[Jazzepi]

I don't think clam hording is a lame tactic. Honestly I don't even believe in calling a tactic lame. That sort of language is what bad players use in the arcade when they repeatedly get tripped in Mortal Kombat. If you can't beat a tactic, don't call it lame, adapt to it.

That said, I do think it is *boring* when there is only one choice. It should be made clear that almost every nation begins to become one terrifying amalgamation where late magic diversity means that everyone has access to all spells, so it's not surprising that the game slides into a single tactic state after a certain point.

I really liked Baalz's suggestion that there be a spell that destroyed all items of one type. I think this would make clam hording a much risker investment then it is now, where you're basically guaranteed income from the gems the turn after their conception. Obviously you could tweak the spell, maybe it only cuts the number of them in half, or some-such. There's only about a billion ways you could make it different but still use it to discourage massive amounts of clam hording.

Jazzepi