Hello everyone, I spoke about the limitations about the economy a little in my previous Warfare Suggestion Here so thought I should suggest my own solution, AI translated because my ranting is incoherent. Sorry Earth. Not on Discord because their character limit is terrible.
Currently, the economic side of War Era presents a few pacing challenges and limits player specialization. For players who prefer to focus purely on warfare, relying on baseline company automation can feel too slow to adequately stockpile supplies. Conversely, successfully scaling up production requires a level of corporate management that combat-focused players might not want to engage in.
Furthermore, the job market currently faces scaling limitations, and Nations lack a direct method to supply their own citizens. This proposal aims to improve the profitability of human labor, rebalance production pacing, and provide Nations with the tools to function as centralized military powers.
Fixing the Worker Ratio (Barrier to Entry): Currently, giving every new player a company instantly ruins the worker-to-owner ratio, leaving the labor market empty. Creating a company should be a mid-to-late game investment requiring capital. This encourages new players to utilize their Work Energy first, creating a healthy, functioning labor market.
Skill-Based Wage Scaling ("Worker Efficiency"): The baseline Production skill currently caps output in a way that makes it difficult for company owners to offer competitive wages. To fix this, introduce a new Worker Efficiency skill. As an owner levels this up, the workers they hire produce significantly more product per click compared to their workers baseline production rate. This allows dedicated Eco players to pay premium wages as they progress, making the entire Eco skill tree incredibly valuable and rewarding.
The Core Limitation: The current "Automation" upgrade provides a slow, steady trickle of product into a company's Storage (production buffer). This creates a pacing issue where combat-focused players must wait for long periods or engage in corporate management to fund their battles.
The Solution - Active Multipliers & Meaningful Storage:
Automation should remain as a baseline for casual play, but companies could introduce a "Wartime Overdrive" mechanic where active human workers provide a massive multiplier to output. (AI made this but I kept it because it would essentially be the Mobilization Status that I suggested on discord)
Making the Storage Upgrade Matter: By heavily buffing worker output, the Storage Upgrade becomes a critical feature. Owners will need massive storage caps so their highly productive workers don't max out the production buffer before the owner can transfer the goods.
The Core Limitation: Currently, Nations do not have a built-in mechanic to act as a central military supplier, requiring every player to be entirely self-sustaining for their equipment and supplies.
The Solution - National Procurement: While the Global Market exists for general trade, Nations need a dedicated system to procure bulk goods while keeping wealth within their borders.
National Tenders (State Contracts): A Nation posts a bulk contract restricted to its own citizens (e.g., "Need 50,000 Tier 3 Ammo"). Eco players within that Nation can fulfill these massive state orders, ensuring the Nation's treasury is paying its own people rather than funding the global market.
The National Armory: Once the Nation procures these supplies, they go into a National Armory. National Leaders can then distribute this gear, food, and ammo directly to citizens to fund the war effort. (AI made this - it basically already exists as country inventory, but let it roll)
Armory Payouts: To further integrate MUs into the national war machine, Nations should have the option to pay MUs for completing orders/bounties not just in cash, but through direct supply drops from the proposed National Armory. This ensures that dedicated MU fighters can stay supplied indefinitely, as long as they are successful on the battlefield.
(Note: This section outlines how this economy update would interact if my previously posted "Modern Warfare" overhaul suggestion is also implemented)
The "Locked Inventory" Mechanic: As introduced in my Modern Warfare suggestion, items distributed from the National Armory would be "Locked"—meaning they can only be consumed in massive Tri-Force Battles or Raids. They cannot be resold, dismantled, or traded, which prevents players from exploiting state-funded supplies for personal profit on the global market.
Targeted MU Raid Contracts: Nations could issue MU orders specifically for a successful Ground Raid to destroy an enemy's highly productive Regional Infrastructure Hub.
Theater-Specific MUs: Military Units could specialize in specific combat theaters. A Nation lacking a navy could contract a purely Naval MU to secure a sea region, or hire an Air Force MU to establish air superiority (air patrol) over a contested region.