Newbie Game

[Arholly]

Hi. I'm looking for any new people who might be interested in starting a game for newbies. We'd use one of the standard maps, no mods.

Any interest?

[Hubris]

I've been playing about 2 months. I'd be interested. I'm not sure how "newbie" I am, but I like to play so...

[Arkas]

I'm interested.

I've only played 1.5 games via here.

[cryingdevil]

im interested, i hav only played sp games but not sure how much of a newb i am.

[Arholly]

Alright, that's four of us. As soon as I get everything set up, I'll post the information. Hopefully by sunday.

[Arholly]

I think we'll do Britian, which has a max of 7 players. What do people want to play?

[Hubris]

I'll take Marignon.

[Arholly]

Send god files to "dominions (at) verizon (dot) net".

[Hubris]

PBEM? I don't know if I'm down for that. If you want I can host.

[Arholly]

Alright, if you want to host, I'm cool with that. Let me figure out what I want to play.

[Hubris]

Sure, I'll put it up when everyone declares nation.

[thejeff]

If you don't mind another, I'd like to join in.

I've played sp for awhile, but this will be my first multiplayer.

What settings do you want to use for the game?

Indie strength? Research? Magic sites? Richness?

Barring something weird in those, I'd like to take Arcosephale.

[ioticus]

Can I play too? Pleeeeease? I'll take Ulm.

[King Lear]

If you either have a person drop, or need one more, I'd like to play. Tien Chi might be interesting.

[Arholly]

I'll take Pangea. Never tried them before so it should be interesting.

[Argitoth]

I WANT C'TIS!!

[King Lear]

So, we have

Arholly- Pangea :

Hubris- Marigon :

Arkas-? :

CryingDevil:-? :

TheJeff- Arco :

Ioticus- Ulm :

Lear- Tien Chi :

Argitoth- C'tis :


Anyone have emails for Arkas or Devil?

Just a thought.

[Arholly]

I was thinking nothing wierd in the settings, maybe make indie strength 4.

[Argitoth]

This is a TCP/IP game, yeah? If not I'll host for you. I wouldn't join a PBM. It's ok if you want to do PBM but I just won't want to play...

Crape, I just realized I'm way too experienced to be in this newb game. Count me out, don't want to ruin the game.

[Arkas]

Doh, been busy and havent checked here in the last few days.

I will go with Abysia.

I am going to change my settings and have it display my email addy. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[cryingdevil]

sry bout not posting been busy i take r'lyeh if its ok.

[cryingdevil]

actually, after thinking it over for a while, i would like to take machaka pls.

[Hubris]

ok, game is up. hubrisrakarth.game-host.org port 2010.

Soon as all pretenders are up and I hear what settings you want, I'll start it.

[thejeff]

I don't much care about the other settings, but I'd suggest indie strength above 4. Britain's pretty small, less than 9 land provinces apiece. A little more resistance to the initial land grabs might make it more interesting. We're going to be fighting soon enough anyway.

In a few test starts, I was usually at war with the AI by turn 10. Either they or I were boxed in before then.

[Arholly]

Alright, I'll have mine up tonight I think. Tomorrow morning for sure.

[ioticus]

I put my pretender in for Ulm.

[Arholly]

What's the IP? I tried connecting and it wouldn't let me.

[King Lear]

On such a crowded map I think that I'll drop out. Well, that and the fact that I'm house-sitting for my cousin, and don't have my computer with me till monday.

That being said, I do agree with theJeff's suggestions for higher indis; 6 i would suggest.

So, next point of business, if anyone decides that they no longer have time to play (assuming you start before monday), I'll happily either sub for a couple of turns, or take over entirely. Just say the word. you can reach me at markoos at mail.utexas.edu . There we go.

[cryingdevil]

how does this work, am i suppose to send my pretender to someone or wut? and wuts the ip?

[thejeff]

I was able to connect and upload a pretender last night, somewhen between ioticus's and Arholly's posts.

I tried again later and again this morning and couldn't connect, so something has changed on Hubris site.

cryingdevil:
It should be simple.

Have your pretender designed.
Network
Connect to Server
Enter the IP/URL (from Hubris post above)
Enter the port
It'll give you a list of kingdoms
Select yours
Don't push "Start Game"

That's it. Of course you'll have to wait until the server's back up.

[cryingdevil]

well i guess i'll check back every once in a while to see if hubris put the server back up.

[thejeff]

It's been a week.
Is there still interest in this game?

Do we want to go ahead without hubris, or keep waiting?

I can host if we want to go ahead. I haven't hosted before, but it looks straightforward.

[Hubris]

Well, I can only assume you guys don't read the Gotterdamerung forum. I apologize for the delays, life's been kind of hectic. I'm surprised you guys didnt' start w/o me.

Anyway, server is up.
hubrisrakarth.game-host.org
port 2010

[Arkas]

Joining up tonight and no, i dont check the gotterdamerung forum.

[thejeff]

Excellent.

I did see your original post on Gotterdamerung, but that didn't sound like you'd be away long. After a while, I figured things had gotten more complicated and figured I'd see what people wanted to do.

Glad you're back.

[Arholly]

Cool, now who was I playing again?

[ioticus]

Well I uploaded my pretender again and am still waiting for the game to get off the ground.

[Arholly]

Uploaded my pretender.

[Hubris]

Pasted from the Gotterdamerung thread:

Oh, and uh... first off, man, this has got to be the most accident prone game ever. The only thing I can say is that I'm doing the best I can...

So uh... apparently my new connection is not stable enough to maintain a single IP address. It switches without even telling anyone. Good to know... now...

But this causes a problem. Since I don't know when it goes down, I can easily check and fix the URL once or twice a day, but not all the time. Which means it's unfair to have any time limit on the turns.

If there's one thing I will say about this game, it seems to be a VERY good game, and we have one of the most dedicated crowds I've ever seen. So I'm going to leave it on quickhost for now, and just trust everyone to do their turns. Also, this is all my contact information, so if it does go down, you can get in touch with me without me having to check these forums.

AIM: Uberd00d2
MSN: hrakarth@hotmail.com
email: hubris@ucla.edu (or hrakarth@hotmail.com)




If anyone else wants to host, plz do so.

[thejeff]

As I said before, I'm willing to host.

I've put a server up:
silverfool.com
port: 2010

I've set indies to 6, everything else default, which was, I think, the latest plan.

Hubris,

I've had similar connection problems in the past. There are several free
"dynamic DNS" services which can remap domain names when your IP
changes. I use ZoneEdit (http://www.zoneedit.com). You might want to check something like that out.

[Arholly]

Uploaded mine.

[Arkas]

Im going to pass on this now. Im going out of town for the weekend.

[Hubris]

I'm in.

Also, I'm using dyndns, but if it switches when I'm not looking, then there will be a several hours where you can't log in and the turn timer will still be going.

[King Lear]

Is the silverfool server still up? I seem to be having trouble with it.

[thejeff]

It was down, along with the rest of my internet connection, for a day or so. Apparently the result of a bad phone cord to the dsl modem. Last thing I thought to check.
It should be stable again.

Where do we stand on starting this anyway?

I see the following have uploaded:
Arholly Pangaea
Hubris Marignon
thejeff Arcosephale
King Lear Tien Ch'i

Of the other who'd shown interest:
Arkas Abysia
was going to pass, but since we didn't start last weekend, he can still come back.


cryingdevil Machaka
ioticus Ulm
Haven't heard from them since the original server problems.

Since we're down a few, I'd welcome any other newbies who want to try, but I'd like to get started soon.
Start tomorrow evening with whoever we have?

[King Lear]

I'm good with starting sooner rather than later. I do wonder however which map we're using? That might be nice to know...

[Arkas]

you can count me back in. I thought you all were trying to get it up and going this past fri/weekend. Can we also get a comprehensive list of what the settings are. I looked back and saw some changes and things, all of which has confused my fragile little mind. I just need a little clarification. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[thejeff]

It's already later.

Pretty basic settings.
The map is Britain.
Indies 6, everything else default.
No mods.

That's what I'd gathered from the discussions, so that's what I used.

Server is at silverfool.com
Port 2010

[Arholly]

Im in.

[thejeff]

No sounds of new interest, so as soon as Arkas uploads a pretender we can get going (hint, hint).

[Arkas]

tonight. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

hint taken.

[Arkas]

uploaded.

[thejeff]

Game has been started!!!

It's on quickhost. I don't want to put a time limit till everyone's noticed we've started. I'll set it to 24h quickhost after the first turn is in.

[Arholly]

Pangea in.

[thejeff]

Turn 1:

T'ien Ch'i announced Sun Wu-Kung the Eunuch as prophet.

No provinces taken.
Abyssia has the highest income.
Arcosephale the most research and dominion.
T'ien Ch'i has the largest army.

Ferdinando's Footmen were hired by T'ien Ch'i.

I'm setting the game to 24 quickhost.

[Arholly]

Pangea promises to be merciful to everyone who sends us stuff.

[ioticus]

I can't connect to play my turn, so I guess that means I missed my first turn. I think 24 hour quick host is too short. I work for a living. At that rate, I'll have a lot of stale turns and will have to drop out.

[thejeff]

Sorry ioticus, we've started without you.

The server's been up since last weekend. I posted Wednesday saying I'd like to try to start Thursday, partly to bump the thread so people would notice. We actually started Friday.

You hadn't uploaded a pretender or asked for us to wait, so ...

I'd rather not restart (I like my starting location:), but I will if that's the consensus.


As for the 24hr turnaround, at this point it's really only a few minutes once a day. I suspect most of us work for a living. I know I do. I'd be happy to slow it down for special occasions, or once turns get more complicated. I'd expect wars not to start for a week or more even at this rate. If turns are too slow it's hard to keep interest. Stales are bad too though. How long would you want?

[ioticus]

I'd like at least 48 hours. I still can't connect to the server today so I don't know what the problem is.

[King Lear]

Abysia needs to take a turn now.

[Hubris]

I'd like at most 24h. Dominions turns are not so complicated that they require tons of time.

Also, we need a *timer*. Has anyone spoken to Abysia? Where is he?

[thejeff]

Arkas where are you?

I turned off the timer because I really didn't want anyone to stale this early, but it's gone a bit too long now. Probably a mistake, I won't do it again unless asked.

I'm putting the timer back on, with a couple hours to give him one last chance. Then back to 24.

Unless we do want to restart for Ioticus? It's early, not much to lose yet? Opinions?

[thejeff]

Turn 2:

Abyssia announced Bragegol the Anathemant Dragon as prophet.

T'ien Ch'i and Marignon took a province each.
Arcosephale has the highest income and research.
Marignon has the highest dominion.
T'ien Ch'i has the largest army.

Obscuro the Hidden Master is up for Hire.


We're back to 24 hour quickhost.

[Arholly]

Pangea is in.

[thejeff]

Turn 3:

Arcosephale announced Mideia the Priestess as prophet

Marignon and Abyssia each took a province
Marignon has the highest income
Arcosephale has the highest research
Pangaea and Abyssia have the highest dominion
T'ien Ch'i has the largest army.

Arcosephale hired Obscuro
Ferdinando and Gynter Blukraft are available for hire.

[thejeff]

Well, I've been crippled by what I can only assume is a bug.

My immortal pretender died trying to take my first indie province. In my dominion before, during and after the battle. The battle results show 0 commanders killed, which would be normal for an immortal. But, no pretender in my capital. I believe "Call God" is now an option for my priestess (I'm not at the computer so I can't check.)

I poked around a bit here and it looks like the reincarnation bug, so if anyone got a character with unexpected magic paths I want him back:)

I'm not sure what to say. Later in the game this wouldn't be such a big deal. I'd just turn my priestesses to calling him back. Now, though it's about 5 turns of buying priestesses instead of researchers, at best half the expansion. If it was my fault I'd just suck it up, but to be hurt that bad by a bug really sucks.

[Cainehill]

Ouch - so that bug is still there? I posted about it several patches back, and had hoped it was resolved. I'd suggest mailing the relevant files to Illwinter, but I don't think they're doing anything with Dominions 2 anymore. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Lost a phoenix very early in a MP the same way, so I know what you mean about being crippled. I think since then I have subconsciously avoided sending immortals to take provinces that are only dominion 1, which is when I think it happens.

[King Lear]

theJeff, is the province you attacked now at zero dominion? If so, it makes some sense; the dominion has to be your both turns I think. I agree that it sucks.

Options :
1, we could always restart... not what i hope for, but what the hey.
2, we could each spend 1 or 2 turns where we bought nothing but mages, spreading the hurt out a little. Maybe whoever has the smallest income in game could attack and expand a little evening things out. Not sure how fair this is to everyone.
3, we assume that it was your fault and play on as usuall =) (even though i'm sure its the bug.)

[Alneyan]

Theorically, the province has to be in friendly Dominion when the battle occurs, and that's all: Cainehill had an Immortal Pretender survive a battle in friendly Dominion, though the province switched to neutral Dominion on the next turn; I also think Immortals go back home right after they are killed, and not at the beginning of the next turn.

Oh, and thejeff did write the province was in friendly Dominion both before and after the battle (he wrote that in the Bug thread).

[Arholly]

I'm game for whatever.

[thejeff]

Yeah, it's still at +1 dominion. It was positive during the battle too, just for extra confirmation. Dominion bonuses to hp and strength.

This never happens in SP of course.

If people were adamantly opposed I'd be willing to play on, and get trashed much earlier than otherwise I'm sure, but I'd much rather restart.

[thejeff]

Turn 4:

Province counts: Marignon 4, T'ien Ch'i 3, Abyssia 3, Arcosephale 2, Pangaea 2
Marignon has the highest income
Marignon found gems
Arcosephale has the highest research
Pangaea has the highest dominion
T'ien Ch'i has the largest army

T'ien Ch'i rehired Ferdinando
Gynter Blukraft is still available for hire.

[thejeff]

Turn 5:

Province counts: Marignon 5, Abyssia 4, T'ien Ch'i 3, Arcosephale 3, Pangaea 2
Marignon has the highest income
Arcosephale has the highest research
Pangaea and Abyssia have the highest dominion
T'ien Ch'i has the largest army

Abyssia hired Gynter Blukraft
The Fishermen are available for hire

[Hubris]

I'm not adverse to starting over, though I am doing awfully well. I'd never support screwing someone over through no fault of their own.

[Hubris]

LOL. Why do I even bother taking Luck scales... sigh..

[thejeff]

Turn 6:

Province counts: Marignon 6, Abyssia 5, T'ien Ch'i 4, Arcosephale 3, Pangaea 2
T'ien Ch'i has the highest income, research and army size
Abyssia has the highest dominion

Arcosephale rehired Obscuro
The Brave Breakers are available for hire

[Arkas]

I just got back to checking the boards. Sorry about the weekend I wasnt near my computer from saturday afternoon until monday after work.

I don't mind a restart. that is a heinous bug even though im not doing all that bad.

[Arholly]

Word leaking out of Pangaea is that some sneaky messengers have been caught and executed.

Words is also that gifts were exchanged between Pangaea and another nation, but what nation that is remains a mystery.

[thejeff]

Let's continue anyway. I'm not doing that well, obviously, but I've found a good province, If I'm left alone for a few turns I should be able to recover.

Besides extra bragging rights if I win, a good excuse if I lose. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Arkas: No problem. Glad I decided to wait. Just try to let me know ahead of time and I won't have a problem stopping the timer.

Which brings me to my next problem. I'm going to be away this weekend. Thursday afternoon to sometime Monday evening. I'd like to put it on hold till I get back.

[King Lear]

I'm fine with you having it on hold. Unless of course some people violently object? I'm off for vacation too, but i've got a friend who's agreed to play a couple of turns for me. You better watch out though, he's better then me!

[King Lear]

So, if you are thinking to restart the game, I won't be back in until a week from Saturday. Otherwise, my buddy can take my turns for me.

[Arholly]

I could not connect this morning and will not be able to take my turn till this evening. Can we please hold at least the current turn for another 24 hours?

[thejeff]

Turn 7:

Marignon announces Canelious the Grand Master as prophet

Province count: Marignon 6, Abyssia 6, T'ien Ch'i 4, Arcosephale 3, Pangaea 2
T'ien Ch'i has the highest income, research and army size
Abyssia has the highest dominion

T'ien Ch'i rehired Ferdinando
Gynter Blukraft's contract is expiring.

[Arholly]

Did you not get the message about waiting? I was unable to connect to the server when I tried and now had a stale turn.

Arholly

[thejeff]

Sorry, Arholly. I didn't see your post until after it hosted.

Since I haven't heard any loud protests, I will be stopping the timer for the weekend.

[Arkas]

Glad to hear the timer is stopping for the weekend. I was actually going to request at least a bump to 48 hours for the weekend. I am going to a concert directly after work on friday and wouldnt be able to take a turn until at least mid-day saturday.

[thejeff]

Turn 8:

Province count: Marignon 6, Abyssia 6, T'ien Ch'i 4, Arcosephale 4, Pangaea 2
Arcosephale found gems.
T'ien Ch'i has the highest income, research and army size
Abyssia has the highest dominion


Obscuro's contract is expiring.
Gynter Blukraft is available for hire

[Arkas]

Is King Lear going to have his buddy sub for him or not?
or we on hold until the weekend effectively losing a week?

[PashaDawg]

FYI: King Lear's buddy was allegedly going to fill in also in a game I am hosting (RAND), but he never responded. So, I played his turn to keep the game moving. It's early in the game, so no biggie. Perhaps, the buddy does not realize that he is on the hook?

[Hubris]

I understand we're waiting for King Lear, so this post is not specifically regarding him.

However, if this game doesn't pick up we're gonna have to can it. After 3 days of inactivity I forgot to check for awhile, and just recently remembered that I should continue checking. If it goes on too much longer people are just gonna lose interest.

[King Lear]

Sorry everyone, my friend said he could do it, and I'm not sure what happened. i'm giving him a call later on tonight. Other than that though, I'm bakc. Sorry for all the trouble.

[thejeff]

Turn 9:

Province count: Marignon 7, Abyssia 7, Arcosephale 5, T'ien Ch'i 4, Pangaea 2
Arcosephale found gems.
T'ien Ch'i has the highest research and army size
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income

Ferdinando's contract is expiring
Obscuro and Gynter Blukraft are available for hire.

[thejeff]

Glad you're back, King Lear. No problem by me. These things happen.

But Hubris is right, this game needs to speed up. These are supposed to be the quick easy turns. With no activity, people stop checking. I hesitate to set it back to 24hr until I know everyone's noticed we're moving again.

As a partial fix for that, I've figured out the email notification. If you'll send me an email address, I can have the game email you when the turn runs.
Send to: Britain at silverfool dot com.

[thejeff]

Turn 10:

Province count: Abyssia 8, Marignon 7, Arcosephale 6, T'ien Ch'i 4, Pangaea 3
T'ien Ch'i found gems.
Marignon has the highest research
Pangaeahas the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income

T'ien Ch'i rehired Ferdinando
Obscuro, Gynter Blukraft and the Black Fists are available for hire.

[thejeff]

Turn 11:

Province count: Abyssia 8, Arcosephale 7, Marignon 5, T'ien Ch'i 6, Pangaea 3
Marignon has the highest research
Pangaea has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income

Arcosephale hired Obscuro
Gynter Blukraft and the Black Fists are available for hire.

[thejeff]

Turn 12:

Province count: Abyssia 9, Arcosephale 9, T'ien Ch'i 7, Marignon 4, Pangaea 4
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income
Marignon found gems, T'ien C'hi lost gems

Ferdinando's contract is expiring
Abyssia hired the Black Fists
Gynter Blukraft is available for hire.

[thejeff]

Turn 13:

Province count: Abyssia 10, Arcosephale 10, T'ien Ch'i 7, Marignon 4, Pangaea 4
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income
Pangaea found gems

T'ien C'hi rehired Ferdinando
Obscuro's contract is expiring
Gynter Blukraft is available for hire.

[Arholly]

Rumors of battle between Pangaea and Arcosephale are completely false.

[thejeff]

All such rumors are false. Arcosephale is a peace loving nation, dedicated to the study of elemental magic and the worship of the one true god, who has finally returned from his mysterious absence in answer to our frevent prayers.
(It is rumored he was muttering something about insects when he arose again, but the priestesses disagree about what this could mean.)

Any claims of massing armies or plans of conquest are simply vile lies, probably spread to distract from the rumor-mongers own plans.

[thejeff]

Turn 14:

Province count: Abyssia 11, Arcosephale 10, T'ien Ch'i 8, Pangaea 4, Marignon 3
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income
Arcosephale and T'ien C'hi found gems. Marignon lost gems.

Arcosephale rehired Obscuro
The Black Fists' contract is expiring
Gynter Blukraft and the Ship Wreckers are available for hire.

[Arholly]

Pangea agrees. Those spreading such rumors are hiding their own plans.

[thejeff]

Turn 15:

Province count: Abyssia 12, Arcosephale 11, T'ien Ch'i 9, Pangaea 4, Marignon 2
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income
Arcosephale found gems.

T'ien Ch'i hired the Shipwreckers
Gynter Blukraft, Magnus and the Black Fists are available for hire.

[Arholly]

Looks like Marignon is going bye-bye.

[Arholly]

Anyone who wants to correspond with Pangea, send an email to:
dominions (@) verizon (dot) net

[Arholly]

Pangaea led by the almighty Arholly has begun their conquest of Britian. His harpy messengers are dispatched across the land, bringing messages and gifts to his allies and spying on his enemies.

Arholly looks across the border at the lands of his enemies and wonders...

[Arholly]

Pangaea congratulates T'ien Ch'i on their virtual conquest of Marignon.

[thejeff]

Turn 16:

Province count: Abyssia 12, Arcosephale 12, T'ien Ch'i 11, Pangaea 5
Arcosephale and Abyssia have build forts
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion and income
Pangaea found gems.

T'ien Ch'i hired Magnus
Obscuro's contract is expiring
Gynter Blukraft and the Black Fists are available for hire.

[Arkas]

Had a stale turn. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif
I was unable to make it home last night to play my turn.
It doesnt look like it hurt me too much though.

[thejeff]

Turn 17:

Province count: Abyssia 13, Arcosephale 12, T'ien Ch'i 11, Pangaea 5
Arcosephale has the highest income
Arocosephale found gems
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion

The Ship Wreckers' contract is expiring.
Arcosephale rehired Obscuro and hired the Black Fists.
Gynter Blukraft is available for hire.

[thejeff]

Turn 18:

Hubris the God of Marignon has been permanently vanquished!

Province count: Abyssia 14, Arcosephale 14, T'ien Ch'i 11, Pangaea 5
T'ien C'hi has a new fort. Marignon has lost one.
Arcosephale has the highest income
Arocosephale and T'ien Ch'i found gems
Marignon has the highest research
T'ien C'hi has the largest army
Abyssia has the highest dominion

Magnus's contract is expiring.
T'ien Chi rehired the Ship Wreckers
Gynter Blukraft and Helmut's Sappers are available for hire.

[King Lear]

I would suggest changing it to a 30 hr host from a 24 since some days when we all finish our turns early, the next turn roles around much faster than expected.

[Arkas]

Dammit!

Stale again.

I did 2 turns yesterday and i just got to my computer today and find i stale. This stale turn really pisses me off.
30 hour host is neccessary for me if we have turns go this fast.

[thejeff]

I've set it to 30hr quickhost. Hopefully that will help.

I'll also repeat my offer to set up email notification if that will help.

[Arkas]

Email notification won't help me. I am just busy during the weekend and can not be near my computer for 24 hours sometimes. Sunday's are in particular usually bad. I leave the house around 8am and dont return anywhere from 7 to midnight. If i have done my turn the previous night it is quite fesable for me to stale like i did this past weekend.

I personally wouldn't mind the timer turned off for the weekend. During the week i can keep a 24 hour host period. weekends are just problematic for me.

[King Lear]

I don't have any trouble turning the timer off for the weekend.

[Arholly]

Cool with me. Better than having someone go stale. We still go quick during the week, so I'm fine with whatever.

[thejeff]

I'll turn the timer off over the weekends then. It will stay on quickhost though, so check in if you get the chance.

[Arkas]

Can we turn off the quickhost for tommorrow?
I started my turn and some interesting things have been brought to my attention and i might need to make some changes before the host, but i can survive if we don't. Say turn the quickhost back on around 8-9pm?

this is starting to shape up into a fun and interesting game. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I dont think we need to turn off quickhost for the weekend since we just added the host time to 30 hours though. That in its self is a big help for me.

[thejeff]

I've turned quick host off. Let me know when you're ready to go.

For future reference, if you connect and then quit without saving, you can play the turn locally and then upload when you reconnect. I've started doing this, now that I actually have to think about the turns.

And yes, it is starting to get interesting.

[Arholly]

I agree. Lots of stuff going on. Looks like people are busy trying to decide what to do next.

I remember staring across the border at one of my neighbors and wondering if our combined 400+ units were going to duke it out...

Kind of glad we didn't.

[Arkas]

Ahh, didnt know that.

So does it just automatically downloads? or do you actually have to go into the game and then quit?

I could find my manual somewhere but that might take few centuries. :p

[thejeff]

I'm pretty sure you have to go into the game and quit without saving. I haven't tried without doing that.

Beware, though. Once you've run it locally and saved your turn, it will upload as soon as you connect. If the game is just waiting on you to host, you won't have time to make one last tweak.

[King Lear]

If you've managed to get the turn file without uploading your next turn, and you still have that final tweak to make, you can load the game up from your saved games files before connecting, make the tweak, and then connect.

[King Lear]

Arkas, it atomatically downloads it right after asking you your password, when you come up to the screen with all the flags. You can quit out from there if you want.

Now is where diplomacy becomes important =)

[Arholly]

I agree. Diplomacy is now crucial, especially since there are but 4 of us and only a few neutral provinces.

Incidentally, where are people? Might it be possible to have a blitz night one night or something? Just a thought. I'm in Chicago (GMT-6).

Arholly, Lord of Pangaea

[King Lear]

Dallas, GMT -6 here as well

[thejeff]

Connecticut GMT-4

But, I'm not sure how well a blitz would work now. Would have been great when we were starting, but turns are starting to take awhile. And sometimes some serious thought.
I make enough mistakes when I've got time to plan.

[Arkas]

Awsome thanks for the info on how that works.

I am in Athens i guess GMT-5? Its edt anywho.

I have modified my turn and will be out for the rest of the evening. You can turn quickhost back on now. Now i know how to avoid that situation things should be all good on my end. After all this is a newbie game and i learned something new. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[thejeff]

The war has begun.

The demon of Abyssia and his flaming hordes have invaded peaceful Acrosephale. His messenger bearing word that he was ending our peace negotiations had barely reached our capital when word came of the fire of war crossing our borders.

Our troops in Armagh fought bravely, but the enemies superior numbers and the presence of their demonic master left them little chance. Brave Apaisos was able to wound the monster with his spells, but the day was lost.

Even more vilely, our gentle priestess Pursue was slain by a demonic assassin as she tended her followers. One of the brave hawks recently brought to aid us was struck down by more normal killer.

Now we prepare to strike back. Abyssia will be driven from our fair island and hounded across Britain till every trace of this cult is lost and forgotten.

[King Lear]

I'm moving down to college Thursday the 25th, and although I anticipate being able to take my turn immediately as i arrive, I would appreciate a little lee-way, say, a 12 hour extension, incase I have some trouble setting accessing the internet set-up that my roomate has put together.

As I said, I don't anticipate any trouble, but better to be safe.

The emerald isle is once again embedded in conflict.

[thejeff]

I'm going to have to take the server down for a little bit. Throwing new hardware into the machine.

Shouldn't be down too long. It may go up and down a few times if I have to reboot again, but I won't take it down if anyone is on.

Lear: No problem with the extension. I'm not really concerned with the timelimit, as long as we all keep playing regularly.

Now that I'm at war, turns are taking a while. Especially having to worry about assassinations.

[Arkas]

assassinations?

I know not what you talk about.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

[Arholly]

It's why all commanders should have some troops with guard commander, ya know?

[thejeff]

I stopped the timer last night when I got home much later than I'd expected. About 1 AM. I'll do the turn when I get home tonight. Sorry.

I'm also going to be away for Labor Day weekend. Wednesday through Monday. I'm bringing my laptop along, so I'll try to log on when I can, but I suspect access points may be hard to find.

[Arholly]

No worries. You could leave it on quick host. I'm sure Abyssa wil leave you alone while you stale for a couple days. <grin>

[Arkas]

Leaving off the timer for the week until after labor day is a good idea. I will be out of town friday-monday myself. Leaving it on quickhost works for me.

[Arholly]

Just do not forget about the game. It's kind of enjoyable...

[thejeff]

Arkas?

Are you out there?

Come back. I want to see how badly I get beaten this turn:)

[Arholly]

Are we going to continue this game?

[thejeff]

I'm not sure what to do. Without Abyssia, it's a completely different game, especially for me, so I really hate to go on without him.

On the other hand, it's been more than a week since the last turn and I'm starting to forget the desperate measures I was coming up with.

What do you think? King Lear, are you still paying attention?

Let it die?
Set Abyssia AI?
Stall a bit longer? How long?

[Arholly]

Be a bummer to set him to AI. Would change the game drastically.

[Molog]

Get substitute.

[Arholly]

I think this game is pretty much dead.

[thejeff]

Yeah, I think so too.

King Lear seems to have disappeared as well.

It was an interesting game. I learned somethings in the process of being slaughtered. Primarily, that a Fire-9 bless is not a good strategy for going up against Abyssia http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I'm officially pulling the plug on the server.

[Arholly]

Good idea. BTW, you guys had "talked me into" an alliance against Abyssia, which wasn't going to happen. The first turn we had secretly formed a non-human alliance. So, really, when you guys attacked him, my stealthed commanders and troops were gonna do a mass pounce. It would have turned real bloody, real quick.

[thejeff]

Sneaky nonhumans. You can never trust them.

That would have been bad. I was already in rough shape. If you'd taken T'ien Ch'i by surprise and crippled him it would have been over quickly.

[Arholly]

Yeah, we were planning on that. I was playing off my neutrality to T'ien Ch'i and we came to a non-agression deal. Which of course, I was in the process of violating thanks to stealth troops.

Also, Abyssia and I were trading gems which was allowing me to suppliment my pathetic income by selling the fire gems and I was giving him information and peace. Surprisingly, I got nothing from T'ien Ch'i so I went with the deal that paid. Plus, I liked the idea of humans vs. non-humans.