I can respect a decent in-game time spent approach if it's within reason and well thought out. Othwerise I can’t stand where they just feel like a time gate to keep the player around since the game lacks the depth to let the player just run wild inside the world. Even more so when its paid to unlock or make that kind of things go faster.
Overall sounds like an amazing concept. The ranking system sounds like it has some depth to it. I like that approach the more notable they become the more influence they can wield in the areas around them. Far too many games, these days seem to focus on upgrading just that main building to increase everything. Just your guy increasing only gives him some life and some more damage. Maybe some more actions points.
I have a lot more thinking to do about how the time/economy mechanics will work, but I hate pay-2-win games so this one will for sure not be that way.
That for sure will be a hard task to come up with what feels right. On one hand you don’t want people waiting weeks just to be able to progress and get bored with the game.
Glad to hear it’s not being p2w with a time wall effect as many city builders with troops tend to go. Those kind of games always get so harsh once you start losing weeks’ worth of training to keep troops training 24/7.
Have a fair amount of training que is always nice to have so the player does not feel glued to the game all the time.