less building costs)

How many troops do I need? I will be playing defensively for the time being until I can grow to afford a good army. I have not been attacked as of yet (knock on wood) but I want to keep it that way. I do not have more than a size 1 port yet so I think that will deter some from attacking me.

I am building a Rax so I can build Phalanx.. I think they are decent for defense.. also should I have a war ship or 2 in each port? I have none

I figured it out.. I need to expand my trading post.. the current capacity is only 200..

@small - how many cities do you have?

Mistfit, if you are playing defensive, make sure you have your town wall the same level as the town hall, or higher.
As well, have some phalanx in each town (Probably one per town hall/wall level).
That way the phalanx get +30% bonus, cause they are on the defending side.
And, as long as the wall is same or higher level then your town hall you get 10% defense bonus per level of the wall instead of just 3% if it was under the level of the town hall

and always keep a few ships in each port I would recommend for sure

ah.. so I should likely build my walls first. I have only been attacked once. It was a guy from my own island so I messaged him and told him to knock it off and he did [:p]

One Phalanx per townhall/wall upgrade.. that is easy.. If I can get some dang sulfur.. I don't know what everyone is complaining about on the boards.. the cheapest I have found the stuff near me is 50g per [:O]

600 sulfur coming to ya ;}
And Mistfit if you have an embassy. you might as well join up to the clan if you plan to.... before we run our of diplomacy points

"before we run our of diplomacy points" - what does this mean?

@ mistfit.. I can send you some sulfur. I have a sulpher mine and then I refine it to convert the "phe" to "fu". I have an obligation to fulfill presently but I'll ship you some as soon as I can.

The alliance needs 1 diplo point to accept each new member
I recently upgraded and got 8 points now so its not a rush I guess

I wouldn't worry about it Tubby.. I am a couple of days away from settling my own

Hey guys, I should be able to settle a new town tomorrow morning. What resource is the most valuable (wine, marble, or crystal)?

Marble, I think.

ditto, marble seems to be where its at

I sent 600 wood - and 300 of all others to Banzai.. so if you are going to send a welcoming package wait a bit til he can build a warehouse

Can someone please confirm whether or not the workshop improvements are now working in V2.3

What do I need to sign a military alliance with a guy? this should allow me to help him defend right?

I think I have one of these with TUbby but with the AO guy needing help I thought I would try.

Is there a few pointers to help out a noob....

Here is what I have so far:
Academy lvl 3
Town Hall lvl 3
Trading post lvl 1
Warehouse lvl 1
Barracks lvl 1
Trading Port lvl 1

You need a shipyard and at least one ship in it, else you are inviting looters.

Build a tavern as soon you've researched the tech. This will help to let your town grow faster.

So how do I find people to trade with.. no one is responding to the post I put up in the forums..
I'm pretty much stuck at this point until I get some crystal and stone.

The first line of trading comes from your Trading Post. For every second expansion you make of it it allows you to see trades available from other people.

Second (if not a close first) is to expand to the point to where you can colonize a second or third island. This comes from researching expansion and building up your palace to be able to colonize.

A new Server is supposed to be up and running tomorrow per small..

What do you all think of Reorganizing on the new server and trying to get everyone together?

Edit:

Note from the Big Board:

Tomorrow at noon (12 o'clock GMT+1) we are getting a brand new world

I'm interested. Unless I come out on a sulphur island. :D

6 o'clock, I think.

Here is a dumb question...
How do you find and message people in game?

Go to highscore, type in the name of the player and hit enter.

thanks

This might sound stupid but what is the point in this game?

you cant kill people and only seem to be able to grow so whats the end result your looking for?

grow and get the best score.. it is just a basic time killer

Im struggling to find anywhere which will sell me blue crystal stuff, everyone seems to be in their own little click and nobody seems to want wines, anything i can do?

I opened up a colony on a neighbouring island to what i'm on now but my score seems to be dropping? i used to be like 50 or something and now im like 700...