Something similar to this was planned as the heart of the old estate system, and still something that could be done with the new estate system. Knights could build buildings on their estate, each one having a certain effect. The buildings would only function if the estate was occupied. Larger estates could have more buildings. Buildings would be provided that benefited the region, or benefited the knight. (IOW - One building could gain the knight +2 prestige, another could increase morale in the region by 2%. No building could do more than one thing.) Unfortunately we never really nailed down exactly how it would work, let alone iron out all the details. Feel free to flesh out the details. They could be transferred over to the dev wiki, and archived for future use if it ever gets worked on.
My idea's not
quite the same (so good choice on the word "similar"
). I've seen that FR and think it's a good concept, would definitely add something new, engaging, and unique to the game, giving knights something more meaningful yet not necessarily powerful. Here's the differences I envision:
- Most importantly, one building per estate. This promotes player density over player engagement. (Both are good, but only one was my intent here.)
- Player count rewards would be freebies. Knights don't always have a lot of gold, even after the rebalance; the player density benefit is gone if it's not easily accessible by simple player count.
- The rewards would be more realm-helpful rather than region- or noble-helpful. In the short-term, this promotes funneling people into regions where you can already feel a benefit. In the long run, making the rewards somewhat unique would entice realms to war to secure them (either to increase their number or collect unique benefits).
I thought I had a few more differences, but I'll let that rest for a moment.
On point 3, I would like to give an example:
Let's say Badlandia, a badlands region, gets a capability to make a single siege engine every few days at maximum (let's say 3) noble count. Siege engines, I know, are often in short supply, but are very useful in wars. Initially, this previously unattractive chunk of land would become enticing as a home and become a priority for its realm. Once it becomes known that this is the reward, it becomes a big ol' target for the enemy realm, either to secure it for themselves or to deny it.
Of course, the flaw there is that we're assuming another realm would really see production of a single siege engine as a threat or an opportunity, but I'm still working that out. My gut feeling is a tuning the rewards more, like making the siege engines slightly cheaper there as well... Something that develops a mystery, then a reputation, and then either fame or infamy, exactly like the "special powers" of SF.
Seeing as this is getting some positive comments, would a mod please make this its own thread?
