MP era for more rounded-out, multi-racial factions

[Rhuvaen]

Is there a possibility or need for new mainline eras in MP? What we have now is
1. classic/default: eras based more or less on racial factions and lvl ones. This one is fine, but factional combinations can - on a lot of maps - already pretty much decide the chances of winning because they are so specific.
2. age of heroes: also based on racial factions but with level twos. This one seems more unbalanced because costs are not as well considered for level twos.
3. great war: only two factions not based on race but "alignment" (whatever that is). A bit too limited in choice, perhaps.

Basically I'd propose an era that is somewhere between "Great War" and "Classic", in that it bundles a lot of unit choices together while still retaining some specialization for factions. For instance:

• 'Feudal Lords': based on loyalists, with some saurian or dwarvish mercenary units added
  "Night Lords": based on undead (without bats), plus some loyalist footmen and the thug/thief maybe
  "The Elders": elves and dwarves in some combination (woses?)
  "The Horde": orcs, goblins, and horsemen/cavalry (no trolls)
  "High Elves": a mix of elves and loyalists
  "Raiders": orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres and saurians

These are on-the-spot ideas, but I think the potential for an era with less-specific, more rounded-out factions besides the classical ones exist (and the alternatives to classic/default either aren't exciting or very balanced at the moment).

I'll finish this with a quote (with which I very much agree):

...people wanted to make 'pure' race factions. Something which I think is a really bad idea, because it kills diversity.

[Big Bad Joe]

I have idea of a "greed" era, I am not sure how it will be hard to make though.
A player do not have faction to choose at all - in the begining there will be a special menu where he will buy unit recruitment option. ( Let say like 120 points) - the recruitment option will cost the same as recruiting the individual unit itself. Player can pick any lvl.1 unit ( said especially for EP) from any faction ( maybe even some non factional, barbarians, saurians from Out of the swamps, Quartex elves, shadow mages etc.). This way he makes his own custom faction for the upcoming fight.
In the begining of the game in Turn1 selection of recruiting units made by oponent will be told to oposing player ( strategy questions).
It gives a chance to play with faction you want to choose and greatly improve the strategy possibilities and strategy development for player. It also shows which units are really overpowered.. as a side effect..

[Rhuvaen]

Thanks for reminding me to rename the topic. The original title probably was an invitation for all kinds of ideas - I'd rather wish people comment on what has been posted already as much as throw in new ideas.

I can see how with your idea you get to choose from all races... I don't think it's a very workable idea even if it's interesting because units might not be overpowered by themselves but in combinations. Think: get saurians and ulfserkers together and add horsemen into the mix, and maybe cavalry to guard flanks. I'd find that a pretty tough combination to beat.

But instead of giving complete choice, you could allow the faction to choose one special unit from a list. Say you will have your basic faction, and get to choose either a horseman, ulfserker or mage as a special unit. The special unit could depend on your leader type instead of having an option dialog.

[Elvish_Pillager]

Rhuvaen: Feel free to make new eras as you please, and hope someone implements era-sharing over the network. Myself, I prefer making eras in which each side controls a small number of units with no connection but interesting gameplay.

[Rhuvaen]

I knew someone was going to suggest just making a new era, and I probably will. Since you can't use custom eras in multiplayer on the server, there's probably not much hope of this getting a lot of momentum...

I'll probably try to create an MP scenario where the factions get altered depending on player choice to test the possibilities.

Is there a place where you publish those eras of yours? I just wonder what unit combinations you use and why.

[Disto]

Well i believe it's possible to have custom units on multiplayer IF both people have the era, and the era has the units.

[Rhuvaen]

Well i believe it's possible to have custom units on multiplayer IF both people have the era, and the era has the units.

Yes, but that will change on the next release (is already changed in CVS), so I'm not going to try distributing a custom era

[Elvish_Pillager]

Is there a place where you publish those eras of yours? I just wonder what unit combinations you use and why.

The Wreckers --- Orcish Slayer, Rogue, Goblin Pillager. Brought together because they all have nice attack abilities, and together they can be an interesting force.

The Tough Guys --- Ogre, Horseman, Walking Corpse. A rather odd faction with interesting strategy, all the units are rather tough, and all are pure melee units. However, they are diverse anyway, since they have Blade, Pierce, and Impact, can recruit units to resist any physical damage type, and can recruit units with any alignment.

The Organized Army --- Dragoon, Swordsman, Pikeman, Longbowman, Bowman. A rather generic force.

The Swift Death --- Elvish Outrider, Lancer, Shadow. Based on the ability to attack quickly and swarm their enemies, they can take advantage of any time of day. Two of their units can do 250% of damage in normal circumstances.

[Disto]

I mean new custom units? Is that possible in the next release.

[Elvish_Pillager]

I mean new custom units? Is that possible in the next release.

No.

[Disto]

Damn

[Dave]

Is there a possibility or need for new mainline eras in MP?

Yes, there is the possibility of this. Your proposal looks nice too.

David

[pg]

Months ago me and Telly briefly looked at something like this so multiplayer could be better. I think we both came the same conclusion that it's better to work with the developers on the current default era. Sure, they change things very slowly, and probably won't test as much as dedicated multiplayer designers, but Wesnoth is already fairly good. The developers do listen eventually.