Hoggypare
Posts: 9
Joined: 6/8/2020 Status: offline
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Hello One of the aspects of a game that I really like are the profiles and how much they add to the political simulation SE features. However, they do have some problems, that usually cause me to just stick to the same ones across multiple games. I think making all of them viable is crucial to replayability, so that all choices are equally interesting. Thus I'd like to present some outline of my perceived problems and some potential solutions. Politics In general I consider democracy and meritocracy to be in good place. As personal preference I prefer meritocracy, but democratic bonuses are very strong as well. I have seen a criticism that meritocracy I hard to establish due to events, but I find it a nice flavour - that is how it should be, it might be the 'best' but not a 'popular' choice A real outlier, the biggest problem and a main reason why I write this feedback is autocracy. Nothing in this tree seems exciting, and some 'bonuses' are outright detrimental (firing squad). It offers almost no inherent buffs, and the stratagem cards do not make up for it. I have however brainstormed an idea that might be both relatively easy and fast to implement, help its viability and give autocracy a very specific flavour. If we think about it, autocratic systems give the leader vast array of executive powers, but suffer from inefficiencies and other problems. This is what the idea that the tree does not provide inherent bonuses, but instead a choice of powerful stratagems (executive decisions) portrays well, and I like that. Those stratagems however are too weak as of yet. However, what if we expanded the autocratic options with stratagems that allow You to influence other profiles? It makes sense, as autocratic nature of the state gives the leader control over its direction. The infrastructure for such mechanic already exist in the game (such a card could create an event with a choice which profile to boost next turn or be like the newly added scrap point stratagems) and would be truly unique. Society Honestly, this section I consider near perfection, and another reason why I decided to give feedback. In every game a choice between Enforcement, Commerce and Government is a tough one. Everything here is useful and You wish You could have all. I wish the other trees were as good. Psychology In my perception the main problem of this tree is how universal the mind tree is. It provides very solid bonuses (to research nonetheless, often best choice in strategy games), great unit feats and best combat stratagems. Heart has decent-ish bonuses, but loyalty and high morale can be relatively easily secured by high salaries. Additionally its stratagems seem to me mostly useless, and I would rarely consider using them for their disadvantages (also why isn't glorious war a heart stratagem?). Fist offers a very strong combat bonus, but it is black and white, only the feats that give it matter, most stratagems are weak compared to the flexibility of mind's. Since balancing this tree would involve looking at the numbers related to every card and feat and tweaking it, and this post is already long as it is, I will only offer some suggestions. Economize needs more bonuses, like ammo use reduction - food is no issue most of the time so why take a morale hit. Both Ambush and No Retreat are early in fist tree, and they do the same thing, contributing to inflexibility (and they make You lose more soldiers). Forced March looks really sad compared to Rush. These are some of my points. I hope my input is useful I do not claim I understand everything about the game, so I welcome any discussion and counterarguments - especially from MP players, as I might not see some issues that do or do not arise in pvp enviroment.
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