"I dislike most of the other changes in the mod, such as making flying boots, water bracelets, etc. more expensive."
I guess we just disagree then
I also like this change. Why should I as Pangaea have easy access to Flying Boots and Boots of Quickness (via the Water Bracelet)? Pangaea is not supposed to be an Air or Water nation, yet I use the same old tactics as everyone else (although clearly not as well
.
I think the nations should be differentiated more. I'm Pan and yet I'm fielding Bane Lords with Hell Swords, Boots of Quickness, Lucky Coins, blah, blah, blah, the same as everyone else. What is that? If I want the benefits of these clearly superior items, I should have to do more than stick a water bracelet on a water random mage.
I'm just brainstorming here, but I would even go so far as to have some spell schools and items prohibit the use of opposite spell schools and items (Wraith Sword means no Lucky items as a first guess?). Do I want Nature or Death spells? Or Tartarians and Demons stacked with most mortals kills the mortal's morale. If I summon Fiends as Pan, shouldn't my Centaurs be pissed off? I'm just throwing thoughts around without thinking about them, but the goal is variety. Tough choices are more interesting.
The spell mod attempted to introduce variety and choice by making the obvious spells more difficult to cast. I liked the fact that I saw Iron Pigs on the battlefield! I think
the item mod might do the same for the item aspect of the game.
And I have a feeling Zen carefully considered the changes, although everything can be tweaked. I also agree with the idea that upping the item cost is not the solution for most of the items (Wraith Swords, etc.).
And hey, if you really think your favorite nation (say, Ulm) is not playable with this mod, then I'd be willing to play the next game as Pan without something I like (say, White Centaurs). Although Jurri, or someone else, will probably just kill me off that much earlier and use my resources against you
But maybe we should ask those with experience. Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of games played with the Item Mod?