How does the alliance's timer help in Games of War Fire Age work?

Solution 1:

The Alliance Help feature is broadcast to other players' screens.

Each person that notices and clicks "Help" will reduce your build/research/etc task by 1 minute or 1% whichever is greater. If your alliance members arent online, and do not click the help button, that progress bar wont move. It requires specific manual intervention by the other players and they might not be available when you are.