Siege Machines

[The Huntsman]

Hi all, I have been looking through the new trailers and information, and it seems like it is going to be quite easy to pump out siege machines. I feel like the siege machine-aspect of an RTS is one of the toughest to master. On the one hand if you don't have easily manufacturable and cost-effective machines it is rediculous to attack a base (especially the likes of a human castle we will see in this game- all very cool). But if its easy to spam them then a slight edge in force numbers it seems would tip the siege in the attackers favor. Gah, I don't even know what I'm complaining about, I've just had really lame siege experiences in games before. I really love the look of the sieges that we have had sneak peeks at, I just hope you guys somehow managed to reach a happy medium between unnaffordable expense and cheap spamming of those catapults/trebuchets.
Rants done I guess, really like the look of the game so far.

[Darathor]

While there does seem to be a fair amount of siege equipment in siege battles in the trailers, they do get expensive the more you use them. They take up a little stone every time they fire.

[LiTos456]

It hadnt been stated anywhere that they're easy to get. But the whole game is about sieging other players castles, so it might be widely used, who knows.

[Konstantin Fomenko]

But the whole game is about sieging other players castles

This is a bit misleading Players can choose to make their MMO expirience mostly about sieges though - but these are quests, player vs environment, economy, building, exploration e.t.c

[Darathor]

That is true. But besieging an enemy and being besieged is still a large part of it. In the trailers it shows a lot of siege gameplay and not much other combat, at least that's what I saw when I watched them. I realize that it will actually most likely make up the minority of all combat because you can only siege your opponent so many times before you win or he pushes you back to fighting in the middle-ground. Then, there's where you just skirmish with the enemy's armies and patrols. Then there's naval combat which doesn't include sieging except in a few rare cases. Then there are quests, random monsters that you meet in the wilderness, and fighting against the AI.

[Andy Joslin]

As to your question..we definitely hope to strike a balance, but it's probably not something that we'll get right until beta, when we have more testers to determine balance.

[LiTos456]

Originally Posted by Konstantin Fomenko

This is a bit misleading Players can choose to make their MMO expirience mostly about sieges though - but these are quests, player vs environment, economy, building, exploration e.t.c

Yes but you do advertise the ability to battle and siege other players in mmorts as your primary feature! Dont deny it my good sir.

[Darathor]

In the screenshots with all the different armies in them there are archers on the trees of war.

[The Witch King of Angmar]

Originally Posted by Andy Joslin

As to your question..we definitely hope to strike a balance, but it's probably not something that we'll get right until beta, when we have more testers to determine balance.

Now when you say balance, do you mean as far as warfare types such as siege and naval battles? I just hope that there will be enough field combat and not just siege making the game a Stronghold type game. Will the players be able to just go into a match and not have to choose a role as attacker or defender?

Thanks

[The Huntsman]

I've been wondering about that too, actually. I'm hoping that most battles will be fought in the open field, but I guess that mostly depends on each player's style.