Balance without a Mod? A Discussion (Long)

[Velusion]

KissBlade said:
Seems to me that if someone bids the exact amount you have left over after enough points to run a dual bless, no one will be dumb enough to bid higher to get a lamer version of the nation.

Quite possible - but you are bidding in blocks of points, not a point each. And usually there is always something else you can sacrifice to get a dual bless (get worse scales, lower domain, etc...) How low would you go? I would bet that most people would disagree about the exact amount - I don't think it is as cut and dry as you think.

[KissBlade]

The ability to have a strong early game is absolutely essential to a competitive nation. Faster expansion always snowballs into a BIG advantage regardless of what most people think. Take Patala for example, their expansion ability is ridiculously sluggish and despite their good late game potential will never rise to the same status as say LA Mictlan. Also MA Ermor and MA Ryleh doesn't have a bad early game at all. Ermor has reanimation + recruitable ethereal units for their turbo expansion while Ryleh has very good gold sink troops in the form of crab hybrids/lobo guards and armored slave troopers for resources to allow a very smooth early game themselves. MA Argatha on the other hand ...

[Velusion]

KissBlade said:
The ability to have a strong early game is absolutely essential to a competitive nation. Faster expansion always snowballs into a BIG advantage regardless of what most people think. Take Patala for example, their expansion ability is ridiculously sluggish and despite their good late game potential will never rise to the same status as say LA Mictlan. Also MA Ermor and MA Ryleh doesn't have a bad early game at all. Ermor has reanimation + recruitable ethereal units for their turbo expansion while Ryleh has very good gold sink troops in the form of crab hybrids/lobo guards and armored slave troopers for resources to allow a very smooth early game themselves. MA Argatha on the other hand ...

I agree that early advantage translates often into late advantage. Momentum is huge. Thats why I dismissed victory conditions as a bidding currency and think something that has an immediate effect like Pretender Points is a better choice. I'm sure there is point that point were early momentum is superceded by long-term strategies, but I'm also sure almost everyone will disagree when that actually is - hence the bidding!