Time for a poll. (The subject is abuse)

[Edi]

I would not be worried about overnerfing. The only example of that in Dominions so far has been the Vampire Queen and the circumstances that led to that are very specific and unusual. Currently that particular overnerf has been sitting on the bug shortlist as a statfix issue for a while. The only thing that I immediately remember as being substantially nerfed over the course of Dom3 has been the Van cavalry and Helhirdings and most of that was done with modest price increases and by changing the Glamour/Mirror Image mechanics so that it became more vulnerable to arrows. Blade Wind is another thing that got toned down some but it's still plenty good enough to use and won't see anymore downsizing.

Johan and Kristoffer will fix the things they consider the most important and the rest will get fixed when it gets fixed. If it gets fixed at all, that is, because some of the more esoteric and minor stuff may well be more trouble to fix than it's worth considering they have a new project underway.

If anyone wants an idea about what the biggest stuff left is, the red items on the shortlist and some of the purple are the ones to look at.

[moderation]

"Hexediting the .2h file to insert unreachable orders
Users may choose only one (132 total votes)
Yes, it's abuse. 116 87%

Mists of Deception + Battlefield Enchantments + Retreat
Users may choose only one (132 total votes)
Yes, it's abuse. 109 82%"

Why are the polls going over one hundred percent? Maybe there's more than one kind of cheating going on here...

[Tuidjy]

Your browser must be displaying the results in a weird manner. What I see makes
it rather clear that, out of 132 people who voted, 116 thought it was abuse.

(116 / 132 = 0.87, i.e 87 percents.)

[Rathar]

It's how many people voted followed by the % that represents.

Err, what he said, nod.

[Agema]

I think there is a 'spirit' to a game.

Take diving in football. I think it was only recently made illegal, but for a long time before that it was considered bad to do. Many bug exploits described here generally fall into this sort of category. Not strictly illegal or impossible via the game mechanics, but 'unsportsmanlike': disrespectful not just to the game but to fellow players.

To change my analogy slightly, we've got a system whereby the referees of the game are the fellow players. A system could work thus: If there's potential bug-exploiting, the player on the receiving end should say in the file, the players can vote democratically, and decide what happens. Clear the accused; give them a yellow card; or red card the offender and set them to AI or get a sub. If the offence is deemed sufficiently unbalancing, a turn rollback could occur.

If you want to use one of these strategies even when it is not stated beforehand they are unfair, you take your continued presence in the game into your own hands.

[Wauthan]

Agema makes a good point. There might be need of a spirit of sportmanship, well more then usual atleast, when playing Dominions 3. The point of most games is to have fun more then once after all.

Just take situation when a newbie goes up against a veteran. There are so many subtle mechanics in this game that the veteran could steamroll the newbie, regardless of any previous strategy game experience. While it would hardly be considered abusive to exploit someones lack of experience I still reckon that many would "pull their punches", and help out by pointing out mistakes common amongst new players.

Mists of Deception + Battlefield Enchantments + Retreat is a different breed of beast but still... It's not exactly abusive, just mindnumbingly annoying, since it's a tactic available for both sides. For me it has been fairly easy to control. I just asked my fellow players not to use that particular strategy, and promised to do the same.

Granted, it's way easier to create "houserules" with ones friends then with complete strangers but the community for dominions is small enough for it to hurt if your playstyle gets you shunned.

[kasnavada]

It's not exactly abusive, just mindnumbingly annoying, since it's a tactic available for both sides.

That's an opinion. For me, anything that has for only "counter" to use more of the same strategy (basically this combo falls into this) is to be removed. The very fact that everyone can use it is irrelevant. I'm not striking for balance but for fun. Having 10 strategy is good, but one is just better than others (for whatever reasons) it's to be balanced, and even more so if anyone can use it, especially on a game like dominions that prides itself on having diversity for magic spells and units.