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Topics - Constantine

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1
Feature Requests / Access to commands while at sea
« on: February 15, 2021, 03:40:21 AM »
Please allow access to unit settings and paying your men screen while at sea.

2
Development / Diplomat's military restrictions
« on: November 14, 2020, 06:08:17 AM »
So I've recently found out that diplomats have their unit size cut to a 1/3 AND converted to poilce.
I can not help wondering why. Courtiers and infils don't have it as bad. And they gain way more non-combat features than diplomats.
Why not keep only one penalty (either reduced size or non-combat army deisgnation)? What's the purpose behind making a rp-heavy class exceptionally worthless in combat?

3
Development / flexible density
« on: November 09, 2020, 12:34:38 PM »
I suggest that density be pegged to the player count and recalculated each turn. Default density should be enough to have all regions owned by players.
For example, EC has 124 region and 192 nobles atm. So it's density is ~1.5.

4
Helpline / Population growth
« on: October 30, 2020, 02:03:18 AM »
So I have a region which is roughly at a third of its max population. Population does not increase no matter the region stats or food distribution numbers.
Is it a bug or are there hidden reasons for stagnant population?

5
Development / Images in messages
« on: October 21, 2020, 05:53:16 PM »
Allow to inbed images in roleplays. Limit them to two or three to avoid clutter. Automatically place them in spoiler tags so that they could be just skipped.

6
Feature Requests / Hyperlinks on names
« on: October 06, 2020, 11:24:40 AM »
Make all instances of nobles' names appearing interactive. For example names in Militia tab of Region Details. Or names in Battle Reports.
You often want to check out the family or character page after seeing someone's name but it just takes so many steps currently.

7
Feature Requests / More options for Stewards
« on: October 05, 2020, 03:31:08 PM »
Allow region lords to toggle specific permissions for their stewards to
- hold courts
- recruit militia
- disband militia
- manage estates
- build infrastructure
- set taxes
- control food distribution
etc.

8
This message is written not to bash anyone but to voice real and legitimate concerns of mine.

The staff has been actively trying to influence the course of the game for the longest time.
And for the longest time it was done through introducing new rules (or rather restrictions) as indirect incentives to nudge the playerbase in the direction admins (not the majority of players) envisioned.
Those incentives proved to not be very effective. Because the overwhelming majority of players do not want to play the game this way. And restrictions can not influence human behaviour outside the very specific facets of gameplay they pertain to.

Now we are increasingly witnessing admins directly taking the steering wheel out of players' hands. I believe that this godmoding is absolutely terrible for a social/political game no matter how noble the motives are. And I will argue that motives may also be misguided.

With admins basically dictating to players which wars they are allowed or not allowed to fight, which part of the political game is now actually left to players' own agency?

Please give this question serious consideration.

And now to discuss the motivation behind these latest actions performed by the staff as I understand it.

People hate losing. People get upset when they're backstabbed. Or when the fight feels unfair (due to overwhelming odds). When opportunists flock to the battle, like birds of prey. I get upset about that too as a player.
Still I'd never ask admins to forbid other players play the game the way they want to play as long as it is within the rules.

I like BM because it is a simulator of both politics and military strategy. Where diplomatic blunders may have devastating consequences or bad things just happen out of the blue and you need to try and recover or take the L. That's how great stories are forged.
I never wanted to play a "fair play" simulator. Who wants that in BM? Why?

I hated so much when the entire North pummeled on Perdan, while former allies betrayed it one by one. Prevailing in that conflict was the experince of my entire time here. Even if we lost there, it would be sad but still a crazy ride.
If Northern realms were just told to stop fighting Perdan by the admins, what would that story be like? There would be no story, just punting the ball across the river with Eppy and maybe Sirion. It is simply painful to think how this could rob everyone of incredible amounts of suspence, fun and community building opportunities.

The real problem of BM was never unfair wars. It was always stagnation. It is realms and alliance blocks potentially staying the same way forever once an equilibrium is reached.
To bring up once again my previous example, I was really bitter at the time when everyone piled up on Perdan. But I never thought it was bad for the game overall. What I thought was bad for the game was the stalemate we have found ourselves in for 2 consequtive rl years. The North was fighting a war that could go on forever and that they could neither win nor lose. That was my only problem. It made everything boring as it left no place for new opportunity and conflict.
 
Now admins are artificially doing exactly the same thing.

The war declaration system is great. It makes wars dynamic and does not allow the continent to fall back into stagnation. This is the best change in a long time. When you can wage and conclude a war in a clean and relatively quick fashion, you can then go to the next thing, shift alliances, change the map, etc.
Alliance limit idea is also good, although not very efficient, because game mechanics-wise alliances are not as important as personal connections between characters, specifically leaders. 
But When wars have clear and modest goals, why mess with the diplomacy manually? Why allow an agressor to steamroll a weaker realm if he has three times as much nobles, but make it harder for the agressor if he has a similar advantage due to diplomacy and smart foreign policy?

What is being done is not a feasible answer. You can forbid a realm to participate in a war and coerce into allying with someone admins want instead. But what problem does it solve? Weak realms or realms without allies get to not lose as hard? Why is it preferable?
This takes real politics out of a political simulator. This takes real political agency out of players' hands. This makes political game non-existing really because it ends up being beholden to ooc considerations where no one has to feel bitter or lose really hard.

This can ultimately make BM no longer appealing to people most interested in intrigue and political aspect of the game.

Thank you for your attention and looking forward to hearing more constructive opinions.

9
Development / Population overhaul
« on: May 25, 2020, 02:23:33 PM »
A suggestion to make population a meaningful resource that needs to be carefully managed and protected.

The gist: every npc has a home somewhere.
When RCs send recruits to the capital, actual peasants from that region are withdrawn from the economy. Fighting units, militia, paraphernalia, they will all count to the limit of population of the region where they were drawn from.
If a knight recruits 50 archers from Lorient, Lorient now has -50 population. If the knight abandons this unit, they will return home. But if he stations them as militia, they're still locked. If they die in battle, it will take a longer while to replenish.
Combat casualties should replenish a bit slower, to make every soldier more valuable.

Implications:
When a region is reduced to a certain percentage of population or is heavily starved, it sends less recruits or stops sending them altogether eventually. Thus going after enemy population can be a viable strategy.
Huge armies and militia could be a massive hit to a small region's economy due to significant production drop because of missing workers.
Regions with !@#$ty stats can be valuable at least as recruitment centers.
Battles should no longer be about forcing the other side to refit sooner, but about keeping as much of your army alive as possible. Which might make every battle more meaningful.

10
Development / More hostile diplomatic options
« on: May 13, 2020, 02:07:49 PM »
At this time war is the only diplomatic status that can show that two realms experienced a fall out and consider each other enemies.

Positive relations are more nuanced. Peace is something generic. You can have peace with everyone. Alliance is heavily restricted. You can't be allied with that many realms. Federation is something unique.

I suggest to mirror this system to hostile relations:
Federation - Alliance - Peace - (Neutral) - Hostile - War - Hatred
Here we imply that realms who are hostile to each other are not in a state of open war but still consider each other enemies. Hostile realms will be able to arrest passing nobles, launch border raids and looting expeditions, get involved in underhanded activities (more options for spies and priests on hostile territory). War will be what war is now, with perhaps additional restrictions in time. I think realms should not be able to maintain War indefinitely and at some point revert back to Hostile for a while. The main difference of war vs. hostile would be that only during wars you can take over enemy regions.

11
Roleplaying / King's Farewell
« on: November 01, 2019, 05:51:43 PM »
Kay knew they would lose this battle immediately as the enemy army assembled on the other side of the field. They had reinforcements Imperatrix did not account for. And Perdan's side was missing many of its allied troop commanders. It was too late to fall back though and so this battle had to be fought.

And thus the king's fate manifested on that day. His men fought like lions and true lions they were. A company after a company overwhelmed and wiped out by the unending hordes of enemies. The king was wounded, his blood trickled down his steel plate eventually being consumed by Perdanese sacred soil. It drank so much blood already and still it was not full.

Kay counted the banners slowly approaching his position. Their faces were all blurred. An army of ghosts. A host of revenants or automatons. No matter how many of them defenders of Perdan would kill, they always promptly reassembled and came back again. For years and years. They did not care. Like they were not real people, but an ancient curse, mindless, merciless, unrelenting. A curse haunting him for his ancestors' sins. One you can not plead with. One that would just suffocate you slowly and silently like a withering disease.
"I did not choose this" he thought to himself. He was losing blood and it was hard to think straight.

They started the retreat too late. His bodyguards found themselves the last men standing on the hilltop. Kay saw almost a thousand men training their bows and crossbows on it. "This time even Shadowdale showed up" he thought to himself. Then: a cacophony of snaps followed by a chilling sound of a thousand projectiles traversing the sky. Bumps of large round shields forming a carapace over his head. Thuds of countless arrows piercing wood, metal, soil, flesh. Sharp screams of pain. Sounds of heavy hoofs and boots closing in.

His twelve remaining men formed a tight defensive formation around him. A devil's dozen against the great northern host.
The archers lowered their weapons. Were the men ordered to capture him alive? Perhaps. The enemy finally engaged. Thirty riders charged head on while two large companies of foot were scaling the hill from the sides. Some nobodies from Sirion and Caligus. But wait, there was a familiar face among the men. Elizabeth the mercenary. The woman who ate at his table and then went on to kill his old friend Emperor Shady and destroy his realm. Now she is back to get his head for her new masters in Sirion.

"May gods forever curse mercenaries. People with no honour and no shame." He thought to himself as his remaining men started falling around him. As he himself reeled from a heavy blow and knelt on the red grass. "What a terrible petty thought to become the final point of my existence. This does not even matter. Does not matter who dealt the final blow. What matters is the way I lived up to this point. I wish there was one man standing, who I could send back with my last words. But alas, none of my men will be spared. And thus my last words must be thought, not spoken. And my last thoughts are with Perdan. With men and women who survive despite all odds. As I die I feel so much pride, so much joy. That I was a part of this great struggle and that I will not be remembered as a bad king. Take heart, you who I have to leave behind! Perdan will stand as long as you do not falter. So do not falter, as I never did. Farewell, my friends. My kinsmen. My beloved children."

His eyes were blinded by gushing blood. But he clearly and vividly saw them all before him. Banetal the wise and Smiddich the jovial pirate. Genteel Ulric and poetic Lucius. Maximus the loyal and Samuel the valiant. Pragmatic Benjamin, dignified Druzil. Mikial the ancient, Bo the chicken peddler. Scarlett and Christopher - the new lions. Lionheart Alyssa and the spirited valkyries flanking her: Isabel, Isana, Dustiria. Joreb.. the good man Kay unreasonably doubted. And many other faces less often seen at the court but no less dear to Kay. They were all smiling at him. But their eyes were sad.
Suddenly the crowd parted and a woman stepped forward. He immediately knew who she was. Rhiannon his long lost love. "My Rhiannon, but I thought you were dead!" the king thought with joy and surprise. She nodded and extended her arms for an embrace. "Yes, we were separated, my love. But not any more. Come. We earned this". He raised his hand to touch her beautfil face. And then the butcher's axe descended and blew out his light.

12
Development / Retirement
« on: June 12, 2019, 05:33:30 PM »
Hello!
Another topic discussed in Discord.

Basically, in my opinion super old characters become detrimental to the game on many levels. They amass so much wealth and their skills end up so high that new characters have no chance to catch up. Not to mention how powerful they become both in properties they own and contacts/political weight, thus completely overshadowing younger characters and blocking social lifts.
A 100 year old duke is usually a tragedy for a realm.

I actually agree that it is better to let players decide for themselves when to end their character's story.
I also agree that the old system where players were incentivised to retire characters as their daily allotment of hours decayed with age was not great.
Still people will not retire characters consistently if not incentivised properly.

So I suggest that we discussed proper incentives for retirement here.
Mind you, retirement will still be optional so incentives will have to be quite good but not game breaking.
Something like boosts to rare skills (like spellcasting) or cool artifacts.
Retirement should also happen at a non-trivial age. At least 100, maybe more.

Discuss!

13
Development / Rebalancing regions
« on: May 21, 2019, 02:19:58 AM »
So, this suggestion was sparked by a discord conversation pertaining to OI.

The idea would be to decrease difference in value between regions across the board, not just OI.
In other words, I suggest that we avoid having regions that are basically uninhabitable. Because what's the point?

14
Development / Alliance Size Restrictions Discussion
« on: May 18, 2019, 10:19:40 AM »
So this change was implemented a while ago and almost no one even noticed because it was not enforced on existing alliances. Until some existing alliances had to be reshuffled and it turned out that once enforced this change was a massive kick in the gut for many people.

Guys. I understand that realms gravitating to two huge blocs and engaging in massive wars South Isle style (which sorta happens on all continents atm) is not how the game was supposed to work. But I really don't think blunt solutions like simply restricting alliance size is the right decision here.
Just like simply cutting continents in half was not the right solution for player density issues.
The fact is that restrictions always detract from the game. Let's try something else.

There are just so many ways to keep the wars local and prevent neverending world wars. I don't think this should even be about alliance sizes. There have to be more subtle solutions.
Just off the top of my head - if a realm declares war on someone it does not share borders with or is just way too far away in general, hit their population with increased morale malus over time, causing unrest and forcing it out of the war eventually. This alone will prevent the "pile-on" wars.
Or increase the "fighting away from home" malus on soldiers/increase pay the farther the troops march from own realm's borders.

I just really think soft caps are better than hard caps. The game is alwats more fun when it's about decisions, not just restrictions. Arbitrary restrictions make people feel frustrated and leave, decisions actually make the game more challenging so even if some people do feel frustrated they at least don't feel powerless, they can still do what they want to an extent.
I don't want people to simply be unable to form whatever alliances they wish. I just want them to have to calculate how long can they afford to wage an overseas campaign to help their ally without destabilising their own realm, for example.

Let's discuss.

15
Development / Complete mechanical immunity hurts the game
« on: May 02, 2018, 04:18:45 PM »
So apparently there are positions in the game that are absolutely immune to all and any players' actions.
If you are a duke and a governor of a city and a royal, but not a king, there is literally no way to remove you from this position.
This leads to a situation when a player gone rogue can really harm the realm in an ugly way and nothing can be done about that.

I do not understand why it is done this way and why it makes sense. There should be no 100% immune offices, especially this powerful.

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