[Groundworm]

I tend to agree with Catquiet. In addition to his points, there's also the fact that the most recent version of CBM effectively eliminates SDRs. This admittedly is a semi-biased fix, as it affects blood nations disproportionately- Lanka and Vanheim, for instance, are hit much harder than Niefelheim.

As for certain nations needing to meet research goals, I don't advocate slow research (though I've never actually tried altered research settings), and altering site frequency doesn't effect researching at all. To address your specific point, Sil, I would argue that Patala needing Alt 3 by the end of year 1 to counter rushes is fine, but if you're waiting until the end of year 1 to expand in a not crippled manner, you're already way too late to join the party.