Travian Crewchat Report

I went to the Travian Crewchat yesterday, and had a good time asking the game’s crew a bunch of questions (along with tons of other players doing the same). You can read the entire chatlog here: http://travian.pastebin.com/f3cd6283e. But to save everyone some time, I’ve picked out some of the juicy parts and I’ll be posting them on this site.

This meeting was a Travian blogger’s dream, and there was easliy enough content in it that I could write about nothing but it for a week if I wanted to. But instead I’ll try to cover everything in three five posts or less.

The number one question in the Crewmember chat was: “How can I become a crewmember.” Uncoincidently, the second most popular question during the crew member chat was: “Why aren’t crewmembers paid?” Here are the crewmembers answers to those questions in their own words:

Question from Sola: what is the crew 0.0? [10:44]

Answered by Buzzball: people… like multihunters supporters forum moderators admins [10:44]

Question from Sola: i want to join the crew it sounds fun, where do i sign up [10:44] Answered by

Chrisvc: have a look here: http://forum.travian.com/showthread.php?t=73112

Question from Night-Life: Is there need for other crewmembers? [10:11]

Answered by memory: yes, there always is a need, apply at the link here: http://forum.travian.com/showthread.php?t=73112

Question from Night-Life: Is there need for other crewmembers? [10:14]

Answered by Kap: we always need new crewmembers who love the game and (are) willing to help others 🙂

As I said, there were a lot of people asking about this, so hopefully many of those who did will follow through. The better the crew that runs things behind the scenes is, the better the game will be for everyone. I was recently thinking about applying for a crewmember position myself, but I decided to start this site instead.

If they start paying crewmembers, that might change my mind, but from these responses it looks like that won’t happen anytime soon:

Question from Herokles: we pay so much money to travian each month, why dont you get any money for your work? (It would) also result in higher quality mh’s (Multi-hunters) since alot of good mh’s dont wanna work for free. [10:10]

Answered by Litch: the money helps pay for the upkeep of the servers 🙂 Question from

vladan: Why (is the) travian crew not paid with actual money? (Game Admin, MH, supporters etc.) [10:28]

Answered by Iluvatar|Afk: because we are doing this for our fun, not for money

Guess I’ll just stick to blogging then!

There were a number of “joke questions” people liked to ask the Crew members, some which were actually funny, and others that were pretty lame. Here are two of my favourites:

Question from Namebrand: If i were to get the lil travian dood tattood on my bum and advertise at parties would that get me free gold? [10:50]

Answered by Buzzball: i doubt it but it is original

Question from IRCmeet989: if Mcdonalds gave you tons of money, would you make a tribe based on their characters? [10:34]

Answered by Litch: Yeah 😀 I mean attacking a village with an army of Ronald McDonald’s would be awesome

Since the IRC Crewchat happened shortly after the upgrades to version 3.5, it’s not surprising that some of the questions asked during the chat were about the recent change. Here’s one from yours truely:

Question from Randomgeek: question Do you think the 3 races are perfectly ballanced in 3.5, or is one stronger/weaker than the others? [10:35]

Answered by Iluvatar|Afk: They are not totally the same, every tribe has its own needed playing style. But in 3.5 it’s better balanced than in T3

I agree that the tribes are better balanced in version 3.5 then they were in 3.0. Teutons seemed a bit overpowered in 3.0 so I’m glad they tried to even things out.

The biggest change from version 3.0 to 3.5 is probably the artifacts, which will really change how the game is played. Some players are worried about this:

Question from fastfinger: dosen’t artifacts make big players bigger and small player smaller? [10:13]

Answered by memory: no, not at all

I agree with Memory, though I would have liked it if she gave a longer answer to the question. Even if a small players don’t get to hold any artifacts, they’ll still be an important part of the battle over them. Anyone who’s actively played to the end of the game in Travian knows that small players are needed to supply World Wonder villages with troops and crops, and with Artifacts to defend, they’ll now be needed to do that much earlier in the game as well. Plus becasue there are a lot more artifacts than there are World Wonders, smaller players have a much better chance of holding one at some point. Artifacts will make small players and small alliances play a larger role in the game, and it will also make them important earlier in the game than they were previously. At least I think so.

There are a lot of Artifacts that will be up for grabs, so which ones are the biggest prize will be an important question. Here’s what one of the crew members thinks:

Question from Randomgeek: QUESTION Which artifact is the best in your opinion? [12:15]

Answered by Phanttis: The one that makes enemy catapults fire randomly is great, the one that makes troops train faster is also good, and the one that makes troops faster is just plain awesomeness for gauls. If i had to choose …. ½ cropusage artifact is what i would want. Yummu! ^^

1/2 cropusage does sounds pretty sweet. Just think of how big an army you could feed!

Many players are already looking forward to Travian 4.0, but the Crew members were tight lipped about it:

Question from Randomgeek: question What are some of the plans for Travian 4.0? [10:16]

Answered by Josh: If I told you that, I’m afraid I would have to kill you. Sorry.

Yikes! That didn’t stop some players from asking about it:

Question from koentjuh1: Is T4 going to be like T3.5, or is T3.5 just a version to keep us satisfied, while T4 has a whole other concept? [10:21]

Answered by Phanttis: T4 will be something totally awesome and a huuuuuuuuuuuuge step above T3.5! 😉

I wonder what sort of huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge changes they’ll make? More units? Different types of terrain? A new race to play as? There are a lot of possibilities. When they made made verson 3.0 they added in Oasises and Heroes, which really added a lot of depth and variety to the game. I wonder if we’ll get something along those lines.

Question from koentjuh1: What can you tell about T4? We haven’t had any clue how it will be. [10:49]

Answered by Phanttis: I only know it is very secret, and even if I knew something about it I would have to say that I do not know anything else about it except that it is very secret. ^^

Question from koentjuh1: What’s your opinion about the delay of T4? [10:06]

Answered by Tranqer: I think it is important to create a product that really improves and goes way further than the existing version. T3.5 is a good alternative to offer something new, without needing to completely re-write Travian in the meantime 🙂

I agree, Travian 3.5 should be a lot of fun. I like the changes I’ve seen so far, and I’m eagerly awaiting the artifacts to see how they change the game. Version 3.0 has been out for nearly 3 years, so adding in the new content of 3.5 gives players a breath of freash air and keep things from getting monotamous.

So when is version 4.0 coming out? Here’s what the crewmembers said:

Question from Jourei: when will T4.0 come out? [10:22]

Answered by memory: well, I’d say another year and a half to 2 years but no one really knows

Question from koentjuh1: Is there any idea when T4 will be ready? [10:26] Answered by

Josh: Unfortunately not. 😥

Question from Scatux: Travian v4 is for when ? [11:01]

Answered by Tschena: you got t3.5 some weeks ago – now you have to wait for t4 a bit 😉

That might sound like a long time, but then again a game of Travian takes a long time to finish. We’ll only have time for 2 or 3 full games of 3.5 before Travian 4.0 comes out if the crew member predictions are correct.

During the crewchat there were many interesting questions asked about Travian, here are some of the best ones:

Question from Jourei: how many servers have you got total? [10:08] Answered by Tranqer: As of this morning, Travian has 322 public and running servers (worlds).

I knew this game is popular, but DAMN!!! Interesting stat: When you add together the English-speaking servers (.com, .us, .uk, and .au) there are 30 altogether. So that means less than 10% of the Travian servers are in English (9.32% to be exact). So just how many different languages are those other servers in?

Question from Jourei: how many languages is Travian translated to? [10:48]

Answered by Buzzball: to many to count.. look at http://www.travian.com and look at the top of the page you will see the languages there

I didn’t bother counting, but according to the website of the company that made Travian, it has been translated into 43 different languages.

Since the .com servers are for International play, the crew behind it is also international as well:

 Question from flutflutflyer: What country are you from? [10:08]

Answered by Phanttis: from all over the world… some are from thailand, some from japan, some from america… and many are from different countries of europe – finland, norway, netherlands, italy, germany, UK, …

Hmmm, no Canadians? Maybe I should apply and then I could be the first!

Question from Randomgeek: question What’s the maximum number of players that can be on one Travian server? [10:42]

Answered by Iluvatar|Afk: Around 40.000

A lot of the .com servers are filling up fast then. Server 9 and the new Speed server just started and they already both have around 40,000 players. Server 2 is close to full as well. So if anyone is upset about you catapulting them, try telling them that you’re doing it to control the population!

The Speed Server filled up so fast that you can no longer register for it on the main page. But Phanttis told everyone in the chatroom how to get in the backdoor:

 Question from noob: when will the new accounts in 3x server be possible again?? [12:39]

Answered by Phanttis: The registration is not closed… it has just vanished from front page. You can still register at http://speed.travian.com/anmelden.php … Just to trying to give the server some breathing room. 😉

The next server to open up will be the new Server 4, but don’t expect it to be open for a while:

Question from IRCmeet756: QUESTION do you know when S4 restarts [12:31]

Answered by Tschena: perhaps in about 10 weeks

If you can’t wait that long, Server 9 is still pretty new, and Server 7 still has lots of room.

Question from T_guest721: QUESTION ever think about adding difficulties of snow, rain, sandstorms, or any other mother nature dish as a variable to the outcome of battle? [11:13]

Answered by Kap: that is a good idea to me but will add more problems to our beginner

 It’s good that the team is thinking about the beginners, because it’s true that this game is already complex enough. Ideas like this that sound like a fun idea to veterans would just make things harder on new players to get used to the game.

And speaking about beginners…

Question from IRCmeet454: Why are Romans recommended for beginners? [11:20]

Answered by Kap: their troops are the most stabilized (and) can be used in both defense and offense. Just too expensive xD

I never really thought of it that way before, but it makes sense that the tribe recommended for beginners gets the most versatile of the starting troops, the Legionnaire. And thankfully they’re less expensive in version 3.5.

A lot of people had questions about Multi-hunters, so I thought I’d highlight them:

Question from Kingslayer: Do multihunters need to have any real proof to ban a player, or are mere suspicions of cheating sufficient? [10:29]

Answered by Josh: Multihunters won’t ban a player without sufficient proof that they have broken the rules.

Question from Faerie: are you guys gluttons for punishment or do you just really like all the annoying IGMs and free gold? [11:22]

Answered by Phanttis: What free gold? But yes, basically we do this because we want to support the game and make it as fair for anyone as possible! *in preaching tone*

Multi-hunters do not get free gold. I’m not sure where people got that idea from. They do it on a volunteer basis. And apparently they can be quite busy:

Question from IRCmeet459: How many people do you ban in a day on average?? [11:33]

Answered by Chrisvc: that depends on how much time I’ve got on a specific day. Could be anything from 10 up to 100.

Banning 100 people in a day sounds like fun.

Question from Sk8ersam: When the MH’s are looking at our pages, is there a big button saying “BAN” or what?? [11:47]

Answered by Chrisvc: there’s only a small button and a lot of more information about your account on the page that we can see

Question from cheezybits: if you don’t get paid why stick with the job? for the love of the game? [11:53]

Answered by monkey7: Because of the fun with the team, and the job itself is fun. Who doesn’t like helping people or tracking down cheaters? 🙂

I already posted some of the funny questions from the Travian Crewchat in part one of my report about it, but I thought I’d post a few more before they get deleted and forgotten:

Question from FiSK: Have you tried Tribalwars? [10:24] Answered by

Iluvatar|Afk: Yes, it’s a shitty game It’s almost all copied from Travian

Ah Tribalwars. So delighfully janky.

Question from Jourei: How can I create troops? [10:55]

Answered by Litch: Build a rally point and a barracks 🙂

If the Crew had a nickel for every time someone asked that we wouldn’t need to pay for plus accounts.

Question from Tylers: What is the most annoying support message? [11:10]

Answered by Buzzball: how to build a woodcutter (first task in the taskmaster) or my senator is lost I build it all ready in the academy

Having to ask support how to build a woodcutter = Instant Fail.

Question from flycatcher: my friend’s nephew Jamie is about 16 years old and says he gets paid to run a Travian server, how likely is this to be true?

Answered by Archonn: Its definitely not true

Thanks for mentioning his name instead of just saying “my friend’s nephew” and leaving it at that. Sorry Jamie, you’ll have to get a real job! I hope this kid gets grounded becauase of the Crew chat. 🙂

Question from WhiteFang: Why did you interrupt my all important raiding to put a message on the about this? [10:26]

Answered by Tranqer: Because your part of Travian – and Travian is a community. It’s important to interact with those of who you are a part of 😉

 Why did you interupt your all important raiding to come to the chat room to complain?

As I mentioned earlier, the next server that will be finishing is Server 3, also known as the “Classic” server. I’m going to have more coverage of the finish to their endgame on this site soon. In the meantime, here’s some discussion about the server from the Crewchat:

Question from IRCmeet704: will s3.com restart as a classic again? [11:57]

Answered by Chrisvc: yes it will restart a few weeks after the endgame of the current s3 has finished So if you haven’t given classic a try before, you’ll have a chance soon!

Question from IRCmeet704: when s3.com restarts, will it be classic version or t3.5 version? [12:14]

Answered by Chrisvc: it will restart as a classic server again, but with T3.5

I assume he means with 3.5 graphics. Unless classic is getting things like artifacts and 7-croppers as well. I’ll try to get a clarification soon.

Question from Sk8ersam: Who will win S3? ATCK or WAR-FWH?? [11:59]

Answered by Chrisvc: atm it looks like WAR-FWH, but who knows what ATCK has planned We’ll find out soon.

Question from koentjuh1: Will T2 ever return? [12:43]

Answered by Tschena: no

To my understanding, besides graphical differences, the main difference between Travian 2.0 and 2.5 was that there was no Tournament Square, Trade Office, Great Barracks, or Great Stable. Taking those buildings out would make the game a lot less fun to play for a whole year. I can imagine the game without Heroes or Oasises, but I would go crazy if I didn’t have a Tournament Square!

I also read the Team Chat for the .us servers. Overall I’d say that it wasn’t as informative or relevant as the .com Team Chat, there was a much higher percentage of silly questions and people just goofing off (I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with goofing off in chatrooms, it’s just not something I enjoy having to read through). But there were some really good questions and answers, which I’ve compiled together for anyone who’s interested. Even if you play on non-US servers, I think you’ll find these interesting.

Question from ProtiuM: How many people are on the travian team?

Answered by Fighter: On US we have a team of over 70, worldwide it is over 600

Wow. How many other games out there have a 600 person crew running it? Reading numbers like that remind me that when I play Travian I’m part of something very big.

There were some interesting gameplay questions in the chat that I didn’t know the answers to before. Here are two of them:

 Question from IRCmeet520: How will artifacts be treated if the owner deletes?

Answered by Seth: It will work like the current way it does for the building plans, it will be destroyed, but the admin can still respawn the artifact if necessary, which will most likely happen

Question from noobtard: Ok who would be able to answer if the residence increases (the defense) for a World Wonder. It is a question I have always wondered.

Answered by Seth: The residence only adds a static bonus based on the level, basically like an over powered troop, but since there are so many defensive troops in a WW village it doesn’t really make much of a difference. The spot is better spent on the Great Warehouses and Great Granaries.

Here’s another thing I didn’t know: There actually is server that doesn’t have any Gold on it! (Just not in English)

Question from mib_i0futk: please make a server with no gold, put advertisements on it, why not? please

Answered by Lurk: There is a server like that on .org but it is in German. Running this site takes up quite a few funds unfortunately.

Sounds unlikely that it’ll ever be done on an English-speaking server, but at least they’ve given it a try.

Some great advice: Question from mooseknuckle: what’s a good tip for an intermediate player? Something that they may not realize?

Answered by Gerwin: Negative wheat is not deadly.

Gerwin hit this answer out of the park. When I first started I was terrified of having negative wheat. It wasn’t until the end of my first server that I realized that having a ton of raiders would make up for the lack of wheat, and that it was okay to sustain a large army by using your other cities. On my second server, half my cities were in negative wheat for most of the game, and I was a much better player because of it!

Question from Gilman: When will the T3.5 map be introduced, and on what server?

Answered by retched: The 3.5 map is fully enabled on US1 and will be enabled on all future servers going forward. Unless Fighter decides he wants to open a classic.

US1 is the first .US server to use the new 3.5 map. Also, I didn’t realize it before, but S3.com is the only English-language Classic server in the world. (BTW, Fighter is the admin for .us servers, similar to Tschena on .com)

Question from redwing: i was wondering if you considered adding a King and archers to the game?

Answered by Tranqer: We have looked into adding several troops, however adding more troops (or tribes for that matter) will make the game very unbalanced. At this moment there no plans to add new troops or tribes 😉

It’s interesting that they have looked into it. I’d love to hear more about the troops they’ve thought about adding and what they would have done. But I’m also happy with the troops that are in the game now. It doesn’t really need any more.

There were lots of questions about the Multihunters and the people behind the game. Here some of them:

Question from ProtiuM: Can you go onto any players account?

Answered by Seth: The MH and Admin can see everything that is done on any account. Everything.

Question from IRCmeet995: how much time does MH spend /day /week MHing?

Answered by Seraphim_: It’s variable, actually. Some days, it may take 20-30 minutes. Other days, it can take hours. It depends a lot on whether one of the MH’s on that server has done an audit that day to check for rule-breakers. If they have, the bans prompt a lot of messages, a lot of time to be spent.

Question from Tenacity: What do administrators do?

Answered by Tranqer: Admins mostly focus on crew management, complaints, server management, marketing, and checking daily the quality and speed of services by the crewmembers to the local players.

Just like on on the .com servers, the .us servers are also taking applicants to be Multihunter or Support.

Question from nate1: how can i become a support

Answered by memory: Go here to look for the link to the application: You must click the link: http://forum.travian.us/showthread.php?t=30895

If you’re interested in being part of the .com crew, the link for that is in part one of my report on their Crewchat.

Apparently the Multihunters on the .US servers do get Gold in exchange for helping out:

Interview> Question from arteest: Are there any in-game perks for those who work on the game?

Answered by Seth: We get gold for our accounts, but not a lot. We most live with the joy that we helped make Travian a better place for everyone.

Question from IRCmeet657: do crew get paid?

Answered by Lurk: Our crew are volunteers; the administrator(s) get paid.

The crew are given some Gold as thanks for their work. As someone pointed out, the value of the Gold they get is FAR below minimum wage, so don’t get jealous!

Question from slowpoker: Are there any awards at the end of a server?

Answered by Seraphim_: Um… bragging rights…. your alliance’s name in neon lights…. party favors…. fireworks…. 😛

And you also get to have your alliance listed on this very site, of course! I’m making the bragging rights much more real! (I’ll have to work on the neon lights though)

If you’re looking for something to put in your signature on the Travian forums, I think this Q&A would be perfect:

Question from Twitch: question What is the point of this game?

Answered by Seth: To get to the end and build a WW, but also to smash things.

And finally, the question that we are all wondering the answer to:

Question from Eukara: how many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

Answered by retched: The world may never know.