If it's unbalanced for Brian to use his superior wit and guile to achieve an economic benefit without spending points, is it also unbalanced for you to use your superior agility and speed to achieve a strategic benefit without having to spend points?
what...wait...when did i pick that stuff up?!?! Damit I never get the Memos!!!
2) everyone going to one person. the reason this happens is not because one person is clever. its usually because nobody else wants to deal with it. recent changes should prove that. I know because I have been very close to those people that have been the one person and even they did not want to deal with it but felt obligated to.
Then they could have ...at anytime...given the power and control to someone else...did they?
Just like in real life the person in power CNAN hate doin the book keeping, and pass off those duties to a senechal/advisor/minister of the interior. Sounds alot like what Dani did no?
3) I completely understand your point Taki. but combat is as balanced and fair as the rules can make it. and I fully agree that mobility is a key point in combat (I thought resist root/slick was one of the best skills in the game and a lot of people ignored it :p) but never the less we do have skills in game that balance combat, skills I still have to take if I want to be effective.
Seems there are skills to be effective at the economic system too, so that they will make someon more effective at its use.
I do disagree with your examples though. as most of that is live action rather then exploiting a massive system that has no balance for massive benefits, rather then being the first to notice an enemy or someone that's quiet.
The system is rather small, it only gains mass when a player has ammased numerous holdings. Not much different than fighting a PC with a high number of levels or skill points.
(we do have "spot" though btw, and "scout")
Both of which are designed so the PC can detect things not physically represented in the real world, and therefore not visable to the player...so no comparison.
4) I know about how many people take part in this system, and even amongst that number about half don't like it or want to, but they have to
.
NO ONE ...HAS to. Dani is the perfect example, she just had her PC find someone else to do it. Its good to be da king...or queen in this case.
but to have one balanced around that idea is NOT balanced and NOT fair to the rest of the players, simple as that.
I cant think of anyone else I would consider better to make it balaned than those three, and they are NOY the only ones that love a detailed economic system. Some like it, but dont dive in because thier PC just wouldnt, its that pesky RP thing again.
we have a system for balancing players against one another, its a character sheet, and character points. any benefit you get out of the eco/political system should be properly balanced against other skills and have cost associated to it accordingly. if you go in game to RP with a farmer and they give you a few extra resources, that fine. but the current incarnation is neither balanced nor fair, and any decent system or game should be.
Unless things have changed that system does have checks and balances, and is trasked through a paper trail like a PC sheet. The balances just do not function like LARP combat PC min/max balnces do.
If Brian can manipulate people to do his bidding he shouldn't need the skill "Manipulate" to make his abilities manifest.
wait wait wait....lets not stretch this into nonsensicle fantasy...Id have to be likable first...
a new player walking into game was DRASTICLY behind an established alchemist.
as they should be...
The current systems is flawed in that it is an open ended system that allows for infinite growth. all while having no cost to the player. this is also justifying the accumulation of wealth and power through role playing with no cost to character cost.
Seems you are just unfamiliar to the costs to the PC that you are not aware of.
it has the means within the system to take other peoples territories and such.
Just like in the real world, which makes it a perfect fit for a PVP active live action ROLE PLAYING game.
so even IF a new player came in, and even IF they wanted to get into the system (two big if's) the established player could take control of any work they had done no problem.
Hardly no problem, but if it happened that new player would just have to RP up he support to take it back...or KILL THE PC that stole it, just like it should be in a PVP active fantasy ROLE PLAYING game.
If people cannot see the problems with this system. . .well I will still bring them up but that's insane.
Might just be that the only problem is the paradib you are looking at it from. Might just be no issue exiests.
Lets look at it from a different angle. Who is having fun with it as currently implemented? Taki was happy. Dani wasn't happy so she differed most of it to Taki, Matt is dissatisfied and Josh just hates it. I'm not feeling it either. Neither was Melissa. Travis utterly destroyed it as did Jared who still has yet to receive his spoils.
Just to clarify...your trying to say its broken because the people I would expect to not like it dont...the people that I would expect to like it do...AND because a few of the ones I would expect to min max and crush it ...did?
Thats like saying that the combat system doesnt work because players who hate combat didnt like it, players that like combat loved it, and when Jackie Chan...Ken Watanabe... and Wesley Snipes showed up to play they crushed it. MUST be broken...
right now its simply a way to mass personal wealth to be used at that persons discretion. be that buying and up keeping magic items, buying potions, buying and up keeping magic items, building structures, buying and up keeping magic items, buying military to further protect and steal other territories, buying and up keeping magic items, helping the community, or finally buying and up keeping magic items.
uhm, thats what it SHOULD be for. Its then up top to the player to decide if the PC would use it like a greedy bastard OR becaose a philanthropist....
I want to see it turned away from personal gain, and be more focused on growing the world. . .I realize there would be no personal gain in that, but still. if that was its original purpose, well its become slightly twisted and needs to be fixed.
See above
it is not necessarily the best way to get and maintain one
.
I am not aware of ANY number crunching t hat will GET you a holding...at all.
what is the point of the political/eco system?
I mean strip the system away, get away from how broken/perfect the system is/was.
what is the point of it? why is it here? what are we supposed to accomplish through it?
Sems to be to bring needed rescources into game in a real(or near real) world fasion for a fantasy setting. Pick away.
if its to foster RP between NPCs its failing pretty hard, we very rarely deal with them and mostly number crunch,
YOU may rarely deal with them...doesnt mean thats common or even typical.
if its to grant the PC's resources. that is not needed as much now with everyone being common.
Not even close to true. Rescources are still needed, just not to prevent strvation.
and such a role would have always been better off as rewards from quests,
and nope again, wouldnt be the same or be even a little realistic.
it should NOT be the main source to pump out resources and wealth, I cannot stress how stupid this is
.
Actually it absolutely should be, since the rescources , that might be found as "loot", have to come from somewhere. Since that is the case, not having a system for PCs to get these same rescources, as you would like your PC to find in the "loot chest" near every "MOB"; in the same way the NPCs do would be unrealistic...and stupid.