durbal
Sergeant
Serious question: do looters add anything to gameplay? As I think more about them, the only thing they do is cause problems within the game. What's their purpose? Why do they spawn seemingly randomly rather than in response to events such as raids, sieges, prosperity loss, etc?
Are they intended to just be little loot/XP piñatas? If so, can't we accomplish whatever economics or troop/character advancement they might bring through other game mechanics? Passive XP gain through the leadership skill, gold spent on training, etc. can handle the XP issue. As for the loot/cash they provide -- is this of any real benefit outside of the first few battles or maybe first trade haul in the game? Why does the game encourage the anti-gameplay element of hoboslaying? The only other thing they do is occasionally disrupt villagers moving around, but even this rarely occurs and doesn't do much besides alter their pathfinding temporarily.
So with how little benefit they provide to the gameplay and how what they provide can be accomplished better through other means, let's look at how they impoverish gameplay:
Are they intended to just be little loot/XP piñatas? If so, can't we accomplish whatever economics or troop/character advancement they might bring through other game mechanics? Passive XP gain through the leadership skill, gold spent on training, etc. can handle the XP issue. As for the loot/cash they provide -- is this of any real benefit outside of the first few battles or maybe first trade haul in the game? Why does the game encourage the anti-gameplay element of hoboslaying? The only other thing they do is occasionally disrupt villagers moving around, but even this rarely occurs and doesn't do much besides alter their pathfinding temporarily.
So with how little benefit they provide to the gameplay and how what they provide can be accomplished better through other means, let's look at how they impoverish gameplay:
- Increase disparity between AI and player since the AI doesn't hunt looters like players do
- Require enemy lords to respawn with a retinue of free troops so they don't get captured by looters
- Encourage tedious hoboslaying