The reason something is kept secret is to preserve its value. The
formula for Coke is a trade secret because if it wasn't, everyone
would make ersatz-Coke and Coke wouldn't be able to charge a premium
for its product.
There should be corresponding classes of information in Olympia, which
when shared lose their value. This will encourage people to seek out
that information and protect it.
For magic, it would be interesting if spells only worked say, the
first five times they were cast. One thing I hated about old Olympia
was the cheery, friendly Magician's Guild. I have an image of wizards
as greedy, manipulative, dangerous old men. I think that if a spell
went away after 5 uses by anyone, there'd be virtually no spell
sharing. (heh, heh, heh)
I think the problem with maps will partially be solved by adding
resources to Olympia. You'll be a lot less likely to give away the
route to some fertile plains if that will mean that you won't be able
to raise horses there because of the competition. Also, if the world
is much bigger the problem of map-sharing becomes (ironically) less
important. That is, if the world is very big you can share some
information and still have secrets.
The problem with skill uses is more subtle. When you think about it,
it isn't unreasonable for everyone to know what subskills there are up
to a fairly high level in each skill family. The average joe is going
to be able to say, "oh yeah, rangers can track units, hide in the
woods..." Higher-level subskills are more problematical.
-- Scott T.