Like the title says, I've been developing a better appreciation for the way the game was designed. Some of the elements of the game are hard to really appreciate without having a lot of experience with it, so I expect that much like MTW, MTW2 will become a benchmark classic in it's own right.


Castle/City mechanic- At first, I just thought this was kind of a nifty way to add a new dimension to the building process. While it is in fact the above, it's much deeper than that, especially when taking the original cities and castles in to consideration.

Since some cities can't be converted into castles when they reach stone wall or higher, it means that some cities on the map are meant to be cities all throughout the game. This is true of Cordoba. Now what's so special about Cordoba you ask? Well cordoba happens to be right in the middle of modern day spain, and is one of the more naturally rebelious cities on the map. This means that Cordoba will always be a check for human players who need to constantly worry about improving public happiness with those expensive buildings. This is a bit of a check on the spanish, who would otherwise be in a perfectly comfortable position.

I can't remember my other example because my girlfriend wont be quiet, but I'm sure that other people can think of more. Feel free to contribute to the conversation.

-Paul