New thread! Some bits on gangs have bothered me for a while, so, 'tis time to mention them.
This is as good a place as any to bring up another little quirk that'sbothered me a bit, since it kind of relates to the last post: you cando some really bad spamming with gangs until you get the magical+40,+40,+40 stats. There has to be a way to curb that... among otherideas, perhaps all starting gangs should start with the same stats? Perhaps there should be an initial cost to prevent this sort of thing? Could there be a limited number of hires per turn?
Actually, while I'm remarking on gangs, is there any good reason whythey're limited to seven (or eight, or whatever it is, I'm not lookingright now)? Should the max level be based on number of buildings, orsomething?
Other general gang comments: does it pay to have multiple gangs on guardduty? IIRC, it didn't used to, but necno may have snuck in a fix tothat. Are there any new *gang* actions planned with the newbuildings? Should gangs on guard duty be assignable to specificbuildings? I know that loyalty is a planned (or, perhaps, coded and not quite working) feature based at least partially on born kids; should gangs end up with other new stats as well? Are gangs going to get new types of orders? Are we ever going to be able to custom-name them? Will they ever be meaningfully involved in random events (other than a "...and a bunch of gang members died. Terrible, that.")?
Now, I'm not saying these should all be done, or even that they're good suggestions. However, I do think that necno should decide where he wants to take the game, and mess around with gangs accordingly. I know his original intention was to create a dungeon crawler of sorts - obviously, this is either not happening or not happening anytime soon. With that in mind, what should the game become? If we aim for a *crime* simulator, then gangs become really important, and should be treated as such. If, instead, the goal is more brothel-based (which, actually, I wouldn't recommend: Sim Brothel already does that, and if the building changes end up like I expect them to be necnowill have already veered to the aforementioned crime simulator) then gangs can stay as they are - i.e. almost an afterthought.
necno, as always, its wholly your decision. I'm just trying to spitball a bit here, and probe into your head. I WILL FIND ANSWERS!