Although I have a few things that I feel could have been done better ( who doesnīt? ).
First of all I love that the game is more personal with the individual characters and their special abilities; how they can affect the outcome of the game etc. I also think that the idea of a family tree is cool and gives the game a whole new dimension and sense of "realism".
After playing the game for about a week, here are some of mine suggestions for improvement:
1. The Cities
You should be able to rule them harder. For example, the population is on the edge of revolt. You have put a good governor in the city, the taxes are low, games are held daily and everything that can be done to improve their mood has been done. What to do? Well, in my opinion I think that if you have a legion nearby, You could order it to decimate the population as a "warning example to rebels and enemies to Rome".
Generally I think that the presence of a large army nearby would have a calming effect on the angry population. "Realisticly" speaking, an army would seldom enter a city and stay there for a long time. It would camp outside the city ( for example, having an army near Rome was considered a political impossibilty and grave provocation ).
I also would like to see a higher level of city control when it comes to intelligence and secret police, who could spot the insurrection leaders and assasinate them. For example, a window could pop up and say: "Your secret police have located the hide out for the rebel leaders, should an attempt on their lives be made?" This should have conseqeunce, for instance, if the attempts fails, this could make the situation worse, and a successfull kill could either calm the situation down or possibly even make martyrs of the leaders.
2. Leadership
I think the term "Faction leader" and "heir" is a bit grey and booring. Why not have "Pharaoh" when it comes to the Egyptians, "King" for the Greeks, "Chieftain" for the Germans and so on.
And, when playing a roman faction, after conquering Rome and destroying the other roman faction and putting an end to the roman civil war, You should be able to declare your faction leader ( or the one You choose ) "Emperor". This move would have itīs pros and cons. For example, it could strengthen your position as the leader of the unified roman people, but it could also mean that your relatives become suspicious of you and tend to more easily betray you in favor for other countries ( Politics! I love it... ).
And when becoming emperor, it is absolutely vital that You produce a male heir, should the emperor die without an heir to the throne, it could split the empire and make it vulnerable to insurrection and foreign invasions that would like to take advantage of the political disorder within the empire.
3. The Senate
I was playing as the Julii family, and failed to carry out a few of the senates assignments ( I had a profitable trade arrangement with Carthage, so why should I block their ports, just because the senats said so? ). As a punishment, the senate investigated my finances. Fortunately, the "Questor" was a member om my family and helped me ( us ) out. I loved that kind of political aspect of the game. But what I really miss is the senatorial part of it. I think it would be great if You could take a larger part in the senates debates and votings. For example, the senate could consist of, letīs say, 51 senators spread among the roman factions. Once a while the senate debates certain issues; "Should we declare war on the germans" etc. Then it comes to voting, perhaps a war would benefit your faction since you already have a strong military presence there. You then vote "yes" to a declaration of war. Of course you could also raise certain topics in the senate. This would open up scenarios with bribing senators and sort of "political war" on another level in the game.
...and of course, should your faction become strong enough in the senate, and popular enough among the Roman population, you could disband the senate and proclaim yourself "Emperor" or "King".
In short: a more complex dimension of the demestic political situation would be great.
Keep in mind that english is not my first language, so I apologise for the spelling and bad langauge.
[This message has been edited by il Padrino (edited 10-23-2004 @ 06:20 AM).]