So I literally wasted one action and lost two more by not gaining population in time on growing stuff instead of building cities. Splendid balance. :-/
Ayup. And I'm wasting actions by not building cities so I can farm.
You guys need to stop treating this like a simulation and start treating it like a game. I mean, you don't
have to, but if you insist on playing how you think things ought to work instead of playing how they actually work, you'll have a tough time.
However, you can only get so much population from fields...equal to the number of tiles you have. And the tiles you farm? Also the tiles you build cities on.
Well, yeah, that's the thing. The number of tiles you have is pretty much always bigger than the number of tiles you can build cities on. Cities give you one pop to play with right now, plains reserved for farming are what vault you above minimum. Hence why I'm reserving some as we speak
Uh, nope. Let's say a spring rolls around and I am currently at my minimum population. I have two choices for increasing the population: either build a city or farm. If I pick the former, I am still at the minimum population (which is now one higher) and I start off summer with +1 guy. Next spring I'll still have a choice. If I farm, not only do I only get this guy at the end of AUTUMN, but also I'll stop being at minimum population and thus will be forced to also farm the next spring, unless I want to have an action having been wasted, which is exactly what happened.
A good point, though things might change once players begin to run out places to build their cities.
I'll revisit your proposals at the end of the game when we've a clearer idea what the long-term effects of the different strategies are. Are you sure you mean 'only increase minimum population'? Your max population would then just be the number of tiles you have and it's impossible to build more cities than you have tiles...
(Also, will roll us on to the next season in just a moment)
Again, yeah, that's how it works, but I don't see it as a necessarily bad thing. I feel like the mechanics are balanced, favoring one over the other just because you think one ought to precede the other doesn't make much sense. Starting with a capital city is definitely the way to go, after that you have the interesting choice of immediate growth or long term.
Question: if I conquer a tile and this brings me under my minimum population, does the difference get reimbursed before next season? Also, can we conquer neutral territories?
Related to Dariush's question, when exactly does the losing population from a conquer action occur? Immediately, or end of turn? For example, if I had 3 Population and bordered 3 neighboring contested deserts, would I be able to Conquer all of them or just two (since the first conquer would lower my pop to 2?)
Also, Dariush, why would you want to conquer neutral tiles? It costs the same as expanding but makes you lose a pop from fighting.
Looks like I'll be waiting for DarkPaladin, since his expansion choices most definitely impact my own.