For posterity:
Of the ljolsofar, I don't actually like Arendal.
A lot of the utility of SPI is lost with elves as they get locked into FoL and eventually GoN.
Still it was my first roll, and remains the one I recommend to new players because SPI/CRE are very forgiving traits - SPI means you can mess around with stuff and CRE means you can be more liberal with your city placements.
I don't like the Khazad mechanics, and haven't played them much. (I hate the punishment of rexing - probably makes me a bad player )
I personally think Rhoanna is by far the weaker leader - I liked their balancement in base, and don't think new financial makes up for the loss of raiders.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
Another reason why I like Arendal for newbies is that the ljolsofar have as very directed tech path, which makes it easier to focus on important things.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
I'm not a fan of the Khazad in MP. They simply expand too poorly.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
okay ... got myself Ljosalfar ... i have no problems with the traits, since i love having spiritual (it would help with me having several small changes instead of staggering the anarchy so i swap 2-3 each time. and i love having Creative, even if it perhaps is subpar as for other stuff, since it would leave me with much more choices as of where i'm going to settle
One thing i hope is that i'm able to get peaceful neighbours, getting aggessive neighbours would really curp my abilities since, for one i'm not comfortable with early wars (at all), and secondly because Ljosalfar gains strength later on ... so if possible, i guess it would be wise for me to try and fly below the radar so to speak waiting on my strengths to come to life (and/or outlive the aggessive types' strength).
as for tech path ... Argiculture -> directly to FoL ??? or
Nah creative is bot subpar (I. hope you didn't take what I said for you - Arendal is an awesome leader to learn in).
Normal tech path is agri ->calender-> fol
Can't remember if education is on the path, but you'll probably need it before hunting.
Erebus in the Balance - a FFH Modmod based around balancing and polishing FFH for streamlined competitive play.
well ... from what i can see Calender probably wouldn't be worth the hassle early on unless i got tons of flood plains or need for plantations ... Agrarianism doesn't seem as strong for either of the elven races
Problem with Arendel is that she's not going to stretch you too much, she's definitely top tier
Khazad - I think the Vaults gimp them too much. No fast movers or mages is also a major hit. Trebs don't make up for that
Rhoanna - is very good too. Expansive is probably top-2 in traits in EitB. Financials been gimped, but still useful.
I disagree that Creative is subpar in EitB, though it is definitely weaker than in BTS. I'd say its solidl in the middle (actually, I think most of the traits are pretty well balanced)
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
)
