Proposal: Gradual Cost Increase for Buildings (Fortress and Towers only)

Age of Mythology: Retold Discussion
1

Proposal: Gradual Cost Increase for Buildings

Have you noticed how late-game gameplay often becomes tedious? Both players tend to spam a huge number of buildings across the map. The Norse, for example, often build hill fortress upon hill fortress, making the game feel repetitive and dull.

A potential solution could be a gradual cost increase after a certain number of specific buildings. For example:

  • After 3 Fortresses (Greeks) or 3 Hill Forts (Norse), the cost of each subsequent building increases by 20% cumulatively.
  • For Towers, the cost increases after 10 buildings with the same cumulative 20% increase.

This system applies the 20% increase to the most recent cost, not the original cost. For instance, if a building starts at 100 resources:

  • 1st increase: 100 → 120.
  • 2nd increase: 120 → 144 (20% of 120 added).
  • 3rd increase: 144 → 172.8, and so on.

Examples of Gradual Cost Increase

1. Fortresses (Greeks)

  • Base Cost: 300 Wood, 300 Gold, 10 Favor.
  • After the 3rd Fortress:
    • 4th Fortress: 360 Wood, 360 Gold, 12 Favor (+20% of base cost).
    • 5th Fortress: 432 Wood, 432 Gold, 14 Favor (+20% of the previous cost).
    • 6th Fortress: 518.4 Wood, 518.4 Gold, 17 Favor.
    • 7th Fortress: 622 Wood, 622 Gold, 20 Favor.

2. Hill Forts (Norse)

  • Base Cost: 270 Wood, 300 Gold, 5 Favor.
  • After the 3rd Hill Fort:
    • 4th Hill Fort: 324 Wood, 360 Gold, 6 Favor (+20% of base cost).
    • 5th Hill Fort: 388.8 Wood, 432 Gold, 7 Favor (+20% of the previous cost).
    • 6th Hill Fort: 466.56 Wood, 518.4 Gold, 8 Favor.
    • 7th Hill Fort: 559.87 Wood, 622 Gold, 10 Favor.

3. Towers (All Civilizations)

  • Base Cost: 150 Wood, 100 Gold.
  • After the 10th Tower:
    • 11th Tower: 180 Wood, 120 Gold (+20% of base cost).
    • 12th Tower: 216 Wood, 144 Gold (+20% of the previous cost).
    • 13th Tower: 259.2 Wood, 172.8 Gold.
    • 14th Tower: 311.04 Wood, 207.36 Gold.
    • 15th Tower: 373.25 Wood, 248.83 Gold.

Advantages of This System

  • Freedom to Build: Players can continue building as many structures as they like, but at increasing costs.
  • Natural Limitation: Excessive spamming becomes economically unfeasible.
  • Dynamic Gameplay: Forces players to make strategic decisions in resource allocation.

And this system would also have a realistic touch, as, for example, the greater a company’s expansion in the number of factories, the higher the fixed cost to maintain each factory. Since in Age there is no maintenance cost for buildings, these new values would act as a kind of tax.

What do you think?

2

I don’t like your idea, First of all: all pantheons build multiple barracks. Second: adding an increment for each building constructed would make the game slow and boring, which would cause fewer people to play the game.

3

I didn’t mean all buildings, only the offensive ones that already have a predefined limit, such as towers and fortresses.

4

Defensive buildings have been nerfed in AoMR we don’t need to then make them more expensive with the more you get too.

5

I dont agree with that nerf. They could use this mechanics to buff them now.

6

The only excuse I can see for a ramping price mechanics, if it wss instead the hard cap of 10 and 20 forts and towers. So it’s still possible to go over this limit, but more pricy.

Though you rarely get to this limit anyway in a typical game, and defensive buildings are not that strong here. Especially towers with their ~1.5 archer worth dps.