PBEM Multiplayer Game: No new positions (was "New Multiplayer Game") [Archive]

ywl

January 27th, 2004, 10:34 PM

Originally posted by sachmo:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ywl:
I would be interested as long as it's slower than one turn every 2 days.

I'm flexible for which nation I use.

Wan seconded. I'll leave a fast game for you whipper-snappers. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif <hr /></blockquote>I don't mind devoting time to the game. It's just real-life work being too busy to allow that. If King Lear wants a fast game, I can host a slower game for the slower http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif players.

Wan

Dixie_F

January 27th, 2004, 11:10 PM

Interested as well. Flexible on nation.

freykin

January 27th, 2004, 11:55 PM

I also would be interested. Since no one is likely to take it/want it besides me, I'll take Mictlan.

Carnifex

January 28th, 2004, 12:47 AM

Count me in!
C'tis Ermor Marignon

King Lear

January 28th, 2004, 03:23 AM

Yai! So it sounds like we've got some interest. I think Hosting once every 3 days should satisfy those of us who actually have work to do during the week =) At least, that sounds like the general concensus. If you want to drop it to 2 days, post a note and that might work too.

I'd be willing to host a PBEM game for it, unless anyone else wants to have that dubious honor.

So, pick a nation, and pick a second nation, and go ahead and pick a 3rd nation; post in order of which you want most, and where we have conflicts we can flip coins =)

Lear

Oh, I kinda like Pyth, although Arco is fun, as is Abysia.

J Stanley

January 28th, 2004, 04:38 AM

I would like to play.
R'yleh, Man, Jotunheim is my order of preference.

[ January 28, 2004, 02:49: Message edited by: J Stanley ]

quantum_mechani

January 28th, 2004, 05:59 AM

Arco, Vanhiem, Tien Ch'i.

freykin

January 28th, 2004, 09:06 AM

In order of preference:

Mictlan, Vanheim, Ry'leh.

Patrik

January 28th, 2004, 10:19 AM

Jotun, C'tis, Man for me. And slow is fine for me as well http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Karacan

January 28th, 2004, 10:58 AM

A slow game? I am very in, if there's still a place...

C'tis, Atlantis, Caelum and then anything but Jotunheim is my order of preference.

Pillin

January 28th, 2004, 11:35 AM

Pangea, Machaka, Man

Blofeld

January 28th, 2004, 11:58 AM

Hello!
Can I join?

Marignon, Pangea, Vanheim

cihset

January 28th, 2004, 01:13 PM

I've been dying for a multiplayer game in Dom2 for a long time now. If there is a spot left, I'd love to join.

Preferences, Vanheim, Arco, Machaka... but I pretty much play anything.. =)

ExitJudas

January 28th, 2004, 03:15 PM

im still absolutely flexible. I will play anything!

sachmo

January 28th, 2004, 03:53 PM

Jotunheim, Man, Pythium

rabelais

January 28th, 2004, 04:59 PM

I'd like in as well.

Atlantis,Machaka,Marignon depending on map...

Actually anything is fine...

Rabe the Torpid Turn-Based Tyro

King Lear

January 28th, 2004, 09:33 PM

Well, I spent a bit working with everyones choices and with the wonderful thing that we call spreadsheets, and I think I've worked out who can get who that at least keeps most people happy. Lets see, if you didn't put up any suggestions (Dixie and Wan), I slotted you into the nations that remained open. Hope you enjoy them. So, here are the arrangements, in alphabetical order by player. =)

Blofeld Marignon
Carnifex Ermor
Cihset Vanheim
Dixie F Tien Chi
ExitJudas Ulm
freykin Mictlan
Izaqyos Atlantis
J Stanley R'yleh
Karacan Caelum
Lear Pythium
Patrik C'tis
Pillin Pangea
Quantum Arco
Rabelais Machaka
Sachmo Jotunhiem
ywl wan Abysia

And I think actually that that fills all the open spots. So, i'll be posting two or three map options momentarilly. Vote on them, and We'll get this game rolling.

Lear

King Lear

January 28th, 2004, 09:37 PM

Or if you prefer it by nation:
Abysia ywl wan
Arco Quantum
Atlantis Izaqyos
Caelum Karacan
C'tis Patrik
Ermor Carnifex
Jotunhiem Sachmo
Machaka Rabelais
Marignon Blofeld
Mictlan freykin
Pangea Pillin
Pythium Lear
R'yleh J Stanley
Tien Chi Dixie F
Ulm ExitJudas
Vanheim Cihset

sachmo

January 28th, 2004, 09:43 PM

Custom maps are fine with me.

[ January 28, 2004, 19:44: Message edited by: sachmo ]

ywl

January 29th, 2004, 12:52 AM

Originally posted by King Lear:
Or if you prefer it by nation:
Abysia ywl wan
Arco Quantum
Atlantis Izaqyos
Caelum Karacan
C'tis Patrik
Ermor Carnifex
Jotunhiem Sachmo
Machaka Rabelais
Marignon Blofeld
Mictlan freykin
Pangea Pillin
Pythium Lear
R'yleh J Stanley
Tien Chi Dixie F
Ulm ExitJudas
Vanheim Cihset Can I take Man instead? Abysia is one of the few I don't feel the most comfortable with...

ywl

January 29th, 2004, 01:02 AM

Originally posted by ywl:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by King Lear:
Or if you prefer it by nation:
Abysia ywl wan
Arco Quantum
Atlantis Izaqyos
Caelum Karacan
C'tis Patrik
Ermor Carnifex
Jotunhiem Sachmo
Machaka Rabelais
Marignon Blofeld
Mictlan freykin
Pangea Pillin
Pythium Lear
R'yleh J Stanley
Tien Chi Dixie F
Ulm ExitJudas
Vanheim Cihset Can I take Man instead? Abysia is one of the few I don't feel the most comfortable with... <hr /></blockquote>Nevermind... I change my mind. I'll take Abysia http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

King Lear

January 29th, 2004, 01:02 AM

Wan, you can go ahead and have Man. That leave Abysia open for a new opponent if one shows up.

As for maps, I looked at a bunch of the custom ones, and then at what we have from illwinter, and the ones from illwinter looked much prettier. The only viable option that I found (especially for you water people) were:

Orania or Wars of Orania.

Proposed settings:
Independants: 6
Events: Common
Hall of Fame: 15
Sites: 50

Should we leave or disable the massive amount of informaiton that the charts give? I say disable, but that's just me.

I would suggest we use "Alexander's Luck" as a mod. You can download it and open it up with a word file to take a look at what it does: I think based on my playing so far that it helps balance out the luck scale, making order/turmoil not everyone's imediate choice.

Any other suggestions, or responses, post them. Once I hear back from a couple of you on maps I'll go ahead and post my email, and we can get this going.

Cheers,
Lear

WraithLord

January 29th, 2004, 02:55 AM

A slow game really suits me well.
If there's still a free spot I'd like to join.
My preference (descending order).
Pythium, Arco, Atlantis, Man, or whatever's left http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

navrunner

January 29th, 2004, 05:59 AM

Hello, I was interested from the start I will take what ever is left

Patrik

January 29th, 2004, 01:58 PM

I think the settings look fine and I prefer disable scoreboard as well. I would really prefer using the standard game instead of a mod though (I simply don't have time to test it before the game http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif ).

rabelais

January 29th, 2004, 05:20 PM

I'd really like to try machaka with a divine serpent pretender... would anyone mind if we modded this in?

The lord or fertility is just a horrible subsitute.

Rabe the Nature Freak

sachmo

January 29th, 2004, 05:36 PM

My first preference would be to go vanilla for my very first MP game, but that's just me...

[ January 29, 2004, 15:37: Message edited by: sachmo ]

WraithLord

January 29th, 2004, 05:44 PM

I prefer standard game.
using a mod will put anyone that isn't familiar with it at a disadvantage.
But I will play even if the game is modified.

ywl

January 29th, 2004, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by King Lear:
Wan, you can go ahead and have Man. That leave Abysia open for a new opponent if one shows up.

As for maps, I looked at a bunch of the custom ones, and then at what we have from illwinter, and the ones from illwinter looked much prettier. The only viable option that I found (especially for you water people) were:

Orania or Wars of Orania.

Proposed settings:
Independants: 6
Events: Common
Hall of Fame: 15
Sites: 50

Should we leave or disable the massive amount of informaiton that the charts give? I say disable, but that's just me.

I would suggest we use "Alexander's Luck" as a mod. You can download it and open it up with a word file to take a look at what it does: I think based on my playing so far that it helps balance out the luck scale, making order/turmoil not everyone's imediate choice.

Any other suggestions, or responses, post them. Once I hear back from a couple of you on maps I'll go ahead and post my email, and we can get this going.

Cheers,
Lear I'll think over Abysia or Man. Abysia is hard to play comparing to Man but I could welcome the variety or challenge.

Orania map is fine but there is a bug in the map. Somewhere in the map file, "ghoul" is spelled as "goul". I don't know whether it affects the game. I haven't tried that much yet.

The game settings are fine. Disabling the World Score is also fine - it has pros and cons, I can live with both.

I prefer to go with the standard Luck settings. First, I'm not sure it's as imbalance as it is claimed. Second, even if everybody use Order+3, it not that much a big deal. Tien Chi player might have some disadvantage if he's using S&A theme but I tried that very often, an Chao-1/Luck+3 for S&A is not very bad - it acutally does better than Abysia in my test http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif . Pan is not forced to take Chaotic scale. An Orderly Pan is perfectly playable.

I don't think it makes sense to mod Scare Serpent into Machaka... There are enough choices already and the selection provided in general for thematic and game-balance reasons.

Finally, will it be an email or network game? The administration workload for such a game with so many players is quite large. Are you sure? And in what way you want us to help?

Wan

EternalSpearman

January 29th, 2004, 07:34 PM

Isn't Man still available? I believe it is, so could I join playing them?
E-mail: eternalspearman@excite.com
Thanks,
~EternalSpearman~

[ January 30, 2004, 02:46: Message edited by: EternalSpearman ]

freykin

January 30th, 2004, 02:53 AM

I am fine with whichever map is chosen, and the settings look fine to me as well. I'm willing to play modded or vanilla.

cihset

January 30th, 2004, 02:57 AM

I'm ok with any ordinary map or custom, the same goes to settings and mods. Granted that everyone else stay happy.

I'm just eager to get try out D2 in mp =)

Pillin

January 30th, 2004, 06:14 AM

I'm fine with any map and pretty much any setting too. However I think we should consider putting the indy str up a little? think that helps limit a mad landgrab rush as we are quite a few players.

ExitJudas

January 30th, 2004, 08:13 AM

higher indy strength is good imo.

Karacan

January 30th, 2004, 05:30 PM

Higher indy strength is fine, scoreBoards disabled are okay, and I vote for no mods as well... I like the balance in 2.06 the way it is (and I usually don't go for bad luck http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif ).

Maps, I am indifferent. Wars of Orania, with victory point condition, would be playable instead of an all out Last man standing game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

ywl

January 30th, 2004, 05:42 PM

Originally posted by Pillin:
I'm fine with any map and pretty much any setting too. However I think we should consider putting the indy str up a little? think that helps limit a mad landgrab rush as we are quite a few players. 6 is high enough to me, though I don't mind playing anyway. Some nations will have a much easier start at higer indie, namely Man, Marignon and other start with good missle troop. For HI nations, like Ulm, Van or Abysia http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif , the early game will be tougher.

Tiltowait

January 30th, 2004, 08:27 PM

As an impartial observer, high indy strength gives distinct atvantages to SC players and as the poster below said, certain nations who will expand at the same speed regardless of indy strength.

Starting with indy 5 can be tough enough for some races, to level the playing board lower indy strength is better.

ywl

January 30th, 2004, 09:32 PM

Originally posted by Tiltowait:
As an impartial observer, high indy strength gives distinct atvantages to SC players and as the poster below said, certain nations who will expand at the same speed regardless of indy strength.

Starting with indy 5 can be tough enough for some races, to level the playing board lower indy strength is better. In my experience, 5 or 6 are good, intermediate settings. Not too easy and not too hard. But every setting will favor a certain gameplay strategy. After hearing so much, King Lear should just make the call and we can adjust our strategy to it.

King Lear

January 31st, 2004, 09:36 AM

Well, here's the final settings for all you happy people.

Indy Strength, 6
Sites 50%
Events: Common
Hall: 15
Richness: normal'
Graphs: Off
Standard Victory

Wan, since you decided you wanted Abysia, we're slotting that to you.

So, Everyone needs to go ahead and create a pretender, and send me the file as an attachment. Go ahead and put your country name, and your name, in the title to help me sort them quickly from my mailbox.

Lear
MARKOOS at MAIL.UTEXAS.EDU

[ February 03, 2004, 22:09: Message edited by: King Lear ]

King Lear

January 31st, 2004, 09:36 AM

Oh, forgot to mention, we're doing Orania.

King Lear

January 31st, 2004, 08:27 PM

One Last thing: Passwording your pretender might not be a bad idea incase one day, amidst hectic classes, I accidently send a file to someone to whom it does not belong. In a game of stratagy such intelligence could be devestating.

Four are in, we're waiting on some more!
Lear

King Lear

February 1st, 2004, 05:23 AM

7 are in, just a few more =)

ExitJudas

February 2nd, 2004, 07:59 AM

ive sent what i hope is the correct file. lets get this baby rockin' http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

ywl

February 2nd, 2004, 07:25 PM

I've read that Caelum in 2.06 is bugged so that it preferred Heat+3 (economically?), which is incompatible with their troops.

Should the Caelum player check it out and we can apply Catquiet's mod, which patch it, if it's necessary?

Wan

Karacan

February 2nd, 2004, 08:21 PM

That's true, but I certainly hope there'll be a patch coming along soon... I wouldn't mind the mod, but with Caelum, I am not in for a fast start anyway, and can afford to play two or three weeks or so (which should cover the first 10 turns) with an income offset.

Thanks for the consideration, though.

I like my Caelians hot and frying. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

King Lear

February 2nd, 2004, 08:57 PM

Lets see here, we currently lack only the Ermor pretender and the machaka god. So, hury up Carnifex and Rabelais. It is currently about 8pm GMT on monday night. Tuesday afternoon, or in about 16 hours, I hope to create the game and send out the first batch of files, so it would be nice if you could send your pretender in by then. again, the email is 'markoos at mail.utexas.edu'. Lear Oh, and I leave it up to the general public to decide what we should do about Caelium. Personally, i'm not adverse to using the temporary mod to fix it.

[ February 03, 2004, 22:08: Message edited by: King Lear ]

King Lear

February 3rd, 2004, 07:26 AM

There Remains only one.

Lear

Karacan

February 3rd, 2004, 09:48 AM

Well, speaking as biased public, I am not adverse to mod-patch Caelum either.

rabelais

February 3rd, 2004, 11:43 AM

Sent pretender again, from 2 different accounts.

It may be that my main account is having sending issues, in which case please use

davethehunathotmaildotcom

as the standard address.

Thanks.

Rabe the Unstrung (or at least unwired) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon9.gif

King Lear

February 4th, 2004, 12:21 AM

Well, all the countries are in, the game has been generated, and all the countrie files have been sent back out. I have a little pole to ask though. If you a) put a password on your pretender, and b) do not mind if I send your turn file in a mass email to other people who did put a password on their pretender, could you please either post a note to that effect (ie, you do not mind), OR send me an email.

This will save me innumberable time because I can just send out one bigger email to all of you, rather than having to go through and attack the specific files to everyone. Of course, if you didn't password, there's not much for you to reply to here.

Secondly, I forgot (in my great stupidity) to apply a Caelium mod for the cold. Therefore, You will shortly recieve a new turn file. This will be the real one. Ignore the first. Sorry for all of you who have already sent things in... just do it again.

Lear

King Lear

February 4th, 2004, 12:25 AM

for those who do not already have the fix... here's the link. http://ulm.illwinter.com/dom2/coldcaelum.zip

[ February 04, 2004, 05:28: Message edited by: King Lear ]

rabelais

February 4th, 2004, 01:04 AM

Sent my .2h in, if you don't get it... please let me know asap so I don't hold this up any more than I have...

Rabe the Packet Paranoid

Dixie_F

February 4th, 2004, 02:45 AM

Hah...so when they say play by email they mean play by email. So figured I would ask here rather than in email in case somone else was as clueless as I.

I got all the files (god, trn and mod) and loaded my turn. Do I just make my moves and hit end turn then exit and email my turn? It wasn't obvious that the trn file had changed (although an exit and restart confirms that it is)

Guess I answered my own question. And, I am certainly willing to have my trn massmailed.

Cheers,
Eric

sachmo

February 4th, 2004, 05:22 AM

It begins...

Tholvarag stirred as if waking from a long slumber. Instantly, his holy men came to his side, but he waved them away. As he rose from the dias, he could feel the loss. He was gone; there could be no doubt.

He turned and faced his servants, who watched him with a mixture of fear and anticipation on their faces. Somehow, they too had felt the loss of Him, and they were looking to Tholvarag to fill the void. Would the other peoples of the world look at him this way, or would they resist his power? Somehow, he felt he already knew the answer to this question.

He reached down to his side and drew the ancient ice blade of Niefelheim, Winter's Bite. Upon release from its scabbard, the blade flashed with power. Tholvarag, pretender god of Jotunheim, held the blade before him. He knew it would be some time before the blade would be put back to rest.

After a long pause, he addressed his servants.
"Summon the Jarls to the fortress, and send word to the Vaetti. Jotunheim is going to war. It is time to take the truth to the people of this world, by mouth or by sword. We will save this world from Chaos once again, as He did before. It is our duty and our right. We shall be victorious."

In his hand, Winter's Bite began to glow bright with anticipation.

Karacan

February 4th, 2004, 10:56 AM

Nah, you send your .2h file to the host. "2h" stands for "to host". Then you get a new .trn file from him. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

I passworded my pretender.

Cyron, Prince of the Freezing Winds.

King Lear

February 4th, 2004, 04:19 PM

4 remain.

EternalSpearman

February 4th, 2004, 09:49 PM

Alderath, the red dragon, un-curled his tail in anticapation. The wars would soon begin. He had only to wait a short time. The Wardens of Avalon were training, the armies readying, the swords of iron and steel would soon be clashing. Fire would rain upon his enemies, it would burn and torch their forces. Nothing but blackened ruin will remain.

Sighing, he changed back to the small, weak human form. But Alderath must prepare as well, researching in the depths of magic.

The Ascension Wars were beginning.

-Alderath, Lord of Flame

[ February 05, 2004, 02:39: Message edited by: EternalSpearman ]

ywl

February 4th, 2004, 10:34 PM

Originally posted by King Lear:
Well, all the countries are in, the game has been generated, and all the countrie files have been sent back out. I have a little pole to ask though. If you a) put a password on your pretender, and b) do not mind if I send your turn file in a mass email to other people who did put a password on their pretender, could you please either post a note to that effect (ie, you do not mind), OR send me an email.

This will save me innumberable time because I can just send out one bigger email to all of you, rather than having to go through and attack the specific files to everyone. Of course, if you didn't password, there's not much for you to reply to here.

Lear Massmail of a compressed files of trn files would be fine. I have password. If somebody doesn't have a password, it might be better to restart with one while it's still early.

Wan

Pillin

February 4th, 2004, 10:48 PM

Pangeas is passworded too, so no problem with mass email http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

rabelais

February 4th, 2004, 11:47 PM

I put a password on as well, so whatever you prefer....

my email is dgoatpcfastnetdotcom for those who are interested in diplo outside of the slightly sadistic game messaging system. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Rabe

EternalSpearman

February 5th, 2004, 04:34 AM

I'm afraid I forgot to password protect my pretender, so mass emailing wouldn't work to well for me. Sorry.

ExitJudas

February 5th, 2004, 08:11 AM

ulm is pw'ed

ywl

February 5th, 2004, 07:55 PM

Originally posted by EternalSpearman:
I'm afraid I forgot to password protect my pretender, so mass emailing wouldn't work to well for me. Sorry. I guess it's better to password protected your file and restart it. I've hosted a game. It'll be 17 times the work if he can't mass-mail (unless he's written a script or program to handle it). For a slow server or conncection, it would be a nightmare.

More so, even if we trusted Lear totally, you still don't want the host accidentally see all your move and diplomatic message at one accidental click by mistake.

But, Lear has the final call.

EternalSpearman

February 5th, 2004, 08:38 PM

Well, I already sent in my .2h file for the first turn, so it would probably be more work than it's worth to send in my pretender file again. Besides, the worst that could happen is that I'll lose, which will most likely happen anyway.

ywl

February 5th, 2004, 08:42 PM

Originally posted by EternalSpearman:
Well, I already sent in my .2h file for the first turn, so it would probably be more work than it's worth to send in my pretender file again. Besides, the worst that could happen is that I'll lose, which will most likely happen anyway. It's the first sentence of my post which really matters, i.e., more workload for Lear.

But he'll be the judge for that. I won't argue for him. I'm just describing my past experience.

King Lear

February 5th, 2004, 09:30 PM

I've recieved enough asking that we're going to restart te game with everyone having password protected pretenders. Sorry for the delay, but as I still haven't recieved the .2h fles from everyone yet (ahem, mictlan), its not quite as much of a delay as it might have been.
So, I expect those who have not already passworded to send in one... quickly.
Lear

[ February 05, 2004, 19:42: Message edited by: King Lear ]

EternalSpearman

February 5th, 2004, 11:57 PM

I've sent a email containing the new password protected pretender file for Alderath.

~EternalSpearman~

King Lear

February 6th, 2004, 01:50 AM

Lets see, waiting on Mictlan, Jotun, Marignon and C'tis

sachmo

February 6th, 2004, 03:21 AM

Sent!

King Lear

February 6th, 2004, 08:10 PM

Now only Marignon and Mictlan... hm, the letter M.
Lear

EternalSpearman

February 7th, 2004, 03:37 AM

Orders sent.

rabelais

February 8th, 2004, 04:45 AM

sent .2h file for turn 1. If you didn't get it... let me know.

Rabe the Digitally Dysfunctional

sachmo

February 9th, 2004, 06:58 PM

What's the schedule?

King Lear

February 9th, 2004, 09:07 PM

Well, we have one person, namely Mictlan, who is currently having some trouble with his internet. I sent him an email asking if he wanted to be set as a computer player or to temporarily have some one fill in for him, and i was waiting for a reply to that email before i force hosted.

I guess I'll wait annother half day before I do something to give the guy a chance.

How does this sound to everyone?

After we begin, I intend to host every 48 hours after I send out turn files. Thus everyone has nearly 2 full days. If after those 48 hours are up I've still got more than 3 people who haven't turned in orders, i will wait until that number drops and become either less than or equal to 3

If any of you think this is a bad system for doing it, post a reply, or send me an email. I'm just here to help facilitate the game running. Also, if you think i should force host now rather than wait.

Lear

ywl

February 9th, 2004, 09:38 PM

Originally posted by King Lear:
Well, we have one person, namely Mictlan, who is currently having some trouble with his internet. I sent him an email asking if he wanted to be set as a computer player or to temporarily have some one fill in for him, and i was waiting for a reply to that email before i force hosted.

I guess I'll wait annother half day before I do something to give the guy a chance.

How does this sound to everyone?

After we begin, I intend to host every 48 hours after I send out turn files. Thus everyone has nearly 2 full days. If after those 48 hours are up I've still got more than 3 people who haven't turned in orders, i will wait until that number drops and become either less than or equal to 3

If any of you think this is a bad system for doing it, post a reply, or send me an email. I'm just here to help facilitate the game running. Also, if you think i should force host now rather than wait.

Lear Sound reasonable. But is it easier to schedule to host on fix days of the week, such as Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday?

Karacan

February 9th, 2004, 10:58 PM

I am fine with waiting for the stragglers for half a day.

King Lear

February 10th, 2004, 03:47 AM

That actually sounds like quite a good idea.
Ok, this Wed I'll send them out, and MWF and if enough ppl are fine with it, Either Sat or Sunday will be when I host and send out the new files.

sachmo

February 17th, 2004, 04:26 PM

Are we upgrading?

rabelais

February 17th, 2004, 05:41 PM

Seems like a bad idea, with reports of crash/hang bugs flitting about.

We won't get the rename functionality anyway....

Rabe the Butterfly Net

King Lear

February 17th, 2004, 05:58 PM

me thinks we won't use the upgrade just yet. Lear

fahdiz

February 17th, 2004, 06:17 PM

Originally posted by rabelais:
Seems like a bad idea, with reports of crash/hang bugs flitting about.Actually, the only crash/hang bug reported is Norfleet's, and he's the only one who's been able to reproduce it. So it's fairly safe at this point to say that the problem resides on his machine, not in the patch.

-- fahdiz the Devil's Advocate http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

rabelais

February 18th, 2004, 04:47 AM

I got sent the same turn file as Last go around.. the numeric coscript on my turns has been higher than the others in the mass mailing... is this perhaps why?

Eager to get the latest turn file, which should be turn 5 yes?

Rabe the Redux

Karacan

February 18th, 2004, 07:50 AM

I personally would very much like to upgrade until the end of the week - the Spell AI alone is worth it, to me at least as a caster-heavy nation.

rabelais

February 20th, 2004, 02:43 AM

Well, I'm playing Machaka, and my research would go to h*ll if we upgraded.

For some reason they decided witch doctors were overpowered at standard research ability.

Which is strange because sorceresses have the same research stats with a nifty spider transform for on 20 gold more. (sigh)

Did I mention these aren't sacred units.

(Which Sorceresses and Black Sorcerors, really should be, with their transform)

Maybe because WD's aren't cap only?

Any Dev Comment?

Rabe the Snarly Self-Interested MPer

sachmo

February 20th, 2004, 03:16 PM

Anyone else have an opinion?

ywl

February 20th, 2004, 04:08 PM

Originally posted by sachmo:
Anyone else have an opinion? Patching will be good, if not necessary, for the some of the bugs (paralyze, orb lightning).

I generally believe the developers tweak the game balance in the right way. But for us to patch now, it's like changing some of the rules in the middle of the game. Don't know. It depends on how many more of us are affected.

For the record - the patch doesn't affect me in any bad way.

rabelais

February 21st, 2004, 08:07 PM

Dammit! There goes my goddamn research... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

I still don't understand why they changed WD's... machaka's mages are too expensive to be overpowered.

Now the WD's are almost useless .... except for forging fever fetishes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Rabe the Whiny Biatch

ywl

February 22nd, 2004, 09:48 PM

Originally posted by rabelais:
Dammit! There goes my goddamn research... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

I still don't understand why they changed WD's... machaka's mages are too expensive to be overpowered.

Now the WD's are almost useless .... except for forging fever fetishes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Rabe the Whiny Biatch I won't called a non-capital 1 Fire/1 Death/1 Nature Mage useless, especially at the price of 80 gold. Send them out to battle and you'll see how useful they could be. Their Fire and Earth level can be easily raised to 2 with just 1 gems (each).

Man's Bard is 75 and has only 1 Nature. The only mages in the game who have a better value are Utgard's Seithkona.

rabelais

February 23rd, 2004, 07:32 AM

Originally posted by ywl:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by rabelais:
Dammit! There goes my goddamn research... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

I still don't understand why they changed WD's... machaka's mages are too expensive to be overpowered.

Now the WD's are almost useless .... except for forging fever fetishes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Rabe the Whiny Biatch I won't called a non-capital 1 Fire/1 Death/1 Nature Mage useless, especially at the price of 80 gold. Send them out to battle and you'll see how useful they could be. Their Fire and Earth level can be easily raised to 2 with just 1 gems (each).

Man's Bard is 75 and has only 1 Nature. The only mages in the game who have a better value are Utgard's Seithkona. <hr /></blockquote>The bard is hyperstealthy, caries a standard and agitates very well. It also has spell songs that make its 1N better than it looks.

Different critter.

WD's are ok for combat early, but unless they get a lucky HoF ability, (precision, quickness etc.) they aren't worth the freight. i.e. The micromanagement hell of putting gems (alchemizable no less, what's THAT do to the upkeep math?) on feeble mages to make them slightly less so isn't worth it.

They weren't broken, IMHO.

Machaka has decent mages, but are too expensive.

Only Pangaea and atlantis have such pricey non sacreds.

In any case it's over and done with, I just wish I had known of the "bug" before I bought a bunch as my optimal researcher.

Rabe the Feral Isolationist Cursing Hallucinogen Acclimated Savage

ywl

February 23rd, 2004, 06:03 PM

Originally posted by rabelais:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by ywl:
<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by rabelais:
Dammit! There goes my goddamn research... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

I still don't understand why they changed WD's... machaka's mages are too expensive to be overpowered.

Now the WD's are almost useless .... except for forging fever fetishes. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Rabe the Whiny Biatch I won't called a non-capital 1 Fire/1 Death/1 Nature Mage useless, especially at the price of 80 gold. Send them out to battle and you'll see how useful they could be. Their Fire and Earth level can be easily raised to 2 with just 1 gems (each).

Man's Bard is 75 and has only 1 Nature. The only mages in the game who have a better value are Utgard's Seithkona. <hr /></blockquote>The bard is hyperstealthy, caries a standard and agitates very well. It also has spell songs that make its 1N better than it looks.

Different critter.

WD's are ok for combat early, but unless they get a lucky HoF ability, (precision, quickness etc.) they aren't worth the freight. i.e. The micromanagement hell of putting gems (alchemizable no less, what's THAT do to the upkeep math?) on feeble mages to make them slightly less so isn't worth it.

They weren't broken, IMHO.

Machaka has decent mages, but are too expensive.

Only Pangaea and atlantis have such pricey non sacreds.

In any case it's over and done with, I just wish I had known of the "bug" before I bought a bunch as my optimal researcher.

Rabe the Feral Isolationist Cursing Hallucinogen Acclimated Savage <hr /></blockquote>I know that it's frustrating that the rule of the games is changed in the middle of the game. And I wish that the patches can be separated into two branches - one for bugs and one for game changes.

But for discusssion sake. Machaka has very good mages.

Research for Alteration 3, Conjuration 1. Put your witch doctor near the frontline and let them cast "Protection", "Tangle Vines". The former increases all your Hoplite's protection by 7 (to 24!). And the latter immobilize your opponent (Defense to 0). They can even cast "Eagle Eyes", increasing their precision to 15 - give them bows even if you don't like their "useless" spells like Fire Darts or Flying Shards.

For comparison, C'tis Shaman is 110 gold with 2 magic; Abysia's Apprentice Warlock is 150 gold for 3 magic; even Ulm's Master Smith national mage is 140 gold and they have only 3 magic. Even with the research penalty, WD is a super bargain.

Only Machaka's capital mages are expensive. 190 gold for the Sorcerer (4 + 1?) is a bargain. Almost everybody else have more expensive mages. The fact that they're sacred doesn't help as it's the gold you pay upfront matters. Yeah. Check on Abysia's, i.e., my mages and you'll know what expensive mages are. Sorry - getting frustrated playing Abysia http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif . Even the most expensive Black Sorceror is only 250 gold and they turn into spiders after first death... Their price is at worst average - Man's Crone is 230; Abysia's warlock is 270.

Sorry... getting jealous on your mages http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif .

rabelais

February 24th, 2004, 09:22 AM

I agreed the WD's are decent combat mages early.

W/R/T 3 magic: If you are going to have 3 magic... 1/1/1 is much weaker than 2/1 or 3/0 long haul (outside of research), because the spells worth casting once you have decent research... almost always require more than 1 (or even 2 courtesy of a booster) in a path. At which point you use the experienced but no longer combat efficient mages for ... research!

(or forging, which is even more favored by >1 in a path, though this is balanced to some extent by the ease of empowering multipathers.)

Unless it's an extremely crowded map, I tend to think upkeep is much more important than initial cost.

Usually by ~turn 25, 50+% of my income is mage upkeep.

It usually means you have to make infrastructure decisions early, because you won't have the cash to do much once the basic expansion is over.

Not to mention with sacred your boomers are blessable.

I'm not saying machakas mages are bad, I'm just saying that the change is quite large, and not obviously needed. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

Machaka has lovely units, but with the exception of the archer, hoplite and priests they are all extremely pricey.

IMHO Pythium Arco Vanheim (etc...) are much stronger, and no nerfing has been seen or even suggested there. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif

Rabe the Deficit Spender

P.S. I believe... (PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong, that would be great!) ...the spider transforms require you to survive the first hit. This doesn't happen particularly often without specially loading you mages with (many) forgable items.

[ February 24, 2004, 07:32: Message edited by: rabelais ]

von_Schmidt

February 24th, 2004, 04:35 PM

Sounds like you have quite an interesting MP game going. How about a game progress report for us bystanders?

rabelais

February 25th, 2004, 07:09 PM

Originally posted by von_Schmidt:
Sounds like you have quite an interesting MP game going. How about a game progress report for us bystanders? It's not that we're lazy or secretive.

Score graphs are off, we have no idea what's happening globally, so we REALLY can't tell the board. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/confused.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

Rabe the Magically Myopic

von_Schmidt

February 26th, 2004, 10:58 AM

Fair enough. Loose lips sink ships , after all.

How about doing an AAR afterwards? I'm sure other readers on the board would appreciate it as well.

I just loved the Dom1 Blitz AAR's on usenet...

Best of luck in your game!

ywl

February 26th, 2004, 04:50 PM

It's only turn 8. Not much to talk about yet.

rabelais

March 3rd, 2004, 08:50 AM

Did anyone else inexplicably get a stale turn (yes I sent in a .2h!) or am I just the really lucky one?

Rabe of the Mysterious Blackouts

rabelais

March 4th, 2004, 04:22 AM

I'm told my stale turn, though ridiculously accidental, is irreparable.

It further appears I currently lack the frustration tolerance to play network games of this sort.

I actually get angry (and depressed) when things go awry, which they inevitably do.

Scale bugs, disadvantageous upgrades, random stales... Xavier's game taking a month to start...Pillin's game evaporating with a HD crash.....I'm just too discouraged with it.

It's all beyond stupid and theoretically trivial, but still not worth the stress.

Therefore I think I will withdraw from the game. If someone is interested in taking over my position (It is quite healthy I think, though hard to tell with graphs off) pm me for the password.

Otherwise I will send my resources to my immediate neighbors as compensation for trouble (to be) caused and put it on computer control.

And then get some therapy.

Regards,

Rabe the Entirely Enervated Control Freak