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Three RG polls still open, please vote if you haven't yet (all the races have been covered by the polls now):
- Halflings
- High Elves
- Tigrans
Let's assess:
Frostling
A poll was also run among competitive PBEM players: http://www.the-battlefield.com/aow3/index.php?page=bf_poll&pollnumber=42 I compare the results of the poll and of the assessment below:
RG1:
ECONOMY
"Barracks generate +50 Happiness"
Similar to Orc economy RG2 (+50 happiness and +5 gold for Arena) or Dwarf economy RG1 (+75 happiness for Stone Wall), except that for Village (and above) starts, the throne starts with Barracks so it doesn't have to be built.
In early game, even +25 happiness can make a difference when you rush production. The Throne usually start at ~280 happiness, and thus having at least +20 happiness means you can rush at least once without going below the 200 happiness threshold.
So let's assume only the Throne has Barracks and that it allows it to cross a threshold. If we consider an average income of 30-35 gold/turn, the gain is about 1*30*0.2 = 6 gold/turn.
The bonus does scale up a bit late game but not too much. Slightly below target.
MILITARY
“Frostling Harpoon Thrower gets +10 Health.”.
The boost is not even equivalent to a bit more than 1 medal (4-5 medals of HP but 0 medals of damage, defense, resistance and 0 new ability). Below target.
RG1 assessment: military < economy
RG1 assessment from the poll: 50/50 between the 2 (similar strength) ==> disagreement but in truth, the assessment is almost similar for both, they're both Slightly below/Below target; and looking at the details of votes, economy is indeed slightly on top.
RG2:
ECONOMY
“All Walls and the Glacial Totem are 50 Gold cheaper.”.
To assess this, we need to assess how many Walls and Glacial Totems are going to be built. At best, it's 3 per city with in average 4 cities by RG2, i.e. a maximum gain of 3*4*50=300 gold, over 20 turns, i.e. a maximum gain of 15 gold/turn. Obviously, this scenario is over-optimistic as all cities do NOT build 2 Walls and a Glacial Totem. So: Significantly below target.
MILITARY
“Frostling Royal Guard gains Life Stealing and +1 Defense.”.
It boosts only 1 unit. It does give 1 new (pretty good) ability but only +1 def (lacking +2 damage, +8 HP). Below target.
RG2 assessment: economy < military
RG2 assessment from the poll: Usually military, economy in rare cases ==> agreement.
RG3:
ECONOMY
“Temples generate +10 Mana.”.
If we consider that 1 out of 2.5 cities have a Temple (and average number of cities = 7.5) and use a conversion ratio of 2 gold = 1 mana, the gain is 2*10*7.5/2.5=60 gold/turn. We can ignore the cost of building the Temples as they would surely be built anyway. Slightly below target.
MILITARY
“Frostling Mammoth Riders are 15% cheaper and deal +2 Physical melee damage.”.
It benefits only the T2 and not the T3, so it should probably boost 2-3 units as the criteria says. The +2 melee damage is only equivalent to less than 0.5 medals (as noted for Human RG3).
The 15% cost reduction saves 16.5 gold (16 I guess?). If we assume 3 Mammoths are built every turn (as we did for Draconian Support for military RG3), then it adds up to 48 gold/turn, i.e. a bit more than 50% of the economy RG. It is probably optimistic because Mammoths usually require 2 turns to be built.
All in all, it adds up to (0.5/2)/2+0.5=0.6125 of the expected boost. Below target.
RG3 assessment: economy > military
RG3 assessment from the poll: 50/50 between the 2 (similar strength) ==> disagreement, but if we look in details at the results, more people go for economy so it's actually mostly in agreement. And the two boosts are quite situational, which probably explains the 50/50: it depends on whether you go for Temple and mana, or for Mammoths (or for neither! which probably happens often).
RG4:
ECONOMY
“The Frost Castle:
Frostling Ice queen is 25% cheaper to build."
If we take similar assumptions as Orc RG4 and Draconian RG4, the 100 gold cheaper is a saving of 10 gold/turn. And the extra gold and mana over 3 cities gives: 3x(5+5x2) = 45 gold/turn.
The +50 happiness is hard to assess in late game (e.g. with Terraforming, the cities are potentially already Cheerful).
Frostling Ice Queens cheaper to build: if we assume 1 is built every turn (taking into account the fact that it's almost impossible to 1-turn them), the saving is (150+20*2)*0.15=28.5 gold/turn. Overall, that's 73.5 gold/turn with other benefits from the +50 happiness: Significantly below target.
MILITARY
“Frost Weapons now Inflict Frostbite.”.
The following (Frostling) units have Frost Weapons: Assassins, Apprentices, Crusaders, Exalted, Berserkers, Monster Hunters, Phalanxes, Warbreeds, Manticore Riders, Death Bringers, Ice Scapers, Raiders, Harpoon Throwers. Some key units do not have it: Mammoth Riders, Royal Guards, White Witches, Queens... Overall, I do not see a 7 Frost strength attack giving -2 def for 3 turns changing the results of 18 vs 18 battles. It basically translates into a "maybe +2 physical damage". Significantly below target.
RG4 assessment: economy = military
RG4 assessment from the poll: 50/50 between the 2 (similar strength) ==> agreement.
RG5:
ECONOMY
“Grand Palace provide +15 Gold, +15 Mana, +15 Knowledge and +15 Production.”.
I have seen a Grand Palace built only in 1 of my games, it seems pretty rare to me. The +15 RP is likely to be useless because by the time, you get there, you have no research to do any more. If we assume 1 Grand Palace is built, and we take optimistic assumptions of 1 mana = 2 gold, 1 RP = 3 gold and 1 turn saved every 2 turns thanks to the +15 production (quite unlikely), with a total gold income of 120 for that city, that's a gain of 15+15*2+15*3+120*0.5/2=120 gold/turn. So, possibly, with those optimistic assumption and 2 Grand Palace, it would meet the target. However, that seems wildly optimistic, so I'd say: Below target.
MILITARY
“Frostling Support units gain +2 damage and Frost Aura.".
This is partly situational / class dependent because you might not build Ice Queens and White Witches and may not play a class with Supports. But when you do play it, it's pretty good, the Frost Aura is excellent and the +2 melee and range frost damage is almost on par with the boost required, on its own. Meets target.
RG5 assessment: economy < military
RG5 assessment from the poll: Usually military, economy in rare cases ==> agreement
After this assessment, I think the following criterias need to be revised:
- RG2 military: +1.5 medals (and not 2)
- Halflings
- High Elves
- Tigrans
Let's assess:
Frostling
A poll was also run among competitive PBEM players: http://www.the-battlefield.com/aow3/index.php?page=bf_poll&pollnumber=42 I compare the results of the poll and of the assessment below:
RG1:
ECONOMY
Early game: equivalent to +8 gold/turn over the whole empire
Mid game and later: limited effect – the boost should not scale up too easily at later stages because it’s very easy to get RG1 with new races
Mid game and later: limited effect – the boost should not scale up too easily at later stages because it’s very easy to get RG1 with new races
Similar to Orc economy RG2 (+50 happiness and +5 gold for Arena) or Dwarf economy RG1 (+75 happiness for Stone Wall), except that for Village (and above) starts, the throne starts with Barracks so it doesn't have to be built.
In early game, even +25 happiness can make a difference when you rush production. The Throne usually start at ~280 happiness, and thus having at least +20 happiness means you can rush at least once without going below the 200 happiness threshold.
So let's assume only the Throne has Barracks and that it allows it to cross a threshold. If we consider an average income of 30-35 gold/turn, the gain is about 1*30*0.2 = 6 gold/turn.
The bonus does scale up a bit late game but not too much. Slightly below target.
MILITARY
Early game: 1 T1 unit receive the equivalent to 2 medals or 2 units receive very good boost equivalent to 1 medal – the boost can be a useful ability, doesn’t have to be only a raw power boost
Mid game and later: keep the boosted units useful
Mid game and later: keep the boosted units useful
The boost is not even equivalent to a bit more than 1 medal (4-5 medals of HP but 0 medals of damage, defense, resistance and 0 new ability). Below target.
RG1 assessment: military < economy
RG1 assessment from the poll: 50/50 between the 2 (similar strength) ==> disagreement but in truth, the assessment is almost similar for both, they're both Slightly below/Below target; and looking at the details of votes, economy is indeed slightly on top.
RG2:
ECONOMY
Mid game: equivalent to +40 gold/turn over the whole empire
Late game: equivalent to +100 gold/turn over the whole empire
Later stages: should not go over equivalent to +200 gold/turn over the whole empire, for the same reason as RG1
Late game: equivalent to +100 gold/turn over the whole empire
Later stages: should not go over equivalent to +200 gold/turn over the whole empire, for the same reason as RG1
To assess this, we need to assess how many Walls and Glacial Totems are going to be built. At best, it's 3 per city with in average 4 cities by RG2, i.e. a maximum gain of 3*4*50=300 gold, over 20 turns, i.e. a maximum gain of 15 gold/turn. Obviously, this scenario is over-optimistic as all cities do NOT build 2 Walls and a Glacial Totem. So: Significantly below target.
MILITARY
Mid game: one unit type (Irregular, Infantry, Archer, Cavalry, Pikeman), i.e. in general 2 units, is boosted with the equivalent of 2 medals (e.g. HP AND +2 damage, or +1 def/+1 res, or 1 ability, etc.), or 2 units outside a unit type are similarly boosted
Late game and later: keep the boosted units useful
Late game and later: keep the boosted units useful
It boosts only 1 unit. It does give 1 new (pretty good) ability but only +1 def (lacking +2 damage, +8 HP). Below target.
RG2 assessment: economy < military
RG2 assessment from the poll: Usually military, economy in rare cases ==> agreement.
RG3:
ECONOMY
Late game: equivalent to +80 gold/turn over the whole empire
Later stages: equivalent to +160 gold/turn or more over the whole empire
Later stages: equivalent to +160 gold/turn or more over the whole empire
If we consider that 1 out of 2.5 cities have a Temple (and average number of cities = 7.5) and use a conversion ratio of 2 gold = 1 mana, the gain is 2*10*7.5/2.5=60 gold/turn. We can ignore the cost of building the Temples as they would surely be built anyway. Slightly below target.
MILITARY
Late game and later stages: boosts significantly (equivalent to 2 medals) the racial T3 unit to make it outcompete other racial T3 or significantly boosts 2-3 T1 and T2 units to make them upgrade with the equivalent of 2 medals (cannot target units already boosted or RG1 and RG2)
It benefits only the T2 and not the T3, so it should probably boost 2-3 units as the criteria says. The +2 melee damage is only equivalent to less than 0.5 medals (as noted for Human RG3).
The 15% cost reduction saves 16.5 gold (16 I guess?). If we assume 3 Mammoths are built every turn (as we did for Draconian Support for military RG3), then it adds up to 48 gold/turn, i.e. a bit more than 50% of the economy RG. It is probably optimistic because Mammoths usually require 2 turns to be built.
All in all, it adds up to (0.5/2)/2+0.5=0.6125 of the expected boost. Below target.
RG3 assessment: economy > military
RG3 assessment from the poll: 50/50 between the 2 (similar strength) ==> disagreement, but if we look in details at the results, more people go for economy so it's actually mostly in agreement. And the two boosts are quite situational, which probably explains the 50/50: it depends on whether you go for Temple and mana, or for Mammoths (or for neither! which probably happens often).
RG4:
ECONOMY
Very late game: equivalent to +160 gold/turn over the whole empire
End game: equivalent to +240 gold/turn over the whole empire
End game: equivalent to +240 gold/turn over the whole empire
- Is 100 gold cheaper
- Generates +5 gold, +5 mana and +50 happiness
Frostling Ice queen is 25% cheaper to build."
If we take similar assumptions as Orc RG4 and Draconian RG4, the 100 gold cheaper is a saving of 10 gold/turn. And the extra gold and mana over 3 cities gives: 3x(5+5x2) = 45 gold/turn.
The +50 happiness is hard to assess in late game (e.g. with Terraforming, the cities are potentially already Cheerful).
Frostling Ice Queens cheaper to build: if we assume 1 is built every turn (taking into account the fact that it's almost impossible to 1-turn them), the saving is (150+20*2)*0.15=28.5 gold/turn. Overall, that's 73.5 gold/turn with other benefits from the +50 happiness: Significantly below target.
MILITARY
Very late game and later stages: offer a new T3 unit opening up new strategies and stronger than a racial T3 or opens up entirely new strategies for the T3 unit or a type of units (i.e. rare abilities like Invigorate, additional movement). The new strategies should be equivalent to a change of the result of previously “closely matched” 18 vs 18 battles to give clear wins to the boosted units for instance (but does not have to be abilities that impact battles, can be abilities linked to movement).
The following (Frostling) units have Frost Weapons: Assassins, Apprentices, Crusaders, Exalted, Berserkers, Monster Hunters, Phalanxes, Warbreeds, Manticore Riders, Death Bringers, Ice Scapers, Raiders, Harpoon Throwers. Some key units do not have it: Mammoth Riders, Royal Guards, White Witches, Queens... Overall, I do not see a 7 Frost strength attack giving -2 def for 3 turns changing the results of 18 vs 18 battles. It basically translates into a "maybe +2 physical damage". Significantly below target.
RG4 assessment: economy = military
RG4 assessment from the poll: 50/50 between the 2 (similar strength) ==> agreement.
RG5:
ECONOMY
End game: equivalent to +240 gold/turn over the whole empire
I have seen a Grand Palace built only in 1 of my games, it seems pretty rare to me. The +15 RP is likely to be useless because by the time, you get there, you have no research to do any more. If we assume 1 Grand Palace is built, and we take optimistic assumptions of 1 mana = 2 gold, 1 RP = 3 gold and 1 turn saved every 2 turns thanks to the +15 production (quite unlikely), with a total gold income of 120 for that city, that's a gain of 15+15*2+15*3+120*0.5/2=120 gold/turn. So, possibly, with those optimistic assumption and 2 Grand Palace, it would meet the target. However, that seems wildly optimistic, so I'd say: Below target.
MILITARY
End game: boosts that make resisting against Deity boosted units almost impossible. Equivalent to ALL units gaining +1 defense and +2 melee and ranged damage.
This is partly situational / class dependent because you might not build Ice Queens and White Witches and may not play a class with Supports. But when you do play it, it's pretty good, the Frost Aura is excellent and the +2 melee and range frost damage is almost on par with the boost required, on its own. Meets target.
RG5 assessment: economy < military
RG5 assessment from the poll: Usually military, economy in rare cases ==> agreement
After this assessment, I think the following criterias need to be revised:
- RG2 military: +1.5 medals (and not 2)
And the Untouchables Sprint ability would be interesting. 
