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[Catastrophic lolcats]

I came across this game after it was annouced on Steam and I've been hunting around on the internet for the past few minutes trying to find some reviews or something about the game. There's barely any.

The gameplay looks like a cross between Stronghold and Crusader Kings, where a fief must be constructed from scratch and built into a mighty fortress. All the ingame interactions seem to be done between players including trading and claim climbing. (I have to say I love the sprite work)
This mesh-up both excites me and has me a little worried, seems like something that could work very well if done right or just fail if done wrong. 

So far the biggest warning bell for me is the Free2Play tag which I usually avoid like the plague. Why I'm not a fan of subscription based games I don't like the Pay2Win model even more. I'm more of a "pay once" kinda guy (See Neverwinter Nights).
It seems that Stronghold Kingsdom have this model by allowing the person to buy varying "cards" that give you bonuses in wealth, rank, defence and the like. This could be a big deal breaker for me if it throws anykind of balance out the window.

There's also a "premium" account to buy where you can have an automatic governer take over your kingdom while you're offline. Why they didn't decide to just have the "free2play account" the demo and the premium account the retail game (ala Team Fortress 2) is beyond me.

So anyone here played this or have tried it?  I'd like to hear opinions about the game and hopefully I won't have to write it off as "Pay2Win trash".

Links: http://store.steampowered.com/app/47410/
         http://www.strongholdkingdoms.com/

[LoSboccacc]

I've played around a bit, it's more like an online game in which you are action limited by spendable points.
didn't like, I just hate games that forces upon me a rate of playing. but the system was interesting and castle building bonanza is definitely there.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

Ahh it has that actions locked to a day bollocks? I always hated those and never really bothered with them, I guess it's meant to balance it for all players but it just makes the game bland for me, do two things and have nothing else to do save logging out.

Suppose it's the only way you could have it however, as games like this would just be logging out and getting steam rolled by someone.

[LoSboccacc]

well, as one always get steamrolled by earlier player (see ogame or spiral knight for rate limited and rate unlimited online games) the presence of action points is just a way to extract revenue, and has nothing to do with balance

[ThtblovesDF]

Nay, long term.

[Jopax]

When did they limit that?

Last time I played (half a year ago I think) it was pretty much Ogame with a Stronghold setting, castle building was fun, research was also quite nicely detailed and trading and province managment is nicely done aswell. It does get boring in the endgame where you are limited to one tactic if you want to win, still worth a few minutes of your day if you ask me, esecially because of the music

[Akura]

Nay. Pretty much run by powergamers and money-hungry P2W F2P, last time I played.

[baruk]

 Yay for this - played it for a few days, and enjoying figuring out the best strategy to gain honour and the most cost efficient castle set-up. Lots of interesting choices to make - this is the key. I have never actually been bothered too much about trying to WIN these sorts of games - finding that elegant strategy that wins you a battle is more satisfying for me than the diplomatic grind and sheer endurance necessary to win a war. "Pay2win" is not an issue for me.
 I've also played Stratis Imperia recently, and can't help but notice how Stronghold highlights a poor design choice in that game - buildings that must be "levelled up", taking hours at a time, is a bit of a chore in a browser game (many clicks meaning many page reloads) - it also means changing your industrial strategy mid-way through the game is incredibly slow and sub-optimal.
 Stronghold's logarithmic approach is a breath of fresh air (ie. successive buildings of the same type cost more). It really takes away the "click grind", so you can actually focus on playing the game.

edit: there is no "action point" system, but without premium, you don't get build/research queuing. There seems to be no artificial limit on castle building, troop recruiting or anything else (that I'm aware of).

[Lord Dullard]

Necromancy, I know, but for good reason.

I've been playing this quite a bit lately - having fun with it so far. It makes a really good complement to coding, because you can check on it every 15-30 minutes and perform actions, then go back to whatever you were doing beforehand. I started up in the new World 5 at the behest of an RL friend who's playing, and I'm now level 10, about to break 11. So far I've taken a primarily economic approach. On the SK wiki they advise you not to buy research points early on, but this seemed inherently stupid to me, since with a lot of the technologies you research the benefits will help you a LOT in the early game. My instinct seems to have been correct thus far: I've easily surpassed all of the higher-leveled players in my parish already, not to mention the friend who got me started. I've been upgrading my military as needs require, so I can now support a not-too-shabby army capable of crushing bandit lairs and wolf dens. I've vassalized another player and had him join the unofficial alliance I'm in, and also have a full army of archers stationed in his village (right on the border of my honor circle) so that I can get double the honor from dens/hideouts.

Advice to new players: after getting your economy up and humming, take Forced March up to 8. It is absolutely essential if you want to be competitive about nabbing those lairs.

If anyone starts up in World 5, look me up. I'm Lord Dullard in the parish of Enniscorthy, county of Wexford. I can try to send some supplies and such your way to get your early game going, and probably spare a few troops.