Quote Originally Posted by Raal View Post
you really haven't thought this thread through have you my friend

i too am high in the rankings on server 2 with a mighty army at my disposal and can crush all cities in my immediate vacinity without even batting an eyelid but hey if they are smart enough to spend all their resources and close their gates before i cripple them i say well done as it wouldn't be very good game if newbie's couldn't advance and give us a fight further along now would it
If you are so powerful, you should know that attacking newbies isn't a very good way to spend your time. If they are new, they don't have much to loot, right? The 7 days protection and the fact that everyone gets a few teleporters should be, when combined with the fact that sending 100k troops to capture 50k food isn't very constructive, enough protection for new folks.

Right now, the guys I'm beating on are most definately not new, and despite the fact that I should be able to crush them at will, I can't because those 100k troops can't DO ANYTHING to them, provided they pay attention for 2 seconds every couple hours.

I agree new players do need to be protected. But, don't poo-poo the idea of a change that should be fairly obviously needed to most reasonable people because it may cause some people problems.

Perhaps something along the lines of 'Past 50k prestige (or gold income, or troop size, w/e is decided as the measurement), the vast trade your empire supports has led to improved roads and travel throughout your country to expedite business. While good for trade, unfortunately the growing permanence of your structures now renders you vulnerable to prolonged attack.' Something like that.

Then, a 'besiege' action could be added to the attacks. The army would travel there like normal, and once it arrives, would do something like a 'camp' action. This would prevent that city from accessing its marketplace while besieged, and would prevent troops from leaving or arriving without having to fight the sieging army. Perhaps also halve or cut off resource production. Make it cost food to camp so that it can't be maintained forever.

BUT, make it possible that, if you besiege a city long enough, the troops start to desert or something, or the lowered production will starve them out, whatever. Make it take a long time, sure. Make it difficult. But make SOMETHING possible, because currently there is bupkis for options. Scout spam shouldn't be the definitive method of final attack, it's patently ridiculous.