Scales bugs in Dom3.14

[Tuidjy]

> so the current bug seems more prevalent than the previous, though perhaps not
> as devastating

How devastating it is depends mostly on your playing style. Lately I play with
a group of real life friends (Nikolai is one of us) and we blitz through games
in a weekend. I personally think that this is the greatest balance change
since Dominions II.

It does not look like a bug anymore. As far as I can tell, the scales in a
province depend on the scales of all neighbors, no ifs or buts. This has a
devastating effect on the way I play. I always take Order 3, Growth, and
Misfortune 3. I usually play with a weak dominion, which I boost in selected
provinces with priests and teleistic animates. Even in games I end up winning,
my dominion usually trails other players, as I mostly keep a strong one only in
provinces that I consider important.

With the new rebalancing, this means that my scales will be horrible across the
board, as I will never have most of my neighbors with my dominion. All players
will be affected at the border, and the effect easily propagates toward the core
of the empire.

I have finished 3 games so far with these new rules, and the effects are
somewhat mitigated by the fact that nearly all of us play with weak dominions
and extreme scales. I am certainly going to reconsider my scales - what used to
work quite well with my style of play is a recipe for disaster now.

But I certainly feel for those (Hi, uncle!) who are playing in long MP games on
this forum, and will have to suffer the effects under 3.14.