How strong would you like minor factions to be?

[DogSoldierSPQR]

I have spoken to a fair number of TW players about their thoughts on the strengths of minor factions. Some like that the campaign can be unpredictable where minor factions can literally wipe out major factions (as we see in S2), whereas others do not want to give the minor factions the ability to be able to conquer on the kind of scale that major factions could. My thoughts are that every faction regardless of status should be allowed to conquer as much as they want to. If we just limit it to major factions controlling things, we will only ever see the main factions conquering. I would hate to have to keep fighting Rome again and again and again. I want to play a campaign as Carthage and find out that someone else has just wiped out Rome in the first part of the game. In one playthrough I want to see a small European tribe create a little empire for itself, in the next, I want that same tribe to be completely wiped out. Long story short, if we limit the campaign to only letting the major factions conquer, it will not be all that different until two major factions collide and that's where things would change, but before that stage, all major factions would conquer. Tell me your thoughts about what you would like to see. One reason for why in particular I would like to see this feature is because it would make you strategically think about who you should make an alliance with. Any one of these little factions you wouldn't look twice at could become massive. Otherwise you would just send your diplomats (if they are returning) to go straight to those major factions. I am definitely surprised as to how many don't want this feature, but am curious to see what you guys on here think. Thanks for reading, guys.

[spartan753]

I don't want minor or major factions, only playable and non-playable, strenght-vise of course. The depth of each faction is a different matter.

So I want it to be sort of like S2. A 1 region faction should be as powerful as any other 1 region faction. Not like R1 where the same thing happened every single game: Britons wipe Gaul, Julii wipe Britons...

[Romans]

I want factions, not minor or major factions. And all should have a chance to success, although some more than others based on history quite obviously.

[Jokern]

I want minor factions to have the same chance as the major ones to create an empire. Just imagine if the Galatian Gauls became the great jation after the Seleucids instead of the Parthians, or if the Etruscan League united northern Italy and razed Rome to the ground. That's what I want to see because TW is about writing ones own history, not play out the one that happened. Therefore all factions should be equal, in the no-script way.

[Steel*Faith]

I want minor factions to have the same chance as the major ones to create an empire. Just imagine if the Galatian Gauls became the great jation after the Seleucids instead of the Parthians, or if the Etruscan League united northern Italy and razed Rome to the ground. That's what I want to see because TW is about writing ones own history, not play out the one that happened. Therefore all factions should be equal, in the no-script way.

I agree! I for each campaign to be different, and for every faction to have a chance to become a dominant force in the world. I'd really love it if one campaign I play Rome is a dominant force, while in another one they get wiped out early on by Samnites and Etruscans and everything completely changes the campaign. I'm expecting each campaign to be very different with faction power, that way we have a game with huge replay potential, and not just Rome being dominant every time.

[DogSoldierSPQR]

Yeah. I just really don't want to see the same factions conquering all the time. It would be nice to see the Numidians owning all of the North African coast. Maybe the Cherusci wiping out the Suebi and taking all of Germania. With a feature like this, there is no limit to the replay ability that Rome 2 will give us.

[Mary The Quene]

I hope they all get the chance becoming a great empire

[CheesyFreak]

i want all factions of equal power having a equal change to become a empire, like most of us here.

[[N2]Kami]

It's not like major factions will always win against minor one ... In TW everything can happen.

[Tim_Ward]

Strong, but not too strong.

[DogSoldierSPQR]

I just say we throw them all in there with equal opportunities. After all, it is generals that win battles, not faction strength.

[PROMETHEUS ts]

Enough strong to be able to grow and become even a major faction .

[magpie]

I kind of hope the minor factions can form meaningful alliances and don,t get wiped out in a few turns.
Make it hard to conquer is my motto.

[DaVinci]

I kind of hope the minor factions can form meaningful alliances and don,t get wiped out in a few turns.
Make it hard to conquer is my motto.

Signed.

And all in all, less expansive compared to major factions (while one should be on the hood vs. possible invasions by minor factions), but strong in defence.

And no, to what the total-What-if fans above like, historical strong factions should get the upper hand in the long run ... everything else disturbs heavily my realism-immersion (i would have to make a lot realism-balancing, time which i could use better ... i expect, i have to make that realism-balancing though). A (soon) killed major faction is a game-stopper for me, to say it clearly.

[Honors Bastion]

While the minor factions shouldn't be too powerful as to overwhelm the historically strong major factions right away, they should be strong enough given enough time and opportunity to take down a major faction. I don't want them to be too weak as to have every game be the same but I do want to see a major empire fall every now and then.

[MrOuija]

I want strength to be based on factors such as location, population (or RTW2 reflection if it), and wealth of the land, as opposed to strict historical determinism or Civ-style "everyone is equal" gameplay. There are some provinces that are simply richer than others, some nations that are more unified, etc.

Countries like Macedon, Rome, Carthage, Egypt for instance should be more likely to succeed based on their starting positions. That said, if Pyrhhus sacks Rome, the Arverni unify all the Gauls, or for some reason the Numidians overthrow Carthage then that'd be cool too.

[Sun Jetzu]

I think they should be historically even, but expansion should be soley based on the AI of those factions. If they are wea, they should try to get strong, win battles with their armies and what not.
I like playing with small factions because i like building an empire from a weak state.
If I can do it, the AI should be able to do it too.

[DaVinci]

I think they should be historically even, but expansion should be soley based on the AI of those factions. If they are wea, they should try to get strong, win battles with their armies and what not.
I like playing with small factions because i like building an empire from a weak state.
If I can do it, the AI should be able to do it too.

"Historically even" ... what's that?

Sounds partly like arcade-gameplay to me, the expressed preferences here - not directly Sun Jetzu's meant, as of course minor factions disabled are boring, and they won't be, it's just (if programmed along recent titles), that minor factions have not the same agressivity aka "will" to subjugate the world (ie. might have no victory conditions).

CA will provide a What-if gameplay anyway (where the one and other minor faction will grow big, which never did so in history), so you guys can be calmed.
Well, doesn't matter, i know that for many years, and i absolutely do not expect that this What-if development-base by CA will ever change into a historical-realism development-base. I just enjoy when CA is doing little steps here and there towards more realism.

[Dude with the Food]

I don't want to see some Thracian tribe steamroll Macedon and Greece in the opening 30ish turns more than twice but equally, I want to see them in more cases than when I play as Macedon.

Basically, major factions should usually become important but 'minor' factions should be able to rise in other areas or instead of them. Just not if it is the same every time, it needs to be varied.

[Jokern]

I must say that I want it to be unscripted how and who builds an empire. The historically strong should of course have their advantage, but "minor factions" like the Gallic tribes surronding Arverni should have the ability to become the dominating power if the campaign plays out that way. I just want it to play out without any scripts that tell the AI how strong its factions should be.