We Rule - Tips and Tricks

I have been playing We Rule from Ngmoco on the iPad. It drives me crazy that there isn't any resource out there (at least an obvious one) that gives you useful information. I am hoping this will show up for people wanting a bit more info.

Below is a list of money generating buildings, in order of how much money they generate per day. Additional columns show the Payback (how quickly the cost of the building is recovered, in days) and the Xp/Day.

Building		Cost	Time	Money	XP	Payback		Money/Day	Xp/Day
Cartography Shoppe	206250	275000	42	925	475	520.3	Days	528.6	271.4
Red Dragon's Lair	225000	300000	60	1250	1400	600.0	Days	500.0	560.0
Wizards Tower	8250	11000	8	150	10	24.4	Days	450.0	30.0
Ruby Grove	7500	10000	6	100	85	25.0	Days	400.0	340.0
Hall of Justice	123750	165000	60	950	450	434.2	Days	380.0	180.0
Honey Hive	7	10	18	275	100	0.0	Days	366.7	133.3
Magic Emporium	41250	55000	24	350	40	157.1	Days	350.0	40.0
Jousting Arena	112500	150000	60	850	65	441.2	Days	340.0	26.0
Millinery	135000	180000	22	300	95	550.0	Days	327.3	103.6
Cobbler Shoppe	15000	20000	24	325	200	61.5	Days	325.0	200.0
Guild Hall	5625	7500	16	200	17	25	Days	300.0	25.5
Falconry	90000	120000	60	700	800	428.6	Days	280.0	320.0
Coach Inn	17625	23500	48	550	125	85.5	Days	275.0	62.5
Dragon's Lair	75000	100000	72	800	150	375.0	Days	266.7	50.0
Jewelry Store	30000	40000	36	400	250	150.0	Days	266.7	166.7
Bakery	9000	12000	24	250	28	48.0	Days	250.0	28.0
Griffin's Nest	56250	75000	48	500	100	300.0	Days	250.0	50.0
Candlestick Shoppe	18750	25000	48	400	70	125.0	Days	200.0	35.0
Prison	15	20	48	375	300	0.1	Days	187.5	150.0
Barn	4875	6500	48	350	50	37.1	Days	175.0	25.0
Watch Tower	13500	18000	48	350	60	102.9	Days	175.0	30.0
Tavern	16500	22000	72	500	100	132.0	Days	166.7	33.3
Blacksmith Shoppe	12000	16000	48	325	55	98.5	Days	162.5	27.5
Archery Range	18	24	8	50	100	0.2	Days	150.0	300.0
Butcher Shoppe	10500	14000	36	225	42	93.3	Days	150.0	28.0
Windmill	4500	6000	48	300	48	40	Days	150.0	24.0
Cheese Shoppe	67500	90000	30	175	275	642.9	Days	140.0	220.0
Lumber Mill	3000	4000	36	200	35	30.0	Days	133.3	23.3
Stables	13500	18000	32	150	15	160.0	Days	112.5	11.3
Tailor Shoppe	1125	1500	24	100	20	15.0	Days	100.0	20.0
Mining Camp	750	1000	10	40	8	10.4	Days	96.0	19.2
School House	1875	2500	24	80	22	31.3	Days	80.0	22.0
Lake	1125	1500	36	100	25	22.5	Days	66.7	16.7
Cottage	75	100	4	4	2	4.2	Days	24.0	12.0
Orange Grove	2250	3000	6	5	50	150.0	Days	20.0	200.0

If you are looking for XP rather than money, here is the same table in XP/Day order:

Building		Cost	Time	Money	XP	Payback		Money/Day	Xp/Day
Red Dragon's Lair	225000	300000	60	1250	1400	600.0	Days	500.0	560.0
Ruby Grove	7500	10000	6	100	85	25.0	Days	400.0	340.0
Falconry	90000	120000	60	700	800	428.6	Days	280.0	320.0
Archery Range	18	24	8	50	100	0.2	Days	150.0	300.0
Cartography Shoppe	206250	275000	42	925	475	520.3	Days	528.6	271.4
Cheese Shoppe	67500	90000	30	175	275	642.9	Days	140.0	220.0
Cobbler Shoppe	15000	20000	24	325	200	61.5	Days	325.0	200.0
Orange Grove	2250	3000	6	5	50	150.0	Days	20.0	200.0
Hall of Justice	123750	165000	60	950	450	434.2	Days	380.0	180.0
Jewelry Store	30000	40000	36	400	250	150.0	Days	266.7	166.7
Prison	15	20	48	375	300	0.1	Days	187.5	150.0
Honey Hive	7	10	18	275	100	0.0	Days	366.7	133.3
Millinery	135000	180000	22	300	95	550.0	Days	327.3	103.6
Coach Inn	17625	23500	48	550	125	85.5	Days	275.0	62.5
Dragon's Lair	75000	100000	72	800	150	375.0	Days	266.7	50.0
Griffin's Nest	56250	75000	48	500	100	300.0	Days	250.0	50.0
Magic Emporium	41250	55000	24	350	40	157.1	Days	350.0	40.0
Candlestick Shoppe	18750	25000	48	400	70	125.0	Days	200.0	35.0
Tavern	16500	22000	72	500	100	132.0	Days	166.7	33.3
Wizards Tower	8250	11000	8	150	10	24.4	Days	450.0	30.0
Watch Tower	13500	18000	48	350	60	102.9	Days	175.0	30.0
Bakery	9000	12000	24	250	28	48.0	Days	250.0	28.0
Butcher Shoppe	10500	14000	36	225	42	93.3	Days	150.0	28.0
Blacksmith Shoppe	12000	16000	48	325	55	98.5	Days	162.5	27.5
Jousting Arena	112500	150000	60	850	65	441.2	Days	340.0	26.0
Guild Hall	5625	7500	16	200	17	25	Days	300.0	25.5
Barn	4875	6500	48	350	50	37.1	Days	175.0	25.0
Windmill	4500	6000	48	300	48	40	Days	150.0	24.0
Lumber Mill	3000	4000	36	200	35	30.0	Days	133.3	23.3
School House	1875	2500	24	80	22	31.3	Days	80.0	22.0
Tailor Shoppe	1125	1500	24	100	20	15.0	Days	100.0	20.0
Mining Camp	750	1000	10	40	8	10.4	Days	96.0	19.2
Lake	1125	1500	36	100	25	22.5	Days	66.7	16.7
Cottage	75	100	4	4	2	4.2	Days	24.0	12.0
Stables	13500	18000	32	150	15	160.0	Days	112.5	11.3

These tables are not perfect. The first cost column is the cost at 25% off, which is happening at the moment, but won't last.

Note also that the payback is very wrong for the buildings you can only buy with mojo. I have no meaningful way of converting money to mojo or vice versa, so that bit is crap. You can tell, they are the buildings with the really low cost price.

If you find this useful or have any other tips to add, leave a comment. I can't believe how little info is available for people in this game, given the way that it works. Unless we are just mean to make our kingdom look pretty and wander off to another game.

Week Five - Freedom at Last

Today is a red letter day. I turned on the iPad and I am now part of the free world. Until now, there has had to be subterfuge to download apps for those of us not domiciled in the USA. That has now changed. We, the great unwashed of the planet with the temerity to own an iPad outside the US can now use the App Store program on our iPads.

We are free of the tyranny that is iTunes. Well, I suppose we can use it still, if we want to, but grabbing things on the fly is pretty damn convenient.

Furthermore, companies like Plus+ will rejoice that their customers with 10% of iPads sold so far will be able to pay for things if they wish. Funny thing is, I have been playing Godfinger and We Rule for a few weeks now and have just not been allowed to buy things, even if I wanted to. I am so used to getting along without spending my cash that I am not sure I see the point now.

One thing though, it turns out that downloading updates isn't quite that easy. Because I had to use subterfuge for some items (using dual iTunes accounts) it now has a fit when I try to update something I downloaded with my US ID while logged in with the NZ ID. Interestingly, the second attempt usually works, so not sure what the heck is going on there.

Week Four - The iPad Recognition Factor

I have this feeling that owning an iPad is a little like having a newborn baby. In the first month or two, wherever you go you get stopped by people who make nice noises about it. The sad thing is, you get used to the attention, it is almost addictive.

I fully expect that once the iPad is more widely available, this will cease abruptly. Also, in places like the US where Kindles and other readers are more commonplace, they are probably noticed far less. And I suppose is larger cities and countries it is pretty uncool to talk to strangers and everyone has made an art of ignoring everyone else. It's not like that in New Zealand.

Examples:
- I was amazed to see an Apple store in Albany stocked iPad accessories, and while I was trying one on for size, a lady could not resist asking about it.
- I showed up at my daughter's dentist, without the iPad, but because he knew I had one he couldn't resist having a chat about getting one for his parents. I never expected to be the iPad guy even without the iPad.

It will be fun while it lasts.

Week Three point Four - iPad going semi-international

Well, the good news is that May 28th people in selected countries will be able to buy an iPad. Even better, iBooks and iTunes stores will allow people there to buy things.

HOWEVER, we have had news this week that of the million iPads sold already, 10% have gone overseas. This means that if you don't live in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland or the UK, you are pretty much still out of luck.

If there are 100,000 iPads already outside the US, why don't they man up and just let people buy stuff? I can't imagine that the application and book vendors are going to be happy that a tenth of their market is being cut off.

And please, don't give me that "international copyright" bollocks. If you can get a US iTunes card or credit card, you can buy stuff in any country, or buy it in the US and go overseas. Borders are meaningless, all you are doing is annoying potential legitimate customers and possibly creating illegitimate ones.

Week Three - And a Million Sold

So, I hear that Apple have now sold a million iPads, at about twice the speed of the iPhone. That's good. And the 3G model is out too.

When are they going to face facts and realise that iPads aren't just in the US? I still can't use the iTunes store on my iPad and a couple of Plus+ games that I fiddle with (no, I don't know why, they are a total waste of time) can't let me spend money with them (not that I want to), that must drive them nuts.

I would love to see some figures on exported iPads. I know one person who bought five and sent four of them to friends and family overseas. It wouldn't surprise me if 100,000 iPads were in use outside the US already.

Come on, Apple, let's keep it real, open the doors to foreigners on iTunes.

Week Two point seven - Nike Football+

All I can say is WOW. This is a free app, and sure it sort of advertises Nike, but it is a great resource for soccer/football coaches.

It includes training plans for various skills, other plans that you can use the iPad to time the players as they perform the routines, and it tracks how the players are doing against themselves and each other.

You can create your own training plans from a selection of exercises, which include diagrams and videos. The videos include alternate angles, slow mo, and diagrams overlaid on the videos. And Nike are adding to it every couple of weeks.

It's the best stuff I have seen for an amateur football coach. Apparently this has been out there for about 18 months, but to begin with the content wasn't really there. It's there now, believe me, at least forty or fifty exercises. I am not sure what other platforms it runs on, but on an iPad it works well. Just wish I could print some things out rather than have to risk the iPad in the rain.

This application could be used in conjunction with iCoach. It is more training focused than game day oriented, which iCoach handles reasonably well.

Week Two point five - PDF readers and CrApps

As mentioned already, having to use iTunes for transferring everything to the iPad is less than satisfactory. I am so paranoid about synchronisation after I had some data wiped on one synch (because I was using two iTunes accounts, because I live in New Zealand and Apple doesn't believe iPads exist outside the US yet) that I try to avoid synching wherever possible.

So, I had tried a PDF reader called iPDF, which was okay if you were grabbing PDFs off the internet to read, but very unsatisfactory for reference material or ebooks (as mentioned in Week One). A friend recommended another reader called GoodReader. Because I am outside US and buying things is such a mission, I had to try the free iPhone version first. I am really glad I did.

The access method for getting PDFs on to it is really good, I got it going with a minimum of fuss, using the web client to upload files. For an iPhone app, there is just a ton of documentation, and it was not too hard to read.

But then I discovered quickly that the free version allows a maximum of five pdfs. Now, why the heck couldn't it have warned me as I tried to download number six? Nope, I loaded about ten before I tried to read one (that, I have to say, in itself, was a big mistake, read on). Deleting files was doable, but annoying and slow, I was just glad that loading them is a one file at a time deal also, so I didn't have hundreds on board.

I have already mentioned that I have read three novels and some short stories on my iPad, using the iBooks reader supplied by Apple. It's simple, has a few nice functions, but basically you can just pick it up and read. Not so with GoodReader. Before I whinge, I will say up front that I might have some config options to tweak that will help, but I haven't found them yet. I think they have misnamed GoodReader, it should either be called BadReader or perhaps GreatToLoadPDFsButDon'tTryReadingThem. Ugh. It displays whole pages on a scrolling screen, so you have to scroll down to the end before you can tap the screen to turn the page. I don't like it. I can't seem to change it.

So, unless the iPad version of GoodReader is better, I don't want it. I am not prepared to pay any kind of money to find out. I am keen to hear from anyone who has a better option for PDF reading, post a comment here.

Of course, in an ideal world, I would like an eBook reader that will handle PDFs, Epubs, Txt files, and Lits as well on the iPad. That would make life a heck of a lot easier. The alternative is a program I can run on my PC that will convert the formats to one format that I can read on the iPad. I am pretty happy with iBooks, so ePub is the format I want the world to use.

This leads me to the point that GoodReader is an example of a CrApp, or a crap app. That is one thing that has struck me since I began my orgy of applet downloading for the iPad. I am dismayed with the shallowness of some of the apps (iCoach for example looks great, but really doesn't do a heck of a lot). I imagine a lot of effort has gone in to some of these apps, so why don't they go a bit further and make them worthwhile?

POST SCRIPT
I tried another free PDF reader called CloudReaders, basically the same deal as Goodreader, getting the files on seems fine, not seen any five file limit yet, and the interface is a little better. However, it doesn't repaginate for shrinking the text, you have to scroll on the page (both left right and up down). Yuck.

I think pitching the free version of apps at the right level is tricky. Give it too much functionality, and people won't bother with the full app. Give it too little, and people won't think it is good enough to buy. That is possibly one thing that GoodReader got semi-right, limiting the number of PDFs to five gives you a chance to try it properly, find out how much it really sucks, and you get to save your money.

Some of the game apps that have provided genuine entertainment have included:
- Harbor Master - like air traffic controller, beating your high score becomes an obsession.
- Slider (a version of the old 4x4 puzzle with one square missing, my daughter loves it, my son can't handle it, it's dead basic to me, I grew up with them)
- FSS Hockey - air hockey, it's actually not that great
- Chopper Lite - this feels a lot like the old Choplifter, but too easy, which doesn't make you want to get the full version
- Aurora Feint 3 - thinly veiled encouragement to spend money aside, it is basically one puzzle game inside a RPG style package. It's an okay puzzle but it isn't remotely what it pretends to be. It's like Puzzle Pirates with one puzzle and bugger all else.