Hello my dear and loving friends!
I never write on the forums and to be honest I have never played again on a .net world.
It is just that you are making quite a fuss for all the little and maybe some big things regarding the game and I just want to give you my opinion on those matters.
First topic: Looting. Dear Novembre and the rest of you... You can never compare anyone on this game anymore given the p2w options. Do you really think you are a late starter or that 2-3, even 7 days make a difference? You can check everybody's loots, however does this really help? We only had a day difference with Teh Ninja, looted more than him, yet check the rankings. No matter how fast we farmed, no matter what we really did he is 2 weeks ahead of us and this gap will continue to grow. He had easy targets, he consumed quite a lot of PP and... voila!!! Villages, troops, loots... Everything will be getting better for him, while all of you will keep looking and wondering. That means, anyone who joins today may be above you by the end of the week. The only way to know your "effectiveness" in farming is by dividing your loots by your troop count. Do you think anybody will tell you that?
Next topic: PP-farming
I just want to be honest with you. I don't like it. I hate being left behind because somebody else abuses the p2w options. I only used 600pp thus far and I believe no more will be used in the future. However I cannot object since it's perfectly legal and everybody can do it. It's not a gap between skill and money, as anyone can get PP for free these days. Jump some worlds, get your PP count high and go for rank 1. Will you be satisfied, will you be able to say you deserved it? Most probably yes, you "worked" for those PP, you used time refreshing the market, so cool! The real thing however is, will you be able to hold your rank in the future? From my personal experience true skill and abilities on the game get you further than this. As your loots get bigger, PP won't be a match for you in the long run. Looting is far better than PP, however PP can give you the boost to loot big. So, I believe nobody should anymore talk about this topic. It's legal and anybody can do it. And while it's legal and anybody can do it, it still let's you catch up to those who do it and even get ahead of them. No more excusses and blaming Innogames for wanting you to pay to stay competitive. Compared to other games this one is free... End of discussion!
Last topic: Comparison
So, to end this quite long post. You can never be able to compare with anybody. Everybody has his game, everybody has his will. Only the final countdown will compare everyone and it will be absolute. PP, loots, skills and anything else regarding the game will be shown in the end. Last man standing in a way... Use anything at your disposal to get above everybody else. Till then you should never compare yourself to others, you should only compare to yourself. What did you do, how did you do it, what was your potential and mostly are you satisfied with what you did? The only way to get better is by pushing yourself, demanding more of you and in the end accomplishing it.
That is my opinion and I hope it gave some insight to you guys. Old and new players, good and bad... Just do what you are capable of doing and be happy with it. Don't try to reach someone else, try to reach your limits and get better than who you were some days, weeks, worlds ago. That's all... Many kisses, happy farming and ENJOY the game... YOUR game!!!
With love,
~Poseidon