[RonD]

But freespawns are *supposed* to be a double-edged sword. I guess some players would like for all nations to have only advantages, and no disadvantages, but how could that be possible without having all nations identical?

For some (most?) nations, the disadvantages simply consist of not having the same advantages as other nations. Pretty much everyone seems to accept that, plus or minus people arguing in favor of a few extra advantages for their personal favorite nation. But for some nations, most notably LA R'lyeh (but there are others), some of the disadvantages are "active" disadvantages.

As much as I would like to be able to dismiss the odd random-event militia, having such a command would massively alter the balance of LA R'lyeh. They would become hugely overpowered if freespawns did not eat and were free of upkeep, or if one could use them where it was convenient and simply dismiss them where they are inconvenient.

LA R'lyeh isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. I tried it in a largish MP game (it was my death-3 R'lyeh that SelfishGene subbed for). I really liked the concept, but there was no way I could properly play a large R'lyeh empire and keep my job. So I just won't play that nation anymore. It doesn't make me feel that the game is somehow worth less because there is a nation I would like to play but just cannot - there are lots of nations that don't fit my particular playstyle (I would not want to play LA Ermor, and I never wanted to play undead Ermor in dom2, either). There are still plenty of nations that do fit my preferences. And the game is still much richer for having the current version of LA R'lyeh, available for someone who wants to give it a go.