I miss Melkor (3rd Gnome IR) :)

[Serpenteye]

Is there a cost involved in researching and applying technology?

 

[Kalanyr]

In general no, not really apart from manpower which is an abstract quantity that Festy and I shall be judging. Some discoveries may have other costs though, like nuclear research may have baneful effects on your scores if something goes wrong.

 

[Serpenteye]

Does the Manpower aspect apply to magic-research too, or can even the tiniest factions advance as fast as the great empires? It seems logical that there would be more brilliant people in a larger group than in a smaller one, generally speaking.

 

[Kalanyr]

We will be working on the assumption that everyone starts of with roughly equal groups, probably by having some sort of influence over surrounding territories for smaller countries, it allows us to avoid having people try to grab the maximum available PL.

 

[Gurdjieff]

Sounds like we're getting somewhere =) And that's a good thing I guess =]

I want to say hi to Venus, thanks for his letter, and greetings to the Netherlands. How are you doing?

Edena; Hi there! Good to see you made it over here =) I was starting to wonder if I had the right email-address. Everything's fine here, only the summer is taking way too long to show itself. How are things down in the Michigan? Gonna have time to join us in this IR as a player? =]

 

[Serpenteye]

We will be working on the assumption that everyone starts of with roughly equal groups, probably by having some sort of influence over surrounding territories for smaller countries, it allows us to avoid having people try to grab the maximum available PL.

That will work in the beginning, but everybody's not going to stay at the same relative power for very long.
Speaking of which, I don't really understand why you're dropping PLs entirely. They are a very convenient way to save everyone from the bother of having to write down the exact numbers, training and equipment of their every army. PLs are just so much simpler. They allow us to fight on multiple fronts against multiple enemies without getting totally bogged down, and easily allows us to analyze the strengths of our allies and enemies. The system is also helpful for describing the efforts put into research and development.
I guess that my biggest issue is about the "free-form" rules of the game. I feel that in the long run it's going to cause a lot more problems, and a lot more work for all of us, than a rules-based system would. But I already knew we had different alignments...

 

[Kalanyr]

The trouble with PL is that you need to define a research scale where boosting PL isn't clearly superior to advancing research nor vice versa. (which was a 3rd IR problem, PL advancement was far far more efficient than magic research in terms of relative gain) and for the purpose of people changing size it will just increase the basic bonuses for the 3 stats we are using (and thats the other reason PL is way way to much bookwork).

 

[Edena_of_Neith]

Hey there, Bugbear. Melkor. Venus. Who played the offshore power east of the Union of Oerth? Our younger player? I have forgotten his SN, and would like to say hello to him.

Can I play? I don't know. I just don't know.
We are moving soon, and it's taking up a lot of my time.

 

[Kalanyr]

kaboom was responsible I think.

 

[Serpenteye]

Whatever means you use to advance power you might as well quantify power as PL. It is easier than having to spell out the statistics of all our armies in detail and a lot more presice than having to call our armies (or spying expeditions, or magi-taskforces) "minor", "medium" or "major", and it's a lot more fun than only being able to fight one battle at a time in which we can only commit our full power (which it seems like you are suggesting, if I understand you correctly).
We can use the words Power Levels regardless of wether we get tech and magic advancement for free or if we use a more detailed system, it's convenient either way. I think I understand your point, you want to keep it simple. Do you understand mine? Because I want the same thing.