145 replies to this topic

[jerdge]

I like the idea of keeping the tech limit at 50, and raising the cash limit significantly, perhaps up to 10mil. This will keep big nations at a relatively slow rate of increase in tech, while allowing smaller nations to catch up faster. I also like the idea of reducing aid expiration times.

While a new nation would in this way grow faster during their time as tech seller, they may then grow slower during their time as tech buyer. The problem is that nations spend only that much time selling tech and they then buy tech for the remainder of their existence, thus in the end such a change might actually damage the new nations, simply by making tech more expensive.
Worse, the old nation could permanently retain their tech advantage, due to the increased shortage of tech sellers (as new nations would probably stay less in that range).

[JoshuaR]

Again, tech trading should be abolished altogether. Make it cheaper to buy tech manually, or make wonders to do that. Increase the cash aid cap. But the tech trade is the severe imbalance in this game, the ultimate mark of who can or cannot be caught. None of the suggestions, except abolishing the trade, will allow people to catch up.

[Garion]

Creating a wonder that generates tech... that would be good. Make it expensive, and let it generate, say, 10 tech levels per day. I'd probably stop techdealing if I had that xD

[jerdge]

Again, tech trading should be abolished altogether. Make it cheaper to buy tech manually, or make wonders to do that. Increase the cash aid cap. But the tech trade is the severe imbalance in this game, the ultimate mark of who can or cannot be caught. None of the suggestions, except abolishing the trade, will allow people to catch up.

I quite agree with your sentiments.

There could be other solutions,though:
• Cap the tech military bonus (and military costs increase!) at 50% or 100% (any tech level over 5k or 10k is useless, save for increasing one's NS).
• Cap the shipment of tech based on the tech levels of the nations involved (i.e. you can't send tech to a nation that is, say, 1k+ tech ahead of your one).
• Tech degradation with time (e.g. 0.5% per day for levels above 5k: at that point everyone will have to stay between 5k and 10k).
• ... (other ideas?)

[JoshuaR]

I quite agree with your sentiments.

There could be other solutions,though:
• Cap the tech military bonus (and military costs increase!) at 50% or 100% (any tech level over 5k or 10k is useless, save for increasing one's NS).
• Cap the shipment of tech based on the tech levels of the nations involved (i.e. you can't send tech to a nation that is, say, 1k+ tech ahead of your one).
• Tech degradation with time (e.g. 0.5% per day for levels above 5k: at that point everyone will have to stay between 5k and 10k).
• ... (other ideas?)

* You could cap the military advantage, but that wouldn't prevent people from using it for NS and range issues, nor for stocking up so that when there is a war and they are knocked down, they are still at the peak of the advantage. Personally, I don't think that's the answer because the only way for new players to have a chance to catch up is to keep wars at the top as destructive as possible. Individual nations, my own included, lost 100k+ NS due to tech damage, and that's a good thing.

* The idea of capping tech shipments such that you can't send to someone x levels ahead of you alone doesn't do it I don't think, unless tech gets cheaper to purchase manually. In that case, that may be a good compromise between abolishing tech trade entirely vs keeping it the same or raising the limit.

* I don't like tech degradation with time because then eventually all nations will just be exactly the same. You would need to implement tech trees to make the game interesting at that point (nation specialization).

 

The other option may just be doing what a bunch of people are asking for... completely uncapping aid in every sense, and then after the wild west initial craziness, things might settle down? Seems dangerous to me, though.

[disillusionedHerbalist]

Personally, I think we should make it 4mill/70t/3000s

Then 6mill/70t/3000s with the aid wonder.

Also, a reduction of aid times from 10 days to 7 days.

This will make tech deals move faster, as more tech can be sent and in less time; without changing things too much.