Conquer Club

Infobox Website
name = Conquer Club



caption =
commercial = Yes
url = http://www.conquerclub.com
type = MMO strategy game
owner = Salamander Software
author = Salamander Software
launch date = January 2 2006
current status = Active

Conquer Club is a massively multiplayer online turn-based strategy game similar in gameplay to the board game "Risk". Its creator, who uses the pseudonym "lackattack", launched the game on January 2 2006, and currently maintains the site. As of May 21 2008, the website has over 200,000 registered accounts. [ [http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=200000 Player 200,000's profile] ]

Game rules

The rules of a Conquer Club game are similar to those of the board game "Risk". The goal is world domination, and is achieved by conquering all of the opponents or meeting the winning objectives specific to the map. The game is played on a map, and players are randomly allotted territories to begin the game. Players take turns, and each turn consists of deploying armies to already held territories, then conquering adjacent territories, and finally fortifying armies to the front lines. Conquer Club players may compete, not only on a traditional world map, but on almost 100 different maps. These maps depict actual geographical locations, fictional locations, popular games, and even outer space. Most maps contain continents consisting of one or more territories. Interestingly, all of the maps, except for the classic Risk map, were created by Conquer Club members.in standard games, each player has 24 hours in which to finish each turn. Once turns are started, players have one hour to complete them. In speed games, each player has 5 minutes in which to finish each turn. If players fail to take their turns within the alloted times, they are skipped; the next time they take their turns, they receive the armies that they would have received during their missed turns. These deferred armies may only be deployed at the end of the turn. Players missing 3 turns in a row (referred to as "deadbeats") are kicked out of the game. [ [http://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?page=instructions1 Rules Overview] ]

Official rules

The "Rules" section of the website lists two main rules:
*No multiple accounts- A player can only have one account to his or her name. Players may want to have multiple accounts for several reasons: they may use both accounts in the same game with an unspoken alliance between them, they may use one account to suicide on other players and help the other account win, or they may simply want to double the amount of games they can play. Routine scans are performed, and any accounts that are thought to be "multi's" are banned from Conquer Club.
*No secret diplomacy- Any form of diplomatic discussion between opponents must be posted in the game chat in a language that all opponents understand. Diplomacy includes, but is not limited to: proposing truces, negotiating alliances, and coordinating attacks. Any players found guilty is blocked from playing with each other.

Premium membership

For $25 a year, players can purchase "Premium Membership" for their account. This enables several features:
*The four game limit is removed, and players can play an unlimited amount of games at one time.
*Players can participate in Speed Games, where they are only given 5 minutes to take their turn.
*Players can create Private games that are password protected.
*The account's rank icon changes from silver to gold.Premium membership can also be bought for other accounts as a gift. This is a common prize in tournaments.

Taking a turn

Turns in Conquer Club are divided into three phases: deployment, attacking, and fortification.

Deployment phase

During the deployment phase, players place armies that they earn at the start of their turn. The number of armies earned can be found using the formula$frac\{t\}\{3\}+c+s\; ,$,where

t = number of held territories,

c = all continent bonuses, and

s = all card set bonuses.

If . This ensures that a player will never get less than 3 armies to deploy.

Attacking phase

During the attacking phase, the player may attack the territories of opposing players and attempt to reduce the enemy army count to zero. The result of an attack is determined by a dice roll, similar to Risk. A player may attack with every army on a territory simultaneously using the 'Auto-Attack' button. This continues rolling the dice until either the opposing territory is captured, or the attacker is left with 3 or less armies on their territory. Since one army must be left behind to occupy the original territory, the actual amount of armies attacking is one less than the amount in the territory. If the enemy territory is successfully captured, the player may move any number of the remaining armies to the new territory. If a player has no more territories on the board, they are eliminated. Their cards go to the player who captured their last territory.

Fortification phase

Finally, during the fortification phase, a player may transfer armies between territories. Armies can only travel between territories that are connected by other territories which you occupy. In team games, players can fortify their partners with their own armies. [ [http://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?page=instructions2 Turn Instructions] ]

Game settings

Games can be started by any player at any time, provided that they are not at their maximum game capacity of four games. A variety of settings can be changed, including the following:

Number of players

A game can contain two to eight players, among which territories are distributed equally at the start of the game. The remainder of territories are made neutral. If there are two players, each is given one third of the territories, and the remaining third are made neutral.

Map

As of September 19 2008, there are a total of 102 (14 Beta) maps to choose from. Many maps are basic territory maps (such as Classic), but many others include gameplay gimmicks not found in the traditional "Risk" board game. These include one-way borders, dead space, autodeployment, and bombardment. Players may create their own maps for others to play on by posting in the Map Foundry, where administrators look at the maps and decide if they are balanced and playable and would be fun for players.

Game Type

There are several different game types to choose from:
*Standard- A player or team must eliminate every opponent from the board by capturing all of their territories or meeting the objective indicated by the map.
*Terminator- Similar to Standard, the only difference being that players take points from each opponent they eliminate (instead of the last remaining player taking everybody's points). If a player deadbeats, their armies remain on the board, and their points can still be taken by the player who captures their last territory.
*Assassin- At the start of the game, each player is assigned a target player to kill. If this player is eliminated (by you or another player), then the player whose target it was achieves victory. If a player deadbeats, their target is transferred to the player who was targeting them.
*Doubles- Players are in groups of two. The last team with a member on the board wins.
*Triples- Similar to Doubles, except players are in groups of three.
*Quadruples- Similar to Doubles and Triples, except players are in groups of four.

Play Order

There are two different turn sequences to choose from:
*Sequential- Players take turns in a set order.
*Freestyle- Players may take their turns in any order, at any time within a 24-hour period. Several players may even take their turns simultaneously. After the last player has taken their turn, a new round begins. The last player or team to take their turn in a round cannot take their turn until another player starts their turn in the next round or half the round time (12 hours for normal and 2.5 minutes for speed games) have passed.

Bonus Cards

If a player successfully captures a territory during their turn, they are awarded a card at the end of that turn. Cards are named after the territories on the map, and come in three colors: red, green, and blue. If a player has a 'set' of cards at the beginning of their turn, they may cash them in for extra armies to deploy. A set consists of 3 cards which are either all the same color or all different colors. If a player has 5 cards at the beginning of their turn, they are guaranteed to have a set and must cash it in. If a player cashes in a card named after a territory that they hold, two bonus armies are automatically deployed onto that territory. The number of bonus armies awarded for a set depends on the game settings. The three available settings are as follows:
*Escalating- The first set to be cashed in by any player is worth 4 bonus armies. The value then increases for each subsequent set cashed in by any player.
*Flat Rate- Sets have different values based on the colors of the cards. A set of all red cards is worth 4, a set of all green cards is worth 6, a set of all blue cards is worth 8, and a set of cards colored red, green, and blue is worth 10.
*No Cards- No cards are awarded during the game.

Fortifications

There are several different fortification settings:
*Chained- Players have one chance to move any amount of armies any distance as long as they are connected by their own territories.
*Adjacent- Similar to Chained, except players may only move their armies to an adjacent territory.
*Unlimited- Players may move any amount of armies any distance, as many times as they wish, as long as they are connected by their own territories.

Fog of War

A setting known as Fog of War may be activated for the duration of the game. When activated, players cannot see the army numbers of territories that they do not own and are not adjacent to. The usual army numbers are replaced with a question mark. Additionally, the names of territories and continents in the game log are replaced with a question mark.

Private Password (Premium only)

Premium Members may create games that require a password to enter. This is often used in tournament games, or when a group of high-ranked players wants to prevent any low-ranked players from joining their game.

Round Length (Premium only)

Most games allow 24 hours for a player to take their turn. However, premium members may participate in speed games, which allow only 5 minutes for a turn. Free players can participate in only 2 speed games (as a trial). If a player is eliminated in a speed game, 2.5 minutes are added to the timer. Players will be dropped from speed games if they are idle for five minutes or if they logout. If a speed game does not fill up within 15 minutes of its creation, it is automatically deleted. [ [http://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?mode=instructions3 Game Options] ]

Community

Conquer Club has a growing community of over 200,000 players worldwide, with over 2 million games played. Player interaction is a key part of Conquer Club, because players are allowed to chat with other players and forge alliances. After a player is eliminated in a game, they may leave a rating for other players based in the 5-star system. Ratings may be left in 4 categories: fair play, attendance, attitude, and teamwork (if the game played was a team game).

There are many other types of player interaction on Conquer Club. Players can send Private Messages to each other, which appear in the recipient's Inbox. Additionally, the website features Live Chat, where players can talk to each other in real time. There is also an extensive forum, which contains announcements, bug reports, map creation, tournament information, and general discussion in 10 languages. [http://www.zazzle.com Zazzle.com] has an online Conquer Club shop, which features a variety of merchandise such as shirts, mugs, hats, and bumper stickers. [ [http://www.zazzle.com/conquerclub Conquer Club Online Shop] ]

coreboard

The Scoreboard records the scores of every player that has taken a turn in the past 30 days. When a player has played a certain number of games, and gotten a certain number of points, they gain a new rank. New players start off as a New Recruit with 1000 points, and gain points from every player they defeat. The amount of points gained from a player is equal to$frac\{loser\text{'}s\; score\}\; \{winner\text{'}s\; score\}\; *\; 20\; ,$
A maximum of 100 points can be taken from an opponent per game.

This system ensures that low ranked players can easily gain points, while high ranked players must defeat enough opponents to maintain their rank. The Conquer Club member with the highest score is given the honorary rank of Conqueror, updated once per hour.

Referral Program

Conquer Club members can take advantage of a Referral Program, which awards free Premium Membership to members who refer other players to the site. If the referred member purchases a year of Premium Membership, then the member who referred them gets a free month of Premium Membership.

Medals

As of Jun.9, 2008, Conquer Club has added several new features to the site. One of them is Medals. Game Achievement Medals come in three different ranks: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The Game Achievement medals currently available are (note that x is the variable for the medal requirement; unless otherwise noted, x=20 for Bronze, x=100 for Silver, and x=400 for Gold):
*Standard Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Standard Games
*Doubles Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Doubles Games
*Triples Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Triples Games
*Quadruples Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Quadruples Games
*Terminator Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Terminator Games
*Assassin Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Assassin Games
*Speed Achievement-for defeating x unique opponents in Speed Games
*Cross-Map Achievement-for defeating 5 unique opponents in x unique maps (x=20 for Bronze, x=40 for Silver, and x=60 for Gold)
*Ratings Achievement-for leaving x ratings (x=40 for Bronze, x=200 for Silver, and x=500 for Gold)

There are also three Contributions Medals (There are no Bronze, Silver, and Gold for these medals. However, they can be awarded multiple times):
*Map Contribution-for successfully developing a game map
*Tournament Contribution-for organizing a successful tournament
*Special Contribution-for making a special contribution to the website or community

References