WALL OF TEXT
So, I've been reading the "Ask a dev" and thread and gotten some ideas from it. I thought about making my own thread but I might as well post it here.
-Having constant wipes seems like gameplay fail. Why do we need to wipe? Too much gold? Troops? Equipment? I think "constantly" (the only thing said about it, is that it MIGHT happen every 6 months or so to keep things fresh) wiping is ignoring the real problem at hand.
Just look at other strategy games out there, like the total war series. You have x amount of population producing taxes, some of these turn into troops (thus costing money instead), some are allocated as workers, thus not generating tax. The money sink is troops and buildings. Now, in the TW games you get tax from different things, population, farms, trading and different resources. But the real money sink is troops. The higher tiered, the more they cost. This forces the player to make several different choices, like conquering with an overly expensive army, "economical growth" with a defensive army and so on.
This could be translated into Strategus, the players being the clan, being forced to choose between economy, crafting and "warmongering". Big clans could perhaps solve this themselves, but most would have to rely on other clans to help them out with certain needs, be it equipment, troops or resources (which seems to where Strategus is heading anyway).
Derprelevant EVE story:
I used to play EVE on a fairly high level. Our corporation had several rented systems far out in 0.0. We were only 20 members or so, and didn't have enough players to have constant guards up, being a an Industrial corp, but we had money and equipment to spare, so by constantly supplying our Alliance with equipment and doing the occasional Caravan in to high sec with jump freighters (I never felt so much like an NPC, in a good way, as I did when we did those runs) we would always have friendlies on the standby whenever Pirates where about.
Pay the mercs after the battle, promise them the spoils of war! More fun, and a much better incitement to join an army before the battle begins, and of course to play better!
Make players sign up for an army, with their strat char, thus "joining up" and and getting money, just like you would join a city or a fief for work (perhaps making the army more efficient in some way, travelling faster, less upkeep then regular troops). Having a set up time for the army would also prevent "on the fly" armies suddenly appearing.
Equipment + Troops = Standing army (whenever troops and equipment are combined, they create an army costing initial money (hiring cost) and upkeep, depending on the amount of troops and quality of equipment, for the duration of the campaign).
One character should not be able to store equipment, for that you would need a "base", be it a rented house in a town/fief/forest hideout (for small time bands) or a keep where you store equipment for armies. Warehouses for merchants and Silos for grain, that can be built in towns and fiefs.
Every town should have a market, where anyone with enough money could go an place an buy/sell order for items and resources (no global market, but perhaps global bids?)
Resources and items need to be transported from point A to B. Using carts and horses (donkeys/mules/dragons), one would set up a caravan, first by hiring guards (like creating an army, but with much shorter set up time and smaller upkeep fee), and then loading up and hauling everything to where it's needed. Caravans would make excellent targets for bands roaming the countryside (formed up gangs, just like the caravan guards), this would get new players and smaller clans something Useful to do, beside just sitting in a town making small change.
Small time bands and clan would not have upkeep like armies, and would not have equipment in the same way as regular forces. Each players would have his own equipment, doing with it as he see fit. But if a skirmish is lost so would part of his gear be. After a won battle, players would be able to choose new gears from the defeated. If they brought donkeys they could haul some of the loot back the hideout.
"Make" most players sign up in bands/armies (better wage, higher risk). You hardly earn gold if your a worker, it covers your living cost (meta meta game; new shoes, broken shields etc).
Profit is in being in the right spot at the right time (battles / caravans / raiding mostly).
Gold only gained through taxes from population in villages / cities (not players). Governed by the owning player.
Trading items/resources is more important then gold.
With gold you can buy personal equipment (for use in "Band" fights), buildings, horses, carts, pay wages (and resources, if people are willing to trade for gold).
Strategus and cRPG gold totally separate (might go Strategus>cRPG)
