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Syzygy

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  1. Syzygy

    The Wonder Discussion

    By Syzygy,

    Hello again,since there is a lot of discussion in the SuggestionBox going on regarding wonders, forced disbandment during war (peace terms) and the 30days-clock, here are some thoughts and a possible solution.At first: The current system is (imho) horrible. It is even a DETERRENT for new players to create nations here or keep playing the game. The same goes for people who have been forced to destroy wonders.Why that? Because right now the old nations have not only an advantage in size (that is just natural, and you can catch up this difference mostly because small nations grow a lot faster than big ones) - but also in TIME. And not just nation age, but 30day-circles. No matter how good or skilled a new player is - the lack of wonders is an eternal disadvantage. He can never overcome this, because he simply has to wait 30days for his next wonder, but in that time everyone else before him buys another one as well. In the end, he will notice the frustrating point that competition is senseless - since you can never catch up that difference. Most of the guys before him will ALWAYS make more cash, because they have ALWAYS more wonders. He can only hope that someone deletes or is getting destroyed in a big war.Now, people have suggested that Wonders should be made "indestructible", so at least long term players are not left with a perspectiveless disadvantage, but implementing this would a) hurt realism (indestructible things are just bad) and B) exclude new nations also.A lot better would be a system where users had the options to build or raze wonders any time they see the need to do so. If their nation is just strong enough to afford them (= fulfilling certain requirements + having the cash to pay for the construction) - where should be the problem?In making the requirements for wonders very differently, this also allow players to build very individual nations, depending on what they want to do with their nation. Also, at all levels there should be some economically and some military wonders available, so the user has always the choice to first complete building all wonders he fits the requirements for - or to grow infra first to get access to the higher wonders quicker, but lack the basic ones.So, lets think about the requirements:Economical Wonders (ordered by Requirement):# Great Monument: 90 days of age, happiness > 50, not in Anarchy# Great Temple: 90 days of age, happiness > 50, not in Anarchy# National War Memorial: Requires 50,000 soldiers casualties.# Movie Industry: 500 infra, 100 technology# Federal Aid Commission: 1,000 infra, 100 technology, Foreign Ministry# Social Security System: Avg Gross Income > $200 per citizen, 250 technology# Internet: 1,000 infra, 500 technology, 5 Schools# Stock Market: 1,000 infra, 500 technology, 5 Banks# Agriculture Development Program: Requires 3,000 land purchased, 500 technology.# National Research Lab: 2 Universities, 2,000 infra, 500 technology# Space Program: 2,000 infra, 1,000 technology, 3 Satellites# Interstate System: 3,000 infra, 500 technology, 5 factories# Great University: 1,500 technology# Disaster Relief Agency: 3,000 infra, 500 technology, Foreign Ministry# Mining Industry Consortium: Requires 5,000 infrastructure, 3,000 land purchased, 1,000 technology.# Universal Health Care: Requires 11,000 infrastructure, Hospital, National Research Lab.# Nuclear Power Plant: Requires 12,000 infrastructure, 1,000 technology, and a Uranium resource, GovSetting for nuclear Technology.# National Environment Office: Requires 13,000 infrastructure.# Scientific Development Center: Requires 14,000 infrastructure, 3,000 technology, Great University, National Research Lab.Military Wonders (ordered by Requirement):# Pentagon: 100,000 casualties# Central Intelligence Agency: 5 Intel Agencies, Foreign Ministry, 500 technology# Foreign Air Force Base: Foreign Ministry, 50 Aircraft, 1,000 infra, 250tech, 500 land# Anti-Air Defense Network: 5 Missile Defenses, 500 technology# Strategic Defense Initiative: Requires 3 satellites and 3 missile defenses.# Manhattan Project: Requires 3,000 infrastructure, 300 technology, and a uranium resource.# Hidden Nuclear Missile Silo: Ability to build nuclear weapons.# Fallout Shelter System: Requires 6,000 infrastructure, 2,000 technology.# Weapons Research Complex: Requires 8,500 infrastructure, 2,000 technology, National Research Lab, Pentagon Wonder.This way, no 30days counter is needed any more. Nations can buy whatever wonders they can pay for, if they have the cash to fund that. In addition they can also plan which wonder they want to get next and how they can act best to work towards the requirements it has.Nations can decide freely if they want to save up to buy more wonders first, or grow infrawise first and buy wonders later more quickly with the better profits. Players who grow faster can catch up better, Players who don't take care will get wonders slower. Skill becomes more important thant just age.Now, I want to stress another point: Wonder Price. People mentioned (and rightly so), that the prices for wonders are not that expensive any more once your nation makes 9 or 12 or even more million daily proft. I agree with that and would introduce a simple system that is also realistic: Wonders get MORE expensive the more you grow. Why? Because your nation is larger and the Social Security system or the Research Labs have a lot MORE citizens to cover, more tasks to do, SDI has to cover a larger area, Fallout Shelter Systems have to cover more supplies and so on and so on. I usually wanted to make these cost-increases dependent on infra, but on the other hand infra is not even a requirement for some of the wonders. So, I simply suggest to increase the wonder-purchase price by +1% per 1,000 NS. That means: for people like me, the same wonder would cost 2.4x as much as it would cost for someone with 0 NS. Its logical, my wonder needs to supply a by far bigger nation. With that system (which I would also copy for Improvements), we don't need to worry if someone even tries to do wonder-switches or something like that, and also improvement-switches become less attractive.Last but not least, I suggest building time: You first pay for a wonder/improvement, and then it is "under construction" for a specified amount of time. I sugges 3 days for Improvements and 15 days for wonders here. Another move against "switching" which the admin wanted to remove a long time ago.After all, I feel that this would greatly enhance gameplay because it creates way more options for the players and way more alternative routes than just waiting 30days to follow the same wonder-guides like everyone else. And: more competition and importance of skill when planning and growing your nation./Syzygy
  2. Syzygy
    Hello again,
    against my promises, today a slightly different topic, I am just in the mood to go away a bit from basic mechanics and want to write a few sentences about Resources, Bonusgoods and balance. Why? Because I still see people in countless posts and topics aim for horrible trade-circles or complain about how bad their resources are. This article shall help them and offer a simple solution for the admin to make the game a bit more interesting.
    Resources
    The current Resource system in CN is not that bad. Its easy and even totally newbies can manage to understand how Resources and Bonus Resources work relatively quickly.
    Now the bad part. The resources are not unique. That means, except for Uranium, you can simply exchange each resource for each other and you will still be able to do everything, just maybe a bit slower because you either earn less cash or things are more expensive. Where does that lead to? Simple: Some clever guys sit back, do some math and quickly find out what the *BEST* combination is. Put that into a guide, spread it and soon you have the situation we have in CN right now: Everyone is aiming for the SAME stuff, making some resources highly valuable and others nearly ruin a players day (not because he earns a few dollars less, you can live with that, but because you have to CONSTANTLY be afraid for your trades - just no one wants to trade with you for a long time...) - and thats annoying. Good games should have nearly no annoying parts.
    Now what is the solution? DEMAND. Create a demand for ALL resources.
    The best solutions currently:
    To help some of the rather unexperienced readers, a quick overview. There are lots of different Trade Circle offer around, but there are only a handfull really benefitial setups.
    Lets begin with the 3BG. 3BG means "3 BonusGoods" and is with "Construction+Beer+FastFood" a quasi-standard of CN. The resources you need for that are:
    Alu+Marble+Iron+Lumber (=Construction)
    +Wheat+Water (Beer)
    +Cattle+Pigs+Sugar+Spices (FastFood)
    +Fish+Gems/Uran/Silver/Wine (basically just make sure to fill the set with a good income booster or Uran if you want to go nuclear)
    That 3BG setup is considered the *BEST* if you have two of the resources needed for it. And since there are 15 of 21 resources available for it (except for nuclear nations, in that case its only 12 of 21 because Gems/Silver/Wine are not as good as Uran), a lot of people can go for it. If you can, do it and don't bother wiht *anything else*. You won't find a better setup for long term use, only with trade-swaps you can outperform it, but more to that later.
    Now, some people have Resources like Coal, Oil, Rubber... These are obviously not able to go for such a 3BG setup, because their resources don't fit in well. But, they have an alternative: the 5BG setup. They simply replace Pigs+Sugar+Spices with Coal+Oil+Rubber. You get with that:
    Steel+Automobiles+Construction+Asphalt+Beer. The other resources are the same. The 5BG setup is another quasi-standard for CN and provides a higher reducting in purchase and upkeep costs, but lesser tax income. On the lower levels (below 5,000 infra) it is still noticably weaker than the 3BG setup, because you have less citizens and with that less improvements. The higher you gow the lesser is the difference and above 10,000 infra both setups enable you to grow equally fast when just purchasing infrastructure. However, the 3BG still has an advantage when massing cash for a wonder or filling your warchest, the 5BG has an advantage during war because your bills are lower (less risk to be bill-locked) and your military replacement costs + soldier efficiency are better.
    So, if you have 2 of the resources needed for that setup, but cannot go the 3BG because one or both are Coal/Oil/Rubber - go for 5BG and stick with that. It won't get better without trade swapping.
    With these both setups we have already 18 of the 21 resources covered. What is left?
    Furs, Gold, Lead.
    These 3 resources are considered to be CNs "weakest" resources, but you can still put at least Furs and Gold to good use when going for an AP/FJ/Steel setup. With Lead you are basically screwed. Lead just sucks, it does have some minor advantages, but it is not usefuly for *any* long-term setup. But back to Gold and Furs. If you have Gold, do NOT make the mistake to go for an 8BG setup (5BG+Scholars+Microchips+RadiationCleanup). That setup is CRAP. Avoid it, at all costs. It looks good on paper but it is in most cases even worse than having 12 total random resources. Trust me, with that few population modifiers, you never have an income that enables you to compete with most other setups. Last warning: AVOID 7&8 Bonusgoods! [only exception would be a time where GRL is maximized at 5, then it is equal to the 5BG in growth].
    If you have Gold and/or Furs + one of the other needed resources, you aim for FineJewelry and AffluentPopulation (FJ/AP/Steel). As addition Iron and Pop Boosters. You need for that:
    Coal+Gold+Silver+Gems (=FineJewelry)
    +Furs+Fish+Wine (AffluentPopulation)
    +Iron (Steel)
    +Cattle+Wheat+Uran+Water (but you can replace Uran and Water also with: Lumber, Spices, Pigs, Sugar if you want, doesn't change much, these setups are all almost equally strong).
    If you have that, you make even MORE cash than with the 3BG - but infra is more expensive also. That makes the 3BG still better, but you can definitely rival the 5BG setup. And you are BY FAR better off with it than the 7/8BG solution.
    Now, we have reduced the only REAL BAD scenarios down to:
    - You have Lead + something else
    - You have 2 Resources from complete different setups (Like Rubber+Spices or Furs+Marble)
    For both I offer a solution to fix that.
    -----
    Solution for Nations with Lead:
    Strengthen the Bonusgoods which require Lead, which automatically creates a demand for Lead on the market.
    The first Bonusgood that requires Lead is Microchips. Currently a completely worthless Bonusgood because the +2 Happiness are nothing special (go for other stuff and you get that as well, together with a lot better value of the base resources) and the Tech Cost Reduction is useless because almost no nation purchases own tech any more, it all is imported via the TechDeal Market.
    Make the TechModifiers useful.

    - increase the effect of Gold from -5% to -10%
    - also increase the effect of Universities from -10% to -15%
    - also increase the effect of a Great University from -10% to -20%
    - also increase the effect of a National Research Lab from -3% to -10%
    - also increase the effect of the Space Program Wonder from -5% to -10%
    - increase the Tech Cost Reduction Effect of Microchips from -8% to -20% + double the reduction for all WONDERS if the nation has Microchips.

    It creates a motivation to buy more own tech, because with Microchips that is actually cheaper than on the market (100 for 3M) up to 400 or 500tech. Nations specializing for that route can stay techsellers longer AND the later benefits would come stepwise, since a nation builds wonders only slowly.
    The current max-modification for technology is a price of 57%. Since costs for tech are insanely high, buying own tech is only lucrative up to ~200, after that buying it from the techmarket simply is way better.
    The new max-modification for technology would be 41% without Microchips and 19% if you have ALL wonders with techboost. That means, nations could over time buy their own tech, the more of these wonders they have, the higher up it will stay lucrative. With a full wonder-setup + Microchips, buying own tech would be lucrative (=same price as the market) up to ~750tech and affordable (higher price but saves aidslots up to ~2,000 tech).
    Why is that better than now:

    - nations can stay techsellers longer if they focus on a tech-reduction route
    - beaten down nations can regrow faster instead of waiting months just for redoing all the techimports
    - crazy people can even buy own tech in the areas of some thousand tech
    - peacemode nations who can't participate in the techbusiness can grow slowly with buying own tech

    -----
    The second Bonusgood that requires Lead is Scholars. Simply change its effect from increasing income by +$3 to +1$ per Bonusgood the nation produces (simulates higher efficiency ratings when producing things). That way, adding Lead as completion for an 5BG circle would make that a 6BG combo and offers +$6 income which is better than 3 happiness. If used in a 8BG combo, it even offers +$8, which is better than 4 happiness.
    Why is that better than now:

    - adds a unique & flexible effect
    - strengthens the right now really crappy setups (7/8BG, FJ/AP/MC setups and such stuff).

    -----
    Solution for Nations with incompatible combos:
    Step1: Split the Resurces of CN in two tiers - Geological and Agricultural
    Geological Resources are all those which can be digged out of the earth:
    Alu, Coal, Oil, Uran, Lead, Gold, Silver, Gems, Marble, Iron + Water (can be below and on the surface)
    Agricultural Resources are all those which can be cultivated on the surface:
    Wheat, Spices, Wine, Cattle, Pigs, Fish, Furs, Rubber, Sugar, Lumber + Water (can be below and on the surface)
    Step2: Assign ONE Geological resource to every nation on creation - randomly.
    Since no nation can chose what the most common resource in iths earth is, they are stuck with it.
    Step3: Let the user chose ONE agricultural resource by own free will on creation.
    Every Ruler or Government is of course perfectly capable to decide on which production his nation shall focus.
    Step4: Let the user switch the agricultural resource once a month, but at a high cost - depending on the nations land+infra amount.
    Step5: Add 1 Env bonus to AP to make the FJ/AP combos more challenging.
    Why is that better than now:

    - every Ruler is self responsible for the COMBO his nation produces (if his geological resource is Silver/Gold/Gems -> Furs would be obviously a good choice because you fit into an AP circle perfectly, Spices would be a bad choice)
    - no more eternal disadvantages
    - options for the Ruler and ways to make mistakes / gain advantages
    - creation of a FLUID MARKET*

    I will elaborate this last point a bit more:
    Now you will say: Hah, Everyone will just chose Wheat or Fish as second resource! And I say: Shall they! It will lead to a situation where there will be not enough Cattle/Sugar/Spices combos to complete the setups, which automatically makes such a combo extremely valuable on the market - because everyone needs it and only few people have it.
    The same goes for Furs and Wine, which are currently rather 'undesired' - If there are only a few nations around which would perfectly fill AP/FJ setups - these will have their inbox spammed for trade offers. And since users can change the agricultural resource once per month (although for a high fee), the market will adapt to its needs. If everyone has Wheat, people with Wheat will notice that nobody wants Wheat any more, but everyone searches Pigs. It might be benefital to switch, but the decision is up to the owner.
    Short notice on Temptrades:
    Temp-trading means:

    - You import a resource-setup that reduces bills - and ONLY pay bills for around 15-19days.
    - After that you drop these resources and import other ones, those who boost population count and income.
    - Then you collect Tax for all days together with that higher income. After that you switch back to the bill-reducing costs.

    The same can be done when purchasing large parts of infra. Especially if you have a 3BG or FJ/AP setup. Just cancel some trades with Income/Pop-Boosters and import Infra-Reducers for a day. Then buy all your infra with that and go back to your old setup afterwards.
    Summary:
    [to the users]

    - 3BG is best, if you can go for it - DO IT
    - 5BG is almost equal if you have lots of infra. If you have Coal/Oil/Rubber - DO IT
    - 7/8BG is CRAP - never do that except GRL is at 5, and you are in the midst of a long war.
    - AP/FJ/Steel rivals the 5BG for sure, if you temptrade even the 3BG.

    [to the admin]

    - Make the TechMarket more challenging by making the reduction costs USEFUL. Bind that to Microchips & Wonders and especially a combination of those to give this Bonusgood a special purpose and strengthen the last really *bad* resource: Lead.
    - Change the "total random" system to 1 random + 1 chosen resource, which would enable the market to regulate itself and offer Users more options and ways to benefit from watching the market and making clever decisions.

    Good day!
  3. Syzygy

    Artificial Borders

    By Syzygy,

    Good day dear audience,
    today is a special day. Why special? Because it is sad, funny, enlightening and maybe even constructive.
    "Why?" you may ask. Because today something happened what I predicted some time ago and what should finally make clear that the fix which had been put in back then has only delayed the problem.
    What I talk about? Alliance Sanctioning and the artificial Member Requirement of 200 nations.
    Vox Populi has started a campaign to infiltrate the AA of TOP (The Order of the Paradox). They have brought around 20 nations of very small size and/or in peacemode to this AA, without being legit members there, just to push TOP over the 200 nations mark for a sanction. TOP itself has currently, as far as I am aware, 174 legit members.
    Since all these nations are either in peacemode or just new/ZId they don't really care for any military "threats". There is simply nothing anyone can do, if they just insist on staying on that AA, and I don't doubt that they will find the remaining dozen members to finally get over 200.
    All TOP can do is to remove own members from the AA, either to allied AA's, CTC (Citadels Protectorate) or the TOP Applicant AA to lower the nationcount. But does THAT make sense? Allowing a group of scoundrels to force one of the strongest alliances in the game to dissolve their membership structure just to prevent a success for their offenders?
    So, what can be done?
    Remove the reason for such attempts once and for all. Get rid of any artificial borders. Sanction the Top12 alliances, no matter how you "count" that. By NS, by Score, if membership size is sooo damn important, please, even the Top12 alliances by membership count.
    No matter how much and often the system is tweaked, people will ALWAYS find ways to exploit and abuse it. That is part of the human nature. Just get rid of that, its just saving future trouble.
    Another interesting system would be to determine sanctioning the following way, but maybe it is a too drastic change, however, just food for thought:
    The first 4 Alliances are chosen by Total NS.
    The second 4 Alliances are chosen by Total Score. (if threre are some already among the first 4, the next in score gets the place)
    The third 4 Alliances are chosen by Total MemberCount. (if there are some already among the first 8, the next in membership count gets the place).
    This way you have 12 sanctions, but 3 different ways to get there, which allows more flexibility when building alliances. However, just an idea.
    Fact is, the current system is still flawed and Vox Populi gains another stage for gathering attention. And as long as there are any artificial borders, such stuff will repeat, one way or another.
    /Syzygy
  4. Syzygy
    Hello dear readers,
    this one will be a quick one - but with a request, a serious request.
    Over the last weeks and months I have noticed more and more people contacting me (via IRC, PM or even ingame) and sending me suggestions, concepts and idas. And then they asked me if I could not go suggesting them for them, because they felt that I somehow have magical influence on the admin, or that stuff just "looks better" just because I post it.
    That is not the case. Please stop doing it.
    At first: The admin does *not* particulary "like" me more than other players. In all our conversations our contact was strictly neutral and to expect anything else does good for no one.
    Second: No suggestion has *ever* been implemented without strict review from the administration. It does absolutely not matter if the suggestion is from me, from you or from anyone else. If it is not good, it will fail. Even IF it is good, you still have to convince the admin.
    Third: The game needs input from *many* players, not just a few. That is neither good for the game because it makes the trend of changes lopsided, it also is not good for the atmosphere in the suggestionbox. If you have a good suggestion, just go suggest it.
    That does of course not mean that I won't help to find flaws or give hints when asked. However, what I will NOT do is:
    - posting suggestions in your name
    - taking your idea and create a complete concept for you (do your homework alone )
    - doing the math work for you
    - talking to the admin to "advertise" for your suggestion: do that yourself
    Last but not least:
    I. check out the last few pages of the suggestionbox if what you want is *already* discussed (or something very similar) - in that case participate there instead of making your own discussion
    II. check out the fixed links for help HOW to make good suggestions
    III. keep RL politics / beliefs or CN alliance politics OUT of suggestions. That will not lead to *any* results.
    Good luck with your suggestions,
    /Syzygy
  5. Syzygy

    Win me some internetz!

    By Syzygy,

    Hello and Goodbye!
    Unfortunately my ISP has currently massive problems after they "repaired" some of their server facilities. So, everytime I get a connection and access a website, I get disconnected and then for 5-10 minutes "locked out". Browsing is almost impossible and the only way to be around is during lunchbreak from work.
    So, I hope to get these problems fixed asap, but can't tell how long it might take.
    Please, someone win me a new internetz and send it to me via mail
    /Syzygy
  6. Syzygy

    Brainstorming

    By Syzygy,

    Hello again,
    the last article had one important message: Decisions and Options. Room for mistakes. That creates competition, that specializes nations, and make them more individualistic.
    What follows is a quick list of brainstormed suggestions which are *incredibly easy* to implement and would greatly benefit the game experience:
    1. Make all Wonders useful.
    Currently, there are 3 Wonders considered *totally crap* by the majority of the Players. That is why almost nobody buys them and every guide of major alliances advise to avoid them. They make absolute no sense at all and they are a rather waste of time (30days) and money.
    Federal Aid Commission - $25,000,000 - Raises the cap on foreign money aid +50% provided that the foreign aid recipient also has a Federal Aid Commission wonder.
    Why is that useless? Because the Concept of "Aid" is pretty much *dead* once a nation is in range of national wonders. 3M or 4.5M makes no noticable difference at all, especially since the OTHER nation needs an FAC ALSO. To make it useful here is a VERY SIMPLE way:
    Federal Aid Commission - $125,000,000; requires Stock Market; 3,000 infra + 1,000 tech
    -raises the Cash Aid Cap by $1,000 per infralevel over 3,000 infra - receiving only.
    -raises the Tech Aid Cap by +5% of the nations current tech - sending only.
    -allows to send secret aid if the nation has a CIA
    Why is that better?

    sending more cash to new nations to boost them even quicker is impossible
    payment of war reps is possible even at higher levels to at least cover damages (without eating up months of aidslots)
    possible payment for art/donations is increased and can be done in 1 slot if the artist/donator has an FAC, VERY benefitial for him, encourages people to be creative or to donate + it rises the prices (=more competition) what leads to the effect that growth is slowed down in the top ranks and increased in he mid ranks
    the established techbusiness is not touched since techsending only is increased downwards
    the game *needs* secret aid sooo badly to allow people to take a RISK (no just helping other which are curbstomped is no *risk*, its idiocy because you will be simply killed as well)

    ----------
    Space Program - $30,000,000 - The space program sends your astronauts to the moon and beyond. Increases happiness +3, lowers technology cost -3% and lowers aircraft cost -5%.
    The only thing useful in that is the +3 happiness, everything else is simply not noticable. Boring. People buy that only if they have everything else.
    Better:
    Space Program - $50,000,000 - The space program sends your astronauts to the moon and beyond. Increases happiness +3, lowers technology cost -15% and lowers aircraft cost & upkeep -15%.
    - along with increased Airforce Size and Upkeep, that wonder now serves a purpose: reducing replacement costs
    - along with a restructuration of Technology Costs, that wonder now serves a purpose: making a nation more independent from tech imports
    ----------
    Fallout Shelter System - $40,000,000 - Allows 50% of your defending soldiers to survive a nuclear strike (Does not prevent nuclear Anarchy but does prevent troops from being totally depleted), Reduces tank, cruise missile, and aircraft, losses from a nuclear strike by -25%, Reduces nuclear vulnerable navy losses by 12%, Reduces nuclear anarchy effects by 1 day. Requires 6,000 infrastructure, 2,000 technology.
    The main problem with the FFS is the current nuke mechanics. That basically means: A nuke kills 100% soldiers and that leads to "nuke + go in with ground = trigger a defeat alert". So far so good. Now what does the FFS do? It saves 50% soldiers. Fine, now it is "nuke + go in with ground = trigger up to 5 lost battles + a defeat alert". Basically the 50% survivors are often WORSE than 0 soldiers, because they can lose up to 6 battles, while 0 soldiers can only cause 1 defeat alert.
    The *system* behind that needs to be changed FIRST. Else an FSS is likely going to HURT you.
    Simple Example:
    [table][row][cell]Units[/cell][cell]without FFS[/cell][cell]with FFS[/cell][/row]
    [row][cell]defending soldiers[/cell][cell]-60%[/cell][cell]-40%[/cell][/row]
    [row][cell]defending tanks[/cell][cell]-30%[/cell][cell]-20%[/cell][/row]
    [row][cell]in-nation Airforce[/cell][cell]-25%[/cell][cell]-15%[/cell][/row]
    [row][cell]CMs[/cell][cell]-25%[/cell][cell]-15%[/cell][/row]
    [row][cell]vulnerable Navy[/cell][cell]-25%[/cell][cell]-15%[/cell][/row][/table]
    This way, nukes are not longer an "insta win button" for ground battles, but they definitely better the attackers odds. On the other side, an FFS helps limiting casualties AND winning defensive battles.
    2. Give Resources / Bonusgoods a PURPOSE.
    Right now, the only thing that really matters for a trade setup is: Profit. With just enough Population and Income, you negate ALL other effects of the other setups. That is why the 3BG setup is the by far most profitable. Why should you care that infra-upkeep or unit costs are 20% cheaper with other setups, you make already 25% MORE cash? You can simply pay the more-costs if you want, and you will be STILL better off. Not even counted that you have it by far easier to save up large cash amounts for wonder purchase or warchest.
    Quick Changes (decreases in red, increases in green, new stuff in blue):
    Aluminum – lower soldier eff boost from +20 to +10. Increase Aircraft Purchase Bonus from +8% to +15% (Alu is indeed the MOST IMPORTANT resource in Aircraft production)
    Cattle / Coal / Fish – no change.
    Furs - add -15% land cost. Lowers soldier upkeep cost -$0.50.
    Gems - lowers technology costs -5% (Gems are often used for optics, laser technology, cutting tech etc..., they are not a bad resource right now, but we should create more independence from the tech-import market, they will do their part)
    Gold – Increases citizen’s daily income +$3.00 and lowers technology cost by 10%.
    Iron – Lowers soldier purchase cost -$3.00, lowers infrastructure upkeep costs -10%, lowers infrastructure purchase costs -5%, lowers tank upkeep costs -5%. (Tanks are made of steel, not Iron, besides this, Iron is already way more powerful than other resources)
    Lead – Lowers cruise missile and nuclear weapon purchase cost and upkeep cost -25%, lowers aircraft upkeep cost -25%, lowers tank purchase and upkeep costs -10%, lowers soldier upkeep cost -$0.50, reduces environment penalties for owning nuclear weapons by 50%, and lowers all navy vessel upkeep cost -25%.
    Lumber - add -5% land purchase cost.
    Marble – Lowers infrastructure & improvement purchase cost -10%, Lowers improvement & wonder upkeep -10%.
    Oil - Lowers soldier purchase cost -$3.00, increases population happiness +1.5, increases soldier efficiency +10%, lowers tank upkeep cost -10%, lowers aircraft purchase cost -5%, and lowers all navy vessel upkeep cost -10%. (Tanks need fuel. And Lots of.)
    Pigs – Lowers soldier upkeep cost -$0.50, increases soldier efficiency +15%, and increases number of citizens +3.5%, reduce land purchase costs -10%. (Why do PIGS make soldiers fight better?)
    Rubber - increase aircraft purchase bonus from -4% to -8%. Rubber is important for chemical industry and Aircrafts require all kind of plastics.
    Silver - add -5% technology costs (same as for gems, silver is often used in making conductors, alloys, vaporization of surfaces and whatnot)
    Spices – add -10% land purchase costs.
    Sugar - add -5% land purchase costs.
    Uranium / Water - no changes.
    Wheat - add -2% land purchase costs.
    Wine - add -15% land purchase costs.
    ---------
    Affluent Population - Increases number of citizens +5%, betters Environment by 1.
    - Requires Fine Jewelry, Fish, Furs, and Wine
    (a wealthy and luxurious society faces less crime and violence, has more clean streets and cities, is an overall better place to live in)
    Asphalt - no change, except it requires 50 tech.
    Automobiles - no change, except it requires 75 tech.
    Construction - no change, except it requires 25 tech.
    Fast Food - no change.
    Fine Jewelry - no change, except it requires 15 tech.
    Microchips - Reduces technology cost -25%, increases population happiness +3. Requires Gold, Lead, Oil, and a technology level greater than 150. Lowers Frigate, Destroyer, Submarine and Aircraft Carrier navy vessel purchase and upkeep cost -10%, Purchase of Nukes, Airforce, CMs -10%. Cost of spying operations -10%. Spy strength +5%.
    Radiation Cleanup - no changes, except it requires 75 tech (like nuclear weaponry).
    Scholars - Increases population income +$1.00 per Bonusgood the nation produces. Requires a literacy rate greater than 90%, Lumber, and Lead.
    Steel - Reduces infrastructure cost & upkeep -2%. Lowers all navy vessel & tank purchase cost -15%. Requires Coal and Iron and a tech level above 10.
    ---------------------------
    Now, why is that better than the current System? Because people can get BETTER results, depending on what they CURRENTLY need. You can of course still focus on ONE trade setup and keep that for eternity. But others who change their trades to fit their requirements (military, technology, land, infra) will perform better. It forces interaction between the nations. Especially the right now rather weak resources are part of Bonusgoods which grant big benefits on special fields (technology and military). They will become more important, he more nations grow.
    And it opens the possibility for a better MARKET in CN:
    In the current system for example, the maximum Cost Reduction for Airforce Purchase is:
    Alu + Oil + Rubber + Space Program = 0.92*0.96*0.96*0.95 = 0.8054784 = -19.45%.
    In the new system, it is:
    Alu + Oil + Rubber + Microchips + Space Prgram = 0.85*0.95*0.92*0.9*0.85 = 0.5683185 = -43.17%
    Nations with such a setup can simply OFFER to EXPORT aircrafts to other nations for profit. That even creates a political side, because selling Military Units to enemies of other alliances is dangerous, it creates tension, good reasons for war.
    The exactly same is possible for CMs, Tanks, Navies. Create a flourishing market and let nations buy and sell stuff.
    But, to prevent market flooding, you HAVE to implement another thing:
    3. Purcase Limitations.
    Of course such a market would be nonsense, if a small nation can simply work out a deal with a big one, to produce 10,000 level 9 fighters cheaply and just "sell" them on one day to the bigger alliance. Every nation must have a "Production Capacity" for all things. Be it infra, tech, units - every nation should have a base limit and abilities to increase the efficiency of its factories and limits. The more it can produce, the more it can sell and the more profits it can make. Another way to fill all the empty improvementslots.
    More thoughts about Unit Production and a Global Marketplace later. Because that is a rather difficult field. Limits must ensure that smaller nations can still fight, but on the other hand market-flooding must be prevented.
    /Syzygy
  7. Syzygy

    The end of the rope

    By Syzygy,

    Hello visitors,
    depending on your individual nation, you might know the following problem: Boredom. You have everything you can have, you have tons over tons of spare cash, and still, the game offers you: nothing. You cannot do anything with it, except wasting it for even more infra or land or other stuff which would do nothing in return.
    I hate to say it, but really, the game was a lot more fun when I had 3999 or 4999 infra... and not because there was more 'risk' in a political way (we always had kinda 'upper tier and nuke dominance', so nothing has changed much compared to now) - but because I still had perspectives. I had still plans and ideas, needed to plan aid, improvement orders, trade changes, purchases... nothing of that is left. Except of one national wonder per month, there are no more decisions to make.
    Now, you could say: "Hey, but you can still aim to be #1 some day!" - but, sad but true, that is rather impossible. There is almost no competition at the top, because all the guys here do the *exact* same things in the *exact* same way. All the nations higher in the ranks than me are around 200 days older, which means they have more infra and wonders and already had ~200days more in collected taxes than I had. As stupid as it sounds: but since there is no way to do anything differently or to make any mistakes, the ranks can only be changed via deletion or war .
    So, why telling you all this? Because the game faces a problem-by-design: usually games work in the way, that the more you advance, the more options for gameplay you get. But CN works exactly the other way round. And the only way to change that is the implementation of powerful mechanisms which become available for higher up nations only.
    Simple ideas are:
    - The problem of "Crime" appears once your nation has exceeded 5000 infra
    - The problem of "Unemployment" appears once your nation has exceeded 10000 infra
    - The problem of "Pollution" appears once your nation has exceeded 15000 infra
    - The problem of "Minorities" appears once your nation has exceeded 20000 infra
    For each of these problems a rather difficult decision matrix and a lot of Governmental Effects, Improvements to fight their effects, a different set of Governmental Positions and influence on the Population could be implemented.
    Now, why "difficult" decisions? The admin always said: "KISS!!! Everyone should be able to play the game with investing only a few minutes per day!" - And that is correct, but we are not talking about the majority of all players, these must not really care for these problems and can simply ignore them.
    -> 3 Nations in the game face all 4 Problems (over 20,000 infra) = 0.01% of the players
    -> 61 Nations in the game face 3/4 Problems (over 15,000 infra) = 0.21% of the players
    -> 765 Nations in the game face 2/4 Problems (over 10,000 infra) = 2.66% of the players
    -> 5,789 Nations in the game face 1/4 Problems (over 5,000 infra) = 20.13% of the players
    So, even after implementing such a system, in no way the game experience would move away a lot from KISS, but it would create more difficulty at the upper ranks, which means more room for mistakes, more competition and more options for those who are by far more interested in the game than others. It gives a longterm motivation and actually things to do, decisionst to make.
    In addition, it is a simple way to use all these unused improvement slots for the higher up nations, and the way HOW you fill them will have impact on your performance. Now, combine that with a change from "insta-effects" to "over-time-effects" and disable improvement-switching by creating razing fees and time limits for improvement construction, also more pre-requirements for other wonders or improvements. In that way, nations can specialize and will have advantages on special fields, but changing from an eco-path to a military one will cost some time and lots of funds, and the timing of your decisions will become important.
    Combined with the "Marketplace" and increased politics, as mentioned in the last article, the game *itself* could be a lot more interesting, instead of "outsourcing" all the interesting parts to outside boards and IRC channels.
    Well, hopefully we will see some developments in the future to make the game more *interesting* for the upper ranks, instead of simply add more +3 happiness +4% pop etc. wonders.
    /Syzygy
  8. Syzygy

    Oh happy day!

    By Syzygy,

    Now thats a way to start a day... Waking up and see: Damn! I am late. Veerrry late. And it's cold. And rainy. And my wife took the car so the only way to go to work is by motorcycle. Ohhh, does God really hate me?
    So, of course ignoring all speed limits, I drive the 20 km to work... and around 3 km before I arrive I get trapped behind a snail-speed heavy goods truck platoon with police escort (must be around 5 trucks carrying some kind of highly sensitive chemicals)... and that sucks, because I cannot pass it.
    8:05 in the morning... I should have been at work 8:00... I hail my motorcycle, but 5 minutes late still sucks.
    But - GOD DOES LOVE ME. Nobody else is there (we have an advanced training lecture today). Appearently all the other guys are trapped in the traffic jam too. Thank God my wife took the car.
    So, shortly after I get the message from a secretary that the whole thing is delayed by 2 hours, that leaves lots of free time to abuse the companies internet for my personal pleasure. And that, by definition, brings me to CN.
    Now, first thing I notice, game update log notice. Oha - it seems that after narrowing the war-declaration range from 50-200% to 75-133% yesterday, now the +/- 250 ranks override has been implemented too. Very good, because that stops all these "artificial borders" which some people tried desperatedly to achive or to avoid (depending on their goals ). The smaller update for the bills/tax screens is also nice. A good day for CN, even while some raiders my cry about the fact that their victims from now on will be a bit stronger.
    Will this change war in CN overall? A bit. It will of course not prevent 10 on 1 war declarations, but definitely help the attacked side because they cannot be tripled by entirely guys of twice their own size. Does it "make the game boring"? I disagree, because almost the only ones who complain are raiders and these claim to "do it for the fun" - well, having a target that can at least strike back is more fun than someone who just takes the beating and holds still, right? Or, are they lying and just complaining that their theft is now a bit more risky? Who knows.
    The main question is: Is CN boring without war? And if yes - why? The answer for me is relatively simple: The war-system is almost the only way for nations to really interact. All other systems, be it senate, trading, aiding, building are so very simple, they require almost no effort and few to none cooperation, no negotiations, no nothing. I remember my first days in CN and it was rather funny to have big guys offering me 50k or 100k for a trade agreement - and negotiating with them to increase that amount - but nowadays everyone is spammed with 3M cash for tech, or joining an alliance or a trade circle - cash means nothing any more and is also limited to 3M at most. There is no real politics in the game, all that is outside the game (IRC and boards), and to be honest the important politics of all major alliances are done by a handfull of people. People are complaining that the game "has lost 10,000 players!" - but face it, we could lose another 20,000 and nothing would really change here as long as the top50 of all the big alliances simply stay. Large parts of the players simply "don't take part" in all what makes the real 'fun' in CN.
    How can that be changed? Well, the game needs more thrilling systems in ALL sectors, not only war.

    Allow 'Contracts' for trading (agreed duration, agreed payment, cancellation penalty if cancelled earlier).
    Allow sale of military units (including CMs, Tanks, Airforce).
    Create a "Marketplace" for each nation, where it can offer things: Tech, Military Units, Resources for a price the ruler sets. Other nations can simply "scan the market" for offers, and agree to 'buy' whatever the other nation offers.
    Secret aid. Damn this game NEEDS secret aid. Seriously.
    Aid cap. Increase it for higher up nations while preventing transfer of more cash down to newer nations.
    More politics. Create a Team Parliament besides the Team Senate and give it different powers. Allow way more nations run for that Parliament (30-50) and base their decisions on majority polls (unlike Senators who can act on their own).
    Greatly change the Bonusgoods. Seriously. If you make them REALLY different in boni, it is LUCRATIVE to EXPORT the things you have built with them. -5% Aircraft cost? Whats that? Thats peanuts. Nobody cares for that. But if you have a Bonus of -40% on Aircraft costs, you could sell them on the market and people without Bonus would even pay for them. That is how you create business and a flourishing market. Same goes for Tanks, CMs and Navies. Even tech - nations specialized in techproduction can offer tech for lower prices, getting more offers...
    Individualization. Let Navy vessels have names (When produced they are just numbered "New Syz-AC-0001" for my first Aircraft Carrier for example, but I can rename them if I want and this name would also be used in the battle reports if it is sunk). Let people rename their Great Monuments and Great Temples. "Great Arc of New Syzygia" for example... Create a moderation position where a moderator approves personally designed flags to upload (to prevent people using porn or such stuff). One Mod can handle dozens of requests per day. More space in the nations Bio field and allow basic formatting (underline, bold, italic, colors). Let rulers place links to their Blog, their Alliance Board or their Wiki into the Bio/Nationview (abuse will result in warnings and bans, at least for sanctioned alliances that should be as easy as implementing their own flag). Team Color Skins.

    As you can see, lots of things to do, but today really was a good day in the right direction. Lets hope for the implementation of more good ideas pretty soon.
  9. Syzygy
    Fine thing such a blog, I think more interesting than the content will be the list of people who visit it . And their comments, of course.
    I will try to keep actual and specific ingame politics out of here, but share some thoughts about the game itself, the overall community situation and current or future developments and trends.
    Everyone shall feel free to ask me any kind of questions (PM), and I will try to answer it in here.
    Enjoy!
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