Ikariam.com

i actually like the game quite fine the way it is.. if our towns were to be able to be destroyed would that really keep people playing? I mean i've been playing for over a year, and my towns are very valuable to me... IF someone were able to destroy it they i would be pretty upset and probably quit. But anywho, back to your question...

The best thing to do is get the leecher tool thats approved by ikariam. This tool is VERY helpful, it tells you detailed info on how much anyone needs to donate and what not.
This is how you get it:
This is a leech checker tool, approved by GameForge. First you need Firefox browser (free) and then download Greasemonkey (also free). After you are done with that, go to this page:

http://ikariamlibrary.com/?content=Vejid…echer%20Checker

Download it and install. Very Easy to do.

ok, also.. if they haven't complied with your requests to donate.. then the best thing to do is to tell them that if they don't donate you will attack them and donate for them. Honestly, that's your best bet, heck bring your alliance in on it if there are multiple people leeching. If this is a whole alliance that's leeching you might try and contact the diplomat and or leader of that alliance and give the names of the players that you are referring to. To me personally, if i have a leecher on my island.. and i send them messages.. i could care less how upset they get at me i'm gonna attack them. I was nice and gave them ample warning, if they are to selfish to respond with even a small donation.. it's game on. And you know what, lol it only took a couple of attacks from me before people on my islands started donating. They learned pretty quickly!!


Edit:something else you got to think about is how big their towns are and how many workers they got working there. I mean I have a new town for example. My town is level 15.. it's on a sulfur island. Now i have my workers maxed out in the mill but have no one working in the mine. So, technically i shouldn't have to donate to the mine at all until i use it. But now at the mill of course i should donate there cause i'm using the resource.

well um there is no set standard for donation, but I reall don't think you yourself have any right to force donations on players when you yourself have only donated 4K, a flimsy donation.

Our alliance only requires donation by level 8, but you can't say for sure if someone needs to donate more or not, but if someone is actually leeching you should just attack them a bit.

Orb.. I think you missed the point that this guy is on one of the new servers that is only about 1 week old.

Taking that into consideration, 4k is a sizable donation, and it is reasonable to assume the others on his island should have donated at least this much too!

If this was the case, his mill should be about level 7 and his lux mine at level 4. Seeing as this only employs 114+66 = 180 workers, donations are still highly valuable to those with a level 4+ town hall (read EVERYONE!)

There is a decent problem that even the better players still don't see the value in donations at the very early stages of the game. Sure, there is some merit in slinger raiding for wood to nearby islands, but material is hard to come by early on, and it can easily be protected by warehouses until one reaches 5 cities or so. While even a level 12 tavern or level 6 Museum provides a better ROI than a level 8 Sawmill upgrade (if done alone).. If 10 players donated to the sawmill, leveling the sawmill to 8 would be better than the level 3 museum or even a level 4 tavern! (though those with plenty of wine may disagree).. the point to all of this is that constant early donations to the resources means good growth in the early game.

The problem is that many do not see the value in donations, nor do they understand that building up buildings that provide little or no real value early on is a waste! Instead, they click on every building they can "afford" because it is "cheap" thinking that sooner or later they will have enough material to continue to grow. Instead, the better plan is to build only what one really NEEDS (academies/warehousing/town halls/barracks/tradeport/shipyard/taverns/hideouts/museums/carpenters/productions and prolly an embassy) and not to build them too high until needed. Instead, try to make certain to donate as much wood to the sawmills/mines at least until they get to the level 10/7 mark (even the level 10 sawmill has < 3 day payback on it with 10 people).. at this level you would employ 306 people and prolly need a level 6-7 town hall.

The problem, as the OP clearly states, is getting the "other 9" to realize this

In all other RTS type games, people have understood the concept of building up their economy (booming) before spending time on the military (rushing) or defenses (turtling), while the 3 are a little bit "rock/paper/scissors", noone can deny the need to at least build the economy up to a "substantial" level before pursuing their "main" strategy. Unfortuantly, with Iraiam's "shared resource" structure (one of the more intersting aspects mind you) this concept seems to get lost.

A good way to deal with this is education and "deal making".. point out WHY its needed for everyone to donate so everyone can grow fast enough to keep up with the "neighbors", and even setting up "deals" such as donation limits. with enough people sharing this idea, you might even find help from others willing to "enforce" these limits. While many others may remember that I tend to speak out against "harassing leechers", this was only when they could not benefit from the extra capacity. In the early game, this usually does not exist as even a level 6 Town hall can still benefit from a level 10 sawmill or so. Experience and history has shown that setting up strict donation policies and enforcing them might sound "harsh", but is the key to long term success. generally those who start leeching somehow think they are getting away with something (they are not) and will continue until they learn better or are forced otherwise.

So education on the merits of donations for THEIR OWN good.. and the need to keep up with or surpass their neighbors economically, combined with decent, but fair, donation requirements that are hopefully enforced by several members on the island should hopefully ensure continued and aggressive growth for everyone. In past servers, there have been instances of several people (usually in the same alliance) binding together on shared islands and maintaining and growing high economies. You will find it was theses players who continued to be successful as a good economy tends to attract the better players and leads to even more growth and good games for all who participate. Allowing others to "leech" off of a decent economy when they otherwise *should* be helping will only slow growth and lead to a downward spiral. Correcting the problem early is essential so it doesn't become even worse (nothing will kill your game faster than a "dead" island), so getting people to see the value in donations is key, and then supplementing it with force in necessary, is the only way to make sure your game isn't hampered either (as a last resort, you can always pack up and leave to a better island).

i say stop donting wood so ppl see why they need to upgrade mill and luxury :1:

I have the most donated mats on my Islands.
I have at least donated more than 1mil.
but I have stopped
I will continue when the others will