The start of the age has been a haphazard affair. The changes to the rules were put in announcements, The Guide, Bugs and Suggestions, and in Utopia day 3. Some of the changes listed contradicted each other and no comprehensive list was ever put together. This makes it quite difficult to plan ahead for the round. Then early on a bug struck . Apparently, if you attack anyone less than 75% of your NW, you get no land or fame. People were informed that this gigantic bug won't be fixed for 6 days. Considering that the start of the game is so crucial, and that this bug effected so many people, and that this bug won't be fixed for so long, this actually makes a reset appropriate. Will it happen? Doubtful, but it should. Then there's the changes...
Quite frankly, the changes that have been made will make the game almost unplayable. Let's take a quick look at some of the changes:
Auto-Draft: This is a good change. Makes it unnecessary to constantly log on to train soldiers
-50% on land grabs and burning acres - Land grabs have been a staple of the game since the beginning. Now they are for the most part less cost efficient than exploring. This is very bad for the game.
Large land war bonus - You can add more land per grab at war which is a good thing. However, wars will still be very damaging. The # of raze attacks, thief attacks, magic attacks, etc will still require recovery time. So you will either have to still limit the number of wars you are in, organize a gang bang, or hammer pathetic kingdoms that have no chance against you. We've moved from the age of the random land grab to the age of the random war.
Reduced Rob Vaults - Rob Vaults have been reduced in general but if you rob someone below a certain % (not sure exactly what) you get almost no gold per thief. Earlier today I robbed someone and was getting around 15 GC per thief.
Military Costs - Another factor designed to slow down growth.
80% limit on troops - I don't see this as a factor for 98% of the people out there.
So what is the over all effect of all these changes? Basically, most of these changes are designed to protect small players from larger players. However, they've gone so far overboard that the game is going to become extremely frustrating for most people. Let's look at all the factors that are designed to protect people against larger players: Thief and Wizard effectiveness based on ratios, Diminished Returns, Diminished returns on rob vaults against smaller players, possibly as much as 36% of your land being lost in a single grab if at war, miniscule returns for plunders (I got 5k for plundering someone with 325k) increasing building costs, troop cost of 1 gc per 5 soldiers.
Furthermore, the way the war changes have been made encourage gang bangs, gives huge new power to regents, encourages random wars, encourages exploring, doesn't stop the overwhelming amount of power given to thief speicialists, and changes the basic way the game is played by stopping land grabs. My guess is that most players will be very disapointed and frustrated with this round within the first 2 or 3 weeks of the game.
So what are the strats that will help you survive and win in these trying times?
Explore, Explore, Explore - This is your main way of aquiring land. Add at least 50 acres a day, by gaining land or exploring. Land grabs are nearly useless so exploring is a necessity.
When to Landgrab - When your opponent has truely pathetic defense and when you can gain an immense amount of land. The typical grab someone at 25-30% of your NW grab of last round is counterproductive this round. You could get more land with less cost by exploring.
War: You get more land at war which is good. However, you can still take horrible damage from thieves and mages plus possible raze attacks, even if no one breaks your defense. So if you do go to war pick someone you easily massacre or get a horde of other kingdoms to declare war with you and massacre your opponent. That sort of thing has always been frowned on before, but this round it will be a necessity.
Your Build: Money is always important. This round it will be essential because of increased expenses and because Rob Vaults has been neutered. Make sure you have a healthy income coming in from your build. Much more so than last round. Keep the cash flowing in to build your armies and for exploring.
Population managment - Just because soldiers are free doesn't mean you have zillions of them sitting around. Try to keep your employment % at around 97-99%. If you have 100% consider releasing some soldiers to free up more income earning peasants.
Solid Defense: Consider this: A guy on my kingdom who had around 360 acres. He got hit for 52. The attacker was not at war with us. So they took roughly 1/7th of his land (14%) of his land at -50%. Let's say we were at war with them and that same hit was made, then they would of hit him for 28% + 20% for War = 35% of his land in a single shot. Let's say someone of roughly your size hits you and you are at 5k acres, that's a 1750 acre hit. So defense is more important than ever before. If some Dwarf decides to send all his zerks at you he may be able to do 3 weeks worth of damage to you in a single hit. This means your defense better be extreme since a single hit can totally decimate you.
I hate to say it but this is now a game that is mainly about exploring. It makes no sense to attack a lot anymore for most players. If you try to play a War oriented strat you will definitely run across some thieves and wizards who will turn your province into goo at some point and I pity you if someone declares war and breaks your D because you had troops out. If that happens your game is basically over if they are close to your size. Thief provinces and explorers will rule this round I'm sorry to say. Good luck to everyone in the New Age.....