Parganos game for 6 players (running)

[solo]

A new Late Era game is starting, using the Parganos map.

It will be limited to the first 6 players who sign up.

This is game is meant for players who like a rapid pace, so please do not join up if you prefer a slower pace. There will be a strict 24 hour time limit for each turn with quick host in effect. However, players will be allowed to take timeouts if they need to be away from the game longer than 24 hours, provided the others are given advance notice.

Game options:

Using patch version 3.06
No mods will be in effect
Fast research on
Graphs on
Renaming on
Master Password in use
Other options - defaults

The game will be run on a server set up by ajr, who will supply details as to how to connect, setup and play.

Do not choose Late Era Man, as ajr notes that this nation is broken because of a bug with the Summon Black Dogs spell.

Players & Nations:

solo - Pangaea
ajr - Mictlan
arghaii - Jomon
cupido2 - Agartha
st.patrik - Man
Tuidjy - C'tis

[cupido2]

I'm in (if I'm allowed)

[st.patrik]

I'd like to play...

could I take Man if I promise not to summon black dogs? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[solo]

Man is okay with me, if the others agree.

cupido2, you are allowed in, unless you can think of a reason why not.

[Tuidjy]

I would like to play, unless someone object to the fact that it will be my first
Dominions III game. I was reasonably good in Dominions II, years ago.
As for the race, I'd like to take a look at the late age races, I have not
gotten as far yet :-) Yeah, it sounds pathetic, I know.

Actually, I was just told C'tis has not changed at all, so for now, I'd like
to reserve it.

[solo]

Okay, we have 6, time to select (confirm) nations and prepare Pretenders. I'll play as Pangaea.

[cupido2]

I give Agartha a try

[BandarLover]

I believe I will try Jomon.

I don't play a lot of LA games so this will be good for me. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

*Also, I don't mind anyone playing Man. But then again I'm a glutton for punishment. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

[ajr]

And I'll try Mictlan.

The server is up at rupes.dyndns.org, port 1610. Windows-using novices may find this helpful: You can create a shortcut that will automatically connect to the game. Create a shortcut to the dom3 executable, right-click on it, and choose Properties. Under the Shortcut tab, the Target should be your dominions executable; after the quotes, put in
-c -C --ipadr rupes.dyndns.org --port 1610
Click on the shortcut, and you should be connected.

[ajr]

Oh, and one more thing - this isn't required, but if you send me a private message with your email address, I will add it to the list that the server sends mail to when a new turn generates.

[solo]

ajr, once you collect email addresses could you forward them to each player so players can use email for diplomacy?

My Pretender has been uploaded.

Also, isn't the format this:

-C --ipadr rupes.dyndns.org --port 1610

instead of this:

-c -C --ipadr rupes.dyndns.org --port 1610

for the shortcut, as in the previous game?

I also believe that the last person to upload a Pretender can start the game.

[BandarLover]

I believe I read somewhere the Parganos map is bugged. The C'tis player ends up starting on an island with no way to expand. If true, will we be trying a different map?

[ajr]

BandarLover said:

I believe I read somewhere the Parganos map is bugged. The C'tis player ends up starting on an island with no way to expand. If true, will we be trying a different map?



I just tested this, and it looks like the map is indeed buggy - it's not necessarily C'tis, but someone keeps getting stuck starting in province 31. I think we do need a different map - any suggestions?

Re the shortcut - you indeed don't need the -c; I just copied from my own shortcut. That stops the credits from scrolling when you exit.

[lch]

ajr said:
I just tested this, and it looks like the map is indeed buggy - it's not necessarily C'tis, but someone keeps getting stuck starting in province 31. I think we do need a different map - any suggestions?


I used the map in SP and it seems as if Niefel got stuck on the island, I always wondered why they didn't expand at all. Instead of changing the map, just copy the map file to a different name and make the province a no-start area. Or put a nation there which can make use of the starting position, like sailing nations, or Oceania, or maybe even Caelum.

[BandarLover]

O.K. tried the shortcut thing but it didn't work. Is there another way to do this, IP address perhaps?

As per norm, I'm sure the fault lies with me and the manner in which I am trying to execute it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[st.patrik]

I'd like to play on Parganos if the map file can be fixed - it is nicer to look at than random maps...

[solo]

Try opening the game the normal way and choose the option to play a network game. It will ask you for the IP and rupes.dyndns.org can be typed in there and then it will ask for the port. If you can not connect this way, then there's a problem.

For the Parganaos map problem we could all use the map editor on the Parganos map to make #31 nostart if someone does get stuck there. Then we could upload Pretenders again and start playing.

[BandarLover]

No it worked. Thanks, I screwed it up as usual, and you set me straight. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

And uh....I've NEVER edited a map before. So...yeah...I could do it...someone's just gonna have to hold my hand through it too. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[solo]

Okay, start the game, then use game tools to get to the map editor and start it up. Type in Parganos when asked for the map name. Then right click on the little island you see to the northeast, which is province #31. On the left click the nostart box and a check mark will appear there. Then exit, and when asked for the new map name, just type in Parganos again. No need for another name, since you might as well keep this map fixed. You can always use the map editor again later to reset province #31 should it ever be needed as a starting province in the future.

[BandarLover]

So easy a caveman could do it.

Thanks, it's fixed so I suppose if EVERYONE does that I don't see why we can't play it.

[lch]

solo, it would be alot easier if you copy the Parganos map file to something like "ParganosFixed.map", then use the map editor to edit it yourself, and let your players download the map when they connect to the server. Since the map image is the same like before, they only have to download the map file from the server - that's just some kilobytes of text. If they fix the original map file, then they might have problems in other games later on (the server checks CRCs).

[solo]

I didn't know that, but wouldn't other games later on be plagued with the same problem when starting?

Why not fix the map, to keep this from happening again?

Anyways, it's up to ajr, who is setting up this game on his server. We'll go with what he decides.

[ajr]

OK, I *think* I've correctly edited the map and started the game. I have confirmed that I am not starting in province 31, but I need everyone else to do the same. Quickhost is on, but I'm not going to start the timer until we've confirmed that the start locations are correct and everyone can connect.

[Tuidjy]

I am not on the island. I wish I had been, though. My starting
position sucks big time, and I do not even have the excuse :-)

[BandarLover]

My starting location is O.K.

Quick question ajr? Did we need to email you our pretender passwords? In case someone has to leave and we need a replacement?

[solo]

I'm okay.

[st.patrik]

my location is not island-bound. Now just Agartha left. Hopefully he's ok.

[solo]

Agartha, where are you?

Are you aware that prompt moves are requirement for playing in this game?

Better to drop out now if you know that 24 hour deadlines will be a problem for you to meet consistently.

[cupido2]

don't be so harsh solo. sorry for the delay but there was no notification that the game started.
I'm not on the island and turn 2 is submitted

[solo]

Okay, I guess you were not aware it was up to the players to check this thread daily on progress towards starting the game.

For all future moves, everyone will receive automatic email notifications whenever a move is hosted.

[Tuidjy]

E-mail notification? How do I get my e-mail to you? I do not think you
have my e-mail and I certainly do not have anyone's e-mail.

[ajr]

OK, now that everyone has confirmed that they can connect to the server, I have set the server to autohost every 24 hours. Quickhost is still on, so it will also host (and reset the timer) whenever everyone has finished their turn. Everyone except C'tis should have gotten mail when the last turn hosted, but I'm not certain that hotmail accepts my mail; could someone please confirm?

Also, I would like to request a break from autohost from March 15-19, as I will be out of town; I expect to have sporadic net access, but not good enough to keep up a 24 hour schedule.

[solo]

Tuidjy said:
E-mail notification? How do I get my e-mail to you? I do not think you
have my e-mail and I certainly do not have anyone's e-mail.



Send ajr a private message with your email address. He will add yours to the list so you may receive notification of when turns are hosted.

He will also send you a list of all email addresses in case you want to contact other players during the game.

[cupido2]

your e-mails to hotmail is put in the junkmail folder

[ajr]

Hmmm. If the mail is making it as far as the junk mail folder, that's a good sign. I believe you can get hotmail to put it in your main folder with these instructions:
http://email.about.com/cs/hotmailtips/qt/et031603.htm

[solo]

I just received a PM from Jomon saying he is experiencing a connection problem his home computer's router. Perhaps we should declare a timeout on his behalf, until he is able to reconnect and do his turn.

[solo]

Jomon's problems have been resolved and he has moved and the game has justed hosted.

[BandarLover]

Thank you guys for being patient. I am VERY VERY VERY SORRY to make everyone wait.

[ajr]

One of our players is moving and may not have a net connection for the next couple of days, so I've disabled the timer until Friday evening (or he tells me that all has gone well).

For future reference, the times I give are US Central time.

[cupido2]

Well I will be disconnected in about 12 hours and try to be reconnected in hopefully 48 hours at the latest. Sorry for the delay (again).

[BandarLover]

No big deal. You guys waited patiently for me http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Besides, this game is going awful quick anyways and is not giving me enough time to second guess my self before hosting again. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[solo]

Yes, no need to be sorry. This is why we have timeouts. Hopefully, this is a move upwards for you!

[cupido2]

o.k. online again. played the turns

[Tuidjy]

Hey guys. It seems that I will be the guy holding things up right now.
I am away from home this weekend (until Sunday 17:00 Pacific) I took
my Dominions III CD with me, but forgot my cd key. I hope that there
is no turn before that.

If there is... well, such is life.

[solo]

You made the attempt to not delay play, so a short timeout until you are back seems in order.

[BandarLover]

I'm cool with at as well. It's not like you left us hanging without letting us know what was up. A timeout is fine with me.

[ajr]

I'm not going to be able to get in another turn before I leave , so I've disabled the timer. I've reconfirmed that I should have net access while I'm away, but I will be pressed for time, so don't be surprised if I'm very slow in dealing with diplomatic matters.

By the way, I noticed that I seem to have an off-by-one error in the turn emails. I will fix that at some point, so don't rely on the turn numbers in there staying consistent just yet.

[solo]

I have received a PM from Jomon, saying he must leave the game, so we will look for a substitute. If one can not be found, Jomon will be set to AI.

[JayThomas]

I could take Jomon's place. I haven't played this nation yet.

[solo]

Thanks Jay, but I've already received an email from arghaii, who has also volunteered to take over.

We'll keep you in mind if another opening develops.

[ajr]

I'm back from my trip, but I'm not re-enabling the timer until the Jomon replacement is sorted out; arghaii, could you please send me a pm with your email address so I can modify the lists?

[Tuidjy]

Oh, joy. What do the community rules say about new
players and old treaties? The last thing I need
right now is a new enemy where I had a peaceful
neighbor... and I made a lot of concessions to get
that peace.

[solo]

Although a sub is not bound by old treaties, I think most people who do sub are usually open to accepting the terms of treaties negotiated by the original player. At least having a sub and this possibility is better than turning the abandoned position over to unpredictable AI control.

Even so, the original player, had he remained in the game, might have been up to some treachery and might have planned to backstab his own ally, so a sub can not be bound by pre-existing treaties, especially when the terms seem particularly onerous.

With that thought in mind, I have forwarded arghaii's email address to each player so that they can make contact and inform him of any pre-existing treaties. There will be time to do this before he makes his first move, which he tells me he will do later on today.

Bear in mind that a sub may have no way of confirming the terms of earlier treaties, either, and could be vulnerable to false claims by unscrupulous opponents. In the long run, each player will develop a reputation among the MP community based on the way they handle their diplomacy.

[Tuidjy]

No worries... We renegotiated. It's easy when the treaty benefits both.

[ajr]

The timer is stopped again; solo must leave the game due to circumstances beyond his control. I am looking for a sub.

[Arghaii]

Unfortunate http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/frown.gif

Btw, thanks a lot for the great game.

[ajr]

Very advance notice - I will be out of town April 19-23. I suggest a timer stop even if I'm not still in the game, as I won't be able to fix things if someone else needs a break while I'm gone.

[Ewierl]

Greetings, new neighbors and friends! The new Council of Panii has removed the misled old rulers of Pangaea, and looks forwards to a time of peace and cooperation across the face of Parganos.

And speaking of advance notice, I'll be away for a few days at the start of April (probably 2nd-4th). Also, very slim chance that I'll be away for next weekend, but hopefully I'll be able to stick to the schedule. As I told AJR when I offered to sign up, I do have the occasional predictable break, but I only expect sympathy if and when I let you all know in advance http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Tuidjy]

The last few weekends we have been turning the timer off, and frankly,
I was hoping we would make it the rule rather than the exception.
Especially now that I remember why I stopped playing C'tis once upon
the time although I had no losses with it... Scripting ten flavors
of death mages before every battle soon gets old.

[Ewierl]

Just as a reminder, I'm going away from now until wednesday evening (eastern US time). So, if the timer would stay off for another 2.5 days, I'd appreciate it highly http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[st.patrik]

I'm going to be away from saturday (April 7) to tuesday (April 10). I will probably be able to get turns in on saturday before I leave and tuesday when I get back, so it's really mainly sunday and monday, but I would appreciate a timer stop for those days.

I will also be gone the following saturday (april 14), though I will be around both friday and sunday.

[cupido2]

Sigh. Pangea is either a cunning genius or is unbelievable lucky. Or am I just an idiot? I think the latter. My SC fell to dust with all his precious equipment before he could even strike at an enemy and half of my battle mages were blasted into oblivion by my god. But he got what he deserved: he was shot next round by my own crossbowmen. But what do you expect of half-blind cavedwellers.

[Tuidjy]

I am sorry for holding the game up. I really need the time for
diplomacy. If everyone else is fed up waiting for me, I'll send
an empty turn, because my choices of actions are REALLY opposites.

Peter of C'Tis

[Ewierl]

Cupido...

As for war in the north, I have no better idea than you why it's going as it has been! This is mostly a big fat legacy army from the old player that I'm wielding.

As for war in the south, I'll call myself a cunning genius http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

[ajr]

A possible long-term problem - I'm going to be moving in early June. It's quite possible that the game will be over by then - at our current pace, we should be past turn 100 - but if it's not, then we have two choices:

* Someone else could take over hosting while I'm offline. If this happens, I will find a sub for myself (assuming I'm still in the game).

* The game goes on hold until I can get the server up at my new place. This is likely to be a week or two of downtime; it's a question of how fast I can get internet hookups made. I will be happy to do this whether or not I'm still in the game.

This isn't something we need to decide on immediately, but I wanted to give advance warning now that the move is certain.

[Tuidjy]

I vote the game goes on hold while you are moving. I hate changes, and
hosting has been perfect so far. It can only get worse...

[Ewierl]

We'll figure it out when the time comes closer, methinks. Who knows, we might even have a clear winner by then!

[Ewierl]

Btw, I'm going to be away Saturday midday to Sunday evening this weekend. Hopefully shouldn't slow things down much though!

[Tuidjy]

Guys, I am sick as dog. High fever and teh works. I would rather wait
for a dya to take my turn... I hope you do not mind. If it rolls over,
well... I'm messing uop anyway.

[ajr]

As I said earlier, I'll be out of town this weekend; I'm leaving today, and I'll be back Monday night. I expect to have limited net access, so I should be able to get a couple of turns in at least. I may not be able to fix the server if anything breaks while I'm gone, but it's been behaving well thus far.

[ajr]

I'm back, and I believe we're currently back to normal schedule with no one away (although I still haven't finished going through the giant piles of mail in my inbox). However, the server will be down for several hours tonight for software upgrades, so the timer will remain off for another day or so.

[ajr]

OK, the server is back up now.

[Tuidjy]

The vile nation of Man has moved its hordes against the empire of C'tis.
Here is a short history of the despicable practices of Man.

While Mictlan's warriors were engaged against our troops, Man strode, unopposed,
into northern Mictlan, and conquered more than half the empire. When they had
gobbled up what they needed, instead of honoring their alliance with C'tis,
and actually contribute to the victory, they let Mictlan retreat and regroup.

Not content with just letting down their first ally, they had their diplomats
negotiate with Jomon for a common attack against C'tis. Once Jomon was
committed, Man stayed within its borders, betraying their second ally, and
leaving them to their doom. Doom that has since struck.

At the time they betrayed Jomon, Man made everything possible to make us believe
that their dishonorable behavior was mostly due to misunderstanding, and Jomon's
actions. It shames us to admit, we were taken by what I believed was sincere
apologies, and failed to act against Man.

Due to their brilliant, but disgustingly vile politics, Man has grown in strength
and now is moving against C'tis, with no declaration of war, or just cause.
He will enjoy a lot of early success, as unfortunately our back is just as open
as it was against Jomon in the beginning of that war.

Nations of the world. Man is the most powerful nation right now, and once he
conquers northwestern C'tis, and takes the capital, he may be unstoppable. I
honestly do not believe that there is any way in which I could prevent the above
from happening. I will fight him, but in the next five turns, I will not be able
to oppose his hordes in any significant way.

Unless we want to reward Man's revolting behavior with victory, it is time to
put our differences to rest, and strike now. We know that Man is a fearsome
opponent, and we do not expect anyone to come to our help openly, but anonymous
spells can make their progress into C'tis quite costly.

Let us all show Man that vile treachery does not pay!

Peter, head scribe for C'tis

[Arghaii]

A nation of lying lizards, C'tis truly is.
Jomon attacked C'tis after receiveing an ultimatum of surrendering our provinces and razing our temples.

Jomon may fall, but no lowly lizard may ever call Jomon a treacherous nation.
Jomon kept to its peace agreements through endless lamentations from the kingdom of C'tis concerning how fragile their infrastructure is and how weak their war against Mictlan has left them.

One thing for sure, after the last war it won't take you five turns to stop the next attacker. You just cannot stop them. Your troops are diseased and afflicted with all kinds of maladictions due to famine and black magic.

We believe that the next chapter of this story will be... "Vultures prey on a wounded lizard".

Leander Jomon

[Tuidjy]

Could you please point out where we have have called you treacherous
or accused you of lying or breaking an agreement? Our only accusation
against you has been that while you were supposed to be helping us,
you were effecting a domain push in our east. The ultimatum did not
call for surrendering any provinces, but only to destroy the temples
that were destroying our income.

And do not forget that this ultimatum came only after Man stated that
you guys were allied and coming after me. Even then, we did not attack.
We did not even invade you until you started a scorched earth policy
against the population in our northern provinces, as opposed to honorably
fighting on the front lines. As for honorable commanders like your
prophet, it is with regret that we saw him fall in the last major
battle. If only the sauromancers had held their fire until our
enchanter had reached out to him...

As for who will stop whom, this remains to be seen. Our empire is
indeed weakened after fighting two exhausting wars and Man is fresh
and fat on unearned spoils of war. But my diseased and exhausted
armies have not lost an engagement yet, and I do not see Man looking
for an army clash either. All I see is cowardly hordes attacking
undefended provinces.

[st.patrik]

Treachery! C'Tis has launched an unprovoked attack on the armies of Man

My armies were engaging in training exercises near the border with C'Tis when they were ruthlessly attacked by an Air Queen under the command of C'Tis.
Man has not attacked C'Tis or done any other action that would justify this kind of unprovoked attack.

C'Tis has the temerity to come on this forum and complain about my despicable and dishonourable practices? I am not the one who has launched an unjustified attack without warning on a neighbour. All of you should take note of this. All of you have a border with C'Tis. If he is willing to attack without warning or provocation we should all look to our defense.

As for the charges he has raised against Man - they are a pack of lies. I will not sink to the level of defending my actions on this public board. If anyone wants to know the other side of the story I will be more than happy to share the truth about what happened through some private means of communication. Send me a PM or e-mail and I will be happy to reply.

[Ewierl]

Hey, all of C'tis' charges have been in-character, is Man not going to fire back with in-character propaganda of its own? C'mon, we wanna hear the juicy news!

[Tuidjy]

Training exerices, you say? Training exercises which
involved getting 1500 elite troops and probably 100
mages in a position where they could crack open three
castles in the next month? No resposible ruler would
have ignored this threat, and by starting to pull our
armies west, we allowed Jomon a respite that we can
hardly afford.

A squad of brave and reckless samurai managed to carve
a second Jomon empire out of Northeastern C'tis, and
the only reason that they are not facing a reaction
force are your training exercises. Your action were
threatening, your action harmed us, and the 'exercise'
my air queen provided for your army was well deserved.

We are certain that the only reason that our castles
do not lie in ruins is that you were afraid of being
attacked by your neighbors. Betrayers expect betrayal.
What they get is justice.

[st.patrik]

Fact: Man has not attacked C'Tis
Fact: C'Tis has attacked Man

It's one thing to not ignore a threat, it's another to attack without provocation. I wouldn't have had a problem with C'Tis taking any number of defensive actions. I do have a problem with being attacked without warning or provocation.

You claim my action harmed you; My action did not harm you - If any harm was done in your war against Jomon it was your choice and therefore YOU harmed you. Besides, one of my scouts observed your armies continuing to push the attack against Jomon, so your claim that you pulled your armies west is simply not true.

Sending your Air Queen to attack one of my territories is not an 'exercise' but an unprovoked attack that is tantamount to a declaration of war.

[Tuidjy]

There is no point in splitting hairs and trying to prove that
technically my air queen attacked first. No one denies that.
No one denies that you are very skilled at getting something
for nothing, washing your hands, and walking away.

The 'exercises' were a provocation. We do not know whether
you only intended to derail our Jomon campaign. Maybe you
meant to invade, but were scared of actually having to fight
instead of tricking someone else to pay the butcher's bill.
Maybe you came to believe that others would attack you as soon
as you became engaged with our returning forces. Maybe you
even wanted to trick us into throwing flames and plagues at
your forces and retreat back under the Gift of Health.

We do not care, and we hope no other nation does. Through
skillful and disgusting maneuvering you have achieved a
position of power. It remains to be seen whether it will
survive any actual combat. The people of C'tis hope that
other nations see you for the threat you are.

[st.patrik]

It's not that you attacked first; it's that you attacked, and I didn't.

I hope no-one is fooled by this propaganda into believing that I am the aggressor here. There is one simple truth to this situation: you attacked my province without warning or provocation; I still have not lifted one finger against any of your provinces.

I tire of the poisonous talk.

[st.patrik]

Man set to AI. I'm off to find a less offensive game.

[Ewierl]

st.patrik said:
Man set to AI. I'm off to find a less offensive game.



Seriously? Jeez, people. Someone misrepresenting the causes of a war in in-game terms (ie, referring to nations not players) is pretty standard MP forum propaganda.

[Sensori]

And hell, those things rarely are actual personal attacks. They are an indicator of success more than that. It shows that C'tis instantly got nervous of you having troops on his border and started talking against you, even if it was completely innocent, which in turn shows that he fears you.

This is, actually, supposed to be a good thing.

But I really have no idea why he would attack with a Queen of Elemental Air, though, if the army was actually that strong. Sounds like a blunder to me.

[Tuidjy]

Ok, lets be serious here.

First of all, if moving 1500 troops and 100 mages to an undefended border is not
provocation, I do not know what is.

Second, unrest is being stirred in my provinces, and I would be exteremely
surprised if it is Jomon's ninjas doing it. They are too busy assassinating
my priests with variable success.

Third, my only western army was hit with Beconning, and while there is another
Nature nation in the game, I don't see why it would be weakening me.

And fourth, who the Hell cares who started the war... roleplaying is one thing,
and the C'tis Emperor has been a whiny coward the whole game, but it is clear
that Man and C'tis have to fight. As far as I am concerned, since Man broke
the alliance, I have never needed a reason to attack him. I just had a
multitude of reasons not to, no matter how much I wanted it.

Other nations will decide which side (if any) to take based on their
perception of the balance of power, and on the existing alliances. I
think I am significantly weaker than Man, and I did not expect Man to
receive any support, with or without propaganda.

I feel that I need to engage in both diplomacy and propaganda, given
that I am sitting in the middle of the map, bordering everyone (and
Jomon twice ;-) I do not think I have said one single factual lie the
whole time, and if something is subject to interpretation, I would
like to hear Man's.

Any chance this game can be salvaged? Can the AI be given to a player?
Man is the most powerful nation in my estimate, and setting it to AI
will ruin the game. I am sure that C'tis, Mictlan and Pangea (in alpha order)
can work together to defeat it, but if I wanted to stomp AIs, I'd be playing SP.

[Tuidjy]

> But I really have no idea why he would attack with a Queen of Elemental Air,
> though, if the army was actually that strong. Sounds like a blunder to me.

Oh, it was not one army. He moved four or five armies to most of our border
provinces. His armies were full of siege specialists and they were close enough
to crack three castles in one turn, and my capital in two. There may be a
way this coudl have been innocent, but there is no way it looked innocent ;-)

I sent the Air Queen on top of his army because I needed her in a neighboring
province one turn later, wanted his army to waste gems, and wanted to do some
damage. And frankly, I knew I could not stop the castles' takeover no matter
what, so I wanted to show some fight ;-)

By the way, if the Air Queen had not interpreted "Attack archers" as "Attack
undead, illusions, and anything but archers, even if they are standing next to you"
she may have won. As it is, she killed about 60 men (25%) from a army led
by 10 mages and routed.

[vfb]

Wow! There I was, lurking and enjoying the banter, and poof! It's over. What a disappointment. I guess the players remaining in the game may be even more disappointed.

I've gotta agree with Ewierl. Tuidjy's propaganda was not only most certainly in character, it was an entertaining read.

[st.patrik]

I guess I see it in a different light given the context of very heated communication and name-calling that occured earlier in the game over e-mail between Tuidjy and myself.

After a serious personal (and it was most certainly personal) conflict the comments take on a different light - especially when the previous trouble (which was a misunderstanding) is something I am blamed for in these posts - like our earlier disagreement (and my subsequent 12 month peace) was trying to abuse the situation. I find that offensive.

I guess you guys seeing only one part could think this is just banter. I don't believe it to be so. It sours the game (for me) to have these kinds of things said.

I wish you guys well and I'm sorry if Man being AI screws with the game. Honestly I think the AI is not that smart - you should be able to succeed against me pretty well I should think. Plus which the numbers of troops under my command on C'tis's borders was hugely exagerated - not even close to 1500 and 100 mages. I had 4 army groups, each with 200 troops and a handful of mages. So maybe 800 on the front lines and another 200 or so elsewhere.

All that to say, I think you guys will fare fine. The AI doesn't know how to deal with a well-planned human attack.

[Ewierl]

The problem is more that the AI doesn't do diplomacy. Do we have a master password with the power to put in a sub instead of AI? Or is the AI decision irreversible?

[ajr]

I don't believe I can reverse a switch to AI, even with the master password (in fact, as far as I know the only thing that the master password allows me to do is set a player to AI). With that said, I may be able to back things out manually - I have all of the turn files saved - but I don't have Man's password for a sub. st.patrik, would you be willing to give me your password?

[Tuidjy]

Ok, what is the status on the game? Are we looking for a replacement?
I think it is worth stopping the game until a player can be found.
This game has entered a very interesting stage, and an AI will completely
ruin the very fluid balance of power.

-----------

And as for the accusations, I, as the player, believe that the original
alliance's meltdown started from a misunderstanding, but I also see that
Man only profited from the following events, and C'tis only suffered.

And I have to say, misunderstanding or not, 'My ally is getting too strong'
is not an honorable reason to break off an alliance. Neither is 'My
ally misrepresented his strength', especially as I offered to reveal my
archived turns after the game ended.

I also think there was NOTHING wrong with my propaganda. It looked as if
I was being attacked, I had nothing to throw in the way, and I needed to
make Man at least fear an intervention from the other players. I did my
best to make him believe that I was going to hit him with fire and disease,
and he pulled back under the Gift of Health. For all I know it worked.
I got two turns in which I may be able to reinforce my capital.

The real diplomacy was done on an one to one basis, and the public posting was
mostly because I felt like putting the 'Help me because he'll be unstoppable'
message in role-playing terms.

[Arghaii]

The problem with you guys is that you talk too much out of character. If you could just completely forget that you are sitting on a chair in front of a computer and just behave and interact as if you were actual rulers of actual factions all this situation would had been avoided.

The fact that I was a replacement to an existing nation and that my predecessor had a silly strategy did lots to decrease my playing satisfaction.
Now that I see people dropping the game, I can tell you that it's not helping to improve it at all.

However I trust that we have a good group of players and that we may organize more games such as this in the future.

[ajr]

(I'm holding off on my turn for a bit until I can sort out what's going on with Man, one way or the other)

[Tuidjy]

Seconded. Lets try to find a replacement for Man. The game just would
not be fun with an AI that position. It should not be TOO hard to find
someone to take over a leader in a game, if only to play with a well
developed nation...

[Ewierl]

Agreed, I'm happy waiting for a replacement.

[Tuidjy]

Is anyone looking for a replacement? I admit that I have not been.
Do you think that it is worth it writing a very good description
of the game as of now, and posting it in a separate thread? I am
unwilling to let the game die. Damn it, this was going to be interesting.

By the way, did Man reveal his password to the host?

[ajr]

Tuidjy said:
Is anyone looking for a replacement? I admit that I have not been.
Do you think that it is worth it writing a very good description
of the game as of now, and posting it in a separate thread? I am
unwilling to let the game die. Damn it, this was going to be interesting.

By the way, did Man reveal his password to the host?



I will write this up and post it. I apologize for not doing so sooner; I had been waiting for a technical reason that no longer applies. (Thanks for posting, btw; I had meant to post this earlier tonight, but I got caught up in a baking problem).

[ajr]

And we're going again; please get your turns in as soon as possible.

[ajr]

Oh, and I see 3.08 is out; please play your turn BEFORE upgrading. I will go to 3.08 once this turn is finished.

[ajr]

We're just waiting for Jomon now; I pinged him by private mail. Hopefully once this turn rolls over we can really get moving again...

[Ewierl]

Any word from Jomon yet?

He sent me an in-game PM last turn stating that he thought he was pretty much dead, so I fear he might not be coming back... Still, I'd rather have him fighting to the last man than an AI.

[ajr]

OK, I have not heard from Jomon, either through PM or personal email. I think at this point I don't have a lot of choice other than setting him to AI; I'll do it this afternoon.

I'll be out of town until Sunday, but I should have enough net access to get my turns in.

[Ewierl]

The server seems to be down?

Or am I forgetting something somewhere?

[Tuidjy]

Looks down to me as well.

[ajr]

Argh, I'm really sorry about that, guys. Someone uploaded a 3.08 turn; I discovered that just before I went to the airport yesterday, but didn't have time to fix it. I was planning to fix it last night, but I was flying right through the storms in the middle of the US and was hours delayed, and this is the first chance I've had. Since it's supposed to work, I upgraded to 3.08, and we should be running again. The server is currently running in text mode, which I haven't tried before, but it's running in a screen session so it should stay up.

[Ewierl]

It doesn't look like Jomon is set to AI? IIRC, AI nations immediately show us as "turn played" on the login window.

[ajr]

Jomon is not set to AI because his turn was in when I went to do it. Now that I'm back, and we have no timeout requests as far as I know, I've turned the timer back on.

[Ewierl]

Oh, even better!

Is our new Man recieving email updates from the server about the new turn? Now he's the one holding us up for days http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Tuidjy]

Everyone seems to be stalling... I have my turn ready, but I see no point
in letting a game advance if main contenders like Man and Pangea are not
moving. Arj, you have backups for the turns... I suggest we, the players,
decide what we will do with the game.

[Ewierl]

What the hell? How did I stale? Did 2 turns get hosted while I wasn't looking? The last orders I sent have taken place, so another turn must've come and gone without my noticing. I haven't recieved an email notification from the server since the 11th.

[Tuidjy]

Damn, since the upgrade to 3.08 all my games are going crazy. Stale turns,
orders not taking place... in this particular game, I am fighting mandragoras
in domain that I am certain is Jomon's... unless there are stealthy Pangaea
preachers preaching in the SW corner of the map.

Yesterday, before I uploaded my turn, the server indicated that only Mictlan,
Agharta and I had taken turns. Now I am told I have stalled, and as far as
I can see Jomon and Man have not done anything.

Who is still playing?

[ajr]

Ugh - according to the logs, everyone but Jomon and Mictlan staled last turn. I'm inclined to agree (as one of the non-staling players) that four of six staling is too many, and I will attempt to restore the backups from last turn. Did anyone not get the server mail when the last turn rolled over (should have been around midnight US Central time)? I got it, so I assumed everything was still working...

[ajr]

OK, the backup seems to have worked (I grab the state just before hosting). I've left the timer off again, but I would like to get moving soon...

[Ewierl]

Weird. Well, thanks for the reset; better not to have a turn where noone plays!

My turn is in, but I'll be away all weekend (Fri evening to Sunday late), so it might be best to save the timer until monday.

[ajr]

(And by the way, I'm sorry it's taking me so long to respond to these things; moving across state lines seems to expand to take up all time available)

[Tuidjy]

I wiped my installation of Dominions III and did a fresh install + 3.08 patch.
This should clear all the problems that are uniquely mine...

Now, can we have a show of hands? As in, who is in the game, and still excited
about it? I certainly am , and I expect Mictlan and Pangaea are as well.

Jomon is nearly eliminated, but if the new Man player is staying away from the
game, I hope that Leandros would be willing to take over, and continue the good
fight against the lizards ;-)

[Ewierl]

Tuidjy said:Now, can we have a show of hands? As in, who is in the game, and still excited
about it? I certainly am , and I expect Mictlan and Pangaea are as well.



Indeed, I'm still in and interested!

[cupido2]

Hello? Agartha is ready to fight the final battles against the intruders! It's now two weeks since the last turn. And it's a bit unpolite to let them waiting die.