Why is it being done in the first place? IMO, it's being done because the Greeks need an effective counter to RC in Classic (I'm not going further into this, ArmorPierce has a thread dedicated to it already). It would also be nice to try Hop\Tox vs Egypt, just giving the Greeks another option other than the obligatory Hippikons.
So, Hop go down by 5 or 10 Food. The food is still the hardest to get as Greek IMO, but then you get harder units than Spears or Ulfs, as the Hops beats Spears and Ulfs (just, but they do). However, don't you give up the ability to raid? Even with -10F per Hop, you can't afford to go Hip\Hop right off the bat, at least not in decent numbers, can you?
Also, aren't you still going to go to Heroic later, as you need that much more food?
Will Athena be taken more? Perhaps, but all that food plus more food for Minotaurs is going to delay the Heroic time horribly if MU are built, isn't it?
Comparing the Greek Classic infantry with Norse and Egy, I'm not convinced that the main problem is cost. Even 50 food is a lot to shell out early on, as they have to for Spears\Ulfs. No, I think the Egy\Norse ability to do this comes mainly from the fact they can start with a few Spears\Ulfs, switch to Wood-based units without hassle, then switch over to less Food-intensive units (Axemen, RC) without incurring any penalty. Greeks need more buildings to build different units, at least 2 of each type if you want a semi-decent production rate of all unit types.
I can't help but wonder if it's not the Hop themselves which are the problem, but if it's the Greek's painful transition from one unit type to another in Classic which makes things difficult. There is the bonus that you can produce new units in Heroic right away, but as has been discussed before, a lot about this game is decided in Classic.
I'm not proposing a solution. I could be way off the mark for all I know. I'm not yelling 'change' or 'patch' or 'imbalance' or anything like that. I just want to know what other people think of this angle.
Floor's open...
Midnight