I think the 26 player map is an adequate size. The main issue I have with it right now is that, despite obvious efforts by the game developers to even out the playing field, there still remain sizeable inequities between some of the starting countries (such as Russia and China each having 10 home cities versus the usual 8 for other countries. As we know, home cities have much higher production capabilities than annexed cities, so it definitely gives these countries an edge at the beginning of the game. Obviously there have been efforts made to even out the playing field, but I'd still like to see a bit more tweaking.
Another irritant for me has been the different resources produced by home cities. Most countries have 8 cities to start with, but not necessarily the same number of cities producing each type of resource. For example, Germany as a starting country will produce more Electronics than Italy, whereas Italy will produce more Supplies. The problem is that production doesn't occur at the same rate for every type of resource. Cities producing Supplies, Components and Fuel produce these at a much higher rate than cities producing Electronics or Rare Materials. You would therefore expect that Supplies, Components and Fuel would be similarly priced on the Market, whereas Electronics and Rare Materials would yield a higher price given their relative rarity. This is not the case however, as Electronics and Fuel are priced significantly lower than Supplies and Components. Essentially, I would just like to see the game metrics adjusted so that the final cash value of the base production of home cities would be practically identical for all countries. This way, there wouldn't be any advantage or disadvantage to starting with any given country.
As an illustration to this lack of balance, I would note that when I played Vietnam in one game, with three home cities producing Supplies and one producing Electronics, I often had extra Supplies to sell on the market, and could use the money to purchase other resources that my cities didn't produce enough of, such as Electronics and Fuel. On the flip side, I'm playing a game as Germany right now, which has two cities producing Supplies and two producing Electronics. Given the high demand for Supplies throughout the game for construction, mobilization and research, I'm always missing Supplies and have been selling Electronics and using the cash to purchase Supplies. However, because Electronics are produced at a lower rate and priced at a lower price on the Market, I find myself comparatively poorer than when I played Vietnam.
I realize the game was designed to emulate a thoroughly uneven world and huge strides have been made to put everyone on equal footing, but I really feel there could be a quick fix to this issue that would help even out the game even more. It's really the only gripe I have with the current 26-player map, and if ever other map formats were to be created, I would hope that the game developers would take this into account when designing such a map.
Another irritant for me has been the different resources produced by home cities. Most countries have 8 cities to start with, but not necessarily the same number of cities producing each type of resource. For example, Germany as a starting country will produce more Electronics than Italy, whereas Italy will produce more Supplies. The problem is that production doesn't occur at the same rate for every type of resource. Cities producing Supplies, Components and Fuel produce these at a much higher rate than cities producing Electronics or Rare Materials. You would therefore expect that Supplies, Components and Fuel would be similarly priced on the Market, whereas Electronics and Rare Materials would yield a higher price given their relative rarity. This is not the case however, as Electronics and Fuel are priced significantly lower than Supplies and Components. Essentially, I would just like to see the game metrics adjusted so that the final cash value of the base production of home cities would be practically identical for all countries. This way, there wouldn't be any advantage or disadvantage to starting with any given country.
As an illustration to this lack of balance, I would note that when I played Vietnam in one game, with three home cities producing Supplies and one producing Electronics, I often had extra Supplies to sell on the market, and could use the money to purchase other resources that my cities didn't produce enough of, such as Electronics and Fuel. On the flip side, I'm playing a game as Germany right now, which has two cities producing Supplies and two producing Electronics. Given the high demand for Supplies throughout the game for construction, mobilization and research, I'm always missing Supplies and have been selling Electronics and using the cash to purchase Supplies. However, because Electronics are produced at a lower rate and priced at a lower price on the Market, I find myself comparatively poorer than when I played Vietnam.
I realize the game was designed to emulate a thoroughly uneven world and huge strides have been made to put everyone on equal footing, but I really feel there could be a quick fix to this issue that would help even out the game even more. It's really the only gripe I have with the current 26-player map, and if ever other map formats were to be created, I would hope that the game developers would take this into account when designing such a map.
