EVONY - The game in the ad at the bottom of the threads.

Special Items & Medals

Evony use the microtransaction business model to make money, so there are many items you can buy, for real money, that will help you along in the game. Items can range from things that subtract from build times, ranging from 15 min to 8 hrs to 30% reduction in build times. Other items will boost production or combat effectiveness for a certain amount of time. There are also medals that you gain from conquering land, these medals can be used to either boost your hero stats or to promote yourself via Promotion Quests.

To actually compete in the game though usually requires the purchase of in game cents to the tune of ten cents per US dollar. Which most given items in game costing anwhere from 3 cents to several hundred cents it doesn’t take long to tank your pocketbook in this money sink. Not all items available in game are available withough the purchase of cents creating further presure to spend into a game not worth the expense.

Has Evony become the most despised game on the web?

Bobbie Johnson
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 15 July 2009 17.30 BST
[...]
Players are encouraged to buy in-game extras to speed their progress – but the confusing way the game prices its add-ons means that many users may not realise that a simple action, such as sending a message to another player, can cost 15p a time.