Good Morning. You've been on these forums for quite sometime now. I am currently going through your Let's Play at the moment. I'm going to toss out a bunch of question here and ask your opinion if you don't mind (maybe SD can use the discussion generated to better the game):
1) Karavox is using an Ice Staff in the first sets of espisodes. Do you find that the ranged attack of the Ice Staff is weak or underwhelming? Is it balanced considering the other ranged weapons available (ie early game bows) or versus melee weapons? I know the Axe has an attack of 8 (compared to the Ice Staff's 6 attack) but the initiative penalty is a great deal less. Also compared to the Burning Axe, which has an attack of 11 (2 Fire), it seems like there is an imbalance between these early game weapon types. Could you speak to this a little?
2) I noticed that you 'froze' the pioneer near Resolin for like 5-6 turns. It that a bug or simply underdeveloped AI? I suppose, along the same lines, you were playing 'chicken' with those cats for quite some time, trying to get them to chase your leader instead of your pioneers. Should the AI be able to anticipate that or see a pattern in that on higher levels of difficulty?
3) Even on episode 3, you have not yet persued the tech of Knowledge. Is it just that underwhelming? Is that a trap tech? Do you see a way of having that tech adjusted such that starting with Knowledge could be a viable strategy. Ideas could include increasing the Study improvement from +1 Reasearch to +2 Research? Or perhaps receiving a free +5 Research upon completing the tech?
4) I noticed that on the site of your 3rd city (the 4/4/0), there is a nearby earthshard....but no essence in coming from it (or not enough to warrant a point of essence). I know SD has done some flip-flopping on this....what should give essence and what shouldn't...and how much, but can you speak a little to the amount of essence that is being generated and made available in the games that you play? Should shards provide minor essence to surrounding tiles? Do Crystal Crags provide too much essence to surrounding tiles? Just looking for an opinion here on how much balance you think there is in essence distribution.
5) When it comes to the matter of AI pioneers settling cities, it seems to me like there is a common trend where the pioneer will move into position to settle a city, but will NOT do so at the end of it's turn. Instead, it waits until the next turn to settle. This is perhaps a questions directed more towards Brad and his AI but do you know why that is? Is this an issue you would consider to be important and should be addressed?
6) I've noticed that, as of the end of episode 3, you still have not touched your tax rate. Is the tax system currently in the game even worth playing with? I have recently come to mod the tax system in my games and have found it to be a more meaningful spread....though it could be because I am actively aware of my changes as a reason for using it more. What are your views on the current tax system? Are there any changes you think should be made?
7) Very intersting idea about the Shops. Have points on the map where your heroes can enter and trade in special resources like wold pelts, bear pels, spider silk, etc, and depending on what you trade in, you can 'recipe' weapons and armor. VERY interesting idea indeed!! (Is this even possible Parrotmath?)
I'll stop it here....and post more later as items come up. Great Let's Play! (shows me a thing or two on how to play against expert...)
edit: Turns out I didn't have to wait too long before the end ...abruptly came. Didn't want to just raze the miscreant city and keep going?
