PHP> My 2 cents.
PHP> I belive noble points were an attempt to limit exponential growth.
PHP> They mostly succeded in that. But beastmastery left a loophole that
PHP> a truck has been drive through. Therefore any "fix" that does not
PHP> address the exponential growth aspect of beastmaster will probably not
PHP> work. If you break only dragons. Some other creature will be the beast
PHP> of choice. If you only slow their exponential growth. It will only delay
PHP> when the battle stacks appear. So some ideas to stop exponetial growth.
PHP> Some creatures wont breed if over crowded.
PHP> Only the 1st N creatures of a type in an area breed or
PHP> if there are over N creatures of a type in an area none of them will breed.
PHP> Some creatures breed only in the right enviroment.
PHP> give creatures terrain types and they breed only in those terrains.
PHP> These two put together could yeild
PHP> Dragons can be breed if there are only 2 dragons in a mountain area.
PHP> Rats can be breed only if there are less than 100,000 rats in any terrain.
So, I put two dragons on the mountain with a beast breeder, and use an NPC
or two with horses to shuttle the baby dragons down off the hill to their
immediate army induction. What has this solved?
PHP> Another reason beastmaster has exponetial growth is that there is no
PHP> upkeep. It seems odd that it costs nothing to keep 100 dragons around.
PHP> If nothing else it seems they would eat most everything in an area and
PHP> reduce its tax base.
If this is done properly, it could solve several problems: Most long-term
factions that built castles have lots of extra gold anyway. Charging
upkeep for beasts (with a tiered scale - rats and such costing 1, dragons
at 50?) would make garrisons a strategic target, as it would be possible to
attempt to bankrupt one's enemies. Huge castle defenses subsisting off the
income of their home province would no longer be possible.
- cisco
-- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- cisco@src.honeywell.com lope0019@maroon.tc.umn.edu ------------------------------------------------------------- An employer? Oh yeah - I do have one of those. I guess that means I have to use this space for a disclaimer. *sigh* -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-