Enevhar Aldarion
Oh Wise One
That's true, but let's do it anyways.
There are really only 2 possibilities
1. The shanty town is the best possible system.
2. It's not.
If it is, then that's it, discussion over.
If not there are only 2 possibilities:
1. We come up with a viable alternative that is preferable
2. We don't
Since there is possibly some disagreement on the first question, let's skip it and take a shot at the second question possibly giving us the answer to both.
Mostly quoting you because it gives me a starting point and nothing to do with your view or playstyle.
Anyway, Shanty Towns are optional.
If some players want to complete the entire sequential quest list in the first few days of a 25 to 30-day event and use a shanty town, that is fine. If some players are content to finish the final sequential quest on the final day of the event, that is fine too. I have done both, but I prefer to build as few extra buildings as I can for events. So the only time Inno annoys me with this and makes me feel forced to build more than I want, is when we get multiple quests in a row that all call for use of tier 1 factories, like those four straight in the added-on quests for the Phoenix event where each quest wanted a different production time good. In order for that to not take several days, I did put up enough buildings so that as the 48-hour productions finished, I had finished the other three quests also. And this ties into the spoiler lists, which is all they are to me once the event actually starts. I wait til the event has started and then I will scan the list and look for only the quests that require things that take at least 24 hours to complete, like scouting and research and production, and then I will plan ahead a little for them.