Illegal:

Enforcement:

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the siege and fortification levels?
We'd rather not say, and let you find out on your own =)

What happened to all my stuff?
A new round has begun - your weaponry and army size have been reset, as have everyone else's. Now is the time to rebuild and prove yourself better than those around you!

Why am I losing gold and soldiers?
You are probably being attacked. Check your attack log to see who attacked you, how many soldiers they killed and how much gold they stole from you.

How come I'm not listed in the rankings?
Ranks are only recalculated once every hour, so you will have to wait until rankings are generated to appear on the rankings page.

Why doesn't my rank improve when I get more weapons?
Ranks are only recalculated once every hour, so you will have to wait to see how your ranking has been changed by upgrades or purchases.

How much does this cost to play?
Nothing. It's free. Enjoy!

Why can't I/my friends view the recruit page?
Many AOL users cannot view our pages properly. We're sorry about the problem, and are looking into possible solutions. Until then, we recommend the Mozilla FireFox web browser.

It's hard to get people to click my link. Is there another way to gain recruits?
The easiest way to gain recruits is to persuade friends to click your link, but you can also upgrade your Unit Production (on the Training page), and hire mercenaries to boost your army strength.

Why don't I ever kill any enemy soldiers?
The bigger your army, the more casualties you are likely to suffer. Armies small enough will not usually suffer casualties because this would hurt the army much more.

How do I change my race?
The only way to change your race is to reset your account.

I forgot my password, what should I do?
Go to this page and you can get your password emailed to you.

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Interface

At the top of every page, around the main logo, are links to:

• the Medieval Alliance homepage (which will display any news announcements from the site admins),
• the main rankings page for the current Age,
• the Help pages, for further info about Medieval Alliance.

On the left of every page you will find the menu, or if you aren't logged in yet you will see the Login box. If you are not logged in, enter your username and password here to gain access to the other areas of the site. If you do not yet have a username and password, then click on the 'Register' link in the Login box to create a new account.

Once you have logged in and can view the main menu, you will have access to the areas of the site described below.

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Command Center

The Command Center contains a synopsis of all the information about your army, including your overall rank and your attack, defence and covert rankings. It also shows your strength in each area, how much gold you should receive at the start of the next turn, information about army size and disposition, lists your officers, and shows you your unique link which you can use for recruiting.

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Attack

The Attack page is a listing of all the players currently taking part in the game. It starts off on the page of players whose rank is close to your own (you can see your own position on this page, your name shows up in bold text). Using the Next and Previous links at the bottom of the page, you can move up and down the rankings looking for suitable armies to attack. To find out more about any army, click on that player's name.

This will give you their stats page, showing their army size, how much gold they have, and various other info. At the bottom of this page are two buttons, allowing you to either Send a Message to this player using the built-in messaging system, or to Attack them to try and take their gold.

If you choose to Attack the player, you will be taken to another page which allows you to select various types of attack (including covert missions, both reconnaisance and sabotage), and other details about your planned attack.

If you are planning a normal attack, you will have to specify how many attack turns you wish to use - you can see how many you have available at the top of this page. The more turns you use on one attack mission, the more gold you will take if your attack is successful - however, you will also sustain more casualties and weapon damage when using higher numbers of attack turns. You can only attack any particular player 5 times in a 24 hour period.

If you are planning a covert mission, you will have to specify how many spies to send, and in the case of a sabotage mission you will also need to specify what kind of weaponry is to be sabotaged. The more powerful the items you are trying to sabotage, the higher your spy level will need to be. The most powerful items will often require multiple spies to sabotage one item. Sending more spies will enable you to sabotage more items, but increases your risk of being caught in the act. You can only send out a total of 50 covert missions in a 24 hour period.

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Attack Log

Your attack log is divided into two parts - people who have attacked you, and people you have attacked. Each part shows the 30 most recent attacks, with next/previous links for changing the view to show older attacks. Next to the basic details about each attack is a link to the full battle report, which will give more detailed information about that particular battle. Entries in the attack log will be deleted after 1 week.

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Armory

In the Armory you will see a list of your current weaponry, along with buttons enabling you to repair it if damaged, check it for sabotage, and scrap or sell it. Underneath that is a list of all available weaponry for your army, which you can purchase items from if you have sufficient gold. At the bottom are the upgrade areas for siege technology and fortifications.

Repairing damaged weapons is done on a per-weapon-type basis. Damage is shown as an average of how many points of strength each weapon of that type has lost. You choose how many points to repair (on all weapons of that type simultaneously), and then click the button (which will be showing you the cost per point). Note that sometimes when you buy new weaponry, the average damage shown will fall, as the new item will be at full strength, thereby reducing the average damage across all the weapons of that type.

Checking your weapons for sabotage can be a useful precaution if you are about to stage a big attack on someone - making sure that your weapons won't fail on you at a crucial moment by testing them first in the safety of your own camp. If you do have any sabotaged weapons, your chances of finding them are depedent on (a) the skill of your own spies, and (b) a bit of luck. If you do find any sabotaged weapons, they will be removed from your inventory. Note that even if you do not find any sabotaged weapons, you will still have to pay the price shown on the button for checking for them. This option is always available - it does not indicate that your weapons have definitely been sabotaged just because you are able to check them.

If your weapons are above 60% strength, you have the option to sell them back to the armory for an amount of money based on their state of repair. If they are undamaged, then you will receive 70% of the amount you paid for them originally. If your weapons fall beneath 60% repair, you are instead given the option to scrap them - this will enable you to discard largely ineffective weaponry and start again with new, healthy items.

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Training

On the training page you can see details of your troops, as well as training troops as attack or defence experts, or as spies. You can also remove attack/defence training, to allow you to reallocate troops from one category to the other. You cannot reallocate spies.

Also on the training page are the upgrade areas for spy level and unit production. Increasing your spy level will give you a better chance of successfully spying on or sabotaging other players, and will help to protect you from other players who attempt to spy on or sabotage you. Upgrading your unit production will increase the number of men you recruit automatically once per day.

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Intelligence

The intelligence page contains two lists of information. The first is a list of any covert missions into your camp, which your own spies intercepted. This may allow you to work out who has been spying on you or sabotaging you, if some of their missions failed.

The second list of information is the people you have spied on or sabotaged. Here you will see the number of covert missions you have launched against each person, with a link to a page containing the detailed report from each mission. Covert mission are deleted from your intelligence logs after 1 week.

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Mercenaries

On this page you can see the details of your current troops, and you can hire mercenaries. Mercenaries can be hired as attack specialists, defence specialists, or all-purpose troops. Once hired, they cannot be retrained. Mercenaries cannot be spies, and do not contribute to the amount of gold you receive each turn, but they do boost your attack and/or defence strength (depending on what type of training they have). Mercenaries become available for hire at the start of each turn, but their numbers are limited and so there are often none available shortly after that.

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Logout

The Logout option on the menu will log you out from Medieval Alliance. This is useful if your computer is used by more than one person, to prevent others from accessing your Medieval Alliance account. If you stop using the site for a length of time, you will be automatically logged out anyway - this is to help reduce the load on the extremely busy Medieval Alliance webserver.

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Messages

The Send Message page is accessed from a user's stats page, by clicking on the Send Message button. You are then presented with a page which has areas for you to enter a subject and a message to be sent to that user.

When someone has sent you a message in this fashion, you will notice the message indicator beneath the main menu will change to show how many new messages you have waiting for you. To read them, simply click on the red number and you will be taken to the Read Messages page. The most recent message will appear at the top of the page, with older messages beneath it in reverse order of receipt. You can use the buttons on the right to Reply to or Delete each message.

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Glossary

Age: The length of the game, usually lasting a few months. Between ages, your army size, wealth, weapons and other stats will be reset, giving you a chance to change races without loosing anything. You will, however, get to keep your officers and credits.

Armory: The place to purchase weapons.

Army Size: The number of recruits you have. This is the number of people who have clicked your link, plus a fraction of the army size of your officers. Determines the amount of money you get each turn.

Attack: To attack someone, you need to use between 1 and 15 attacks. The amount you use determines how much money you get if you win. You get 1 attacks every turn.

Attack Log: A log of everyone who you have attacked recently, and anyone who has attacked you recently.

Command Center: Clicking here allows you to view your own stats, including stats that are not available to everyone else.

Casualties: Normal losses suffered in the course of attacking and defending. If your army is not very big, you will probably not suffer very many casualties, if any.

Commander: The person who's page you visited before joining, probably the person who told you about Medieval Alliance.

Dwarves: One of the races in Medieval Alliance.

Elves: One of the races in Medieval Alliance.

Fortifications: These contribute to the strength of all your defence troops and weaponry. The basic fortifications are "Camp" - they can be upgraded in the Armory.

Gold: The basic monetary unit of Medieval Alliance. Spend gold at the Armory to purchase weapons.

Intelligence: A list of other warlords who you have spied on, or who you have intercepted spies from.

Losses: See Casualties

Humans: One of the races in Medieval Alliance.

Profile: An in-depth description of a warlord, showing stats useful to know when deciding whether to attack them.

Officer: One of the people who visted your link and decided to join up. They help build your army.

Ogres: One of the races in Medieval Alliance.

Orcs: One of the races in Medieval Alliance.

Race: The type of warlord someone is. There are four races: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs.

Sieging Technology: This contributes to the overall strength of all your attack troops and weaponry. The basic is "None" - it can be upgraded in the Armory.

Turn: The basic unit of time in Medieval Alliance. Currently 15 minutes long.

Weapons: Purchasing weapons increases your attack and defence bonuses, which help you when you attack or defend.

Wizards: One of the races in Medieval Alliance.

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