RAND2 - full, everyone send me an email

[Ygorl]

I'm going to be getting this game started. First, for any newcomers, here are the rules (courtesy of Panther, but modified a bit):

1. All nations will be randomly assigned. No one knows which player belongs to which nation. I am shooting for 17 players here.
2. No diplomacy of any kind. No in-game messages. No transferring of artifacts or gems or gold to any player. No external email allowed. I know this last item is impossible to truly enforce, so we would have to rely on the honor system here.
3. Name your deity after your nation (e.g "Jotunheim")

As for parameters:
indies 6
hard research
no renaming
Mods:
CB pretender mod (and *ONLY* the pretender mod) http://www.dominions-2.org/downloads/concept5separated.zip
Turin's hero mod http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/download.php?Number=358700
graphs on
victory points equal to n/2 + 1 to win
anything not mentioned is as default

People might hate the idea of no mods; but, while I really like the idea of the CB mod, and think it's made a lot of good moves, I've yet to play a modded game where some unforseen trick or other didn't lead to a major imbalance. Sure, the base game has its imbalances too, but at least everyone's familiar with them. Besides, if Caelum starts getting too big (watch the score graphs!), attack Caelum. I am slightly negotiable on this, but I'd prefer to stick with it. I'd be pretty happy to throw in just Turin's hero mod, actually...

map will be Orania, with Panther's pre-set starting locations. This is good motivation for me to make a 17-player toroidal map, but not for this game.

The game will be TCP/IP, hosted by me. I'll manage anonymity by virtue of a little script I wrote to automatically assign the nations and email them out to the players. The other main drawbacks of TCP/IP games (that I know of) are lack of notification when things host and potential for file corruption to derail the game. The former will be handled by an email that goes out to everyone who wants it upon each hosting. The latter will (hopefully!) be solved by backups that happen each turn.

So... Who's interested?


Players:
(if you don't have an asterisk by your name, send me your email address over PM or to dig4fire at cox. (net) I will need it for the nation-choosing script. Also, if you don't want to receive turn updates over email, this would be a good time to indicate it)

*Ygorl - R'lyeh
*extramedium - Arcoscephale
*Folket - Ulm
*Jurri - Man
*WraithLord - Pangaea
*PashaDawg - Pythium
*Peacekeeper
*Tyrant - Marignon
*Shmonk - Ermor
*castigated - T'ien Ch'i
*Grizannor - Machaka
*iljah - Mictlan
*DaMilano
*shovah - Abysia
*The_Tauren13 - Caelum
*Dongwook - C'tis
*Cainehill - Vanheim

17 email addresses means a game. Nation assignments have been sent. Let me know if you decide you don't want to play, but don't tell me which nation you got!

[Folket]

I would like to join. No diplomacy seems like my stuff.

[Jurri]

I'm in!

Any comment on undead themes? There seems to be something of a trend against using them. I don't mind them myself, but their strengths are enhanced in no-diplo.

What sort of schedule? Without diplomacy turns are very fast to do until the micromanagement grind hits.

[Folket]

I think we should allow undead themes.

[Ygorl]

I think they should be fair game as well. Just, if you get Ermor, and choose Ashen Empire, be prepared for everyone around to mass priests and hit you early. Vice-versa, if you start near AE Ermor, you'd better build a lot of priests and hit them early.

The different nations unquestionably have different strengths at different times in the game; successful players will take advantage of their own strong times and abilities, and work to prevent others from doing the same.

[WraithLord]

I'm in.

I recommend in favor of the latest CB mod. IMO it fixes a lot of issues. But I'm also fine with no mods.

I'm also in favor of not banning any nation and/or strategy. Since there are score graphs dominion killing nations will be probably jumped, balancing their advantage.

[Jurri]

Well, in all of the no-diplos (all two of them http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif) I've played Ashen Empire Ermor wasn't jumped. (And indeed, it's usually recommended to cooperate with others to take them down, which is not as easily accomplished without communication.)

But, yes, I'm in favor of not banning anything too, upon reflection. Unmodded anything-goes sounds very fun indeed!

As for the map, I think wraparound is essential. Anyone know if there are other wraparounds available besides Orania and World map that accomodate a large number of players? (If we fall short there's Inland, any others?)

[shovah]

im in, even though im in 2 games already. no diplomacy seems like my thing since i suck at it and my large number of games shouldnt be a problem because i have too much spare time. cb or not im happy either way

[PashaDawg]

I'm in!!

[Peacekeeper]

Id like to participate too. Havnt tried a no diplomacy game, sounds like fun.

I must say Im in favor of the CB mods, but thats because Im still rather new and have probably played more games with the mods than without.

[Tyrant]

Sign me up please!

[Shmonk]

Oh heck, I guess I'll give it go, 3 games shouldn't be too many to be in. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[castigated]

i am definitely down.

[Grizannor]

I'd like to participate too.

[iljah]

Count me in!

[DaMilano]

I'd like to join.

[RonD]

Guess I'd better get off the fence.

I'll join, too.

Though being in a game with Pasha and Jurri without the Pasha/Jurri trash talk is only 0.001% as much fun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[The_Tauren13]

I'm in.

[RonD]

and btw - I would vote in favor of at least the Turin heroes and Zen pretender mods

[The_Tauren13]

I'm in favor of mods, as always.

[Cainehill]

Not sure I'll be in, but I'm with RonD - I can see avoiding the full CB mod, but the hero & pretender mods are pretty straightforward and unadulterated goodness, imo. Just makes for more variety of pretenders, and heroes that you're glad to get, without all the ... "unintended consequences" of changing troops, spells, magic items, etc.

[Ygorl]

I agree, Cainehill and RonD. Those mods are in. The game is full, but I need everyone to get me their email address before we can start. Cainehill, if you are interested, it wouldn't surprise me if at least one person fails to do so in the next day or two, in which case it would be great to have you join. Interested?

As for what remains to be determined... Anyone have a feeling about maps? We need a 17-player wraparound map, preferably not Orania. Also, I was thinking a 24-hour quickhost to start, moving to 48-hour as soon as someone requests it. Things should move quickly (get it?) with quickhost, since without diplomacy clogging things there's no reason not to upload your turn as soon as you can.

[Peacekeeper]

my email address is in my profile.

[castigated]

i don't know about you guys, but i'm excited http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[OG_Gleep]

Just curious, what is the draw to no diplomacy? I have to say, for me, its the best aspect of MP.

[The Panther]

OG_Gleep said:
Just curious, what is the draw to no diplomacy? I have to say, for me, its the best aspect of MP.



Only because it is different than usual. People crave variety in general...


It might be easier for all of you if I were to randomly assign the nations, get all pretenders from the players, and then collect the first turns. I can then also check for pretender passwords and naming convention for all nations. After the first turn, I can send everything to the host for him to migrate over to the server.

Oh, and by the way, the single biggest thing I always hated about a server is the Quick Host option when the hosting times frequently change (always forward, never back).

[The Panther]

Ygorl said:
Anyone have a feeling about maps? We need a 17-player wraparound map, preferably not Orania.



As far as I know, there are only two maps of sufficient size:
Orania
Neo-Pangaea (only half wraparound)

[RonD]

Neopangea has a balance problem for 17 nations - there are way too many water provinces, compared to land provinces.

[The Panther]

Which is why there is truly only ONE map that can have a decent chance at a balanced start with 17 players. Like Inland, Orania is overplayed for a very good reason...

I still have the modded map where there are 17 balanced starts and 17 extra balanced VP provinces on Orania if you want that.

[Shmonk]

PM sent with my email.

I'm for Panther's balanced starting positions map as the map to use. NeoPangaea is unbalanced, favoring water nations more.

Too bad someone can't make a mod to replace a nation like Ermor with a 3rd water nation, like Oceania, making this map playable with 17 races (3 being water). I know, Oceania is a replacement for Atlantis, but could be interesting to have 3 water nations in an MP game.

[WraithLord]

Sent PM with my email, izaqyos@gmail.com.

[Folket]

More intresting would be a all water nations game.

[castigated]

i think due to the server problems, ygorl hasn't been on in a while, because his list seems to be terribly out of date http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

hopefully things get moving pretty soon ^_^

[Ygorl]

Yeah, I was unable to see shrapnelcommunity.com for about the last day and a half.
I'll update everything when I get home tonight, and if I have all the emails I will at least run the nation-assignment script.
Looks like we might be stuck with Orania, unfortunately. Nobody knows of another option?

[Ygorl]

So the game is full. Panther, if you'd be so good (and I know you are!) as to send me the Orania.map file with nice starts, I'd be indebted. We'll use that, since there doesn't seem to be another appropriate map.

Everyone should have received nation assigments by now... Let me know if you didn't, and I'll get someone else to look into it... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Lotta Finns in this game... I'm worried!

The email has the details of where the server lives, but it's not up yet. This is a ploy on my part to let everyone spend some time making a pretender without the temptation of uploading a bad one (probably not a big deal?) or starting the game (somewhat of a big deal). Remember to enable the mods before making your god, and name the pretender the same thing as your nation. I'll probably put up the server tomorrow (pending receipt of the .map file from Panther) and we'll be off!

Thanks, everyone, for playing.

[Peacekeeper]

the community has had a upsurge of canadians lately. I feel the hockey teams need for revenge on all other nations!

good luck everyone, hope you enjoy your nations.

[shovah]

i dont have a nation http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Peacekeeper]

*Ygorl
*extramedium (not a forum member, but he sent me an ICQ saying he wanted to play in this game)
*Folket
*Jurri
*WraithLord
*PashaDawg
*Peacekeeper
*Tyrant
*Shmonk
*castigated
*Grizannor
*iljah
*DaMilano
*RonD
*The_Tauren13
*Dongwook (another shrapnelcommunity non-member)
*Cainehill

You didn't PM Ygorl with your email address did you?

[WraithLord]

Got my assignment.

How much time do I have for trials before I upload my pretender (of nation ****) ?

[Ygorl]

Yeah, shovah, you never sent me your email address. Sorry... I know you're in other games, though, so I don't feel too bad... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

WraithLord, I believe (but am not certain) that I will put up the server today. Don't spend a week on it or anything, but don't feel pressured to upload immediately.

Same goes for everyone. Just don't announce when you've uploaded, because it would be a clue to your identity. Upload in silent anonymity, and wait for the game to start (email notifications will go out, when it does and each turn thereafter).

[shovah]

oops, forgot to pm http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[RonD]

I decided that I've got enough games even without Rand2, so shovah will replace me. I have sent him the nation identity - now its his job to send his email address to Ygorl.

[Ygorl]

Sounds good. I'll send him the info about the server.

[shovah]

i never got nation identity

[Ygorl]

Maybe you should speak with RonD about it?

[shovah]

already pm'ed him (dont worry i wont discuss it here)

[shovah]

ok i think the game is full so shall we start

[Ygorl]

The server was down briefly with a broken pipe. This supposedly happens when someone disconnects from the server badly, either because the client crashed or because it was closed with the X in the corner of the window rather than with End Game or one of the Quit options. I don't know if this happened or if it was some other network error, but please make sure that you log out gently.
Sorry if the downtime caused anybody any problems.

[PashaDawg]

Yeeehaw!!! Let's ride this horsey 'til the hogs eat their grits!

[Ygorl]

The server has been up and down (but mostly up) all day. I am nearly done with making it invincible, but not quite. It may skip out a few more times before it's really solid.
Anyway, it's generally up, and won't host until everyone takes their first turn or 24 hours after it's really solidly up.
Thanks for everyone's patience... This is the first time I've hosted a large game, and everything needs to be a bit more fault-tolerant than I'm used to. Cheers!

[Ygorl]

One pretender file got messed up - probably my fault. The game is down (again! I am sorry! I am sorry!) but hopefully I will be able to fix the problem and restart the game. People will have to re-play their first turns, but that's not too painful I think. Thanks again to everyone for incredible patience. This has been very educational for me (and in the future, things will go much more smoothly).

Cheers!

[PashaDawg]

Thank you, Ygorl, for your efforts. I am sure everything will be great after the kinks are ironed out.

Pasha

[WraithLord]

Ygorl, could you please extend the hosting on the weekend because I will not be able to play this saturday (11/03). TIA.

[shovah]

this hard research is going to be a real pain for some people

[Shmonk]

Hmm... is turn 1 starting over again? Or are we on to turn 2 yet?

[Ygorl]

I'm still trying to understand and fix a very bizarre... Um, bizarre thing.
I'd tell you about it, but I'd have to mindwipe you.
I am cautiously optimistic, though, that it's about to be resolved (pending something happening which should happen today or tomorrow).
Unfortunately, we'll be back to turn 1. Still, if you're going to have to redo any turn at all, turn 1 isn't a bad choice (and, thanks to my nifty automated backups, you don't have to re-upload pretenders...)

WraithLord, what's the difference between WraithLord and Izaqyos? And, don't worry, I will slow down the hosting for the weekend (I will set it to 48-hour quickhost on Friday).

[Peacekeeper]

Make sure you delete your previous RAND2 game folder though or you will see the last(or first if you didn't delete it before turn1 v2.0) turn 1.

Someone wanna help me with understanding this version of Orania. Are the special sites still in the provinces they would be?

[Ygorl]

Nope. It's a naked map. Nothing is fixed except the starting points (and even those aren't assigned to specific nations).

[WraithLord]

Ygorl said:
WraithLord, what's the difference between WraithLord and Izaqyos? And, don't worry, I will slow down the hosting for the weekend (I will set it to 48-hour quickhost on Friday).

A Somewhat more thematic alias http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Jurri]

Eh? I haven't noticed you playing Ermor any more than is usual... I for one will never get used to the change unless you start http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/stupid.gif

Won't we all see what nation Wraithlord is playing if the hosting time is extended? I mean, wouldn't the last to play be him? That's why such requests oughta be relayed via Alneyan or some other kind-hearted fool http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/heart.gif Only, that wouldn't do any good if there are any other games that the cause for extension is in. And, if there are none deductions can be made from that... Sheesh, I'm going to get a headache if I think this trough...

Anyway, one option to avoid the possible problem would be taking the server down for 24 hours at some point. That's probably too much, though. (Of course, if I should happen to find out what nation Izaqyos is, I doubt I can resist the temptation!)

Indeed, thinking about it, won't posting to this thread make it possible to correlate nations and people? I mean, if one assumes that you will take your turn and post to the forum at nearly the same time, you could in theory observe a co-incidence of such events and draw conclusions.

Of course, the odds for observing such an event should be rather low unless you in fact are paying attention to the matter, and chances are everybody has something better to do with their time http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif /threads/images/Graemlins/icon10.gif

Yeah, I've got a fever and it shows...

[castigated]

so for the person who spends all their time drawing graphs, correlating the posting time and which nations have been played at a given time, said person will be awarded with a hunch about who a given nation is.

from there....uhh, i have no idea. i mean, if they tell anyone about their suspicion, we'll all yell at them, so they'll keep it to themselves. it's not like they'll be able to do diplomacy, because if someone pm'ed me and said "hey, i think you're this nation. if so, can we have an NAP?", i would be like "you're an idiot, shove off!"

i really don't see this being an issue.

[Cainehill]

Still, it's a very good reason for why the previous anonymous / rand game was hosted via email - not only does it keep you from guessing who your friends might be, it keeps you from figuring out a nation is someone you despise and want to cause hate and discontent to.

Even without any PMs or diplo, figuring out who a player is can give some definate advantages if you know something about their play style : whether they rush aggressively, or if they're more likely to leave other nations alone while independents are still available, etc, etc.

[Ygorl]

I don't think it will be a big deal. Nobody knows exactly what times WraithLord will be unavailable, if he'll take his turn before or after he's unavailable, if anyone else will be likewise delayed on Saturday (intentionally or otherwise)... So, like castigated said, with a lot of work you might be able to get a little bit of a suspicion about which nation Izaqyos is playing. But, if you've got that much free time to dedicate to meta-Dominions, why aren't you volunteering to take Arralen's spot in the Council of Wyrms game?

On the other hand, I can imagine situations when someone's delay request might be a bit more revealing. So, if you have requests, please make them as vaguely as possible, or else make them through a kind-hearted third party. Even so, some of the duty is on us as players to not try to figure out who the other people are. Just as I wouldn't try to log in to other people's accounts in the hope that they didn't password-protect them, I wouldn't try to think about who played at what times relative to where players lived or whether or not they had said that they'd be available... While it might give me some slight advantage, it's neither in the spirit of this game nor worth the time/energy it would take.

[shovah]

I have a huge amount of free time (and have volunteered for arralens spot) but really couldnt be bothered sluething so...

[Alneyan]

Jurri said:
That's why such requests oughta be relayed via Alneyan or some other kind-hearted fool http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/heart.gif



Somehow, I have a hunch someone is going to end up with a lot of stale turns next game I host. Them Fins!

[shovah]

i a;ready hate no diplomacy http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Peacekeeper]

Is sending messages in-game just to talk to each other completely unallowed? I mean if it doesnt have anything to do with working together. Something along the lines of telling someone who attacks you to go to hell?

[castigated]

i am pretty sure that would be fine. as long as it isn't "go to hell, i'll fight you in a few turns", but i'm quite sure that's not what you meant.

are the emails every time it hosts annoying anyone else?

[PashaDawg]

My recollection in the original RAND game was that no in-game messages were allowed. So, I assume the same is true in RAND2.

Pasha

[shovah]

castigated said:
i am pretty sure that would be fine. as long as it isn't "go to hell, i'll fight you in a few turns", but i'm quite sure that's not what you meant.

are the emails every time it hosts annoying anyone else?



my spam filter must be eating them so im happy, and i think we should be allowed messages with no diplomatic meaning (ie: im gona kill everyone)

[PashaDawg]

I like the host emails.

[Cainehill]

Um - better to have no messages, as per the original game. Yes, you think it might be fun, but #1, people can tell who someone is by the way they say "go to hell, etc", and #2, first it's "go to hell", then it's other things.

Finally, as it said from day one in the first message about the nature of the game : "2. No diplomacy of any kind. No in-game messages. No transferring of artifacts or gems or gold to any player. No external email allowed. I know this last item is impossible to truly enforce, so we would have to rely on the honor system here."

[Shmonk]

I agree, no in-game messages at all, as originally stated.

[The_Tauren13]

Absolutely NO in-game messages.
Hosting emails are VERY usefull for PBEM players like me.
I dislike playing TCP/IP without them.

[Ygorl]

Yup, no in-game messages period. No out-of-game messages, either, if they have anything to do with the game itself.
This game should feel just like single-player, except with thinking opponents and the pleasure of knowing that when you're ________ing someone's _________, there's actually someone squirming on the other end of the line. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Castigated, I'll take you off the list. If anyone else doesn't want to receive notifications, just let me know.

Cheers!

[WraithLord]

Jurri said:
Eh? I haven't noticed you playing Ermor any more than is usual... I for one will never get used to the change unless you start http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/stupid.gif



Sorry, but I'm attempting to lead Pythium to the same horrible fate that Ermor had suffered (both in dominions lore and in the last RAND) http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif


Jurri said:
Won't we all see what nation Wraithlord is playing if the hosting time is extended? I mean, wouldn't the last to play be him? That's why such requests oughta be relayed via Alneyan or some other kind-hearted fool http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/heart.gif Only, that wouldn't do any good if there are any other games that the cause for extension is in. And, if there are none deductions can be made from that... Sheesh, I'm going to get a headache if I think this trough...

Anyway, one option to avoid the possible problem would be taking the server down for 24 hours at some point. That's probably too much, though. (Of course, if I should happen to find out what nation Izaqyos is, I doubt I can resist the temptation!)

Indeed, thinking about it, won't posting to this thread make it possible to correlate nations and people? I mean, if one assumes that you will take your turn and post to the forum at nearly the same time, you could in theory observe a co-incidence of such events and draw conclusions.
...



I comletely agree. My bad!
In the future I will email our generous host or send him a PM.

[castigated]

the only thing about this game that bothers me at all is the fact that i can't really ask questions about it. or i have to be really careful who i ask, because the questions could give away who i am.

otherwise, i'm having fun http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[The Panther]

Feel free to ask an interested observer (like me) questions. You do have to be a bit careful because I will occasionally sub for players when requested.

[Peacekeeper]

a lot of people who are usually in the irc arnt playing in this game

[castigated]

i finally found mork in the irc. whenever i went into the irc, no one was ever there. i actually logged in once the other day, and only the ChanServ was there.

the next day, i went it, and it was just ChanServ and folket, and folket was afk.

i did find mork, though, so i was able to confer with him. nothing too exciting, just something i was curious about.

[shovah]

folket is always afk, im sometime on (or you can find me at matthewbird32 @ hotmail. co. uk

[Ygorl]

Just to let people know... I received a request to have the game slowed down this Friday and Saturday. So, it'll be slowed down this Friday and Saturday.
Fear not.
We'll be back up to speed on Sunday.

May the __________ continue!

[PashaDawg]

Is the server down?

[castigated]

i think so.

can we make sure it's up for a full 24 hours after it goes back up?...i'm not sure if i've played my turn or not yet.

[shovah]

i believe its down

[Ygorl]

Sorry about that, folks. I messed it up, but it's back running now.
It was a combination of pub quiz and out-of-continent guest. Obviously not something that y'all'll need to worry about too often.

[Ygorl]

The server is down again... I am having extremely frustrating problems with my computer. They should be resolved within an hour or two, but meanwhile sorry for the inconvenience.

[Cainehill]

Still seems down two days later?

[Ygorl]

Not still, but rather again. I had to reinstall my OS (which in almost 20 years of Mac computing I never had to do, until I made an external RAID-3 device my boot drive - there's a lesson, children!) and in the process stupidly and unnecessarily threw out all my system preferences. That included the one telling the computer not to sleep - last night, while I was napping, so was the computer and hence so was the server.
Again, apologies.
I will (hopefully!) be moving everything onto a new computer within a week; this transition should be nearly transparent, and the hardware will be much more stable.
The server should be back up within several minutes (or else I'll be *really* upset!)

[Ygorl]

Two updates... One, I've had a request to slow down to 48-hour quickhost starting after this turn, through Monday.
Second, there's a big heavy box en route to me, hopefully containing a good computer. It should arrive Saturday, and there may be a brief period of downtime that day or one of the days soon after. I don't anticipate the server being offline for more than half an hour.

[Ygorl]

So Abysia is out... Abysia, reveal thyself!
And, thanks for playing.

[shovah]

*drumroll* and abysia is................. ME (like you didnt guess from me posting this...)
thanks for the game guys

[OG_Gleep]

Is the IP for the server posted somewhere? I'm subbing for someone and for the life of me, I can't find the IP.

[Ygorl]

digforfire.dyndns.org:2247

[Ygorl]

Server is still down due to new-computer issues. Might not be up until tomorrow. Thanks for patience.

[PashaDawg]

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

Pythium 'twas I.

Curse I forever and ever the worthy lord who smote me.

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

[castigated]

apparently this post gave away who i was. deleted!

[Cainehill]

Castigated, by saying something like this you're giving away information about what nation you're playing. Sheesh.

[The Panther]

Castigated:

You could have sent me a PM on this (or anything else). I invented the rules of RAND in the first one so I know a bit about the subject.

The answer is that what you asked (plus pretty much anything else) is allowed. You can have all the assumed alliances you want, but whomever you think may be allied with you just might not be your friend. So watch your back at all times.

The main thing is that you cannot send ANY messages, whether in game or by emails. You also cannot send ANY items or gems or money to another nation, even when you are dying. You also cannot post messages like this one, so I would suggest you go and edit all the text out to limit the damage caused.

In RAND 1, I killed (with a spell) the Pretender of a (assumed) friendly nation, figuring he would blame it on another nation. He did, and they fought a massive war over it while I watched.

[Morkilus]

The Panther said:
In RAND 1, I killed (with a spell) the Pretender of a (assumed) friendly nation, figuring he would blame it on another nation. He did, and they fought a massive war over it while I watched.



Heh heh, cool. When does the next one start? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif

[The_Tauren13]

Morkilus said:
Heh heh, cool. When does the next one start? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/evil.gif



Not nearly soon enough...

[Ygorl]

As soon as one of the following happens:
*this one ends
*I get wiped out in this one and figure out how to host two TCP games at the same time without either of them going down
*someone else starts one

I'd be happy to email my little AppleScripts to anyone who's interested in running one, if you've got a Mac. There's one to randomly assign the seventeen nations and email them privately to the players, and another that (in conjunction with the -posthost tag on the dominions2 app) emails a new-turn notification to everyone and backs up everything each turn.

I've also got a bash script that you can use to start the game server, and (if run as a cron job) will restart the server if it goes down.

[Ygorl]

Anybody want to fess up to having been C'tis?

[Tyrant]

Why are the turns constantly being delayed?

[Ygorl]

I had two requests for delays over this weekend. I'm guessing people are traveling for Easter and/or Passover.
Don't worry... We'll be back on brutal schedule come next week!

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

[Shmonk]

Is anyone going to fess up to being C'tis?

[Cainehill]

Perhaps we could go to 24 hour fixed hosting after the weekend? That way we at least all know exactly when the turn is due by.

[Tyrant]

The holiday weekend delay makes sence, but it seems like most turns have been delayed latly, and it's only friday now so this one was a pre holiday weekend delay.

I suppose i should stop whining and cultivate serenity.

[castigated]

i am also getting antsy, mostly because all the IH games are down as well...so between this game, and the animal kingdom, i'm playing a turn every 2 days or so.

hopefully it gets going again soon.

[Peacekeeper]

come on...who was ctis???

[Grizannor]

I guess C'tis was one of the non forum members.

[Cainehill]

Or it could be one of the people who are away from computers for the Easter weekend.

[shovah]

dongwook maybe?

[Ygorl]

Good intuition, shovah. It was indeed Dongwook.
And, sorry everyone if you're getting dupes of the email asking about it. I don't know why it's happening (my best guess is that delivery failed on one of the addresses, and my ISPs mail server is re-sending it to everyone. Not sure though).

[Ygorl]

Could the player who used the anonymous email address thgrl666@netscape.net please check that account?

Thanks!

[Tyrant]

I was Marignon and i have fallen http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/Sick.gif

Thanks to all for the game and thanks to Ygorl for hosting.

[Ygorl]

So who was Mictlan?

[castigated]

edited because it said who i was. oops.

[iljah]

I was Mictlan http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Ygorl]

I've had a request for fixed hosting, a request to slow the game down, and at least one request that the game host less erratically. So, I will change the hosting schedule to be Monday/Wednesday/Friday at 10 am EDT. If anyone has a problem with this, let me know.

Incidentally, if anyone knows how to use the --hosttime flag to specify more than one day, I'd love to hear it.

[Alneyan]

You might be able to do that by using --postexec to call up a script that closes Dominions and starts another instance, this time with a different --hosttime.

A 48 hours timer skipping Sundays might also work out for you, but I haven't tested --skipday. That, and the hosting hour will slowly drift away... though you could set it back to 10 am once it has drifted by an hour or so.

You might also be able to set up a scheduled task that brings down the game at 10 am, forcehost the turn and brings the server back up. Well, none of the three solutions are particularly elegant (the last one excepted, where it works well for PBEM).

[Ygorl]

Turns out you can simply give the --hosttime argument more than once. Talk about elegant! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Ygorl]

So, who was Ulm?

[WraithLord]

server down http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Ygorl]

The server should never be down for more than a couple minutes, unless something happens that I'm powerless to correct (internet outage, blown power supply, etc.)

Most of the time, though, it goes down when somebody disconnects from it badly; in those cases it will spring back (like a Weeble!) - just give it a couple minutes and try again. I'm guessing that's what happened, unless my house burned down or something while I was out.

On a different subject, I take it this means you weren't Ulm? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Anybody want to fess up?

[WraithLord]

Yeap it took a few minutes to be back again. Nice work you did there with the "watchdog" http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Ulm has switched to AI?- I wasn't even ever of this, guess it just goes to show how well informed of the game tidings I am http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Shmonk]

Anybody? Who's gonna confess being Ulm?

[Peacekeeper]

my guess is folket, hes been absent a lot lately and ulm has been staling.

[Jurri]

Ulm is AI, not staling.

[Peacekeeper]

He was staling turns before he turned AI

[Folket]

I admit that I was Ulm. And I did stall a couple of turns, but I played the last 8 turns before going AI.

When I lost both my sages and Jade Amazon I really had nothing going for me any more.

[Ygorl]

No hosting on Wednesday; Friday will host as usual.

Play on!

[Ygorl]

A couple folks will be away next Wednesday and Friday. The game will host Monday as usual, and then again a week later. Sorry for the delay.

[WraithLord]

Just out of curiosity (and lack of time to search), I wonder whose still alive in this game (that is BTW tons of fun).

[Ygorl]

I've been putting the countries associated with people into the first post when they die. I think it's up to date...

[Peacekeeper]

Im surprised how many of us are still going this late in the game.

[WraithLord]

thanks!

[WraithLord]

Server is down http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Ygorl]

Yeah, I was out of town, and my internet went down, and my housemates didn't know how to fix it. It's back now (and has been for a few hours).

[castigated]

i was t'ien ch'i.

[Ygorl]

Thanks for playing!

[WraithLord]

Post deleted by WraithLord

[Jurri]

Hey, that kind of comment reveals that you are not playing the nation in question, which is kind of against the rules.

[WraithLord]

Oops, my bad, I've deleted the offending post.

[Peacekeeper]

nuts, why do i always miss the posts revealing who people are/are not? =)

[Ygorl]

Another one out... Who was playing Caelum?

Also, I had a request to slow the game to twice a week. Right now I've got it set for M/F at 10. I could also do T/F, M/Th, or every 3 days, if there's demand for one of the other schedules. If you've got a strong opinion, let me know.

[Ygorl]

Would anyone complain if we went to Tuesday/Friday? I had a request for that...

[Shmonk]

Fine by me, no complaints.

[Ygorl]

Per yet another request, the Friday turn will host four hours late. Cheers!

[Grizannor]

I can't connect to the server.

[WraithLord]

me neither.

[Grizannor]

Ygorl: Is it possible to delay next hosting for 12 hours? I have some orders that I haven't been able to send because the server has been down and I won't be able to try sending them again until tomorrow.

[Ygorl]

No problem. The next hosting will be Saturday, at 10 AM EDT, then we'll return to our regular Tuesday-Friday schedule. And, the server is back up. Sorry to those it's inconvenienced...

[Grizannor]

So, who was playing Caelum? It wasn't me. Everyone who didn't play Caelum say http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/confused.gif

[Ygorl]

Wasn't me.
It also wasn't Extramedium.

[WraithLord]

Wasn't me.

[The Panther]

Caelum was played by my son Tauren. The problem was, he got a 40-hour per week job in addition to his 40-hour per week school and therefore did not have time for Dominions. He staled the last 20+ turns in RAND2 and was therefore quickly eliminated. Before that, he was doing well and even had a chance at winning the game.

He has also been staling in COW (I think), but has not been eliminated there because of the council.

[Ygorl]

Ah, too bad.
I hope the job and school are going well...

[Jurri]

So, with Dom3 looming large in the horizon: How about we call this quits once it ships? I'm not saying that I'm not having fun with this (nor am I saying I am having fun with this, to keep up with the cloak&dagger bit http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif), but I wouldn't mind getting a clean slate to enjoy Dom3 with. (Not saying that this is a time sink or anything, mind you, nor that this isn't http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif) What do folks think?

[Ygorl]

I think I'll leave the server running until someone has the required VPs. Everyone is welcome to keep playing turns, or find replacements, or turn their nations AI, or let them sit unoccupied, as they wish. Of course, it's possible that someone will win properly before people get their hands on Dom3... In fact I hope so (in a hope purely abstracted from any aspirations that I may or may not harbor).

[WraithLord]

I for one would like to continue this one until it's proper end. I think Ygorl's suggestion makes sense, so it has my vote.

[Grizannor]

This game has been going on so long, that I'd really hate to see it end with people stopping playing and becoming AI's. I have really enjoyed this game, and it would totally suck, if the winner would be just that someone who kept playing after others stopped. That would somewhat ruin the whole game for me and all time spent to it. It wouldn't be a worthy ending at all. There are some big nations in the game and if one of them becomes AI, it will have a huge impact on the chances of winning to other nations. Some of the tiny nations probaly could go AI without too big effect on the game, but not the big ones.

To me there are only two choices that I can really accept:
1. We call the game, and everyone must agree on the winner.
2. At least all the big nations play it to end.

Of course if some people playing the big nations don't want to play to the end, I can't force them, but I'd really apreciate if they got someone else to continue the game for them if they stop playing.

[WraithLord]

The server was supposed to host the game recently, yet it didn't, instead my gods eye reports that the hosting was delayed by 72h.

Was that intentional?

[Ygorl]

No, it wasn't intentional. I don't know what happened... I've reset it to host at 11am EDT.
I would force-host it now, but I think funny things happen sometimes when you do that with a TCP game (I remember trying to convert a game with a friend to PBEM, kept getting errors...)
Hopefully it hosts in half an hour. Of course, you can't log in to play your turn then, since everyone will know it's you. Or maybe you can, since now everyone will know it's not you. Circles within circles... My head hurts.

[WraithLord]

Well, there's this way to pull the turn w/o it being visible. It seems like its actually working as god's eye reports that no nation has played yet http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Neophyte]

Is there any chance we can have one of the hosts on Saturday? I'm subbing for someone and it is very convenient for me to get up early Saturday and do both turns that day. I don't care when the other host is.

Thank's!

[WraithLord]

Game didn't host this Friday, and hasn't hosted as of yet http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

[WraithLord]

Ahmm, server is down.

[Ygorl]

Sorry, my router went down, and I was in France. I'm back though!

[Ygorl]

So... Who was Vanheim?

[WraithLord]

And, if I may ask, who's still playing?

[Grizannor]

I'm playing. It seems to me, that at least all the big nations are still in the game.

[Cainehill]

Finally! I was Vanheim - been hanging on by fingernails for quite a while now. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Jurri]

Haha, I bet you timed it to coincide with Dom3 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[WraithLord]

Server's down.

[Ygorl]

It's back up. The cable company was fooling with stuff last night, and I lost the connection, and apparently some aspect of the server or the dyndns listing got messed up as a result. Play on!

[WraithLord]

I think the game is pretty much decided by now. Are the rest of the players feeling the same?

[Ygorl]

I'm not totally convinced... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Shmonk]

Hmm... maybe not. If everyone agrees then yes, but I don't think everyone will agree. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[WraithLord]

NP, let's continue. To the pain then http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Jurri]

Who was Ermor? I notice he's played by our good friend the AI.

[Shmonk]

I was Ermor. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif I never played Ermor before this game, didn't think I would do well. I was happy with my play, figured I'd let the AI take over now that I was almost out of it. Good luck to the rest, can't wait to hear out it turns out and who everybody was playing.

[WraithLord]

The game is over.

Congrats to Machaka http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I have been playing Pangaea...
So who is the winner?

[WraithLord]

Oh, and many thanks to our host!!!

[Grizannor]

Voittaa! Voittaa! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I played Machaka. It was a great game, but still I'm glad it ended. Turns have been taken hours lately...

Big thanks to Ygorl for hosting!

And thanks also to my friend Animal for playing some of my turns while I was unable and not killing all of my armies http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Grizannor]

How many people did you WraithLord have running around my kingdom? Luckily it didn't matter anymore. What an annoying strategy. And apparently pretty good too, since you won jotunheim with it. At the beginning of your war, I thought that jotunheim would crush you quickly and then come after me.

Did you watch the battle one turn ago where my army fought your lone ice devil SC? Spellcasting AI topped itself on that one. Multiple casting of the same non cumulative battle enchantment and then spending last gems to useless swarms. And I loved the mass protection spell that took the fire resistance down from my legions of devils and everyone close to them in the midle of stray fireballs cast by my mages.

[Ygorl]

I was R'lyeh... We've got ID from everyone except Jurri, Peacekeeper, and DaMilano (Jotunheim, Atlantis, and Man, if my memory serves - though not necessarily in that order, of course).

Thanks everyone for playing... It was fun!
I was trying so hard to be relevant... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
Congratulations, Grizannor! Well done.

[Jurri]

I was Man. Very well done indeed, Grizannor! Thanks all for the game, this was oodles of fun.

[WraithLord]

@Grizannor, again congrats.
Did you see how many of your provinces I took in the last turn?- Apparently Pangaea can be very hard to stop even against stronger nations. Its a good thing we had VPs or this game might have gotten very long with the show down between us http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

About Jotumheim, when he attacked me he was, a- stronger the me, b- with higher income and gem income, c- much higher on the research tree. So I also thought he would make short work of me. It took me a few turns to get the knack for playing Pangaea right, and then its very hard to stop - At some point, I was literally all over him, with sneaking armies attacking him from all sides, so much so that he wasn't able to counter attack effectively. I think I could have faired even better vs. Jotun had I not been trying on and off the get him to understand we shouldn't be fighting each other, so basically I've tried a couple of time not to attack Jotun for a few turns in a row hopping he'd get the message, sadly he hasn't.
Another thing that worked against me was Man, he was stubbornly and smartly hurting me so I was basically fighting a two fronts war against one of which vs. a superior enemy.

@Ygorl, I was crossing fingers for you (and for Atlantis)

@Jurri, you have caused me a such a headache totaly w/o proportion to what you had the means to do. You just refused to lie down and die as aught to http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif
I charmed your AQ, I took your provinces, I killed your pretender, I took your capitol, but you just refused to surrender. You give tenacity a new meaning http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif
BTW, I still didn't get why you've attacked me in the first place. Given the power balance when you did it seems, well, strange.

[Jurri]

Thanks, I strive to be the most tenacious bastard I can be http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif It pleased me to no end that your IDs and Earth Kings and whatnot were tied by just two indy priests and a jade sorceress for some turns http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif (My fort was empty except for those.) But you certainly left me little chance to restore my position after I lost the AQ... Very aptly played!

It was you who attacked me, not the other way around! Admittedly I wasn't paying as much attention at that point as I should have since Ulm going AI and the AI then redirecting against me bummed me out for a bit, so it took a while for me to destroy the AI's second wind; but certainly you didn't expect that when you took the lands the Ulm AI took from Man you wouldn't face any repercussion? I even avoided attacking outside my previous holdings to give you the chance to yield them peacefully http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Ah, I just love the misunderstandings the no-diplo causes!

My own initial plans were crushed when Arcoscephale pulled a poison golem (Dom2-style: a golem with a snake bladder) just when I was about to take his capital... That was beautiful.

[Grizannor]

WraithLord: I guess I understood you better than Jotunheim, since I noticed that you were trying to make peace at the time I cast arcane nexus. Of course it might be, that Jotunheim just didn't want to have peace. I was a little worried that you would both come after me while I was still fighting R'lyeh and Ermor. That would have made my life hard.

Ygorl: You were such a pane in the glass. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif When I attacked you first, I thought that Atlantis would take care of your underwater provinces and I could have the rest for almost free. Then Atlantis lost the war against you and you started to come after me. I thought that that wouldn't happen since there were a lot weaker opponents near you that you could have taken out a lot easier. But you just came after me. When you took your provinces back I was busy fighting Caelum and thought that you would settle for those. Then I tried to make peace with you by giving you provinces that were under your dominion but you just kept coming. And I kept smacking you back to the sea. You just couldn't take the hint. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif Finally I was forced to go after you with a real army and throw you back to the sea for good. I tried to follow and finish you off, but that one starspawn took my entire army out. Damn him. I think it was by biggest defeat in the whole game.

[WraithLord]

@Jurri, ok, so I now I have a better understanding of why we were at war in the first place. I haven't paid that much attention to your war with Ulm so I haven't noticed I'm stepping on your toes taking Ulm provinces.

@Grizannor, I think someone not attacking you and just retaking his provinces many turns straight should be obvious enough a hint for peace. Maybe Juton player had an aversion for half man http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

I must admit that for me it was a fun game, one of the best I've been at. I think no diplo and VP can make for some fun MP games.
See you all in dom-III games http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif