[Discuss] Limiting recruitment to centres from the region/duchy (not recruiting within the duchy)

[Rob Croson]

On 2 Mar 2008 at 21:27, psymann wrote:

> Rob Croson wrote:
> > On 2 Mar 2008 at 17:20, psymann wrote:
> > 
> >> -----Payment could be affected by distance to recruiting region-----
> >>
> > Interesting idea... Not sure that it really adds all that much to the 
> > game, though.
> 
> As long as the percentages were high enough, it would mean that instead 
> of having 30 recruitment centres and only generally using three of them, 
> you'd use more of them.

Not especially. People would just recruit less of the same ones they 
had always been using. People generally don't recruit troops because 
they are cheap, unless they are going for TO units. They pick the 
training/EQ they want, then hire however many they can.

>  This would mean that local lords wouldn't just 
> destroy their recruitment centres whenever they were less good than one 
> the other side of the realm and try again for a better one.  It would 
> also mean that a knight would have a more personal decision to make when 
> recruiting troops, rather than just follow realm-wide standard 
> suggestions "get Blobville infantry or Splodgeville archers because 
> they're best".

I have never known any realm that tells people to pick from specific 
RCs. Other than general guidance of the "I really like the Kepler 
Heavy Swordsmen because of the good EQ and low training", all I have 
ever seen people say is "Don't recruit from the Kepler MeatShields 
because we use them for the TO units. They're useless for anything 
else." 

Still, like I said, I don't have any particular arguemnt against it. 
I just don't see that it really does too much for the game in any 
positive way.

> >> -----Involvement for the Simple Knight-----
> >>
> > I really do not like this idea at all. More manual operations = bad 
> > game. I really don't want to turn BattleMaster into LogisticsMaster. 
> > All of this is plain drudgery that could be handled much better by an 
> > automated system.
> 
> I can't agree with that.  More manual operations does not equal bad 
> game.

Depends on where the manual operations are added. Adding a manual 
operation where an automatic one would work perfectly well leads to 
monotony. Making region lords or knights have to manually draft 
troops? What's the point? You're locking people in to doing something 
that is *not* part of the core focus of the game: Battle!

> As an example, Tom could give each knight a checkbox to tick for
> "Follow Marshal Orders".  If they tick it, then they'd just follow the
> Marshal's orders to the letter.  Instead of having to read "Forage
> battlefield, then change to Front, Middle, Line and Move to
> Blobville." and then perform the actions, the game could just say
> "Yes, they follow that.  Foraging...complete.  Settings...changed. 
> Moving...complete." and wait for the next set of orders.  In fact,
> playing an obedient knight could pretty much be completely automated,
> and the player need do nothing more than log in and write roleplays. 
> I don't think that would improve the game. 

While I can appreciate taking things to the extreme in order to make 
a point, I think we are both well aware of how much you have gone 
past the absurd and into the plainly ludicrous. I'm not going to 
bother to address that little exercise in absurdity.

> However, what I suggested is not something you could automate anyway.
> How would the game know whether to spend your hours drafting, or doing
> civil work?  Drafting or moving to the frontlines?  Drafting or
> Resting? Drafting or doing Police Work?  Drafting or Scouting?  How
> would it know whether to remain on the frontlines with the army you
> have, or return to the capital to recruit because although you could
> stay out longer, going back would allow you to pass through your
> region and do some drafting? 

Which is exactly my point. You have introduced a required manual 
operation to the game which *must* be done, and *must* be doine on a 
recurringm regular basis. Now instead of spending time doing 
interesting things like fighting, looting regions, training your 
troops, training your sword skills, etc., you have introduced drudge 
work. Who wants to have to head back to their region three days 
before the army returns to refit just to make sure that there are 
enough troops to recruit?

And we're doing this all for the sake fo the hypothetical "simple 
knight" having more buttons to click? Yeah, that's exactly what I 
want my "simple knight" to spend all his hours doing: clicking yet 
more buttons and links in order to have to satisfy some arbitrary 
game mechanics function that a trained monkey could do better, 
because at least the monkey won't get bored and quit.

> These are not manual operations for the sake of making players click
> to do things that are done automatically.  They are manual operations
> because there is now something to choose that requires human thought
> and involvement. 

And yet the system you have introduced requires no thought at all. 
The knights/lords will just go back to their regions and hit the same 
links every time. Refit cycles will be longer. People will have to 
spend more time sitting around in their regions doing 
paperwork/clicking buttons. And all that will lead to *less* battles. 
We already have people complaioning that there aren't enough battles, 
and there aren't enough wars. But your suggestion in this case will 
make wars even harder to fight.

And is all that extra drudge work really worth giving the "simple 
kinght" an extra button or two to click?

IMNSHO, the current automatted recruit system works just fine. Why 
mess with it?

--
Rob
At my age, I've seen it all, done it all, heard it all...
I just can't remember it all