...gotta catch em all!
Seriously, i feel like i am playing pokemon with the champions. I spend most of my time and effort trying to get as many as i can. After all, one champion in plate with a big sword and a few levels can wreck armies. Having a champion with a + to tech or arcane research is faster and cheaper than building the structure plus the champion can chop stuff up. In the long run, they feel cheaper than building regular troops too, since they are fairly cheap to buy if you get em all quick near the start, and their gear is just straight gold.
Of course, champions should be awesome, its why they are champs, not some random guy with a leather shirt and a pointy stick on gaurd duty at a farm for 400 turns. So, my idea to make champions actually feel special and not just one more magikarp to add to my collection of 40 i already have. I have not been around in a while, so if something like this has already been proposed/is being worked on then opps.
-------Ideas Below-------
Have a limit on the total number of champs a player can have. Make it a hard cap or tie it to something, but my only consideration to getting champ should not be if i have enough cash on hand. I should have to look at the champ and wonder whether i want this particular one taking up one of my precious champ slots.
Add a requirement other than just gold for hiring champs. For example, some champs could refuse to hire on with you if you don't have enough research or a specific thing researched or have completed some number of quests or have a lvl 5 city, tie it to anything, but make it so every single champ is not just a money grubber.
Give champs an xp trickle for doing nothing. That was one of the things i really liked about master of magic. Heroes would slowly(very slow once you got a couple levels) gain xp each turn so that heroes who gave the largest bonus by sitting in your capital could still level. Any champ with the admin trait gets permanently stationed in my capitol forever, it would be nice if he would actually pick up a few levels.
-------------------------------
Something should be done though to make champs actually seem like individuals instead of 'Customizable Soldier # 037'.
I still remember most of the heroes from master of magic, even though its been years. I played elemental today, and the only couple of champs who stick in my mind are the blond merchant female and the red head assassin, mainly because they are the hottest champs so i typically marry one. The others are all just replaceable cogs to me. This is not as it should be.
