Ahh, see I think that mod is way too much. S9B9? Nexus sucks, but is made to be a game winner. Increase the price, fix the "get gems first turn" bug, but 2 lvl 9 paths?
Not sure I'm a big fan of increasing requirements for boosters either, cost maybe sure but many nations limits are hardwired so they would even be more limited. I'm a fan of being able to diversify, just have the powerful stuff more limited.
I do like the idea of bidding for spells, but again very difficult to implement unless one were to create a very detailed mod. Hmm, maybe not so much. I like the idea of limited path levels more (bit more flexibility), but don't think its possible.
Hmm, possible to mod almost an expanded DnD type spell progression? For example
Say there are 100 1st lvl spells, 5 players. Each player picks 20 via round robin. 80 2nd lvl spells, 5 players, each pick 15ish, etc...down to 1-3 9th lvl spells. Then if they want they can concentrate on picking spells in certain schools to minimize their research. Research MAY be quicker, but overall useability is severly lessened.
probably have to pick a few universal spells per level, dispel for instance, certain universal buffs.
Maybe set up a website with a fantasy sports type draft setup to make it quicker. You can check out
www.tsn.com's fantasy draft demo.
Mock Draft - bottom right of page, need to register unfortunately to see