Reworking how an age starts (# of countries, max players, etc.)

[Thom Merrilin]

As we all know, every start of a new age results in a few stacks being created, and that these stacks tend to warp how the ages are played out. What I mean by 'warp' is that depending on what country is chosen and which types of units are used, it can greatly skew the gameplay of an age or at the very least discourage from joining certain countries.

What we really need are some fixes for the current version of TLK to mitigate age starts from being so lopsided. As Nuvelle and Yell0w have said, an increased player base will fix a lot of the issue (which is true), but until V2 of TLK, the % of new player will be a small minority.

There are several options that can be looked at to try and fix this:

• • Lower the number of open countries at the start of an age
• • Countries with 10 players cannot open until all countries have 10 players
• • Increase the number of max country slots at the age start
• • Decrease the number of selectable country slots
• • Give another benefit for selecting random join

I don't think stacks are a big issue; but they become a big issue when players actively decline to join a country until they can join a "stacked" or 'active' country. Having countries at a 10-player limit until all countries have 10 players seems good on paper, but it would force TLK to have 300 players. I think this option only works if you combine it with another option.

I think lowering the number of open countries each age would help a lot, along with increasing the number of slots for each country (or just 1 or the other). If you only opened a number of countries based on the previous ages active players, we would have less countries having that normal 4-7 players that always happens. Having 15-20 open countries would fill all the countries a lot faster and increase the odds that the "kill off empty countries" stage of the game takes much less time.

Decreasing the selectable slots of a country down to say 5 (from 10) and having the other 5 slots be filled by random joining might also be an option to consider, or combining it with multiple options.

Lastly, having the random join option give a greater benefit might also make the appeal of the benefits enough that instead of players stacking a country, players choose to join randomly which in the end has countries being filled by random selections.

[Yell0w]

Counter proposal: How about we change the country joining requirement to strength instead of numbers after 24/36 hours instead of 48 hours?

Discuss! =D

[Thom Merrilin]

how exactly would that compare though?

What needs to be accomplished is not having the top 5-6 countries gain the 11th player (which is a nobility account, so that player is already defaulted to being active) when other countries are still at 5-7 players.

It really irks and bothers me when every age, the top 5-7 countries after day 1 get the 11th player first (and normally its the stacks that look the most appealing). the 11th player and 12th player early on in the game is an extra commander for SFing, and when you can have an additional player that early....its a huge benefit when you are trying to build your nation up.

What if the nobility join bonus was not applied until all "alive" countries had 10 players?

[Xandra]

Thom has a point, if only when ALL countries has 10 players. A 'stack' country can get its 11th player. Maybe its good to start with fewer countries. From the past we know which countries are not popular so decrreasing the amount of countries would be helpful. Lets say from 30 to 24 countries

[nopox-]

My proposal.

Decrease 10 to 8 at start. When all countries have 8 players, new joining round is open. 1 player can join a country till all slots are filled. When all equal again open places per country will be 1 again etc etc.

[Hans]

won't solve a thing, players will just wait longer to get where they want..

[pyro]

well way back when georgia berber and there was 1 other country was "added" eleminate it :P with less countries you can still stack, but with less countries you have people less spread out.

Counter proposal: How about we change the country joining requirement to strength instead of numbers after 24/36 hours instead of 48 hours?

yes i agree with you stacked countries wont be able to get joiners if they become to to strong. i feel with less countries and people less spread out and using STR to determine joiners at start would help alot

[Thom Merrilin]

I think after 24 hours it could be good to change the join requirement to strength. My whole thing is that the nobility join bonus just negates it all, because the active players will get in to the stronger countries anyway.

We need a way to regulate countries on day 1,2 and 3 or none of the changes will likely change much.

[Treena]

The stacks will still stack. You can't and wont stop that happening.

If you change to joining based on strength at 24/36 hours it wont stop the stacks. We have all seen that they can all rank to gen+ in less than 24 hours. So you risk them not ranking very fast for the first 24 hours so their strength is down so they can get more in. Then just speed rank and its business as usual.

The reduced time before strength kicks in, will only hurt the middle countries, the ones that fill up with mostly randoms who then try their hardest to rank up fast so they aren't easy targets for the super stacks. Because they wont get the extra person they need at the expense of ones (potentially) trying to beat the system.

The countries with under 6 -7 are always going to be vulnerable and the only way to give them a chance is to use Thom/Napox's suggestion - Of filling all countries to 8 or 10 before a new spot opens up

Anyone who is hell bent on joining one specific country and is prepared to wait to join is fine in my book. They are making a choice. And they run the risk of someone else getting it first if it just opens at a random time, and not at a set time eg 12 hours after start etc . And if the stack doesn't have their little mate at the start because he couldn't join in time, just gives other countries a better chance.

The system allocated random join (for ht bonus) may be a game changer for those less populated countries. And nobility shouldn't be a factor for country joining until after the strength formula kicks in. As that just allows the already strong to keep getting stronger.

• Just a random thought. Maybe you don't have strength kick in till every country has X number of people. This assumes that potentially some countries may die before strength kicks in, for all remaining countries to have X number of people

[Ph3onix_Khan]

+1 TreenaJ