Summer Updates - 037

[Yosarian]

Actually, a decapitation strike would end the whole problem: GK units in the field disband, I believe.

Actually, I donno about that. Jillian didn't.

That's because she was the heir to Faq. Stanley has no heir, so taking him out would make the GK side "neutral" (i.e. easy pickings).

Very true. That might be part of it. Of course, that wasn't a matter of "ruler dies, heir takes over side", it was more like "entire side gets wiped out, unit in the field (that contained a heir) goes barbarian." I'm not sure if it's because of the heir or not.

We do know that normally, if the ruler of a city dies with no hair, all units in a city go "neutral" and basically are frozen in time. I don't think we know what happens to units in the field at the time, nor do we know what happens to units in the field if their home side gets wiped out; I don't think we've seen any examples of that other then Jillian.

[Yosarian]

the decrpted angle
wanda now seems to be able to decrypt any and all fallen units to full ability, the don't degrade and have zero upkeep. however traditional game logic indicates there is a balancing device we haven't been shown yet.
the the laws of thermodynamics from earthworld certainly back that theory up.

balancing regarding their effectiveness/value, or another, equally powerful force out there? Because I don't see any kind of weakness in a situation where getting your own men killed is valuable. The only possible negatives of decrypting are a) levelling further becomes impossible or b) some force out there (tool, magic) can cut through decrypted wholesale.

Well, there certainly are disadvantages to having uncroaked units instead of living units, mostly that they decay over time. It may be that the powerful artifact she has just removes all those disadvantages by creating decrypted units instead. We haven't seen any sign that from any practical point of view decrypted units have ANY disadvantages over living units, and they seem to have at least two advantages (Zero upkeep, and I would guess a very, very high loyalty.)

I don't know why you would assume that an artifact is balanced. An artifact is an ancient, incredibly powerful item created by the Titans themselves; normally in fantasy, artifacts like that are just inherently unbalancing objects, usually in a very fundimental way. Think of, say, the Horn of Valere in the Wheel of Time; you blow it, and an army of long-dead heroes comes out of nowhere and wins a battle for you, with no real cost at all.

[raphfrk]

Very true. That might be part of it. Of course, that wasn't a matter of "ruler dies, heir takes over side", it was more like "entire side gets wiped out, unit in the field (that contained a heir) goes barbarian." I'm not sure if it's because of the heir or not.

It could also have been ruler dies -> Jillian becomes Queen -> City Falls -> Jillian become barbarian as she lost all of her cities.

I don't think we know what happens to units in the field at the time, nor do we know what happens to units in the field if their home side gets wiped out; I don't think we've seen any examples of that other then Jillian.

They disband according to Parson in one of the klogs.

Well, there certainly are disadvantages to having uncroaked units instead of living units, mostly that they decay over time. It may be that the powerful artifact she has just removes all those disadvantages by creating decrypted units instead. We haven't seen any sign that from any practical point of view decrypted units have ANY disadvantages over living units, and they seem to have at least two advantages (Zero upkeep, and I would guess a very, very high loyalty.)

The loyalty is probably to the wielder and not to the side. The disadvantage could be that it increases the chances of the side splitting and also represents a single point of failure.

Perhaps, as Wanda is worshipped by more units, the lower her (already very low) loyalty stat is adjusted.

[XACBalistikX]

I made an artistic interpretation of this strip. What should I do with it, I can't seem to figure out where everyone is sending their guest art... Or is it reserved for Tools or something?

[moose o death]

guest art was commisioned

i was tactfully rejected. or at least have been to this point. there is some small hope but i'm fairly confident i will not be asked to contribute. best case scenario you could PM balder and see if he's up for it.

[DevilDan]

I made an artistic interpretation of this strip. What should I do with it, I can't seem to figure out where everyone is sending their guest art... Or is it reserved for Tools or something?

Good on you, man. Go for it. PM him and send a link to your art. The worse he can say is "no, thanks." If he likes it, he may keep you in mind for the future.