You can have fun in OGame as a lone warrior, but after some time most players look for an alliance so they can work close together with other users. An alliance is a federation of players who have pooled together to be more successful. An alliance is not only useful for supporting each other with better trading rates or helping against attacks, it is also a nice place where you have somebody to answer your questions or just have a chat.
==How can I find an alliance?==
To find an alliance you can either click on the galaxy menu to see which alliances are near you or you can have a look at the highscore list. Of course you can also ask players who you know to see if there is a free place for you in their alliance. The Universe Area of the OGame Board is a good place to look for alliances too, there's generally a thread for alliances to present themselves and search for new members. When you find an alliance you would like to join, you have to click “alliance”, then “search alliance”. Here you can search for your chosen alliance and use the button to apply for it. Fill out the application and if the leaders will approve, you will be accepted in this alliance.
Alternatively you can also establish your own alliance. To do this, go to “alliance” and then “create alliance”. Then you have to create a Name and a Tag (normally a shortcut fitting to the Name) and bring it into being, you are now the founder of your own alliance. Now you can start to attract other players to your alliance or you can design your alliance area to make it more appealing to other users first. You are not limited to using ‘normal text', it is also possible to use BBCode, which is also often used in forums. In the chapter "Alliance page guide" you'll find everything needed for designing your page. If you need a nice logo but don´t know how to make it, you can ask for help in the Fan Art Area of the OGame Board. Be aware you have to respect the rules when creating your alliance area, any abusive or unlawful content can result in a ban.
Furthermore there are so-called alliance ranks that are created by the founder and can be given to individual members. Often this is used to mark new members or to honor deserving members of the alliance. It is also possible to add special rights to the ranks so the founder can dictate which members can edit the alliance area, like accept new members or disband the alliance.
==Buddylist==
If you wish to stay in contact with players from other alliances and join with them in Alliance Combat System (ACS) , you can add them to your buddy list. You can open it by clicking on the link at the top of your Screen. It shows the name, coordinates of the Homeworld and online-status for all your buddies. To add another user to your buddy list, you only have to click the respective button beside one of his planets in the galaxy overview and you can ask him to accept you in his buddylist. He will then be notified that you want him on your buddy list. If he accepts, he will appear in your Buddy list immediately – and you to his.
One great way to bring your friends to play in your universe is to give them the invitation code from the buddy menu. The invited friend will be placed near one of your planets and both of you can have multiple advantages, in detail explained in the “invite friends” screen from the buddy menu. With the buddy points received from your invited friends you can get resource boosters or even Dark Matter.
==OGame Board==
At the login screen and at the bottom of your game screen you can find the link to the OGame Board , which is an important part of the community. Here is the place to talk about important OGame subjects, answering or asking Questions for new users and integrating into the OGame community. There is also the diplomatic area for trading applications, war declarations and pacts. Additionally there are several sub areas for OGame and Non-OGame related Themes where you can talk about everything from philosophy to computer problems.
==IRC==
IRC is a chat-network, which is used to talk free and directly with other users. To use it you have to either install an IRC-client or use one of the online IRC widgets and connect to the OGN Server. How you can do this, is explained in the IRC guide. After you've successfully connected to the IRC server there are a multitude of channels waiting to be discovered. At first there is the general OGame-channel. In addition to these, many alliances also have their own channels where they talk to each other and plan their strategies.
==How can I find an alliance?==
To find an alliance you can either click on the galaxy menu to see which alliances are near you or you can have a look at the highscore list. Of course you can also ask players who you know to see if there is a free place for you in their alliance. The Universe Area of the OGame Board is a good place to look for alliances too, there's generally a thread for alliances to present themselves and search for new members. When you find an alliance you would like to join, you have to click “alliance”, then “search alliance”. Here you can search for your chosen alliance and use the button to apply for it. Fill out the application and if the leaders will approve, you will be accepted in this alliance.
Alternatively you can also establish your own alliance. To do this, go to “alliance” and then “create alliance”. Then you have to create a Name and a Tag (normally a shortcut fitting to the Name) and bring it into being, you are now the founder of your own alliance. Now you can start to attract other players to your alliance or you can design your alliance area to make it more appealing to other users first. You are not limited to using ‘normal text', it is also possible to use BBCode, which is also often used in forums. In the chapter "Alliance page guide" you'll find everything needed for designing your page. If you need a nice logo but don´t know how to make it, you can ask for help in the Fan Art Area of the OGame Board. Be aware you have to respect the rules when creating your alliance area, any abusive or unlawful content can result in a ban.
Furthermore there are so-called alliance ranks that are created by the founder and can be given to individual members. Often this is used to mark new members or to honor deserving members of the alliance. It is also possible to add special rights to the ranks so the founder can dictate which members can edit the alliance area, like accept new members or disband the alliance.
==Buddylist==
If you wish to stay in contact with players from other alliances and join with them in Alliance Combat System (ACS) , you can add them to your buddy list. You can open it by clicking on the link at the top of your Screen. It shows the name, coordinates of the Homeworld and online-status for all your buddies. To add another user to your buddy list, you only have to click the respective button beside one of his planets in the galaxy overview and you can ask him to accept you in his buddylist. He will then be notified that you want him on your buddy list. If he accepts, he will appear in your Buddy list immediately – and you to his.
One great way to bring your friends to play in your universe is to give them the invitation code from the buddy menu. The invited friend will be placed near one of your planets and both of you can have multiple advantages, in detail explained in the “invite friends” screen from the buddy menu. With the buddy points received from your invited friends you can get resource boosters or even Dark Matter.
==OGame Board==
At the login screen and at the bottom of your game screen you can find the link to the OGame Board , which is an important part of the community. Here is the place to talk about important OGame subjects, answering or asking Questions for new users and integrating into the OGame community. There is also the diplomatic area for trading applications, war declarations and pacts. Additionally there are several sub areas for OGame and Non-OGame related Themes where you can talk about everything from philosophy to computer problems.
==IRC==
IRC is a chat-network, which is used to talk free and directly with other users. To use it you have to either install an IRC-client or use one of the online IRC widgets and connect to the OGN Server. How you can do this, is explained in the IRC guide. After you've successfully connected to the IRC server there are a multitude of channels waiting to be discovered. At first there is the general OGame-channel. In addition to these, many alliances also have their own channels where they talk to each other and plan their strategies.
