DeletedUser26772
Guest
NOTE: I've revised this post based on feedback below. If you are on the fence, please re-read it.
Proposal:
Permit a player to semi-randomly teleport one city, once per world.
(This is not a technology, this is the gods interceding on your behalf).
Another way to think about this is as a variation of the "Restart" feature, as it has some of the same properties, just a bit less cruel. In fast worlds a lot of people end up restarting (or just leaving the game after being rimmed).
Reason:
Having spent some time in dire straits in a number of worlds where alliances shift and you suddenly have enemies on all sides of your largest city (through no fault of your own), it occurred to me there is a solution to this -- a City Teleport buff. It would take you to an uninhabited spot in the direction of your choosing.
City Teleport must be scarce. Every player should start with one of them in inventory but that's all you can get. If you restart, you don't get another one, but you can keep the original one if you have not used it. This is intended to reduce the need to restart..
Uses:
1) save one city from a Really Bad Neighborhood when you really, really need it, such as when your First City is about to be wiped out.
2) move your First City city to the quadrant your alliance is gathering in if you are totally in the wrong area. However, this is risky, as you only get to use it once per world.
3) offense -- you could try to teleport a city further out where there are easier pickins'. This is risky (because you can only use Teleport once per world) and the location selection algorithm could and should guard against it.
Details:
The Gods magically move your city, with its research and improvements, even if your city is in revolt and under massive attacks (or in a Conquest world, being occupied). Any supporting troops from other cities would automatically head home. You lose all resources and favor with the god of that city. But you'd chose a quadrant (probably a different one from where you are now), and your city would go somewhere semi-random in that quadrant (see below).
After teleporting, the teleported city cannot be attacked, do an attack, or be supported for 24 hours.
Visual Aids:
Your First City has almost reached Colony Ship capabilities, but suddenly the alliance yours is pacted with breaks the pact with no notice and starts an op on you. Your only city has 50 incoming attacks and you are faced with extinction (I am gilding the lily a little here, but this is a conflation of 2 or 3 experiences I've had recently).
Balance/Abuse Prevention:
Helps defenders in dire straits. They need help, so this improves balance.
Scarcity prevents most abuses -- you only get to do this one time max per world.
New location selection algorithm: this is important. The algorithm should not send you much farther out from the core than where you started (to prevent someone using it to cause mischief among people who started later). There should also be randomness/uncertainty about where you'll land within a "direction", it could be worse than where you started, but this is to be used when you are desperate.
Downsides of use when you are not desperate are significant:
1) you don't know exactly where you'll end up
2) you lose all your existing support, resources, and favor
3) you have to wait 24 hours before interacting with your new environment
4) you have to conquer farming villages all over again
5) you will no longer have the ability to Teleport if you are in dire straits later on
Background: a similar feature existed in Evony, and served some of the same purposes. In fact there were two kinds of them: Random and Exact. The Random Teleport was only used in emergencies, while the Exact Teleport was a useful offensive weapon, as you could load up a city with troops and then teleport and attack. I don't see the need for an exact teleport or for it to be an effective tool on offense, but I do see the need for more tools for the diligent but desperate defender.
Proposal:
Permit a player to semi-randomly teleport one city, once per world.
(This is not a technology, this is the gods interceding on your behalf).
Another way to think about this is as a variation of the "Restart" feature, as it has some of the same properties, just a bit less cruel. In fast worlds a lot of people end up restarting (or just leaving the game after being rimmed).
Reason:
Having spent some time in dire straits in a number of worlds where alliances shift and you suddenly have enemies on all sides of your largest city (through no fault of your own), it occurred to me there is a solution to this -- a City Teleport buff. It would take you to an uninhabited spot in the direction of your choosing.
City Teleport must be scarce. Every player should start with one of them in inventory but that's all you can get. If you restart, you don't get another one, but you can keep the original one if you have not used it. This is intended to reduce the need to restart..
Uses:
1) save one city from a Really Bad Neighborhood when you really, really need it, such as when your First City is about to be wiped out.
2) move your First City city to the quadrant your alliance is gathering in if you are totally in the wrong area. However, this is risky, as you only get to use it once per world.
3) offense -- you could try to teleport a city further out where there are easier pickins'. This is risky (because you can only use Teleport once per world) and the location selection algorithm could and should guard against it.
Details:
The Gods magically move your city, with its research and improvements, even if your city is in revolt and under massive attacks (or in a Conquest world, being occupied). Any supporting troops from other cities would automatically head home. You lose all resources and favor with the god of that city. But you'd chose a quadrant (probably a different one from where you are now), and your city would go somewhere semi-random in that quadrant (see below).
After teleporting, the teleported city cannot be attacked, do an attack, or be supported for 24 hours.
Visual Aids:
Your First City has almost reached Colony Ship capabilities, but suddenly the alliance yours is pacted with breaks the pact with no notice and starts an op on you. Your only city has 50 incoming attacks and you are faced with extinction (I am gilding the lily a little here, but this is a conflation of 2 or 3 experiences I've had recently).
Balance/Abuse Prevention:
Helps defenders in dire straits. They need help, so this improves balance.
Scarcity prevents most abuses -- you only get to do this one time max per world.
New location selection algorithm: this is important. The algorithm should not send you much farther out from the core than where you started (to prevent someone using it to cause mischief among people who started later). There should also be randomness/uncertainty about where you'll land within a "direction", it could be worse than where you started, but this is to be used when you are desperate.
Downsides of use when you are not desperate are significant:
1) you don't know exactly where you'll end up
2) you lose all your existing support, resources, and favor
3) you have to wait 24 hours before interacting with your new environment
4) you have to conquer farming villages all over again
5) you will no longer have the ability to Teleport if you are in dire straits later on
Background: a similar feature existed in Evony, and served some of the same purposes. In fact there were two kinds of them: Random and Exact. The Random Teleport was only used in emergencies, while the Exact Teleport was a useful offensive weapon, as you could load up a city with troops and then teleport and attack. I don't see the need for an exact teleport or for it to be an effective tool on offense, but I do see the need for more tools for the diligent but desperate defender.
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