OK, I managed to catch up reading and not sure where to start. I will start with what many will say I am crazy, but I assure you I am not.
QI was extremely well designed, it is very detailed and strategic. I used to be a process engineer, it is like a manufacturing operation. There are always constraints in an operation, resources have a cost too. This is very similar. They did a very good job, I must give credit where it is appropriate to do so.
The crowd may be thinking, "Is CD kissing up?" "Check his banking statements!!!"
No folks, I assure you I am calling it correctly. QI can actually be it's own game. BUT
I don't think it is a good addition to this game.
I want to start with, time.
In order to progress in QI, you do have to collect on time, that means alarms in order to enjoy it more towards the end, with a developed city producing ample coins and supplies. Lets look at settlements as an example because it is very similar from a city building aspect. Do I have to collect that maize 8 hour production in Aztecs? No I don't. That corn can sit there all summer, crows and all, it will not ruin the settlement, just make it slower to finish. There is no 11 day clock and this is a huge difference. As I was writing this part, my alarm went off to collect QI in G world...lol. Now we add on time when you put a cottage or tailor, 1 hour. It makes that cycle 11 hours. Adding a villa or goat farm, 10 hour build then 10 hours to collect. It is like investing in automation, to install it in the current manufacturing space, would most likely require operational downtime. I like the technical aspect but I don't like not getting paid...lol
EDIT-TIME how could I possibly forget the time for manual battles. I will post later on these lovely time vacuums.
Should there be changes?
I have read the many improvements in the prior pages and in beta, many I agree. But I have some bad news (my thoughts), it isn't changing. 10 hours timers will stay. Decorations will cost happiness. These are constraints and fundamental to the design.
Oh, about decorations being a cost and not red, I have a guess as to what happened, sloppy programming. Since they (Inno) understand it is a cost, unlike the 1000's of customers whose are used to seeing the happy face and getting happiness, they wanted to represent the word "happiness" and stuck a smiley face there. No clue at all as to the possible errors that could occur from these pests known as customers.
Let's look at a 2nd example, the 2nd wave not showing properly before you go into battle. It actually shows the first wave again. This reminds me of GE5 and I mentioned it. The order to select most of the time is, defend, negotiate, build. Then some encounters, it goes build, defend, negotiate. It varies too. My Indy player (in vacation guild btw, this is one cutback I did bcs of time), encounter 13 of GE5 may be standard, D/N/B. But my PME player encounter 13 would be B/D/N. To me, this is all sloppy programming and has never been fixed bcs, my guess, it still functions so why fix it.
3rd example, the signal to indicate productions are finished, like we have EVERYWHERE ELSE in the game, settlements, castle, etc does not exist. How anyone can forget this and not fix it after 4 beta seasons, I honestly do not know. Oh I know, SLOPPY PROGRAMMIMG.
I have much more to share about QI, most of it, negative. Not redesigning it, call me cuckoo, but I like the design.
In order for smaller guilds to enjoy it, they would need a Forgotten Temple. I said ENJOY, not play it. They can still play it but with the FT, levels 1-3 are definitely doable for battles. With no FT, they would need to get AD in the settlement which takes 4-5 days to begin getting (just a guess, don't plug into a quantum computer and tell me 3.2 days, get the point), so, by day 7 you can be effective in battles then play 3 days. Hmm, 7 days to play 3, BACK to the top, TIME, many will say waste of time.
Now, the all FOE pros will say, Inno provides this and Inno provides that to get GE5 done. Yea sure, more complicated events for event buildings with Blue AD, which are more TIME consuming. EX Wildlife one extra week (that really was not necessary), SPD (you have to check in a lot).
Inno is no longer providing anything new that is fun, for the majority of players, just more to do, just more time consumed. Now for the top guilds, QI is fun and competitive, I get it, I am in a top guild. But even some in my guild are starting to question the time commitment to this game.