Trilexis -- I played a kami character before this one. I am well aware of the history of the faction post-merger, its internal politics and all.
Regarding kami/kara tactics: I agree to a certain extent that kami had (slightly) better leadership. But then again, marauders had their own excellent leaders post-merge, at some point requiring kami+kara alliances against them. So your explanation, while highlighting a part of the issue on one side, conveniently forgets that kami did not end up rich just because its enemies were stupid.
The plain truth is that current OP mechanics discourage frequent attacks. They're a huge time sink and a money sink. More importantly, they favor player headcount heavily, wasting incredible amounts of man-hours. The end result is what we know it: a number of bitter months where the factions struggle, followed by the emergence of a winner. And then? A plateau. The news "there's a war coming" varies from "oh gods, not again" (when they're frequent) to "yay, something happening" (when no war was fought in months). This is especially true for lower-level homins, assigned to heal duty and who don't care much for the outpost materials yet: for most that I talked to, wars were like a chore, rather than a fun/useful thing they wanted to do.
The changes proposed here make it harder for one faction to plateau. If you remove the time-sink element of wars, it makes them more palatable, even if frequency increases. What would take four hours of your life, now takes one. Removing of the defense round makes it actually important to show up to a defense.
I hear you regarding the potentially bad side effects, but again -- think over a longer timeline. People grumble at any change. To my mind, the only real risk to to shift the game meta too much towards a PVP approach. If wars do become too frequent, then some old-timers are going to feel that the game is not the right one for them. But if the balance is right, then the only effect is that OPs are revitalized, with both old and *new* players joining the wars.
(oh, and regarding guards: I also hear you. I heavily disliked the series of attacks done by The Outsiders on q50 outposts, for example. But that issue can be fixed separately, by buffing guards as appropriate. One shouldn't avoid the OP rework just because it illustrates further issues downstream)
Regarding kami/kara tactics: I agree to a certain extent that kami had (slightly) better leadership. But then again, marauders had their own excellent leaders post-merge, at some point requiring kami+kara alliances against them. So your explanation, while highlighting a part of the issue on one side, conveniently forgets that kami did not end up rich just because its enemies were stupid.
The plain truth is that current OP mechanics discourage frequent attacks. They're a huge time sink and a money sink. More importantly, they favor player headcount heavily, wasting incredible amounts of man-hours. The end result is what we know it: a number of bitter months where the factions struggle, followed by the emergence of a winner. And then? A plateau. The news "there's a war coming" varies from "oh gods, not again" (when they're frequent) to "yay, something happening" (when no war was fought in months). This is especially true for lower-level homins, assigned to heal duty and who don't care much for the outpost materials yet: for most that I talked to, wars were like a chore, rather than a fun/useful thing they wanted to do.
The changes proposed here make it harder for one faction to plateau. If you remove the time-sink element of wars, it makes them more palatable, even if frequency increases. What would take four hours of your life, now takes one. Removing of the defense round makes it actually important to show up to a defense.
I hear you regarding the potentially bad side effects, but again -- think over a longer timeline. People grumble at any change. To my mind, the only real risk to to shift the game meta too much towards a PVP approach. If wars do become too frequent, then some old-timers are going to feel that the game is not the right one for them. But if the balance is right, then the only effect is that OPs are revitalized, with both old and *new* players joining the wars.
(oh, and regarding guards: I also hear you. I heavily disliked the series of attacks done by The Outsiders on q50 outposts, for example. But that issue can be fixed separately, by buffing guards as appropriate. One shouldn't avoid the OP rework just because it illustrates further issues downstream)
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My home is always sweet Yrkanis..