kisner -> RE: Economics (3/31/2005 7:44:10 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: grumbler The problem with this viewpoint is the problem I see very frequently in wargame critiques, and which I think the game answers pretty well: what if every player is not playing France? What if a player is playing Austriia? Austria does not have the military might to conquer Europe. In fact, for much of this period it will be passive, awaiting events elsewhere in Europe that will create an opportunity for Austria to act effectively. What does the Austrian player do during this period? Read a book? In this game, the Austrian player still has things to do, even if not at war. While the player's intervention in the economy and social systems will not be decisive, they will have enough payoff to make it worth his time (and it will do the same for France, if the player is inclined to spend his time on them) and they offer additional routes to "Glory" that may make an absolute defeat of France unnecessary to an Austrian win. What I say for Austria goes double for Prussia and quintuple for the Ottoman Empire. Only by opening up the economy to player control does the game make playing any country but France the least bit interesting, IMO. Wow! Are you speaking from playtest experience? All the Coalition powers have to look forward to is figuring out how to finesse the game's development model? Say it ain't so! But in a game not really set up for multi-human play, I guess it would come as no great shock if what you say is largely true. Managing a Coalition of "computer-players" from the vantage point of Vienna or Madrid or Berlin might be difficult at best. I used to play the boardgame Empires in Arms quite a bit, and it was enjoyable to run the "peripheral" powers for several reasons. First, turns flowed quickly, so even while knocked out of the Coalition for 18 months it didn't seem like the end of the world. Rebuilding the army via simple production was still interesting, as was watching the other military/diplomatic action unfold. Finessing the economy would, in effect, just make it take more time at the keyboard to rebuild that shattered army and get back into the action. As such, I really hope players who don't want to involve themselves to an artificial degree into the working of society and the economy are not penalized.
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