a very small suggestion for the next patch for ryhleh ( devs plz read )

[Arryn]

Originally posted by Kristoffer O:
I don't program much, but to me it would be more rewarding making a change that made the game more fun to play and as I rarely am bothered by the UI in dom2 I would prefer a new interesting feature.

The 'dissmiss' however would fall under features in my book, as it is something that would affect the game play. Thus it must not go through the UI filter but the general preference filter.

When evaluating what is "most rewarding", you must give a great deal of weight in prioritization to eliminating things that a majority of Users find annoying. Whether that be quashing a bug, making a UI tweak, or adding a new feature. "Interesting new features" are not of as much value as the removal of things that are constant irritants that detract from the enjoyment of already-existing cool features.

The dismiss function, isn't really a new "feature". It's fixing what is technically a design flaw in the UI. (Sorry, but not having it in the UI is a design flaw, despite the fact that the current system works as designed. Explanations of why it's a design flaw have been made in various threads over the past six months, and I won't repeat them here.) As such, many people consider it a bugfix, not a feature.

I think the real issue here isn't so much a case of aVersion to making a UI change as it is an aVersion to the thought that the current (no-dismiss) system (which the devs favor) isn't what players want. Which goes back to another thread where I brought up the subject of "what the devs want in their game versus what players want". Which in this case is fundamentally an issue of how much of a customer-oriented company IW is (or isn't). Which is a case of "giving the customers what the devs think they should get" versus "giving the customers what they ask for".

As for "the army takes care of its own", historically this isn't true for most nations and periods. Service in the feudal era was an obligation, and normal troops weren't paid. Mercenaries were paid for work, and when their work was done, simply dismissed, and if they were good they might get a thank you and a recommendation. Severance pay is a modern concept (which derives, in part, from what Roman *officers* -- elite and hardly typical soldiery -- got upon retirement). IMO, troops should be dismissable without cost. Commanders should have a dismiss cost, which should be reasonable, and less than the cost of hiring them in the first place.