Upgrade costs

[kevin_chn]

You can achieve the goal by making more money.
There are numerous ways to do so.

 

[BadHorsie]

I like the way it is now, makes upgrading not such a no-brainer anymore.

I agree. It was too exploitable with Leo's Workshop before. Get gunpowder first and BAM you're good to go with a full army of gun-slingers.

 

[naterator]

i like the system as it is. the 10 xp cap on upgraded units curbs the advancement to higher levels after a few upgrades. i like how expensive it is because it now requires you to weigh upgrading vs rebuilding. i think it's good that building replacements over time is a viable alternative for upgrading unexperienced troops. mass upgrading should be rediculously expensive and even if it wasn't, it still wouldn't always be the best option. often, my fresh from the box troops late game are better than my troops that have been guarding cities for 3000 years, so mass upgrading, although faster, is a downgrade in those cases.

 

[DaviddesJ]

Using an unupgraded unit you are upgrading the following stats:

6 (9 vs melee) to an 8 (11 vs melee)

and you think it should cost the same as upgrading a

7.2 (11.7 vs melee, 8.7 vs archers) to a 9.6(15.6 vs melee, 11.6 vs archers)

In my opinion that makes no sense at all.

I like the way it works because some upgrades are less attractive than others. If everything in the game cost exactly what it's worth, the game would be less interesting: all decisions are then equally good. Creating differences in value means players have to make decisions: e.g., are you going to upgrade only your most experienced units, and plan to build new units rather than upgrading the others; or do you want to plan to upgrade them all? Both approaches are viable. (Unlike Civ3 where mass upgrades were dominant.)

 

[Esox]

A SOC full of warriors isn't even worth throwing at a city defended by longbowmen. They won't even feel it.

The SOC is not for charging a city (units with at least a snowball's chance can be for that). The idea is to lure the too-stupid-to-see-this-coming AI into sending units out of a city to kill your castoffs. You want them to go far enough that they can not return to the city on the same turn. Thus they are out in the open as easier targets (no city or fortification bonus), and/or there are less defenders in the city to kill on your next turn.
Interesting to note that the AI will usually send its best unit-type out. I've never seen them send a maceman, rather than a rifleman, when either can get the guaranteed kill.

I use it more in the Gunpowder age, since my cavalry vs their riflemen can be such a mess.