[Kel]

Stormbinder said:Castles reqiure a lot of resourses and population to build and maintain

Watchtowers, however, which are usually what are being built, do not. Castles DO cost a lot, that's why noone uses them.

and it would increase fun and enjoyment from the game for all players.

I haven't had the same experiences you have and I rarely see the kind of castles you are talking about until the late game. If there was no defense, even temporary, from raiding, it would make my game less fun, not more fun. Your first suggestion, at least, would strengthen raiding and weaken the uses of dominion (at least any that required the use of temples).

I don't believe that devs have intended for the castles to cover each and every province, as it happen very often, and for most peaople to play with Mausoleum/Watch Towers.

I do actually agree with this but this has to do with the nature of the castles, not with the concept of 'madcastling'. Making castles escalate later on in no way encourages one not to take a cheap castle as the watchtower would still be cheaper and built faster than if one had taken a Citadel of some kind. On top of that, it would still build faster (the most important point, to me) and would still cost less design points. I would rather see the cheaper towers reduce resource output (as they have reduced gold via lower admin values now) or something along those lines as far as balancing the fortifications go. That may not have the desired impact on madcastling but like I said, it hasn't been a problem in my games.

- Kel