Quote:
Soapyfrog said:
Gem producing items are not, in ANY WAY, essential to magic being important in the game.
|
No, but to remove them removes an entire class of strategies.
Quote:
And a better use for them would be... what?
|
Forge astral based items or alchemize them into other types of gems and use those.
Quote:
This is completely untrue. WIth 17 players on a large map, at least some players will be able to fin the time and space neccessary to horde effectively. These players will win. Period. There is NO counter.
|
Of course there's a counter. That counter is to use diplomacy and convince other people to attack the stronger player. If they are already at the point where they are too strong for the rest of the players combined to defeat, then they would have won anyways. All gem-producing items do is speed up the endgame so that it doesn't drag out for hundreds of turns on larger maps.
Quote:
In fact if I am super aggressive, then I am practically guaranteeing my own defeat since I will have to expend massive resources to maintain that aggression, whereas someone who is quietly turtling (and is aided by my aggression since I am drawing attention to myself) is not only not having to expend much to defend himself but is also growing his gem economy exponentially.
|
If you see somebody that is quietly turtling, then attack them. If they are spending resources on gem-producers, then they won't be spending them on their military.
Quote:
Even on a "Small" crowded map, hording will become a central strategy for those who emerge form the dogfight.
|
Not really, since the game is likely to be over by turn 30 or so on a typical small map.
Quote:
In any case, obviously had these items never been in the game no one would be bemoaning their lack. In fact I suspect had they not been in the game orginally, and added in a later patch, the reactionaries (like Graeme) would be screaming from the other side of the table...
|
I suggest that you go back and read some of the threads that have already done this issue to death over hundreds of Posts. You'll find out that you've made an incorrect assumption. I used to believe that clams were too powerful, but that was months ago.