I'm a bit torn about morale. I realize that many quit the game just because they are attacked a few times and lose their army. And I want as many people as possible to stick around at the same time. Meanwhile, I'm playing in Phi, and while I can take five cities, I'm afraid to do so, because already now it's very hard to find targets I can attack without morale penalty. That means that I can only attack for conquest, no longer able to do cost-effective battle point raids, which sucks since I will be wasting my resources at full population.
I think speed 1 or 2 is nice. I'm used to speed 2, but speed 3 would definitely be way too quick, making the universe too stressful and having pumped up numbers, with numbers losing their meaning. I can see the appeal that lies in wars being fought over greater distances, but I don't think it's worth the other effects. I would probably prefer speed 2 over speed 1, since I'm used to speed 2 and it seems natural to me by now.
I started out playing on a revolt server, and I though I would never like conquest. However, after trying it out, I like it better. It does mean that as an individual you area easily ed with little notice. Kind of makes you nervous and forced everyone to get bigger defensive forces. However, it also means that you have the exciting element of seiges that can be broken, encouraging smart planning and good cooperation between alliance members.
I also find that alliance limit of 30 members in Phi to be great. Once you go beyond that number, I find that the collective loses some of its meaning and its hard for everyone to have a voice. I think wars between "small" alliances close to each other are much more exciting rather than big alliances fighter over two different oceans. When it's smaller and more easy to grasp, it becomes more exciting to pay attention to details. If it's a blot of several hundred cities attacking each other, it doesn't really carry the same momentum.
10 days beginner protection is fine. We don't want to be without battle for too long, but if the ten days help us keep some more players in the game, I'm all for it.
