Suggestion: create "food stores" that control how large a garrison can be

[CrazyCracka420]

Here's my idea, you use production points to buy "food" (which is a static #, not something that a useable commodity like S&D) and that food level allows you to have a certain number of troops + population in a fief.  You would be able to allocate food from one fief to another (that's within your faction). 

So something like this: 

it takes "x" amount of production points to buy "y" food, which can support up to "z" # of troops. 

Yes people will just store more troops on themselves, but that will help lower the amount of troops stacked in fiefs (making them more realistic troop numbers to be able to attack with), and it will cost people more money to have garrisons of troops on players rather than in fiefs.

[Aderyn]

it would also be more important to protect your fiefs.

[Corsair831]

I always thought your faction should only be able to have say 300 troops per player in your faction, and then another say 500 per fief, 500 per city, 500 per castle. As of current the only limit on the number of troops you can have is your gold, but as we have infinite gold it does not work.

The whole 'getting people to leave their defensive fortresses' thing is really hard in strategus; it just gives you such a big advantage, the idea behind S&D was that people would have to leave their fiefs to get gold, therefore territory is important, but it really has just not worked out like that.

Having a troop cap per faction based on no. of fiefs controlled as well as no. of players active within the faction would seem like a much more sensible option IMO. (Gives small clans with high players a chance, as they have their troops from the players, but also gives big factions a reason to expand - more fiefs, more troops, more power).

[GRANDMOM]

I second corsair on that, would work great I think - a reason to expand territory is needed.

[MURDERTRON]

Please add a mini game where you have to catch mice to protect your food stores.  Also please add fetch quests.

[Erasmas]

How interesting.

Butan just made a thread that the ticket production should be increased:
http://forum.melee.org/strategus-general-discussion/random-crazy-idea-47-troops-for-sd/

And Crazy is suggesting here that the ticket production should be (indirectly) limited.

The funny part is that both have a valid reasons for that.  Lets see:

Production points (PP) can be spent on:

1. increase of Prosperity
2. gear Discounts
3. gear Improvments
4. change of Prices

and in your idea:

5. Food for garrison in the fief.

Hm...

A. This will lead to simple division where goods are produced in one location, troops are kept in another, and gear is produced in yet another. Good for big clan, bad if you have only 1-2 locations. Good if you have a castle or a city cause it gives more PPs per day, bad if you have only fiefs. All in all - it is ok if you are a strong big clan, but if not - you are fucked. Not fair.

B. Peple will keep troops on themselves. No troops stacking in fiefs However - considering the ability to reinforce the fief under attack - this will only mean that the attacker does not actually know what kind of enemy he/she is facing. Having in mind currently stacked locations - people will attack fieefs ... even less and with greater care. Not good.

C. It will not create a direct money sink, but rather limit the ability of clans to produce goods, as PPs spent on food will not increase prosperity and that means less gold available.

D. Yes, it will give the incentive to expand, incentive to fight for territory - and I like it

E. Less gear on +3 will be available - PPs spent on food cant be used to improve the available gear

F. New armour would have to be transferred to players who hold troops. Or - players would have to move a lot  to protect the locations, to collect gold for upkeep from traders (or cash couriers would have to be set up), to deliver troop they farmed throught the crpg ticks, to collect armor. More active strat for indiviual guys , but,

G. It would be more difficult to create the army , and:

H. It would be more difficult to actually run an offencive war campaign since you need to take care of logistics with limited numeber of players. You would have to trade off security of your fiefs for the ability to fight. That also means:

I. More micromanagement. Do we want the game for nolifes? How many nolifes the clans have atm? 

All in all it is an interesting idea as it would have a lot of side effects and made the game more complex and less predictable. Implementing this would require ability to respec the fiefs, or even Strat wipe in order to show the true results of this mechanics. It would have to be implemented with great care and possibly tweaked, as it would be easy to create serious unbalance. Possibly in combinatiion with other elements.  Hm... I'm not sure, but it can be a good idea in certain circumstances

I still think that simple increase (I mean INCREASE!!!!) of upkeep in garrisons is a lot simpler and would give quick results.

[GRANDMOM]

Corsairs idea would work, with it you need active players and/or fiefs to be able to have more troops, so you need to be active in recruiting and active in attacking once you have reached the troop limit. Otherwise you wont be able to recruit more troops.

Just going turtle wont get you more troops beyond a certain point. And if u are at war with an aggressive opponent that takes your villages, he will be able to gain more troops as he advances and you would lessen your faction troop cap and have less troops. So get busy defending and taking villages back or sit in a castle and see you troops deminish until your opponent has owned you.

Small factions, that actively recruits people will be able to gain an ok amount of troops even without alot of fiefs. If they then succeeds in an attack they will be rewarded with an higher faction troops cap.

Big factions cant sit idle on their ass and watch their countryside get raped, they will need to defend it eventually or lower their faction troop cap until they cant even defend their castles/towns.

How fast a clan would be able to get more troops or how fast a clan would loose troops depending on the faction troops cap being changed is two questions that needs answering.

Also, how much an active player or a fief would raise your faction troops cap.

[Tomas]

If we are going down the food root then it needs to be simple and not increase micromanagement.

Easiest way I can think of is..
- Every village is linked to a specific Castle or Town
- Every village has a "supply castle/town" button
- So long as that button is turned on then you can stack whatever you want in the Castle/Town
- If no village is supplying a castle/town though, then any troops inside will begin to starve after 1 week at a rate of 0.5% per hour
- Castles/Towns without any supply from a village also can't buy/sell equipment or goods and they don't gain PP

PROs
- villages are important again so no running away and hiding in Town's Castles forever
- Factions can still use fiefs as troop stockpiles to help[ with management
- You can secure food either by conquest or diplomacy

CONs
- It doesn't prevent troop stacking in villages but i can't decide if that matters or not

IF avoiding the food root then Corsair's idea is ok so long as it is a faction limit and is per "player with ticks".  So having an inactive player in your faction makes no difference to your troop cap.

[GRANDMOM]

IF avoiding the food root then Corsair's idea is ok so long as it is a faction limit and is per "player with ticks".  So having an inactive player in your faction makes no difference to your troop cap.

Player with tickets is a nice addition Thomas, I cant see any cons with this method at the moment

[woody]

Tomas idea wuld be great - gives reason to defend villages which currently are just adandoned.

However - all these ideas need significant dev input to strat which wont happen. I know I keep harping on but the simple 1800 men can attack anything would open all up and would take minimal coding. To see someone lose 14,000 men in one battle would be funny, and encourage armies to leave fiefs occasionally, in Tumnah i think crusaders lost 6000 in one go (including pop).

Its the racking of 10,000 plus troops in various fiefs which is making this round dull now.

[En_Dotter]

... so you need to be active in recruiting and active in attacking once you have reached the troop limit....

Eeeer... I dont like that idea. That would remove neutrality from the game... which is rare... or maybe exists only within one faction... on the entire strategus... Stop making it harder for Quincy Clan... Its hard already to stay neutral...

[GRANDMOM]

Eeeer... I dont like that idea. That would remove neutrality from the game... which is rare... or maybe exists only within one faction... on the entire strategus... Stop making it harder for Quincy Clan... Its hard already to stay neutral...

We could put your clan in something like "Endangered Species" - category, make a reservation for you around Yalen and have chadz punish anyone that enters your territory with weapons? Then we could arrange like safaris into your territory where people would be able to see something rare 

[En_Dotter]

What ever you do please do not feed the animals there.