Evony: Still Shady After All These Years

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Evony: Still Shady After All These Years


Ars Technica has published an in-depth investigation into Evony [http://www.evony.com/], the "free" online game with the notorious advertising campaign that continues to weave a tangled web of shady behavior.

Even if you've never played Evony, you've almost certainly stumbled on at least a few of its online ads featuring scantily-clad ladies and the promise of free online strategy action with millions of players around the world. The ads have grown increasingly suggestive, some would say ridiculous, since the game launched, with a few going as far as to feature nothing but a pair of healthy, barely-covered breasts. On the upside, Evony inspired a far more entertaining Plants vs. Zombies [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93649-PopCaps-Evony-Spoof-Ads-for-Plants-vs-Zombies-Keep-Coming].

But Evony has been plagued by allegations of shadiness and for good reason, as revealed by a new Ars Technica investigation into the game. The game is advertised as being free to play, but the reality is somewhat different, as various fees suddenly start to pop up after the game's early levels are completed. Worse, while numerous players who have paid to play have reported unexplained disappearances of their in-game "coins," Evony's customer service appears to have no interest in doing anything about it.

There are also allegations that Evony's client software includes invasive tracking software which "harvest massive amounts of information" when the game is running. Those claims are particularly alarming, according to the report, because of Evony's association with other companies which have also been accused of bad, sometimes fraudulent, behavior. There's even a link to the infamous World of Warcraft ripoff, lawsuit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98390-The-World-of-LordCraft-is-Coming] against blogger Bruce Everiss, which is still underway.

How does such a dodgy game continue to operate unfettered? That part, unfortunately, isn't really nailed down, but it's nonetheless a very interesting and informative look at the game and the people behind it, and definitely worth a read. Check out the whole thing (I know the boobs can be distracting, but be sure to read the second page, too) at arstechnica.com [http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2010/03/evony-investigating-the-game-everyone-loves-to-hate.ars/].


Permalink
 

Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
4,886
0
0
Alright who actually clicked on one of those ads to play this game? Don't be ashamed, your punishment is well deserved.
 

johnman

New member
Oct 14, 2008
2,915
0
0
So they collect personal infomation and then sell it on? Rather like a certain facebook developer.....
 

GrinningManiac

New member
Jun 11, 2009
4,090
0
0
If you fall for that, I think it should be considered charity that they remove all that data from you, as you clearly lack the common sense to understand it, and it probably makes your head hurt.

NEVER TRUST GAMES THAT ARE "FREE". NOONE IS THAT GENEROUS
 

Jumplion

New member
Mar 10, 2008
7,873
0
0
I really find it disturbing that the company has managed to get away with these advertisements for so long...
 

SturmDolch

This Title is Ironic
May 17, 2009
2,346
0
0
These guys advertise on my website. Whatever. I would block them somehow with Google ads, but eh...
 

Twad

New member
Nov 19, 2009
1,254
0
0
How is that suprising? Free online MMOG are pretty much non-existant (always a paying part somewhere) THey arent the only ones who do Boob-baiting.

With an ad campaign like that, its obvious they only care about money.
Heck, BOOBS bait for a online strategy game? For ANY game? They really take their clients for idiots.
 

Sevre

Old Hands
Apr 6, 2009
4,886
0
0
johnman said:
So they collect personal infomation and then sell it on? Rather like a certain facebook developer.....
Low blow at the opposition there!
 

Koganesaga

New member
Feb 11, 2010
581
0
0
It has nothing to do with those barely clothed women, and it's so slow paced I could die from old age before you get anything fun done.
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
5,630
0
0
The adverts are so rediculous...but,. we only have the people who play it to blame... /sigh

Its things like this which give gamers a bad name at times
 

ad4m101

New member
Jan 17, 2010
125
0
0
at least a while back the women looked kinda medieval i saw one the other day that was just a CG woman with neon glowing plates hardly covering the boobs. i said to my self " £10 this is evony"
guess who it was?
 

GloatingSwine

New member
Nov 10, 2007
4,544
0
0
Sevre90210 said:
Alright who actually clicked on one of those ads to play this game? Don't be ashamed, your punishment is well deserved.
I might have if I thought the game was going to be anywhere near as good as the ads ;)
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

New member
Sep 6, 2009
6,019
0
0
Pimppeter2 said:
You know? I just realized that I have no idea what the game is about.
Its essentially a poor cloned version of Civillisation, and theres no boobs.

Not that Civ has boobs, I dont know if it does, never really got in to it.
 

Pills_Here

New member
Dec 10, 2009
140
0
0
Man, I can't fucking stand those ads. It's just lazy, you get the impression there was a boardroom full of white dudes trying to figure out how to market the game and "tits" were resoundingly the answer.
 

GloatingSwine

New member
Nov 10, 2007
4,544
0
0
Pimppeter2 said:
You know? I just realized that I have no idea what the game is about.
Same as Travian and all the other boring online citybuilders. Only probably with more 14 year old griefers thanks to the tits on the ads.
 

SquirrelPants

New member
Dec 22, 2008
1,729
0
0
GrinningManiac said:
If you fall for that, I think it should be considered charity that they remove all that data from you, as you clearly lack the common sense to understand it, and it probably makes your head hurt.

NEVER TRUST GAMES THAT ARE "FREE". NOONE IS THAT GENEROUS
I disagree. There are a lot of great games that are completely free around. For example, Kingdom of Loathing, Echo Bazaar, and Improbable Island.

But falling for a ridiculously stupid ad campaign like that is no reason to have all your information stolen.
 

hansari

New member
May 31, 2009
1,256
0
0
Andy Chalk said:
How does such a dodgy game continue to operate unfettered? That part, unfortunately, isn't really nailed down...
Now IGDA...ATTACK!!



You've been lying in wait for a moment like this. Taking on the gargantuan publishers and deviant "crunch-time" practices of the industry is too notorious a challenge for such a fledgling group...but this!!!

Surely this is what you have been waiting for!!