In the spirit of somebody else's objection (I think it was David
DesJardins, but I can't be sure), this is a _huge_ reduction in
earning potential to pull in the middle of a game. (Can you detect
that I'm more-or-less dependant on 9103 at the moment?)
Also, I wasn't in the Alpha game - how often do CIV levels get up to 6
or 7, which is what you'd need to be competitive with the current
structure?
I agree that Common Magic looks a little unbalanced with respect to inns
currently; but thinking about it, what about temples? And if your
innkeeper has the relevant stealth skills, your inn is also a valuable
information source; give them say weaponcrafting and alchemy as well,
and you're in no wise "wasting" the time they spend sitting in the inn.
Once the inn is built, you've got 30 days/month to undertake sedentary
production; whereas Common Magic is a constant drain on 25% of your
time, and if your magician is being counted on for any other services,
this can be a real pain. I'm extremely glad at the moment that my
magician isn't also my forester or quarrymaster.
Who's going to be first to have an alchemy shop in an inn? Well, given
the news posting, Dr. Pain may have already set this up; otherwise, I
wish I had the flexibility in my plans to do it myself.
Tom
// hudson@cs.unc.edu