Unintended Consequences

Under the category of unintended consequences we find the following scenario now available for exploitation in Illyriad, the result of which is pretty much "pay to win."

A player or alliance decides they wish to win at any cost, both in game and out.

Said player or alliance purchases large amounts of prestige with real world currency.

Having purchased the prestige they then sell the prestige in the form of prestige scraps etc...

Now, having large amounts of gold with which to sustain huge armies city sizes are irrelevant.

So they build huge armies with which to dominate their opponents who, had they had the same real world financial abilities, might do the same.

So is there a solution?  

Here's what I think the should be done.

Limit the size of a cities army to one and a half times it's current population.  This would result in the following:

1) It would limit armies from a single city to no more than  45k or so.  45k is no small number but it also means that all players can reach that number without a lot of out of game financial help. 

2) By limiting the size of armies you would place the emphasis on city growth rather than just enough to raise a huge army. 

3) By limiting the size of armies you lay renewed emphasis on properly equipped armies over more soldiers.  Currently it is not cost effective to use crafted items.  But if my army is as large as it can get and I still need it to be more effective I can use crafted items to do so. 

4) By limiting the size of armies you emphasize a more balanced PVP as no player or alliance can produce more soldiers than another by simply buying the prestige to do so.  Again, if one alliance is bent on "winning" at all costs and has the out of game finances to do so, they will produce millions of soldiers and simply "pay to win."

I think, in the long run,  "pay to win" must be avoided since that is a good reason many small to medium players leave games like Illyriad.    There are many "rich" players, but there are just so many more "average" ones who either do not desire or can not compete in a "pay to win" environment.

AJ

Large amounts of gold can be acquired within the game with no need whatsoever for real money, so buying prestige, turning it into scrolls, then selling it on the market is no different from hunting, gathering and/or crafting and selling what you've collected or made on the market for gold, or straight up selling basic resources, in the end all players are still governed by troop production times and there is no way around that.

1. A person can sustain an army of nearly 10x the city size with almost no problem without any use of prestige.  45k troops is easy, you can have 100k troops in each city and still be positive with gold.  

When prestige trading was first implemented, I worried that Illyriad would become P2W. Since then I have seen that my concerns have never come to pass.

Permasat accounts produce more gold and resources than most battle accounts can use. That was true long before prestige could be bought or sold. As others have pointed out, the limiting factor is production time. Even unlimited gold and 0 taxes can only drive up the production speed so far. A true P2W regime would allow the instant completion of troops in exchange for money (represented by virtual currency that can only be acquired in bulk with cash), and the instant acquisition of troop materials for currency.

This game has always had a natural balance between large cities that allow the acquisition of 10 cities (now limitless), and smaller cities that efficiently produce troops or advanced materials. Putting all the emphasis on big cities will just cause even more conflicts over good food locations. That's just as pseudo-P2W as selling prestige for gold, because as we have already seen, the big prestige buyers will just build bigger cities.

Also, crafted items are profitable and cost effective. I am one of the biggest crafters in the game, and it makes gold far higher than the opportunity cost. Your assertions otherwise show a complete lack of understanding of the crafting, equipment, and trade aspects of this game.

I'm honestly not sure what aspects of the game you are proficient at, but it definitely isn't military, trade, or manufacturing.

mmh! I'd suggest try and prestige out one of your cities out of a determined, coordinated & competent attack from a couple/trio of attackers…

I don't think this can be achieved.