Agreed.

@ mod[tiv]: my impression is that top kingdoms can exert full leverage with avian because they roundly understand mechanics and tend to hold motivated/disciplined cores. This isn't the reality for the majority of the player base. Thus, most monarchs are better served by noting the type of players that fit the avian dynamic.

For instance, in my lower tier situation, I know my army home as avian cleric isn't in the same danger as it would be in top/organized war. My work prevents me from from being "on the tick" despite my activity level. In my tier the enemy simply can't muster the numbers to exploit my full army sitting home. This results in a camping effect. - By the same token, when I'm off work I'm active throughout the day, set alarms and tend to aid and support ops. I'm also very familiar with avian nuances, like hitting an enemy between uniques.

The big however: I follow orders despite my knowledge of superior tactics. It's a far better thing to obey orders, take my medicine and suggest alternatives for next time.

If the world were mine, players who know how to run avian and enjoy running avians should be no-brainer avians. For those who don't understand avian tactics and/or don't want to be slaves to high activity, should be assigned another attacker type. Avian is incredibly strong this age, but its standard build most ages make it a pure attacker-hunter. Avians can defeat any other attacker race 1-on-1. The obvious misunderstanding, most ages, is the other attacker races are designed to hit higher defenses and offer other utilities.

The avian elite credit virtue is overpowered, but I see this more by design than by accident. Running avian is a great primer for understanding top kingdom activity. By forcing a mechanical reality(speed) the devs are passively exposing players who might be ready to step up to whoring. The same could be said for land grab conversions for undead; this passively teaches land management.