The only nations I would agree are too powerful are LA R'lyeh and LA Ermor. They are the only nations that have game mechanics that alter the game progress in a game. Their very participation makes other players behave differently in order to cope. In the case of Ermor this bothers me less, since they are supposed to be a world threat and they are central to the development of the dominions series. R'lyeh is a bit of a bother since they share some game mechanics with Ermor, but has more options and diverse powers.
I will not consider a nation overpowered unless it can beat two other nations ganking up on the strong one. That is what MP is all about. It is the responsibility of the neighbors to know the main strengths and weaknesses of a nation. The forum, playtesting and in game diplomacy should give anyone the tools to evaluate a nation and make sure it is destroyed before it gets too successful.
I do understand that some nations are more powerful than others, but the nice thing about MP is that balance develops during the game. A nation that is unable to take advantage of game settings, map features, sites and such is too weak. A nation that is always successful regardless of game settings, map features, sites etc is probably too strong.
I do not consider MA Man too weak. Boring perhaps, but not weak.
There are more than fifty nations in the game. Of course some are more powerful. Since we have ordinary day jobs, and divert most of our developing time to our other project there will obviously not be changes to every nation (since every nation needs changes).
I do get annoyed when you say we don't do much to change it. You have probably reduced the chances of having MA Man getting a fix. Machaka feels more interesting now.
Hmm, sorry about that Zeldor. It was not intended as an attack on you or Man, but I do actually dislike to work with nations when I remember people complaining about them. It gives me a sour feeling, and since I work with things that makes me happy I avoid working on nations which make me feel unhappy.
Things that makes me happy are when people say they like the feel and mood of a nation and that they feel that it is sad that it is not more strong in this department or that area. This gets me inspired and makes me think more about the nation instead of less, and will probably have the result that I will add stuff.
A discussion on how cool KoA are will likely make me feel that they are cool, look at them and think that they are too uncool in the game. A discussion where someone complains about the fact that they cannot move about and are underpowered compared to dada.. will just make me leave the discussion and look at a thread talking about how cool bane spiders are, even if they can only be recruited at home. I will then silently agree and think about what can be done to the banespiders, including new graphics and a set of new and cooler powers to compensate.
Sorry about the rant. I had too much coffe last night and woke up after four hours of bad sleep.
