Some words about balancing issues in the current version.
BALANCING WORKSHOPS
Let´s talk first about the workshops. Workshops are the real cash cow in this version. You build one or more of them in your yard, assign one of your servants (High intelligence its best) as foreman, and up to 10 slaves as workers (High discipline work best) and they allow you to scrap merchandise, to work as a sweatshop and give you some money or put it to manufacture and it gives you build points that you can use to build things and sell them on the market.
The most profitable items to build are knives, that gives you 4$ of profit per build point right on the market or rifles, that sold overseas gives you 5$ of profit (discounting the cost of raw materials). Some numbers, with a workshop with a 65 INT foreman and a crew with average Discipline of 40
Basic Workshop: 35.000$ of investment, 810 Build points, 4.500$ daily with rifles. Sweatshop gives 225$
With floor and tools with upgrade 1: +20.000$, 1350 points or 6750$ daily with rifles. Sweatshop gives 548$
With floor and tools with upgrade 2:+100.000$, 2750 points or 13750$ daily with rifles. Sweatshop gives 828$
With tools upgrade 3: + 200.000: 4268 points or 20.350$ daily with rifles. Sweatshop gives 1350$.
The imbalance don´t came from a gameplay experience. In my run of 120 days I still have plenty of things to buy and upgrade. The imbalance come from a contradiction with the rest of the lore of the world. Thinks lack consistency.
First of all, the difference between Manufacture and Sweatshop. Yes, sure, building combat relate gear should be more profitable that building generic things, and also you need to care about going to buy raw materials, and going to sell your rifles. But should not be 15 to 20 times more profitable.
And second, the numbers don´t fit with the rest of the word build. With the very basic workshop you can hire Ayden, put him to work in a workshop and still you get a profit. A full professor in the Academy earns 110$. Hell, I can pay to my workers twice (with the very basic workshop) and still make a lot of profit!!.
There are, IMHO a need to fine tuning and balancing here.