I have seen a certain concern around here about many of the founders (or whatever they are) so far have chosen their preferred race as Space Marine. I don't know much about this issue, if it is an issue at all, but having an overwhelmingly popular race can be an issue at any time during this game's development. Therefore, this random and completely unchecked draft of an idea came to my mind. I don't even know if it has been suggested before. Maintaining an army requires supplies, therefore the larger the army or military on a planet, the more supplies they will need to maintain it. What if there were supply stations or something on the planet itself, which can be captured to help aid the race that captures it, or they can be sabotaged to cripple the army currently owning it. These supply stations supply the army and makes them stronger. The larger the player percentage for the race, the more supply stations are required to keep the players up with the enemy. If a nation has more players than supplies, then the players of that nation will suffer disadvantages such as less magazines per soldier for races who use it, more expensive vehicles, longer re-spawn times, etc. Want to add to the idea? Want to completely discredit it and pretend it didn't exist? I don't care what you do, I just like posting random thoughts about stuff like this.
I think something similar to a supply-chain is supposed to balance some of this, though it would be great to hear a little more detail on exactly how it is implemented from the devs. In general I believe an under-pop bonus is better than an over-pop minus. While supplies definitely are realistic and would provide some balance, especially against zergs, I think the main effect is lazy/greedy players will just switch factions to avoid any penalties. (PS2-ish 4th-factioneers) If instead the under-pop bonus, skilled defenders will be rewarded, even if losing. Thing is here the long-term under-pop, as there is no "instant-recruit-new-players-for-your-faction" when in need. Perhaps a combination of both. Either way, the Global Economy thread (http://forum.eternalcrusade.com/threads/global-war-economics-character-classes-and-balance.44228/) and the faq mentions something like this, though this thread on overpop also has its purpose. Someone out there with all the answers?
Yeah, apart from F2Waaaggh, Tyranids and campaign as we all know. There is supposed to be a kind of supply and territories mechanic to prevent the populated faction to win everything.
When they get around to working on it they'll go more in depth to supply lines and such. So far it has been said Supply lines directly influence base functions such as their turrets. Brent has also stated in Q&A Answers Compilation #9 answers that they are reworking on capture mechanics, maybe that could influence things. Some quotes from Devs in a search for "Supply Lines" with "StevenLumpkin" and "Supply" with "BrentEllison" "What will keep the players at those locations once they are held by whichever army grabs it so they can actually hold it? And will there be anything in place to stop an army from over extending their supply lines, besides the opposing forces?" A: We have some ideas about this! Rather than just Attack-attack-attack, we'd like aggressors to be motivated to Attack-Defend, Attack-Defend. We have some preliminary thoughts on how to motivate this, but I'll wait to talk about it until it's more set in stone. Similarly, we've discussed ways a faction can expend resources to make a big and extended push- but if you over-extend, you risk losing your big investment. It's on our minds! - StevenLumpkin (Lead Level Designer, magnificent, and also finds errors in level design live on stream. like a boss!) "The World Itself" thread page 4 post #33."==Repairing, etc.== Bridges, gates, etc., are the sorts of objects that are most likely to be destructible in Eternal Crusade. At the moment we're thinking of tying in their repair to a cross-territory "Supply" system, whereby major Strongholds are linked to nearby Depots. Cut off the supply by either conquering or disabling them, and the Strongholds have a whole host of problems. On the other hand, a Stronghold with lots of linked Depots have special benefits. We're going to be experimenting with this system in-game with our first multi-territory milestone, but for right now we're focusing on getting a good experience out of of a bunch of guys from one base driving over to assault an adjacent base (which is a bit simpler)." - BrentEllison (Lead Designer and Protector) "What is Combat Like in Eternal Crusade?" page 90 post #895. Devs are very aware of the population imbalance and as Sleepylion says F2W will be a thing and most if not all new players will start there (I expect orks to green tide everywhere and force reactions from factions. they'll also look for the biggest fight.) and Tyranids will not necessarily focus on the biggest faction it's just that they are likely to hit faction with the most territory. Campaigns will also be made with faction population in mind. I have seen some discussion on it in Eldar threads. -------- I shall poke Devs. I do not have a dance/song of my people prepared but please appear anyway! (if your schedules allow) @BrentEllison @StevenLumpkin
I want to see how their own balance ideas going to work in practice before adding something else for this purpose.
