I've read through the FAQs and similar posts but I still don't feel I have even much of a basic grasp of a few things regarding RS2, particularly the economy.
When looking at roads, markets, ports and even happiness buildings they show both a bonus and a penalty....how does that work? I understand that the idea was to show maintenance costs etc, but the way it's presented makes no sense to me - it stopped me trying to build buildings for fear that it would lose me public order/money instead of improving it due to how confusing it is. Can someone explains how this works? Is it ever a bad idea to keep building advanced markets, roads, etc or are the downsides truly minor? Between the misunderstanding of what penalties/bonuses would result from building something and the sheer number of buildings I was just utterly stumped by settlement management and felt as though I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Recruitment also doesn't make much sense to me - I built the first level barracks in settlements but wasn't able to recruit anything there, ie in Dyrachhium. Are there other buildings that need to be present so you can actually recruit troops? Is there some kind of culture system at work that will eventually "unlock" recruitment?
They may seem basic, and perhaps the answers are obvious, but I've not been able to figure it out, even reading through the FAQs and linked threads. DVK's many posts and threads trying to explain how the game works are great, but, bless him, they just seem extremely long-winded and at the end of it I don't feel like things are cleared up, but if anything the concepts of taxation, public order, improving my economy just feel even more confusing and complex.
Do things work relatively simply in this game or is there a seriously complex design as to how buildings and economies improve? I honestly feel clueless when playing and trying to plan things so if someone in the know could shed some light on it I'd really appreciate it. This looks like a really interesting mod but it just seems so complex and intricate that it scares me away! Thanks