Hi everyone, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that your year is off to a fantastic start! Once again, I’d like to take a moment to share what we’ve been working on and what’s ahead for Forge of Empires. The most noticeable change so far has been the performance improvements to Guild Battlegrounds. We recognize that this took longer than expected, and we appreciate your patience. The reason behind the delay is that this particular system required a significant rework of some of the oldest and most complex code that had little documentation. This made the process both challenging and, in a way, an exciting puzzle for the team to solve. The introduction of Guild Expedition: Trials has sparked some discussion, particularly regarding the boost value at the higher trials. When releasing this feature, we made a conscious decision to focus on the majority of players who do not have extremely high boosts, rather than the smaller subset of players who do. That being said, we are committed to expanding Trials further and increasing the boost limits. However, before we take that step, we need to ensure that we have a well-structured reward system in place to support this progression. To create a more structured and meaningful reward system, we will be introducing Item Stores. These stores will offer a variety of items, with different stores catering to different game features. We will first introduce a couple of generic Stores, but the first feature-specific store will be for Guild Battlegrounds, where you’ll be able to purchase exclusive rewards using a new currency earned by participating in battles or negotiations within Guild Battlegrounds. Following that, we plan to expand the system to other features ensuring a more dynamic and engaging way to earn rewards. Guild Battlegrounds will also undergo further adjustments to address the ever-increasing boost levels seen in the game. Our primary goal is to prevent the experience from becoming (even more) overly time-consuming while ensuring that battles remain engaging and rewarding. This will be an ongoing effort requiring multiple iterations, and we greatly appreciate the feedback you continue to provide. Your input is crucial in helping us shape these changes in a way that benefits all players. On the event side, we are actively working on new prototypes for mechanics that could bring fresh content to our seasonal events. As part of this process, select players on beta will receive invitations to test these new mechanics, allowing us to gather valuable feedback before rolling them out on a larger scale. The first of such prototype tests has already started on beta. We look forward to seeing how these ideas evolve with your insights! Another key focus for us is enhancing the First-Time User Experience — from the very first interaction in marketing to a player's journey through the early stages of the game. The gaming industry has increasingly adopted minigames as a way to keep players engaged, and we are following suit. These minigames will be integrated into the early progression to make it more engaging and rewarding for new players. This requires a rapid, iterative approach to testing, so you may notice minigames appearing within the first few Eras in the coming months.
I'd also like to address the Great Buildings, since I am aware this is a big topic. Our plan was to rebalance some of the Great Buildings so that we would have somewhere between 10 and 15 truly powerful buildings, however other topics came up in the meantime and instead we will work towards reworking the Great Buildings in general somewhere for release in Q3. This will be more than a quick rebalance, but rather adding in a new progression system for them, allowing for more boosts and a greater benefit to gameplay. This is likely the next priority topic after we finish with Guild Battlegrounds. Finally, I’d like to take a moment to thank you for all the feedback you’ve provided over the past few months and encourage you to continue sharing your thoughts. When we analyze feedback, we generally categorize it into qualitative and quantitative data:

• Qualitative feedback includes subjective player opinions, forum discussions, and in-game comments. This helps us understand how players feel about changes and which areas are causing frustration or excitement.
• Quantitative feedback involves numerical data such as player engagement rates, completion percentages, and retention statistics. This provides an objective measure of what is actually happening in the game.

While qualitative feedback is extremely valuable, we always compare it against the data to determine whether it reflects a widespread issue or a more niche concern. Additionally, player feedback often highlights symptoms rather than root causes. Our job is to dig deeper, identifying the underlying problems and finding solutions that align with the overall vision for the game. Sometimes, we introduce changes with a specific goal in mind, which may not align with every individual playstyle—but we always strive to balance these decisions with the best interests of the community in mind. As always, thank you for being a part of the Forge of Empires community, your passion and feedback continue to shape the game.
Matt