Balance.
A concept many people do not seem to understand when taking part in game design.
An essential thing that is lost over time in many games.
Warhammer's balance fell as the game got into a vicious cycle of powering everything up stupidly again and again.
So did many other games.
But mine will not.
How will I balance a game where businesses can spend a seemingly endless amount of money to buy their way to power?
Simple.
They will get it from the player base.
As such, no matter how hard they try.
They will only ever have as many resources as they can get themselves or buy from players.
And in doing so and by taking a 5% commission on most, if not all, transactions that exchange in-game and real-life currency.
I can make enough money to support the game long-term.
While simultaneously allowing those low-born players who gain money and power from grinding.
An equitable chance to succeed.
James Larent, creator of Dynasties Online.
….
BANG!
The wooden door to a tavern burst open, crashing into the wall that its hinges were attached to.
"By order of the duke, arrest the members of The Red Blades!"
A captain shouted in an authoritative voice. A black horsehair plume donated his rank as mail-clad soldiers and knights of Duke Ridorfin streamed in and began grabbing many of the drunk men that were lying about on the floor, many unconscious while a few a bit more sober, tried to resist and grab for their weapons, only to be quickly disarmed by their far more wary adversaries.
Alongside swords, many of Ridorfin's soldiers were armed with batons that they used to hit and suppress these men, hitting many until they were battered, bruised and coughing up blood. While groaning in pain, these men were dragged out and thrown into cage carts, their destination, the duke's dungeon and an unknown fate.
These were not the modern times of individual rights and liberties where actions like these were penalised. In fact, as long as someone was arrested, lords cared little for their condition as long as all their limbs were intact and they could still talk, and a little roughing up was expected, especially from those who resisted as some veteran mercenaries did.
Even generals or nobles who control mighty armies could be tortured while imprisoned in some places; it is even usual practice for the discretion of a prisoner's treatment usually in the hands of the lord of the castle or city, and while some have standards and try to treat people well especially nobles some did not. However, if someone's army can march on your lands, mistreating their lord or commander may not be the best idea in the world, as wars have been fought for far worse reasons.
After searching through the rooms and dragging out more people, there was one room that no one dared to approach, for in its doors was a lion enjoying the sweet fruits that could only come with power and influence.
Even when drunk, a master fighter was an existence people had to fear. However, a man walked through the hallways, his icy aura chilling even his own men to the bone as he approached this door with the same cold, deadpan face that he had when doing his duties for his liege lord.
Opening the door to this room without care was Valentine, as a master fighter; he did not have the same reservations as his men. A punch flew at him that he caught expertly; if looks could kill the 40-odd-year-old man in front of him, he would have died 1000 times by now.
For years, Valentine had wanted to catch this person; however, with no evidence and the support of Duke Ridorfin, he was off limits to the point that the duke was even willing to cover up and profit from the many crimes this man committed.
Garland Dirsk, the leader of The Red Blades and a master fighter in his own right, had his fist twisted by Valentine and was yelping out in pain. Valentine's other hand dropped steel chains that clinked on the smooth wooden floor as they looked at the two naked women who warmed Garland's bed. The strong, lewd scent that permeated the luxurious room made The Red Blades leader's nighttime activities obvious. The smell was so strong that Valentine brought a handkerchief to his nose to cover up the overpowering scent, coughing slightly.
"Vice Count Valentine? What is the meaning of this?"
The mercenary leader said, wincing in pain, trying to maintain as much of his strong façade as possible.
"By order of the duke, you are under arrest."
Valentine said coldly through the handkerchief, his voice slightly muffled by the white cloth as he punched Garland in the face while letting the mercenary's leader's twisted hand go and pointed down to the steel chains lying on the ground in a small heap.
"I suggest you cooperate, not that I won't take great pleasure in showing you your place.
The righteous vice count said in the same cold tone, though his cold eyes seemed to brighten slightly at the prospect of beating up this piece of human filth. A small smile appeared on his usually cold and expressionless face, being one of the few ministers under the duke who was not corrupt and merely did his job and was too competent to be easily replaced.
However, his ability for social interaction had much to be improved on as he was known for being one of the hardest people to deal with, and even the duke could only sigh at times at the eccentricity of his capital magistrate.
It is said there are three times when Valentine smiles.
The first is when he sees or is with his wife, as despite his cold exterior, he is rumoured to be quite the loving husband to his wife, being one of the few times he seems to truly enjoy himself not being interested in any other women or vices that other nobles fall for.
The second is when he is with his kids as parental love shines a bright light through the cold fortress that covers his heart almost perpetually in ice, and like a blazing sun, this light melts this ice fortress, making him a loving father to his kids a luxury that was rare when he was young.
The third and only other time was when he was catching a criminal that he had been hunting for years, and it had been nearly a decade since the debaucherous mercenary leader was detected by the viscount only for the duke to prevent him from bringing any charges against him.
But this had changed today, and he could finally remove one of the many cancerous tumours that infected the duchy.
Valentine watched on with an unusual glee as Garland put on the chains. The man, despite the vice counts destain, was wise and knew that resisting would only make things worse, and knowing that he could not escape, he accepted his arrest but left some words that made the Vice Count frown.
"You do realise that no matter what Packard did or is accused of, this is too much right."
"Don't worry, my lord. There is hope for our group yet."
Garland said, a crooked smile appearing as he let himself be frogmarched out of the tavern by the vice-count men.
….
Railius opened his eyes once again, this time though the sound of sawing wood met his ears, and when he went outside, a village could be seen only a few miles away as a large dojo had begun construction and Jordis ever loyal shadowed his lord and friends steps as he went.
The dojo had been commissioned by merchants, with Baron Malwin's abilities shining through once again. His recent achievements and contributions to House Aurellion and its prosperity had made the baron invaluable to Railius and his noble house.
The young player swore he could still hear the conniving evil laugh the middle-aged noble would have given while suggesting to Leon that instead of waiting for Darius to make money from his security company, he could provide the sons of wealthy men a free one year of personal instruction by Leon at the dojo in exchange for the funds to build it.
And so, like this, 2 of the 3 plans that Railius had made to deal with his managerial nightmare had been completed or would be completed soon, and the one to set up taverns and acquire farmland would be quickly done with over the next few in-game years with the funds gained from House Aurellion's already successful enterprises.
That was right over the next eight years of in-game time that will be skipped mostly by Railius, who will only check in from time to time to do training at various parts of his in-game character's development the game will simulate the actions of his subordinates showing the true hidden reward that players can gain from taking part in the game before its release.
Unlike players who join later, the players who join the earliest can make their characters businesses and claim their various territories and noble titles while having time pass in the blink of an eye, allowing them to start with far more in-game resources than those who don't. For example, if Railius played for the eight years that would pass in-game, he would likely get more, but it was still a massive advantage as his security company, dojo, in-time taverns and other businesses were already set up and making money for him that he could put into other endeavours and not have to spend as much of the first ten years in game staying low key and building up these forces as many of them can be built up by his subordinates during the time jump.
This extra bit of development for early players, who will mainly be the unemployed or those with significant time on their hands, is crucial in ensuring that when businesses do eventually invest, not only is there plenty of in-game money for them to buy, lowing the pressure on the game company while also giving players from poorer backgrounds a much-needed boost to be able to compete better with these companies who will spend millions of pounds to ensure their power in Dynasties Online creating an interesting balance within the game rarely seen elsewhere.
When people realise this, they will finally feel just how terrifying the creator and ideas man for this game were.
James Larant.
Whether a genius, madman or bastard, that would be up for the individual to decide for themselves, but either way, this plan would have a tsunami effect on the real-world companies who would curse James' name for making them fight for benefits amongst each other.
The constant time skips annoyed Railius as he seemed to play for an hour and so, and just as he was about to get immersed, he was ruthlessly taken out of the game for another time skip to happen. Little did he know of the many things that were going on, thanks to his little schemes or the attention that he had gotten from immensely powerful people within the game, thanks to the actions of his talented subordinates.
Each time the young player awoke, he was met with a different training session. Some were on martial skills such as swordsmanship and military strategy, while others were on administration politics and philosophy. The Aurellion camp was so cut off from the world that the chaos that embroiled the duchy seemed just to avoid them, as only when Valentine visited did Railius have to hide in his tent, which the lazy player used to sleep and relax.
Despite Railius' experiences, his assumptions could not be further from the truth, for Baron Malwin, under his assumed name, Averill, had been busy dealing with not only Count Nidor's men but the crown princes as well but because these investigations were done in secret, there was no need for Railius to be bothered by them or deal with them.
Until he came of age, his subordinates were more than sufficient to ensure this storm blew over without much trouble.
At times, the loyal baron had even come into Railius' classes exhausted but said it was the rough living that he was not used to that was the reason instead of what was actually true.
Both noble and prince had decided to investigate the man behind the scheme that Darius successfully pulled off in Detarnor, knowing that House Aurellion set up the scheme but not exactly who.
Both men were familiar with House Aurellion as, for years, they had dominated the military in Chavaria, with Lucius Aurellion implanting fear into the entire continent, with each country trembling when they heard the name of that cunning devil.
That dreaded Spider of Chavaria.
They also knew that only the Pelican Guards were known to have stayed loyal to the exiled noble house. While the Pelican Guards had a stellar lineup of military commanders, setting up a political scheme like this was far from what they were capable of, so House Aurellion must have gotten help from elsewhere!
Unless their ten-year-old lord came up with such a scheme, but that was truly too terrifying a thought, so both Count Nidor and Prince Kodjis investigated the men around the young lord, and there was one person who stood out.
Averill a mysterious man who was far too intelligent and eloquent to be a nobody and seemed to be doing all the administrative work for the duchy. Both men were wise and knew that this was a false identity, but there was one person who had gone missing alongside his family from Chavaria who had both the experience and loyalty to House Aurellion to come up with such a scheme.
Baron Malwin Thornsworth.
The man at the top of Lucius' administration when he was Marquis of Nalora and the man who took its reins while his lord was out on campaign.
The presence of this escaped shrewd politician acted as the perfect cover concealing the truth of the matter, which was that of the true mastermind behind this plot.
But the system notifications that appeared made the young player frown as he thought.
'Damn that, Darius, for giving us away. We will have to be more careful from now on!'
[A new, Very Hard Level Secret has been created, 'Sigismond's Security Solutions True Master.']
[A new secret of the highest level possible has been created: 'A Young Lord's Plan.]
[A new Very Hard Level Secret has been created, 'The Exiled House Aurellion.']
[Baron Malwin Thornsworth has taken responsibility and blame for being the mastermind behind House Aurellion's recent moves and schemes, including that which targeted the Duke of Detarnor.]
[Count Nidor Pagnar and Crown Prince Kodjis Kendari of Nathia have become wary of your house and its presence in the Kingdom of Nathia and know your very hard secret of Sigismond's Security Solutions True Master.]
[Your loyal subordinate Darius Hartguard has successfully created the mercenary security company 'Sigismond's Security Solutions.']
[Sigimond's Security Solutions had successfully become the most renowned mercenary company in the Duchy of Detarnor after successfully fending off the Duke's Ancels plot and agents. Many people will now come to hire them.]
[Congratulations to player Rising Pelican of Loyalty for being the third player to create a secret organisation tied to your dynasty. Rewards will be given at the end of this Dynasty History Event.]
[Your men have begun to work around the Duchy of Detarnor, gaining jobs and vital information.]
[Work on Leon's dojo is underway. In the future, people will come to learn from the Grandmaster of Loyalty, who will pass himself off as a master fighter not to be too eye-catching.]
[In the next few in-game years, the money that could be used at the start of the game will instead be used to set up various taverns and entertainment establishments around the Kingdom of Nathia, giving your exiled noble house a rudimentary intelligence network for when the game starts.]
Railius was ecstatic at some of the notifications, but there was one that he was very concerned about.
The crown prince knew that his noble house was in Nathia, and not only that, knows that Sigismond Security Solutions was actually under Railius' control. However, the young player quickly forgot this when he saw a final system notification.
[Congratulations to player Rising Pelican of Loyalty for completing the A-ranked main quest 'A Managerial Nightmare.' Rewards will be given once the Dynasty History Event concludes.]
Railius had done he had completed the hardest quest he would be given for this event but was concerned about one thing.
Why had the event not ended yet!?