"Unlocking Cities"

Rill, I understand your position; I was trying to point out that the increased risk you are arguing for is at least as likely to deter a white knight as it is a military opportunist.  I agree with others on the thread that the most likely effect of facing the population bar again is to discourage players who have suffered losses from getting back into the game; it probably does not do anything to suppress conflict that the prospect of rebuilding doesn't already do.

Thanks G0Ds - nope I didn't lose any pop on the day of the "neg-food/res" update - most of my pop dropped before hand due to Exodus.

But I never had any plan to get city #10 so dropping pop was no major bother for me in this case.

With respect to Rill's concerns, the disincentive to engage is just as likely to work in reverse.  A player faces potential loss when he provokes a fight; another player faces potential loss when he intervenes.  Either might lose one or more cities and face the daunting task of rebuilding, which is made easier by this change.  The game invites more participation if it has a bias for action.

I really really like this idea.

I have a mixed feeling about this. It was fun building till my 8th city and I stopped there. I did not build any structures for the sake of population and decided not to build something only to demolish later - that is not what I like to do in a sandbox.