Why are Sages fair? Opinions wanted!

Oversway · #1 February 17th, 2005, 10:31 AM

Quote:

I say this ought to be the only proper way to respond to taking a strong nation with poor researching mages. Why should sages save a player from making that tough choice like the game is typically played these days?

Why do you want to limit the options in the game? If someone wants to take a chance, that should be an ok option. Just like other players won't take that chance. Everyone gets to play their own way...

Endoperez · #2 February 17th, 2005, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Oversway said:

Quote:

I say this ought to be the only proper way to respond to taking a strong nation with poor researching mages. Why should sages save a player from making that tough choice like the game is typically played these days?

Why do you want to limit the options in the game? If someone wants to take a chance, that should be an ok option. Just like other players won't take that chance. Everyone gets to play their own way...

Taking that chance pays off way too often. T'ien Ch'i has great researchers, but while using them is an option they are not needed because sages are available and easier to build (only lab, no frot/temple).

I think nerfing sages would take away one option (drain/zero-magic relying on Sages to research) and make lots of others resonable choices.

Saber Cherry · #3 February 17th, 2005, 01:49 PM

Once you include an Owl Quill (+3) and the +1 exp bonus you get after 10 turns or 2 battles, sages are not so advantageous.

Sage, 1 star, owl quill: 11 rp @ 90g
Generic 1-magic mage, 1 star, owl quill: 7 rp @ 60g

That comes to .55 rp/gold/turn versus .57 rp/gold/turn, which is trivial. I always give my researchers quills unless I have no access to air. Really, one of the big plusses of sages is that you get a random pick for only 90 gold, which is great for opening up new possibilities.

Edit: I can see sages going up to 100g or even 110g, just because they are such a nice combo of a research bonus and a cheap random pick. However, I think the game plays out fine without changing them at all. If I had a choice between a sage province versus a druid province versus and amazon province versus a bloodhenge druid province... it would probably be a toss-up.

Endoperez · #4 February 17th, 2005, 01:59 PM

Oops, double post...

Endoperez · #5 February 17th, 2005, 01:59 PM

Hey, Saber Cherry is back!

Only some nations have that cheap mages. The thing is, the cheap mages should be a bonus, not something almost as useful as sages in their specialty and often less useful because their paths are covered by stronger mages.

Maybe sages are too useful with true random and research bonus 4? Would they still be as useful with Astral 1, res. bonus 3? Would any other path suit them better, so that they cannot be used as a magic duel fodder against Tien Chi/Marignon, or communion slaves?

some editing...