Reporting the new T4 open beta.

Hey!

I'm the Red_Barron, from the .Com forum and I’m going to be blogging about the T4 open beta server. I’ve never played T4 before, nor have I read anything about it. I decided to apply for a registration code out of impulse, which got accepted, so here I am, writing as a newbie.

I've played Travian for around 4 years now and am always one of the first to complain about any updates that occur however this is different. I'm currently bored of the same old Travian, so hopefully this rejuvenation will be a success.

The first thing that struck me, when registering, was that when I received my activation email I was asked to ‘create my hero’. This seemed strange to me since it was nothing more than giving a man a beard and some hair. However, it all makes sense now – as I’ll explain further into this post.

After eventually being able to log in (I decided to wait for it to cache images, even though I have no idea what it means), I was shocked by the interface. I hated it. 3 hours later, I have changed my mind completely and now find it attractive but very, very different.

Although the buildings look a lot like something from a cartoon they actually look a lot more like what I imagine the buildings would have looked like. They look more aged, more medieval and a lot more artistic and detailed.

I can't post without mentioning the changes to the map ... It has been completely changed. If you were to compare a before and after image, you wouldn't believe they belonged to the same game. However, I believe the map is a good update - the ability to zoom especially. The one thing I dislike with the new map feature however is the oasis. It is hard to distinguish an oasis between an unoccupied valley and even harder to differentiate between which oasis offers which bonus.

The ability to do so many different things with the hero is by far the best addition to the game. The reason you can change your heros appearance is because you can change his clothing and items to change his attributes and the benefits you receive from him.

One of the first few quests, surprisingly, was to build a rally point and further, to send your hero on his first 'adventure'. I sent my hero, and within 20 minutes he arrived back with 6 cages. These traps will enable me to capture animals from oasis (without loss) and enslave them into becoming defenders for my village until they die or I send them back. Alternatively, I can, once I've completed 10 adventures, offer my cages on the auction, in exchange for other goods or silver (another new addition).

My hero has since been on a further 2 adventures and has returned with silver coins (These can be used to purchase equitable items to your hero which will boost his stats) and a 'book of wisdom'. The book of wisdom enables you to reset your hero attributes and rearrange them however you choose.

I could continue writing for hours on end, however dinner is beckoning me so I will round this post off with one final remark, regarding the hero. Instead of attack and defence points, it has been compressed down so that there is just one category for the heroes personal strength. It is now known as fighting strength. You still have the ability to add points to you attack and defence bonus. There is another new addition regarding the hero. You have the ability to change the amount of resources produced by the hero. This does NOT work in a percentage, rather 10 per point added. It is useful for start game since you can change it as often as you like - meaning if you are 30 wood short when trying to build a clay field, you can change the resource production of the hero so that you are able to afford it quicker.

I'm not sure how this server will pan out but hopefully it will give me a lot to write about. Let's hope for an interesting and very busy server.

That's about it for today. All in all, I've very pleased with this update and I hope it will mean a long, healthy future for Travian. Stay tuned for more posts very soon and perhaps even an alliance analysis at some point.

Red_Barron

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