"HAX!!" "SPLOITS!!"

I would remind everyone that an exploit, by it's definition, is something secret within a game that is not readily available to all players.

I would also remind everyone that balance, by definition in gaming terms is a way to ensure "spirit of the game" and make newbies somewhat more capable of coping with "the big boys".

In order to address the NPC wasteland problem we need to take a look at the reasons that both sides want to change it/keep it the same.

EVONY is here to make money, point blank. That's not a bad thing, it's what businesses do. Besides, how can they make money on blank real-estate.

We are here for fun and destruction. I'm reminded right now of the mass of barbarians asking in the Capitol One commercial "What's in YOUR wallet?!"

Anyway, I think the way to approach both of these is two-fold. First we would have to put a cap on unit levels. Why, if one group of 90k archers gets wiped out, would I want to send 2 more? Why do I need 600,000 scouts?? The wall changes, in my opinion, brought some level of balance to the game but, we need to be able to have large enough armies to breech those defenses.

Right, so having agreed to a cap in units (some may have different caps than others and most likely should be tied to TH size) we need a way to feed them. The creation of NPC cities is NOT an exploit nor a problem. The disappearing real-estate is. My opinion here is go back to the way NPC farming was...except use the 8 hour buildback which was a good idea on behalf of EVONY. Different code should be used for NPC wall defenses and player city walls however. Before flaming this idea think of the Roman army vs. "barbarians". Even with the most modern of seige equipment, barbarians would stand around, burn it for warmth, and use a club because it bludgeons well. "Barbarians" are stupid when compared to player characters. No sploits...heck, most are happy to share experiences and quotiants on the forums.

Finally, (okay, so maybe a three-fold approach) make the resources a multiple of it's level instead of 1-5 has crap and 10 is the motherload...make 10, 10 times more than 1. In doing this we can make a maximum amount of NPC cities able to be "CREATED" from a single city. Make them any level you want but, no city can ever create more than 8. OR, make them similar to valleys. Not in easily claiming but, if you conquor one, you can choose to make them serfs or vassals which are tied to the city like valleys and thus, easily controlled.

So...in short
Unit limits probably tied to cities.
Re-ease the NPC's
Tie NPC cities to creating cities (although, if one is made into a player city, the creating town gets one back)

I'd be glad to sit in a committee to explore this further

Thanks,
D