Poll: Is Clam Hording Too Good?

[Nikolai]

The problem with clams/fetishes/stones is they end giving more gems that all magic sites... If gems generated are capped by map size, it will not be a problem, will it?

Killing clam holders is very hard. In a castle, behind many domes, guarded by army, maybe even hidden... good luck!

[thejeff]

Right, domes. So your clams will be shielded by a dome and this item destroying spell will only be useful against thugs and for armies out of their element.

As a thematic suggestion: What about having gem-producers only work if equipped on a mage with that path? More limiting for some than for others. How much affect that would have I don't really know.

[Evil Dave]

</lurk>

thejeff said:
As a thematic suggestion: What about having gem-producers only work if equipped on a mage with that path?

I thought their "intended" purpose was to provide armies w/ a continuous source of gems. When I do that, I usually stick them on scouts moving with my troops.

Your proposal might not be a bad idea if there was some way of distinguishing moving armies from mages safely researching in friendly territory.

<lurk>

[Lord_Bob]

This can be easily done by giving clams a -research penalty. Right where the Lightless Laterns get a + they get a -. Reflecting time spent caring for and feeding the clam.... or energy drain from the claim.

This gives clams an ongoing expense in term of RP points lost.

Of course, at The End Of Time with L-9's in all schools this cost means nothing... but at The End Of Time balance is a truly strange thing anyway.

[Micah]

indy commanders are really cheap and don't really do much researching, so any research penalty tied to clams is just going to result in a near-negligible nerf (in the form of a 40 gold commander cost and a less-than-3g upkeep, less if you have scouts instead of commanders) and a lot more micro.

And Chris, I believe a 2000 gold combat group can take down an SC in most cases. That's not all that much gold. Or use a 55-gem Troll King's Court + earth boots to kill most 100-gem SCs. Astral and Blood both utterly destroy SCs.

People like SCs because they're easy and mobile. No multi-mage scripting or having to shuttle troops in from different forts to assemble a decent-sized army, no supply issues (including gems for mages, always a pain). They're good investments, and can certainly tear through *unsupported* armies of chaff, but they have plenty of weaknesses to a properly prepared opponent.

[Ewierl]

Micah said:
indy commanders are really cheap and don't really do much researching, so any research penalty tied to clams is just going to result in a near-negligible nerf (in the form of a 40 gold commander cost and a less-than-3g upkeep, less if you have scouts instead of commanders) and a lot more micro

Would it be possible, I wonder, to have Clams only function on mages? With that rule, the research penalty would be a reasonable little fix.

I'm playing with Patala right now in SP, and the clamming is utterly ridiculous. A tiny bit of luck in getting water gems, and by a dozen turns in you can pound out a clam every turn.

[Xietor]

How come I can only vote once? It is a Louisiana tradition to vote as many times as you want until the desired poll result is achieved!

[Aezeal]

Just make clams unique and give em 25 different names.. or 50.. or whatever.. then you could steal them from eachother with wish etc and there would be a limit to them too.