[Freeciv-Dev] underused gameplay elements

["Curtis Warren" <cwarren89@xxxxxxxxx>]

bugs@xxxxxxxxxxx is apparently bouncing this back, so I'll just send
it directly to you guys.

Monarchy and Communism
 - reason: No advantages. The Republic and Democracy are powerful
because science is powerful, this is understandable. The advantages of
Monarchy and Communism aren't very useful at all--the slight increase
in happiness is almost imperceptible after trade routes and other such
trade boosters are factored in.

 - possible solution: increase their roles as "war governments,"
similar to the Fundamentalism government in civ2. This probably means
increasing unit upkeep to something like 5, increasing production, and
boosting tax output slightly. I recommend science be kept at the usual
monarchy/communism including the +1 trade bonus when celebrating,
otherwise they'd never be used early/mid game when research is
important.


Eiffel Tower
- reason: This has absolutely no use in multiplayer games. In fact, I
wonder if it's even useful in single player games.

- possible solution: allow for the manipulation of diplomatic events,
e.g. force a cease fire or override the senate.


Courthouses
- reason: There's no reason to use the republic when democracy is
available. With the massive amount of trade brought in by trade
routes, happiness is a non-issue.

- possible solution: make them cheaper (40 shields?) and more useful
in the early game. This means possibly removing corruption up to a
certain limit, otherwise the benefit is only 1 or 2 trade, which isn't
worth 60 shields during prime settling time.


Fortifications
- reason: Cities are faster to build. Not available soon enough for
early combat. No anti-nuke capabilities.

- possible solution: ??