Question- So there are no generals units but, there are like higher level champions that can learn leadership abilities? Also same with there are no governor units just higher level champions with governing abilities, unless that have a starting ability related to governing or being a general, etc...? So we can specialize as we see fit or are there some champions that are set in stone on a path say being just a general? Just curious.

That is pretty cool and something I have never seen before in a strategy game... I think...?

Another thing I would love is a tactical combat multiplayer option. Two players "purchase" units and then head right into battle. Quick, simple, and perfect for those of us with 0.5 hours of spare time per day.

"It is turn-based (we originally implemented this as a quasi-RTS system of continuous turns but it was such a different game experience that we ripped it out. If I want to play an RTS, I’ll play Starcraft 2)."

I like this approach 

Reply to Markie:

Pioneer build time + Escalating cost(which could be adjusted up or down as needed)

Imagine that the first is 100, then 100, then 200, then 300, then 500, then 800, then 1100. then 1900, then 3000 (i.e. summation type)

Honestly, It might just be better if Champions started with a Hidden Essence score based on class, and the sovereign could Cast 'Awaken to life' or 'Awaken to ruin' for 1 ess that would enable Essence and essence special abilities for that Champion.

However this would also need to apply to all Descendants as well, in fact making the sovereign the ONLY unit in the faction that could awaken essence potential.

They are adding a Battlefield mode that's a cross between Myth and X-Com after the game is released. In that mode you probably can just buy a bunch of units and then fight it out.

If you haven't noticed already every time you build a city it costs more than the last one.  After like 5 or 6 cities the cost is in the 1000 gold range.

Cities:

Can we start to have cities defend themselves, at the very least against mundane attackers? It makes sense if your sovereign conquers a city that the peasants can't really put up  much of a fight... If they tried, the first few would undoubtedly make an example. But, if I have a peasant army of 5 Peasants walk up to an undefended city, they shouldn't be able to just take it. A city of a 100 people, even if half of them are woman and children (but Egalitarian civs might get a bonus to this?) and even if only one out of 10 of the combat-worthy indivisuals want to fight... hey look 5 peasants. I mean, in a more gregarious example, how could 1 Peasant capture a city of 100 people? Did he just look REALLY SCARY?

This would help immensely early game. Basically, I think if the conquerers have too low of a Battle Rating after conquering a city (which could include killing the defenders in an epic battle), then they should meet some resistance. Maybe for every 5 people in, there has to be a minimum battle rating of 3 for the conquerers. If they fail the check, then a few things could happen:

- another instant tactical battle based on 1 peasant per 10 population.

- some peasants desert and enter the tactical map as peasants with clubs. They could try to retake the city (in the case of an early game Peasant-rush), or they could simply run back to the nearest friendly city and resettle.

Which reminds me:

PLEASE allow me to resettle military units into cities. It's a way to get rid of upkeep for old units I don't want anymore.

Finally, new cities that get captured get assimilated too quickly. There should be a negative Prestige bonus for awhile and a production penalty for awhile, at the very least. This could last until you pay a fee (say, 50 Gilder?) that would represent establishing a governor and quelling unrest via propaganda, etc. Right now, you can capture a city and instantly integrate it.

If you capture a city of the opposite alignment or simply a different race, what happens? Do the population magically just become Man (if you captured a Trog, for example). Does new population be Men but the Trog population remains the same? (Population control...). If you build new military units there, should they be Trog or Men? Finally, should the land around you remain as Fallen or Fertile? If they magically change to Men, then it seems like your Soverign should have to "revive" the land to fix the city to make it habitable. If they are all Trog, then that's not a big deal.... If you have a mixed population, then you have to figure out whether to convert to your own Faction land or not.

well, after reading the first paragraphs of your "The Hiergamenon" upon getting home from work and I am questioning the quality of your thoughts on the back story. It really seems very very jumbled and not properly though out as yet... hopefully still beta too??

I re-wrote paragraph II to possibly spark a better look at your story writing? I am no professional author and don't account this to be any better than what you have already, but, just feel it can be written a little more concisely?

"But, the power of the orb proved too great a temptation, Avalan's Bane which it has now become,
was seized upon by one of the Gods for purposes unbeknownst to man and a terrible catastrophe raged.
The gods themselves flung from the realm of the immortals, died and reborn, journeyed through the
endless night of the void. Until, the first of them, Pariden, came to this world... our world."

well, after reading the first paragraphs of your "The Hiergamenon" upon getting home from work and I am questioning the quality of your thoughts on the back story. It really seems very very jumbled and not properly though out as yet... hopefully still beta too??

I re-wrote paragraph II to possibly spark a better look at your story writing? I am no professional author and don't account this to be any better than what you have already, but, just feel it can be written a little more concisely?

"But, the power of the orb proved too great a temptation, Avalan's Bane which it has now become,
was seized upon by one of the gods for purposes unbeknownst to man and a terrible catastrophe raged.
The gods themselves flung from the realm of the immortals, died and reborn, journeyed through the
endless night of the void. Until, the first of them, Pariden, came to this world... our world."

Or make it impossible to use the city until you terraform it and raze the buildings that are unacceptable. And if you don't do it for a while or fail to have a sufficiently sized army in the city, the populace will revolt/form an army with a skill relative to the population/military research etc.

Looks very nice!

Has the Adventuring Tree been modified much in the Beta 3 release?

Waves hand...re: threshold for tactical battles.

Sorry for the big and bold, I think this is important.

The thresholds either need to be adjustable during the game, or they need to be able to be set as a percentage of total units, not a set number.

Here's why: If you choose a set number and it is the sane for the entire game, it will result in almost no tactical battles in the early game (even if it is a significant commitment of your forces) and then in late game every battle will be tactical even if it is a minor skirmish that you are not that concerned about.

Setting the threshold as a percentage of your total armies would make it so that significant battles will be tactical, whether significant is those 5 spearmen in early game or 300 dread knights of destruction in late game.

Or being able to adjust the number of units for the threshold as the game progressed could also work, but seems rather kludgy, who wants to be fiddling with settings during the game? Esp. in MP.

edit: also it seems like there will need to be some kind of "unit weighting" to determine if the threshold is met. If I have a dragon and a champion that go into battle, I sure don't want the fight auto resolved just because it was "only two units".

edit #2: maybe a percentage of your aggregate combat rating? Have a running total of all of your units totalled combat rating, and if a certain percentage of that combat rating is in a battle, the threshold is met?