Realm Blessings Rework

[Raiga]

Current state:
1. Kingdom infrastructure i.e. idols and menhirs is a one-time investment. After you gather enough silver and batshit you don’t have to worry about it anymore. This makes corresponding resources cheap and easy to get, which leads to the situation where everyone can have everything. And it actually kills the whole point of the buffs. There is no difference between whole world covered by many kingdoms that provide same maximum bonuses and simply changing global timers on crops/trees/animals etc.
2. The only resource a kingdom consumes is the authority. However, exp points that provide authority are virtually unlimited and can be easily botted even after charisma/quests rework. Moreover, the kingdom doesn’t really need to keep its authority above zero to use buffs, so the pocket kingdoms are the thing.
3. No incentive to distribute infrastructure objects across the kingdom. People build them massively in well-secured Capitals.
4. No incentive for kingdoms to fight over territory or hearthlings.
5. No incentive for hermits to choose a particular kingdom because each provides the same bonuses.

Ideas:
1. Kingdom specialization. One kingdom shouldn’t provide all possible buffs. The diversity in bonuses will make hermits migrate to a realm which has the best bonus for the activity they want to do (and not to NewHedgeHugs).
2. There should be a correlation between the territory that the kingdom covers and the bonuses it provides. So instead of building idols/menhirs in random places they can be tied to a natural wonders. Two possible options I see here:
a) Build idols/menhirs only in NxN area around localized resource one per natural wonder.
b) Transform resource node into menhir or idol. After that node stops production of its resource. If it is destructed new resource node spawns somewhere else.
This would create strong incentive to fight over localized resources as well as protect them on your territory. Decentralization of kingdom infrastructure will also increase the amount of in-game relations between people.
3. Realm buffs require some resources as weekly upkeep to be active. Although it is nice to make a non-stop cow slaughtering fest at the coronation stone, I suggest upkeep be tied to localized resources. Raising its value will have positive impact on trade between kingdoms and hermits. This will also prevent transforming all natural wonders into menhirs if you choose 2b option.
All localized resources as they are now can be divided into two groups depending on their respawn time. Fast: salt, brimstone, heartwood leaves, notes, spring water. Slow: pit clay, rock crystal, foul smoke, mother of pearl, guano, ancient root, and ice. Each buff would require a different combination of resources from both groups. The example is listed in the picture below.
4. Kingdom buffs skill-tree. With the upkeep system realms would have to pick different development strategies and plan their expansion carefully. The example is listed in the picture below

https://imgur.com/pMYHjvq

[Damon_Cooper]

One kingdom shouldn’t provide all possible buffs.
...
4. Kingdom buffs skill-tree.

And the last one needs all others, so no Kingdom should provide it?

[2d0x]

Idea 2 is somehow quite bad, in my opinion :\

[Aceb]

While I generally would like the "different" kingdoms different buffs, it would lead to same people creating multiple kingdoms, making world litter even more with those.

Also about "gather batshit and silver and You are good to go" remember that if siege & combat get into sensible stage, there might be enough fights to destroy enemy kingdoms that even if collecting this "shit" isn't hard, the time You need to rebuild all buffs is significant.

[Yorla]

Natural wonders actually have their own uses. Are you going to rid us of them?

[Hrenli]

And the last one needs all others, so no Kingdom should provide it?

I suppose the idea is that any of the prerequisites is enough, not all of them...

[2d0x]

With idea 3 (resources for maintenance), is the whole world sitting with buffs and without resources?

[Hrenli]

Natural wonders actually have their own uses. Are you going to rid us of them?

I think we are talking new natural wonders mentioned by Jorb which are probably to be introduced in W11.

[Necroliter]

From my perspective one positive thing that can be extracted from this post - to enforce creation of idols (and other stuff) outside capital if Kingdom want to provide buff over larger territory.

Essentially convert idols from kingdom-global buff to range-limited buff (generously so).

This will either incentivize tighter settlements around capital area or infrastructure and support for kingdoms who decide to provide multiple distributed idols (that would be under siege and destroyed without protection in case of hostility).

[Hrenli]

While I generally would like the "different" kingdoms different buffs, it would lead to same people creating multiple kingdoms, making world litter even more with those.

At first I thought that technically there is no much difference if two realms are run by the same group of people or by two different groups.

But, actually, yeah, you have a point. If the system forces every big realm to be split to be effective it's not a good thing. And I am afraid it's not simple to come up with a system of buffs which provides several alternatives which are more or less the same progression-wise. Most probably one branch would be the meta and the rest either not used or used via an "alt realm"...