Illyriad Update Introduces New UI and Alliance Medals

Illyriad, the acclaimed HTML5 massively multiplayer online strategy game, introduces a new user interface, Alliance Medal award system, friends lists and more.

The new Alliance Medal system allows players to design a deeply customizable award from hundreds of unique pieces that can be combined to create thousands of unique design options. Players can then award the medal to a fellow member of their in-game Alliance to be displayed along with a custom title on the player’s profile page. Medals give Illyriad players an opportunity to grant prizes, awards and inter-alliance rankings for their peers in a meaningful and interactive way. Medals are purchased through a new shared Alliance Prestige Pool system that allows players to donate in-game currency into a shared bank for Alliance use.

A refreshed user interface is also now available in game. The re-designed UI gives a cleaner, more user-friendly visual appearance and adds many usability improvements including: additional navigation options, tabbed sidebar settings, a game-wide search tool, new friends list feature and an interactive lore book within the game.

Video with a walk-through of the UI changes and medal designer is available here: https://youtu.be/q8GWVMmhXGk

Illyriad’s latest update, including these and other features, goes live this weekend.

About Illyriad:

“An epic RTS but with killer lore and an awesome community.” – Massively.com

“I could tell right away that this game was special.” – ThriftyGamer

“Illyriad has a great niche…. There is plenty to do and I would suggest that everyone with a few minutes goes and checks it out.” – Vagary.tv

https://www.illyriad.co.uk/press/Reviews

Illyriad is a browser-based Massively Multiplayer strategy game, in which players take control of cities, engaging in city-building, quests, diplomacy, warfare and trade. Developed by London-based Illyriad Games Ltd., Illyriad went live in 2010 and was officially launched on May 16th 2011.

https://www.illyriad.co.uk/

For further information, please contact: press@illyriad.co.uk

Press assets are available at ftp.illyriad.co.uk , and further assets, quotes, interviews, etc., are available on request.

Preview: Alliance Prestige Pool

For quite some time, Illyriad players have asked us for a way to share prestige with their friends. The dev team has had some reservations as to how we could go about providing this option in a way that works best for both the game and our players.  The solution that we’ve developed is the introduction of the Alliance Prestige Pool.

The Alliance Prestige Pool will function as a communal bank to which all alliance members can donate and, depending on permissions, spend in game. Alliances will set permissions based on alliance role that define who  has access to spend the prestige and at what amount their daily spending limit is set. Individual players within the alliance with appropriate access can then choose to spend their own prestige on items for their account such as instant builds, production bonuses and other prestige items, or they can spend from the alliance pool.

Another function for the Alliance Prestige Pool is as a way for players to bind together to purchase Alliance Medals for fellow players. The associated prestige cost for these designs will be deducted from the alliance pool, so that players can purchase the awards at a shared cost. As these awards are meant to represent recognition from an entire alliance to an outstanding player, we believe this is the best way to approach the system.

More information will become available with the release of the Alliance Medals and Alliance Prestige Pool in an upcoming game update. Until that time, below you will find common questions and answers about the system.

Alliance Prestige FAQ:

What is Alliance Prestige?
Alliance Prestige is a shared amount of prestige that has been donated by players into their Alliance Prestige Pool.

What can Alliance Prestige be used for?
Alliance Prestige can be spent on individual player bonuses as well as Alliance Medals.

Who can spend Alliance Prestige?
Spending limits and roles associated with permission to spend prestige are set by individual alliances.

How do I donate?
Visit the Alliance Prestige Pool page in game and choose “contribute” to donate from your personal prestige amount into your Alliance Pool.

Can I withdraw prestige from the Alliance Prestige Pool?
No. Players can only donate or spend from the Pool. No one can withdraw prestige into their individual account from the Alliance Pool.

What if I accidentally donated the wrong amount?
Prestige transactions are non-refundable, including donations into the Alliance Prestige Pool. Donation is a one way transaction that cannot be reversed by any means, even by the GMs.

What if I accidentally spent Alliance prestige instead of my own?
The GM staff cannot refund the amount you’ve spent back into the Prestige Pool. The best way to remedy this, if you’ve accidentally spent Alliance prestige, is to donate the amount you spent back into the Pool from your own funds.

What if I leave the Alliance?
Any donations you made cannot be refunded or returned to you. Once Prestige is donated to an Alliance, it is the property of the Alliance and no longer that of an individual player.

If you have any further comments or questions about the system, please feel free to leave them in the comments section on this post or on our forums.

GM Luna

Player Spotlight: ScottFitz

This month our Player Spotlight focuses on Illyriad’s currently #1 top ranked player, ScottFitz. As a long time Illy player, forum participant and helpful global chatter, Scott’s positive impact on the game has been noted by his peers who nominated him for this spotlight. We all wish to congratulate Scott and thank him for his continued contributions to the culture of Illyriad. Learn more about the Player Spotlight program at our website and nominate players by sending an email to community@illyriad.co.uk. Now on with the interview!

GM Luna

ScottFitz's RL Avatar

What brought you to Illyriad and how long have you been playing?

I literally stumbled upon Illy two years ago in April of 2010. I had been trying out a few other games in Illy’s genre (but not in Illy’s league) and only lasted a few days, at best, with any of those, Then I happened upon Illy and fell in love. That was back before, biomes, geography, water or even NPCs, but it was still far superior to anything I had seen. And it has continued to get better. I am excitedly looking forward to the next two years, and the next two.

Have you played many other online games or been active in other online communities?

Nope. Just dabbled with a few gravely inferior predecessors to Illy, but never enough to get involved in what passes for a community there. Most online games fail to interest me beyond a few hours or days.

Any hidden talents or interesting hobbies outside of gaming?

I have been an actively DMing D&D games for the past 35 years, I am an amateur entomologist with a passion for eusocial aculeate Hymenoptera, and I have a deep interest in pre-classical anatolian and levantine history. My nerd credentials are fairly unassailable. IRL I work as a graphic artist in an ad agency so I am also a Photoshop pro and an expert on email marketing.

What keeps you playing Illyriad?

I love the underlying mechanics of the game, and by that I mean the fact that everything is delicately balanced. More is not necessarily better. Balancing tax rate, food consumption, population, army size, army composition, troop replacement rate and such are not straightforward propositions. I am constantly tweaking and fine tuning my towns and armies. Also, many of the mechanics are unclear. The glorious dearth of documentation on many of the aspects of the game foster guesswork, experimentation, reliance on intuition, and many fruitful discussions and arguments in GC, AC and on the forums.

What’s your favorite aspect of the game?

Well, naturally I love the community. We, the community, elevate an already excellently conceived and executed game into something truly spectacular, I have made real friends here and I deeply care for and respect most of my fellow players. There is a depth of interaction here that is rarely approached online, and sometimes not even out in the real world. I also love the persistent, sandbox concept. There is no endgame, no closure — I hate closure. We are all free to play as we see fit – I despise orthodoxy. I dearly love the graphic look and feel of the game. And, I actually love the pace! Everything requires patience and planning. Strategy and diplomacy win out always. It is possibly to step away for a few days or even weeks and come back to your towns intact, or relatively intact (not that I have ever put that theory to the test of course). Plus as a bonus, the slower pace helps keep trolls away; they get bored after a bit and go off to torment puppies or set things on fire, or whatever trolls do when they are not trying to rile up GC.

What’s your proudest achievement in game so far?

Mostly my interactions with the community. I like to think I have built somewhat of a reputation for credibility and integrity, and I am very proud of the role I have played in helping resolve several significant diplomatic situations. And I am very proud of my part in helping to set the tone within my alliance. It is a very comfortable cohesive place to be. Without any bias whatsoever, I can safely say that mCrow is clearly the best alliance! I also a a bit proud of getting a town back up to legendary size from exodus in just over a week (with plenty of help from my alliance)

What are you most looking forward to for the future of Illyriad?

Re-tooling all of my towns when the next update is released.

What area of the game do you think needs the most improvement?

Communications. Private chat, friend lists, other chat channels, improved alliance forums and a few more email enhancements would add the most. But beyond that, just more of the same, Illy is nearly perfect as is, and is getting more so steadily.

What advice would you give a new player in Illyriad?

Focus on economics before military. Build up a strong town before building an army. Go into global chat and ask questions and get to know people. Visit the forums and the wiki. Read the guides. Do not join an alliance in haste. If you find yourself in conflict with another player, talk first to that player, then if that does not work, talk to that player’s alliance. If there is still a problem, either move, or find an alliance to help you. Mostly have fun and take your time.

Preview: Illyriad UIv3


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