Knights and Merchants "Total War"

[The_King]

Hi everybody!

I sort of have a rather ambitious idea here but one that I think is quite practical and implementable. Its sort of like bringing KAM matches into a completely new dimension and life... and sort of merging the "Total War" style gaming into KAM in a virtual way.

What I propose is the following:

1. We make a map (could be a .jpg image... doesn't matter much).
2. Then in that map we will have different territories with borders etc.
3. Each territory can be assigned a specific multiplayer map from KAM Remake.
4. Clans (or even individual "independent players") can own territories and fight each other for them. Whenever a clan attacks another clan's territories, they will set a time to play the game, whoever wins owns the territory. The map to be played is decided by the territory itself - so no big deal.
5. After the match, the map (which can be a .jpg image) can be updated with the new owner of the territory marked on it.

From where I see it, this thing has tremendous potential for role-playing, immersive game play and also to bring new life into matches. Moreover, it will allow more different kinds of maps to be played more often and will rid the usual complaint of "Oh man, not the Cursed Ravine again!". Furthermore, it has a lot of potential to be improved by several more ideas e.g.

- Each clan can set one of their territories as their "capital". Whenever the capital is under siege, it is only played on a specific map which can be made as a "capital map". What happens in that map is that the defending army is 3 players and attacking army is 5 players and defending army has a huge defensive advantage ... etc. etc.. just ideas.
- We can hold tournaments or monthly ladder series etc. in which each clan will be judged by score. Each territory can have a different "daily score income" associated with it. Each day you hold that territory gives you a certain number of points... some difficult territories can have more daily points and some easy territories can have less daily points... you can also use different resource types instead of points (e.g. gold, wood, stone).. with each of them having a different preciousness value (just to be more dynamic and fancy). Clan with the most number of points after a month wins that month's title.

There are so many other ways in which this idea can be built upon. It doesn't require a lot of effort and can help produce a lot of fun .

You are welcome to give your feedback and remarks.

[Nissarin]

I though about it before and while it sounds nice there are few problems:
- first of all I don't think we have big enough player base to begin with (even for "standard" clan ladder),
- the seconds one - why bother - is there any gain in "owning" a territory ? does number of territories owned matter ? and if so, assuming there is some in game "profit", would it be balanced at all ?
- deciding time and map is actually a big deal - games can take a few hours, later on (due to bigger "territory") some clans/groups would have to face a few "battles" a day
- ppl are not really into role playing (i.e. your player base is shrinking even more)

[Krom]

Maybe it could work if there's a site where you could see the map, communicate with other players and schedule fights. Most important is result submitting in a trustworthy way.

[The_King]

I though about it before and while it sounds nice there are few problems:
- first of all I don't think we have big enough player base to begin with (even for "standard" clan ladder),
- the seconds one - why bother - is there any gain in "owning" a territory ? does number of territories owned matter ? and if so, assuming there is some in game "profit", would it be balanced at all ?
- deciding time and map is actually a big deal - games can take a few hours, later on (due to bigger "territory") some clans/groups would have to face a few "battles" a day
- ppl are not really into role playing (i.e. your player base is shrinking even more)

Thank you for your reply . I do see weight in some of the problems you have pointed out. Especially the ones about the small and shrinking player base . However, as far as the battles are concerned, they can be scheduled in a way that is acceptable for the players. E.g. we can even say that in order to hold " ___ " number of territories the clan must contain at least " ____ " number of players.... so that it doesn't happen that a small clan holds too many territories and then it becomes a hassle for them to deal with the battles.
- There is no in-game profit for holding territories (though we could discuss this point with the greater community).
- The benefit/attraction in holding more territories is that you get crowned the winner of that month if you hold a lot of points. After all, whats the gain in being on the top of a ladder? other than the fun of course.

Maybe it could work if there's a site where you could see the map, communicate with other players and schedule fights. Most important is result submitting in a trustworthy way.

Thank you for your reply .

Yes. The communication and battle scheduling aspects are KEY aspects for the success of this system. I am having my exams these days, after the exams (which end on 12th of April), I think I could work on making a very primitive looking map and putting it up on a website and sort of make a prototype kind of thing of the idea. Considering that I have almost zero knowledge of website development - any help would be highly appreciated and sorely needed

[Nissarin]

(...)
However, as far as the battles are concerned, they can be scheduled in a way that is acceptable for the players. E.g. we can even say that in order to hold " ___ " number of territories the clan must contain at least " ____ " number of players.... so that it doesn't happen that a small clan holds too many territories and then it becomes a hassle for them to deal with the battles.

I don't have any data to back it up but I think that significant number of current players are in fact old farts (myself included), i.e. they have jobs, studies, etc. which not only limit their time to play but also the hours they are willing to play, e.g. when I play I see a lot of familiar nicknames but once I played a few hours earlier than usual and I recognized no one.. The point is, even with bigger clan you don't have any guaranty their schedule will match. And btw.. while most of the players are from Europe and Russia there is also problem with time zones.

- There is no in-game profit for holding territories (though we could discuss this point with the greater community).
- The benefit/attraction in holding more territories is that you get crowned the winner of that month if you hold a lot of points. After all, whats the gain in being on the top of a ladder? other than the fun of course.

So, if it's just for "glory", then ordinary ladder will suffice, no need to overcomplicate it.


Anyway, since you're putting your time into it I wish you luck but it might be hard to make it work IMHO.