In the current iteration of strategus, it's easily economically viable for every single army to constantly wear full plate ...
I just ask that in the next strategus you balance the economy so that perhaps full plate is more of a luxury rather than the normal level of armour
(I say this now because the current strategus is looking rather like a coalition/ merc/ templar victory if you were to look at the map, so i'm not sure how long this one will have left 
)
Thanks, Corsair
The strat economy is dependent on three main factors atm:
- numbers of players in the clan: access to large playerbase gives you troops
- number of fiefs under control: access to the larger number of fiefs and their S&D gives you gold
- time lapse: the PPs in location are constantly growing: In the result: (i) over time it is possible to get great gear cheaper and cheaper due to discounts; (ii) over time the prosperity is constantly increased = increasing number of goods available = constantly increasing income.
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In my opinion the biggest issue atm is that
there is a constant boom on Calradia markets: prices of gear are going down, while the income on goods is constantly going up. The troop income is more or less constant for each clan.
That is why we will see better an better gear in factions that have large playerbase and large number of fiefs under control.
What you need to take in the account is:- It will always be a choice of the clan - whether the clan wants to have a lower number of troops with excellent armour or lots of troops with shitty gear. I believe the clans preferences will always go into the direction of strong gear vs troops number.
Time limited battles create the clear preference of quality gear over troops number. In other words - it does not matter so much how many troops you have if you loose majority of your battles due to shitty gear. K:D is more important than actual troop count in the current state of affairs. (All of the above within certain limits of reason obviously)
- Making the economy very difficult (read: the gold is hard to get) will lead us to lower number of battles overall, cause the clans will withheld decisions on war until they are ready. With less gold they are ready later and that will mean more stagnat Strat.
The end result of the constant boom is increasing gap between the level of wealth of large factions and small ones. In other words - either the money sinks are not sufficient or we have not enough battles. For that reason we need mechanisms that force clans to fight. A lot.
My ideas are anti-intuitive a bit:
- Increase upkeep for garrisons held in locations or on players hidden in locations waaaay over the cost in-field. Make this cost more progressive. Force players to be in-field. Make them vulnerable to attack. Limit the stockpiling of troops.
- Increase troop production for everyone. That will force large clans to throw away unarmed tickets due to the price of upkeep, and make them available to small ones
- Limit the prosperity of fiefs up to certain level
- Introduce factors decreasing the prosperity (war, death, famine and pestilence!!!) Make the level of prosperity dependent on the number of locations held by single clan.
Be aware that if you exaggerate, people will lose the interest in Strat battles. These are attractive because of XP (being factor of eq of defenders), and possibility to play with fantastic eq.
