PvP - LVL 50 - Boredom
Without proper attention these three things spell out great danger for our game. While it probably is an excurse in futility, I have to have to pass on my thoughts.
TSO needs to introduce new things to solve these problems. There have been many suggestions in these forum pages. Some have been brilliant. I especially point out the work done by The_Director. His designs for a new and better TSO are great. The main problem I see is the Developer's time to make these happen. In my opinion we must do something quickly. We therefore have to crawl before we can walk or run. The following are my thoughts on how this might be done.
1. Create more islands. There are already islands available, like the ones used for the egg hunts. The new islands would be uninhabitable islands (UI) On these islands place exotic trees and ore deposits, like granite, titanium and the ever popular salt peter.
2. Give explorers the ability to do an ocean search where they can find one of these islands.
3. When a UI is found a general can be sent to the island. He can take troops, a geologist to find the ore deposits and resources needed to build the buildings to harvest the wood and mine the ore. The number of troops taken will be reduced to allow space for the geologist and the resources. Something like 10 less troops for each geologist and one (1) for each 100 units of resources. More than one general may be sent to the UI. (Really on a ship, but who needs to actually see the boat.) A general must accompany any visit to the new island to transport men or goods back and forth between the home island and the new island.
4. The Fort. The first thing to be done on arrival is to build a Fort. Nothing can be built, cut or mined until the Fort is built. Lets hope the resources to build the Fort were brought to the island. Like fir planks and stone since this is only the first level of Fort. Like all buildings the Fort can be upgraded to LVL 5. The Fort acts as a storehouse and to defend the island from attack. As a storehouse the Fort will have to be able to store fairly large quantities of goods. Once the Fort is built, the island can be found by explorers searching the ocean and it can be attacked by others.
5. PvP. The fun begins. (There needs to be some type of plan to see that LVLs are equal. Perhaps we start with only LVL 48+ even participating.) Once your explorer finds an inhabited island (II) you may send troops to attack it. Know that the defenders always have the advantage. They have troops in the Fort, limited to the number the one General in the Fort can support 200/250. There can be other troops and generals on the island to defend it but all the fighting occurs in the Fort. The troops outside the Fort are hidden, no garrisons, they are in the trees and rocks and can't be seen by the attacking force. At no time can the troops on the island exceed the total allowed the generals on the island, either attacker or defender. The troops in the Fort can see the attacking force and it's composition. The attacking force can't see into the Fort. To win the island the attacker must defeat the Fort by killing off all the troops in the Fort. The attackers can send as many waves as they have generals, however only one general my be on the attack at a time. If the first wave fails to kill all the troops in the Fort a second wave can be sent. If the Fort still stands after an attack they may reinforce the Fort from the woods and rocks, up to 200/250. The attack may continue as long as the attacker has generals and troops. The battle report will show attackers the troops left in the Fort but not the reinforcements. The level of the Fort adds to the defenders hit points. Scaling up with each level. 5% per LVL or 10% per LVL or ??.
6. If the Fort is taken the attackers capture all the resources in the Fort and all the buildings on the island. The Fort will have taken two levels of damage. If this takes it to 0, then it must be rebuilt before any production can be restarted. Once the Fort is up and running the island can be attacked by another player.
7. This is about a simple a start as I can think of. Expansion to larger islands, open to more levels and much of the great stuff The_Director has proposed can keep the game growing.
8. Level 50. What to do here? Perhaps points or something awarded for PvP. Rewards for growing your LVL 50 to higher levels or points might include the ability of the generals to carry more troops, improved hit points and/or damage for the troops.
Summary. This is a "for what its worth" post. I don't really believe that any action will be taken by BB as a result of this post. But I feel better for having had my say. Regardless, time is of the essence. Time is running short for TSO if there is not a change in the approach of BB to the players problems with: PvP, LVL 50 and Boredom. Thanks for taking time to read this.