Corbeaubm

I am... more than a little bit confused. I bought Elemental on Impulse shortly after release, played for a bit, then gave up and have been waiting for Fallen Enchantress. Now the betas are scheduled to be rolling out soon, but Stardock no longer owns Impulse. How do I get access to the beta then? I'd strongly recommend posting some sort of guide or FAQ about this when the beta goes up, if not before. Many returning players will be just as confused.

Dear Devs, Might I ask whether it will be possible for modding to make different technologies cost different resources? (treating research points as one such resource, in this case) I've long been hoping to make a mod that differentiates between different types of research capability (beyond the traditional magic/science split), but it seemed completely and utterly incompatible with WoM's tech system (and I've been leaning towards trying to hack such a thing together

Total War: Shogun 2. It's an amazing game. The multiplayer shell is still quite buggy, but my tolerance for bugs is quite high after putting up with Elemental. :D

Thinking back to major titles released in 2010... At Release: Elemental: F , but awesome in the way that a trainwreck in slow motion is awesome - easily worth the money in entertainment value, just not as intended. Starcraft 2: A , the distillation of traditional RTS gameplay with some remarkably good single-player campaign design. CiV: B , some crucial innovation, but some technica

The problem is that players who decree "no rush" are also the players who could reach late-game if they'd actually learn to play effectively - they're still going to get crushed in "no rush," particularly in a turn-based game where reflex is a non-issue, because they're still not actually good at playing effectively.

NPC monsters have not been too tough. They tend to be heavily weighted towards attack, anyway. I've had a few cases where the AI will wind up with units with similar attack and defense values (10/9 in my last game), but nothing that I couldn't punch through. The AI seems to prioritize attack over defense, and it may also under-prioritize military tech compared to players who know that they can become invincible.

Nope, you want to spam and spam hard. If you're relying on base prestige, you're doin' it wrong - use CHA heroes and buildings that add prestige. And remember that population growth only matters for your hub city.

What the OP describes isn't that uncommon with a slow start. Slow starts, however, are entirely avoidable. There's a simple chain of reasoning that might help those having trouble with the AI out-teching them. Research requires studies/archivists. Studies/archivists require gold maintenance and construction time. The most reliable source of gold is taxes from high population (which requires food), and the only way to get extra construction time for most of

Agreed - I've turned Janusk off specifically to avoid privileging female sovereigns, but now you're removing that option.

Unless 1.2 at least alleviates stuff like armor imbalance, I'm another player unlikely to pick up Elemental again until FE.

I almost never pick research level-up bonuses until later in the game. Since my capital is usually busy building housing non-stop, it is the caravan-spam settlements that build my workshops and studies - and I don't bother leveling them up until late in the game, if ever (usually when libraries become available).

Among the default factions, Capitar is really, really good. At least until they nerf trade routes.

Game theorists are not necessarily game designers. Expanding options indefinitely causes some obvious problems, though not quite as drastically as you imply. Mainly they cause a barrier to entry, rather than a barrier to strategic play. In complex competitive games, certain proven combinations of tactics become standardized as normal strategies even if the total problem space is enormous. Normal strategies then evolve as people discover combinations that defeat them,

Actually, the only stat that I don't think is totally underpowered is Charisma. All other stats have been given unimpressive flat rate bonuses at best, instead of magnifying and scaling with equipment (or spells). Charisma, on the other hand, does something that no piece of equipment can do: boost prestige on its own. It's still probably better to have a combat-monster sov than a sov sitting in your capital, but at least Charisma does something unique. But that still

Considering that the effects of stats are pretty much another set of abilities, no, I'm not neglecting that. Furthermore, you've just listed another restriction: int required to cast certain spells. Wouldn't that limit options too? Well, yes, it very much would - you can't make a dumb spellcasting sov then. *I* have no problem with that as a way to increase the viability of other options, but you suggesting it seems completely at odds with what you've previously posted

[quote who="Fistalis" reply="38" id="2866811"] If you never use the "exploit", why would it's solution be limiting you? Suggested solutions being what? Increase the point costs of X trait Y and Z trait? Now if i choose X i get l less points to use on stats bonuses etc limiting me. limit the number of traits that can be used? Now instead of taking 3 traits unrelated to the exploit i'm limited to 2 traits. every change in the name of b

If you never use the "exploit", why would it's solution be limiting you? You've never demonstrated that the solutions proposed would somehow limit your options ingame, and even the lead designer, Kael, has stated point-blank that he's not removing sov customization. Every tweak discussed has been a re-working of a few numbers, not the removal of either equipment or options. I, for one, have repeatedly stated that the ideal solution is an [i]expansion[/i] of options, such tha

[quote who="Fistalis" reply="32" id="2866781"]your the one who goes out of his way to exploit the rules.. not I. Then say i'm the one who wants unrestricted play? lol You can restrict yourself.. you know.. don't use the exploit in your custom sov build.. [/quote] Yes, you are arguing against restrictions. You've been busily saying that there's nothing wrong with an overpowered strategy being permitted by the game rules. However, creating my ow

[quote who="Fistalis" reply="26" id="2866766"]But try balancing a trait.. vs a stat...[/quote] Speaking from experience, it's no different from balancing a piece of equipment that does damage vs a piece of equipment with a rule-changing ability. It's the effect that matters - not what you call the category. Oh, and while you're busy complaining about customization options, why don't you complain that you can't just fireball the whole map at will and win wh

[quote who="Fistalis" reply="23" id="2866762"] t's about ensuring that there are different and roughly balanced ways to min/max, not just one stat to end all stats, not just one successful strategy that trumps all others. See this is what I don't get. You can't use custom sovs in multiplayer so why does it matter if there is ONE silly min max that you can walk over the AI with? Just cause it's there doesn't mean you have to use it.[/quote] If you want to play, then pla

As much as I'm on the balance side of the argument, I don't think that a D&D 3.5 vs 4e analogy is a particularly good one for Elemental. 4e dramatically reduced D&D's scope and options, in terms of actual roleplaying, relative to earlier editions. Going back though, if you think that Elemental has more customization than GSB, I really don't believe that you've ever played GSB at a high level. I have. There is a wider variety of equipment in GSB

Swearing is much more effective when saved for maximum impact.

[quote who="Fistalis" reply="12" id="2866726"] Name one game that had a plethora of customization options that is balanced and cannot be min maxed in some way?[/quote] Gratuitous Space Battles. No, really, it's extremely min-maxable, with some pieces of equipment being effectively useless, but there are always other min-maxed strategies to counter any single min-maxed strategy. Hell, it's the same principle that Starcraft, a game touted for polish, operates on - there

[quote who="Derek Paxton" reply="10" id="2866709"]We have changes for most of these systems scheduled...[/quote] That's an enormous relief to read. Thank you very much for the reply; it's not always clear when issues are under scrutiny, or when they've gone unnoticed in the vast information flow of the 'net. [quote who="Derek Paxton" reply="10" id="2866709"]I must admit that the game balancer part of me wants to remove sovereign customization from the game (which will ne

[quote who="Fistalis" reply="8" id="2866702"] Quoting Corbeaubm, reply 7If you prefer terrible balance in your games, I don't think that we have any basis for communication. Game balance does not somehow prevent atmosphere or imagination. Balance is usually thrown out the door when you include customization.[/quote] Um, no, not unless said customization isn't part of the game - and if it wasn't part of the game, then why is it gov