What SC do you wish for?

[thejeff]

You really can't expect end-game SP to be balanced. To much of the game is focused on being able to react to your enemies strategies, especially later in the game when you have so many options available.

Without actually producing a real learning AI, the game just can't counter what good player can throw at it. It could be improved, but it's never going to be able to respond to tactics the way a real player can. SC counters, army destroying spells, etc, etc are far too situational.

It's much better earlier in the game when the gold/production advantage impossible AIs get is more relevant. Especially with some of the tricks suggested here (NI mod, using map commands to design pretenders, etc)

So, yes, Wish is unbalanced against the AI. So are dozens of other high-level spells. That doesn't mean they're unbalanced in MP.
Besides I've never gotten to Wish in an SP game without being already so dominant it's not fun anymore. With the SCs and hordes of battle mages I'll have by that point it's just a matter of slogging through the remaining provinces.

But I still lose to the AI a good chunk of the time in the early game.

[Epaminondas]

Originally Posted by thejeff

You really can't expect end-game SP to be balanced. To much of the game is focused on being able to react to your enemies strategies, especially later in the game when you have so many options available.

Without actually producing a real learning AI, the game just can't counter what good player can throw at it. It could be improved, but it's never going to be able to respond to tactics the way a real player can. SC counters, army destroying spells, etc, etc are far too situational.

It's much better earlier in the game when the gold/production advantage impossible AIs get is more relevant. Especially with some of the tricks suggested here (NI mod, using map commands to design pretenders, etc)

So, yes, Wish is unbalanced against the AI. So are dozens of other high-level spells. That doesn't mean they're unbalanced in MP.
Besides I've never gotten to Wish in an SP game without being already so dominant it's not fun anymore. With the SCs and hordes of battle mages I'll have by that point it's just a matter of slogging through the remaining provinces.

But I still lose to the AI a good chunk of the time in the early game.

What setting do you play at usually?

Though I've never played MP, I am very skeptical that Wish is not over-powered even in MP. You may be right in the sense that most MP games are decided before Wish is researched; but once someone has it, sheer arithmetic demonstrates that it is too powerful (see my example of what "magic power" does and compare it to how many gems it would require to pull off the same at the higher levels). Another MP factor that I may not be sufficiently account for may be, however, that the AI rarely dispels my Arcane Nexus global, and hence I am getting 100-plus Astral gems per turn easy.

[AreaOfEffect]

Originally Posted by Epaminondas

What setting do you play at usually?

Though I've never played MP, I am very skeptical that Wish is not over-powered even in MP. You may be right in the sense that most MP games are decided before Wish is researched; but once someone has it, sheer arithmetic demonstrates that it is too powerful (see my example of what "magic power" does and compare it to how many gems it would require to pull off the same at the higher levels). Another MP factor that I may not be sufficiently account for may be, however, that the AI rarely dispels my Arcane Nexus global, and hence I am getting 100-plus Astral gems per turn easy.

You are correct, Wish is the most effective way in the entire Dominions universe to raise your magic skills. (Unless you already have a rainbow mage with all or almost all magic paths. Then a Ring of Wizardry or Robe of the Magi is better.) However, that in of itself is not a winning strategy. It is instead investing more gems into a single unit which can be destroyed. It only amounts to victory if those extra skills allow you to do something you couldn't before, which is in actuality the victoriously overpowered spell.

Wish, by itself, can't make a province yours. Wish can't assassinate a particular unit. Wish can't even grant you an army. (A huge pile of militia does not count as an army. It counts as a waste of your gold via upkeep cost.) Wish is a tool to be combined with other spells. It can't even grant you an actual super combatant until you cast Gift of Reason afterword. Even then you need to forge quality items in order to keep that initial investment of 120 gems safe. Just because you see it amazingly efficient at doing one thing, does not make it overpowered.

Edit: By the way, you really need to play a MP game.

[Epaminondas]

Originally Posted by AreaOfEffect

Edit: By the way, you really need to play a MP game.

I know! But I don't see how things can work out logistically. How can you coordinate a turn-based game with over 10 people (which is the critical mass required to have a good game)? Do a turn a week?