Just a few days into normal round and I already miss the mini round (minus the wacky bonus items that nullified balancing)

It was super fun having an even playing field and coordinating with players that otherwise id never have played with.

The game felt bigger, much closer to what it felt like in the early days. I was a big advocate for the 1v1 world war/team death match style, but wondering what others thoughts are?

The only downfall is being on opposite teams as some of your closest thard friends, which isnt necessarily a bad thing, but something to consider for next mini round (if that happens).

Some ideas for next mini round

2 or 3 members per province
provinces are balanced into even and odd numbers rather than individual players. (Instead of L1 v L2, its L2,4,6,8 etc v L1,3,5,7)
-rebalancing every 1-2 weeks based on total province strength of your team. Prov mates always stick together through balancing but you might switch from odd team to even team or vice versa.
-30 minute tics
-TP is instant, but only enough to complete 60-70% of total tech tree
-Start with 10 castles and 100 land with substantial resources to start game with optimal build strat and techs out the gate.
-Military training, armory and buildings are instant during initial protection, but tics dont actually start until initial protection is over. Use the abundance of resources wisely while in initial protection to come out the gate prepared.
-no game breaking bonus items that allow complete and utter dismembership of a player.