Greetings.
First I would like to point out that this suggestion is more of an idea that I wish be implemented and that im sure there are other players/devs who can think of a better more balanced way of solving a problem which I do feel is there.
The "problem"
As of now the only real way a TM can aquire science at any pace is through revelation and labs.
Attackers however can have revelation on them, build labs and more effectively abduct.
Now last age I had no problem doing 2 quads a day for a total of anywhere between 10-50 scientists depending on at what stage of the age it was or the quality of my target. A TM has no real way of keeping up with that.
Suggestion:
Now I wouldnt mind a thief or mage op that could "steal" or "kidnap" scientists.
This could obviously very quickly be abused so it would have to be well designed. An initial suggestion however would be:
Thief op. Named "Kidnap scientist" moderate to hard difficulty.
Costs double stealth. This means that you trade off 2 potential other ops for this. You could even go triple stealth here. Just a way of limiting the amount of scientists one tm could take.
Only available during unfriendly status. (This means what it says. It can not be used in war nor at peace) There are several positives and negatives to this, but I kinda like the thought of it not being too powerful but still worth doing.
Effect: Steals a portion of scientists based on the logical criterias involved.
Maybe limit it to a max of 2-3 scientists though.
Now im sure you are all thinking, omigawd I would steal sooo many scis with this as a tm. And yes maybe you would. But an attacker could always just abduct them back. And I do feel that being stolen scientist from hurts a tm soo much more than it does an attacker who can quickly replenish them.
What do you think. At all viable ? Any ideas on how to balance this properly if it is ?