Revenge of Pimping - Let's go Voltron Force!

[DrPraetorious]

Game info:
server - dom3minions.com
port - 32179
mods - empty_mod.dm (does nothing, see attachment)

The map file is also attached.

We're restarting Popin', Pimpin' and Playin'!

This is a team game. Players in the previous, aborted PPP, can retain their team assignments if they wish, or open up for reassignment. If any of the players from the previous game either decide to quit, or don't comment in this thread in the next 2 wks or so, they'll be replaced.

I will be using a somewhat different map - if I have time, I will use my very limited artistic skills to make it wrap? What are the thoughts on that?

Any advice, commentary or feedback derived from the previous team games will be much loved. We also need someone to host.

Teams from Previous Time:
TheNotoriousDoctorPraetorious, Hadrian II - Mictlan/Abysia
Shovah32 no Micah, Lingchih - Pythium/Marignon
Foodstamp, Baalz - Ermor/Agartha
Revolution, BigDisAwesome - Man/R'lyeh
Peacekeeper, Aezeal - Patala/C'tis
Kristoffer, Quantum Mechanic - Atlantis/Bogarus
(these people have priority)

Introduce yourselves and start familiarizing yourselves with your nations if needbe. You can trade positions with other players if it is mutually agreeable.

Themes:
LOOK TO THE SKIES! - Man, R'lyeh
IT'S COLD, THERE ARE WOLVES AFTER ME - Atlantis, Bogarus
THE GIRLS ARE MINE - Mictlan, Abysia
THE SUN ALSO SETS - Ermor, Agartha
HOT LIZARD LOVE - Patala, C'tis
WEAR SILLY HATS OR ELSE - Pythium, Marignon

Following teams not in use :
HAVE STEEL, WILL TRAVEL - Ulm, Pangaea
1. DEATH MAGIC, 2. ?, 3. PROFIT! - Caelum, Utgard
THE SUN ALSO RISES - T'ien Ch'i, Jomon
PROCESS OF ELIMINATION - Midgard, Arcoscephale

Team Assignment and Map:
Players will be randomly assigned to teams, this means:
a) Players from the previous round get first crack at joining the game, and may keep their previous assignment if they wish.
b) New players, and old players wanting a new assignment will be assigned to a team at random.
c) Each team will have two start locations assigned to it. These may be the same start locations as before, or we can change them (thoughts?)

Within each team, you can work out for yourselves who gets which nation and which start location.

IP or E-mail:
Unless there is a massive revolt, the game will be IP. We do need to find a host.

Settings:
Graphs Off, Renaming On, otherwise standard.

Mods:
We will use some kind of hotfix mod, as provided by Edi for the current version. Even if we don't actually need it, it allows for fixes to be hot-patched in when new patches come out. Can Agartha bless their undead units right now?
Other than hotfixes the mod will not make any changes.

Returning Players:
TheNotoriousDoctorPraetorious (Mictlan/Abysia)
Micah (gets a new assignment b/c he dropped out and rejoined)
Lingchih (gets a new assignment b/c he dropped out and rejoined)
Aezeal (wants a new assignment)
Revolution (wants a new assignment)

New Players (first come, first served):
Unoptimized
nozshand
AreaOfEffect
EvilHomer
Folket
StrictlyRockers
Ossa
Nikelaos
Psisoldier
Ershalim
James243
Chrispedersen

Alternates:

???:
DakaSha (?)

Okay, here are the team assignments:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious, Hadrian_II
Pythium/Marignon - James243, nozshand
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos, revolution
Man/R'yeh - Zeldor, AreaofEffect
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized, StrictlyRockers
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier, Ershalim
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah, Lingchih

To clarify! Each team can split the nations however they wish -if the team-mates cannot agree, I'll flip a coin. The order above doesn't reflect the order in which you get your nations, so I could be Abysia and Folket could be Mictlan, for example.

You probably want to contact your team-mate over the course of the next week.

[Micah]

Sure, I'll bite, teams are fun.

[Lingchih]

I will play again. Same team please.

[Unoptimized]

I am very interested in this game, please count me in http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

[nozshand]

im not in the previous game but i'd like to join if there is a spot available

[AreaOfEffect]

I'm in.

[DakaSha]

what are the settings? mods ect

[Evilhomer]

Reserve a spot for me. As previous poster said, what mods, age, nations etc are you planning on ?

[Folket]

I'm in.

[AreaOfEffect]

I would assume the settings will be simular to, if not the same as, the original game (http://www.shrapnelcommunity.com/threads/showthreaded.php?Number=586994).

[Aezeal]

I'm in

[Aezeal]

ow and I'd rather change nation etc at random http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/laugh.gif

[Micah]

I was with Ling last time DrP...

[DrPraetorious]

Oh, right. Sorry.

[GrudgeBringer]

I know this may sound silly but have you ever thought of maybe having a team game that took a 'Good', Intermediate, and a new player as teams....

Kinda of like a Pro-Am type thing.

just a thought from a Noob that could learn a LOT from ot.
Thanks

[StrictlyRockers]

Yeah, sign me up. I'd like to play if there is still room

[Ossa]

I'd also like to join if thats still possible

[AreaOfEffect]

What sort of time table are we looking at?

[DrPraetorious]

I think we're starting in mid-august? ~2 wks from now?

[Lingchih]

That would be good for me. Allows me time to clear out of some other games.

[Lingchih]

bumpity, bump, bump.

[Kristoffer O]

I'm not in, even though I liked it the last time. I'll be gone for a week and some more days after that. Also Atlantis has been attentionized, so no need for me to play them again.

Good luck to you all!

[Aezeal]

KO, we don't start yet AND we change races!

[Unoptimized]

It's true. Speaking of which, do we have any idea of who will get what? I'm just getting killed out of two games, and my third is a war of attrition. So the more time I have to prep out my god and such for this game, the better http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif.

[AreaOfEffect]

Now that the forums are up again, I'm interested in knowing what are assignments are. I would like a bit of time to talk with my would-be-partner about our overall team strategy.

[Aezeal]

how much players do we still need?

[Nikelaos]

count me in.

[Revolution]

As long as I'm not LA Man again (shudder) I suppose I'd be up for round 2.

[Lingchih]

I might be in. Having a bit of a hard time keeping track of all the games I am in right now. Micah might be able to talk me into it if he really wants to play this again.

[PsiSoldier]

If more players are needed still I'll join up

Preferably Jomon or Tienchi

[Ershalim]

I'd love to join! I'm not terribly useful, having not actually played MP yet, but I'd be a great partner, since I'd basically just do whatever my teammate told me to until I got the hang of things. :) If it's already full, good luck to the players!

[James243]

If players are needed please count me in too. I'm happy with whatever army really.

[chrispedersen]

I'd like to be in I believe. And if you don't mind someone with only minimal hosting skills.. I can host as well.. currently hosting Glory2, and BraveNewWorld

[Lingchih]

Yeah, I'm out I think. I just spent over 5 hours doing my turns in various games and subs tonite. I think I am full up. I'll let the new guys have some fun with a team game.

[DrPraetorious]

I'll post team assignments this weekend, and we'll start sometime during next week? Wednesday, say? Does that work for eveyone?

[Nikelaos]

That sounds okay for me.

[StrictlyRockers]

Sounds good.

[AreaOfEffect]

Cool with me.
(no whammy no whammy)

[Revolution]

With all the people wanting to join that there are...we could increase the number of people and use some of the unused teams from last game as well.

[DrPraetorious]

That's fine with me, but I may not have time to do a nice, shiny new map.

[DrPraetorious]

Okay, here are the team assignments:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious, Folket
Pythium/Marignon - Micah, nozshand
Atlantis/Bogarus - James243, revolution
Man/R'yeh - ossa, AreaofEffect
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized, StrictlyRockers
Patala/C'tis - Chrispedersen, Nikelaos
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier, Ershalim

You can trade, if you wish.

[DrPraetorious]

Oh, and how/where do we want to host? Last game was IP.

[chrispedersen]

Okay, here are the team assignments:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious, Folket
Pythium/Marignon - Micah, nozshand
Atlantis/Bogarus - James243, revolution
Man/R'yeh - ossa, AreaofEffect
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized, StrictlyRockers
Patala/C'tis - Chrispedersen, Nikelaos
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier, Ershalim

You can trade, if you wish.

If I may make an observation - the pythium/marignon team seems a little strong.

[DrPraetorious]

As nations or as play skill? The assignments are, as I said originally, random :).

[Revolution]

Be happy that Micah is not LA Ermor...I've been on the receiving end of that and it was rather unpleasant

[DrPraetorious]

A few comments on how trading positions works - supposing that I didn't like my team (to which I was assigned at random), and supposing that Micah didn't like his team, we could trade *with each other*.

So I would get the Pythium/Marignon team (and which nation I got, I could work out with nozshand), and Micah would get the Mictlan/Abysia team with Folket.

If Micah and I wanted to be on the same team like in the first team game, either I'd need to trade with nozshand or Micah would need to trade with Folket. Micah and I couldn't decide to be on the same team on our own - we could've done things that way, but I decided that random assignment was more fair.

Furthermore, you don't take the nations with you when you trade! The nation-based teamings were picked for game balance (and I think I did a good job, despite all the *****ing.)

[chrispedersen]

Can't please everyone, all the time, Dr. P.

I think random pairings are less important than roughly even pairings. I have essentially no knowledge of Patala - but rather than kvetch further about it, I will simply open the position up.

Best wishes all!

[DrPraetorious]

You could have had C'tis, instead, but that's aside from the point.

I'll pull the Patala/C'tis team, which is the weakest, I believe, and make one of the players an alternate?

[Revolution]

I like both Patala and C'tis; I'd trade with you if you wanted to Chris.

[DrPraetorious]

Okay, here are the *new* team assignments:

Okay, here are the team assignments:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious, Folket
Pythium/Marignon - Micah, nozshand
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos, revolution
Man/R'yeh - ossa, AreaofEffect
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized, StrictlyRockers
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier, Ershalim

Alternate:
James243

Sorry James243 about that, sorry Nikelaos for reassigning you.

To clarify! Each team can split the nations however they wish -if the team-mates cannot agree, I'll flip a coin. The order above doesn't reflect the order in which you get your nations, so I could be Abysia and Folket could be Mictlan, for example.

You probably want to contact your team-mate over the course of the next week.

[Lingchih]

Heh. I have recently been ganked in another game, which I think I will soon be out of. If possible, I would like to play this game again. As one of the original players, I hope that will be possible.

If it is a huge hassle, then just leave me out. Nozshand, I would like to team with Micah again.

[Nikelaos]

sorry Nikelaos for reassigning you.

No problem.:up:

[nozshand]

Heh. I have recently been ganked in another game, which I think I will soon be out of. If possible, I would like to play this game again. As one of the original players, I hope that will be possible.

If it is a huge hassle, then just leave me out. Nozshand, I would like to team with Micah again.

it's really up to the host to decide, personally i prefer stay

[Lingchih]

That's fine. I'll but back out.

[DrPraetorious]

Lingchih could join with a new partner (James243) and his choice of the unused teams, or nozshand could partner with James243, or....

as I said before, it's up to nozshand whether he wants to trade positions. He definitely gets to play, though, since Lingchih did back out at one point :doh:

[Micah]

I was hoping I could team up with Ling and James could get together with nozshand actually. I'd be fine with taking a new team if noz wants to keep pyth/mari.

[DrPraetorious]

Whatever you arrange is fine with me, but work it out amongst yourselves.

[DrPraetorious]

For some reason I can only edit the root of the thread (?).

Since Micah and Lingchih were a team in the game we're restarting, I'm letting them reteam with a new randomly assigned nation pair. This means James243 is back in and we presently have no alternates - can everyone verify that they're playing before I proceed?

Okay, here are the team assignments:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious, Folket
Pythium/Marignon - James243, nozshand
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos, revolution
Man/R'yeh - ossa, AreaofEffect
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized, StrictlyRockers
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier, Ershalim
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah, Lingchih

[Revolution]

playing

[Lingchih]

Sounds good.

[Unoptimized]

I am ready to go. On an unrelated note; I am excited to try my hand at LA Ermor :).

[Aezeal]

ehm getting the pretender in might need to wait till saturday/sunday... ok?

[AreaOfEffect]

Still playing and ready when you need me to be. I've tried to speak with StrictlyRockers about a trade and I've gotten no response.

[Nikelaos]

I'm still playing

[DrPraetorious]

So far, 9/16 people have verified that they are still playing (incl. Micah and myself).

[Zeldor]

I can volunteer for a reserve list, I always wanted to play team game.

[PsiSoldier]

Yeah I'm still in. keep forgetting to check the thread.

Was it every decided if the game will be Email or IP? Ive only done games on Llama server until now.

[Ershalim]

Checking in! Sorry for being a little slow on the draw. :)

[Aezeal]

ok I would really not mind delaying the start even till monday or tuesday :D

[DrPraetorious]

Two possibilities:
* We can do PBEM when Llamabeast gets back (which would delay the start until the 26th, I think)
or
* We can do IP if someone suggests a hosting service.

That's 11/16 checking in, including Micah who checked in via IRC. It's likely Zeldor will get a reserve slot.

[James243]

Hi guys,

So sorry - I thought I was way down the list of alternates for this game so hadn't kept a close eye on this thread. Sorry for being slow. I'm delighted to play - Atlantis right? And happy to team with anyone.

Ill get my pretender sent in asap - likely Saturday morning new York time.

Sorry again for being so slow - but ill keep a close eye from now on.

Can't wait!


Sup aezeal!? How are things?!

[StrictlyRockers]

Checking in. I'm happy to be in this one. I'll start working on a pretender. First i need to PM Unoptimized and touch base. My pretender for Agartha will be submitted later today.

[Zeldor]

DrPraetorius:

Didn't llamabeast make now a script to create games without his assistance necessary? I don't think that game really needs some special settings.

[DrPraetorious]

I'm going to need a customized .map file so that I can make sure that the teams start adjacent. I'm not sure that the automatic start can support that.

[Zeldor]

I just checked, you can upload your own map file.

[Lingchih]

So, we are using Llamaserver? Not an IP host? I'm fine either way, but Gandalf has a good network server going now, and there are a few others.

[DrPraetorious]

I'd use Gandalf's network server unless anyone can't do IP. I'll contact him tomorrow.

Last game was IP, so I suppose this game should be as well.

[Lingchih]

I'm going on a short vacation from Aug. 31 to Sept. 5th, so it would be great if we could start this game right away, or wait until Sept. 5th to start. Otherwise, I assume my team partner (Micah) can do my turns. At least I hope so. I would hate to start the game with a sub.

[Kristoffer O]

A small update on LA Atlantis as the patch is soon out and atlantis is playing in this game

New hero:
Once and Future Queen. Reemerging Basalt Queen. Priest lvl4. Can get special unit events while in the sea. High MR and resistant to R'lyeh dream influence (insanity).

New units:
Sleeping Pillars. Unique event unit. Basically a living pillar of EA with high magic defence and dream resistance.

Underwater recruitables:
Unsleeping. Basically a non sacred mother guard with higher MR and dream resistance.
Merciful mother. More or less a mother of the deep with increased MR and dream resistance.
Forgiving father. More or less a mage of the deep with increased MR and dream resistance. W2S1+R

Returning into the sea is now something LA Atlantis will pursue, since it will give them access to mid tier mages of different paths. They are hopefully better suited to reclaim the dream-ridden seas.

[Nikelaos]

ah music to my ears.

[DrPraetorious]

GP has suggested that we wait for the patch before starting.

This should roughly coincide with people returning from late august vacations? Seems reasonable.

[James243]

Works for me. Ill be out of the country from 20 to 28 Sept but I guess my partner can take over for that period.

[Unoptimized]

Sounds fair by me :). I'm personally very currious to see what the patch does.

[DrPraetorious]

People in red+bold have not checked in:

Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious+, Folket
Pythium/Marignon - James243+, nozshand
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos+, revolution+
Man/R'yeh - ossa, AreaofEffect+
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized+, StrictlyRockers+
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal+, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier+, Ershalim+
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah+, Lingchih+

Alternate:
Zeldor

Folket did not answer the last PM I sent him. I'll try again - if not, I can cansolidate teams and/or field alternates. It looks like Zeldor, at least, is guaranteed a slot, and Frank Trollman may want one.

[Zeldor]

If I'm in I'd prefer llamaserver. And starting on 1st September is great, I have short trip at that weekend too.

[Aezeal]

I have talked to homer about our nations and who takes which and he's been talking a bit about strat so I think he's still in.

[Nikelaos]

i'm going on holiday so i can't play until atleast the 31st of this month, doubt we'd be starting before then anyway but i'd rather not chance it.

[Unoptimized]

Hey guys! I've been chatting with AOE a bit, and I was wondering if I could switch out LA Ermor and take the LA man slot? (I will then switch with aoe, who wants to try his hand at LA man). Ossa has not checked in yet, but he might be pleased with his new nation if we switch directly :). Thoughts?

[DrPraetorious]

Unoptimized - I was going to give the vacated slot on the Man/R'lyeh team to Zeldor. Talk with him if you want to trade with him.

Just to clarify, the assigments are *chosen within each team by the players*. So Nikelaos and revolution have Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos can have Bogarus or revolution can have Bogarus it's up to them to work it out.

So if you have preferences, say here which nations you actually want!

Preliminarily, the revised teams would be:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious+, James243+
(unused) Pythium/Marignon
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos+, revolution+
Man/R'yeh - Zeldor(alternate), AreaofEffect+
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized+, StrictlyRockers+
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal+, EvilHomer
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier+, Ershalim+
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah+, Lingchih+

But if we have another player, I'll match him with James243 and I think I can get Frank to play.

[Zeldor]

Maybe I can get R'lyeh? :)

[James243]

Happy with anything really - would be delighted to be playing with Dr Praetorius! Not to sound like a total suck or anything - I just figure that someone with 2000 posts is probably someone who I'd learn a lot from :)

[nozshand]

umm, whats going on here?
i never received any pm regarding the check in

[DrPraetorious]

nozshand - I kinda expect people to check the thread once/week? But that's fine, you can check in now.

Actually, now that it's possible to send PMs out to multiple people, I might give all players a heads-up when the game is ready to accept pretenders etc. But having grown used to the previous forums I didn't do that.

That said, this is fine, nozshand has now checked in, so:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious+, FrankTrollman+
Pythium/Marignon - James243+, nozshand+
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos+, revolution+
Man/R'yeh - Zeldor+, AreaofEffect+
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized+, StrictlyRockers+
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal+, EvilHomer(?)
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier+, Ershalim+
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah+, Lingchih+

How's that?

YET ANOTHER REMINDER: The order that I've printed the names was NOT meant to reflect which member of the team gets which of the two nations!

[DrPraetorious]

I'm going to be in the air tomorrow but hopefully I'll have time to get the server up and running on the new versions of dominions sometime Saturday - I'll also work on and post a map.

Once that is all done, we can start uploading pretenders.

[DrPraetorious]

Frank just got activated and is off to Louisiana. So we have an extra person again, sigh :(

Can we recruit another person or should I shuffle people around?

[Nikelaos]

well i'd rather not be shuffled out of the team i am in, i was looking forward to testing how well the new patch works for atlantis in multiplayer.

[Hadrian_II]

I can take over abysia (i suppose it would be abysia). i just returned from holidays and i am looking for a new game, so i can take my old place again

[Lingchih]

My Pan pretender build is done. Let's commence this game on or about Sept 5th, when I return from my vacation. You all have almost a week to design a defense against us.

[Kristoffer O]

well i'd rather not be shuffled out of the team i am in, i was looking forward to testing how well the new patch works for atlantis in multiplayer.

Please let me know your sentiments when the game has progressed.

I will not urge you to attack R'lyeh, but if you do, I'll be especially interested. :)

[Nikelaos]

Please let me know your sentiments when the game has progressed.

I will not urge you to attack R'lyeh, but if you do, I'll be especially interested. :)

i'll be sure to let you know what i think.

[James243]

Sorry for the confusion nozshand - hadn't noticed you weren't on the list- thought there'd just been a reshuffled. Very happy to team up with you!

Happy with whatever - just let us know where to send pretenders etc. I'm Marignon and nozshand is Phythium btw.

[DrPraetorious]

Final teams are presumably:
Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious+, Hadrian_II+
Pythium/Marignon - James243+, nozshand+
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos+, revolution+
Man/R'yeh - Zeldor+, AreaofEffect+
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized+, StrictlyRockers+
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal+, EvilHomer(?)
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier+, Ershalim+
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah+, Lingchih+

I'm finishing up the map now.

[AreaOfEffect]

Can't wait.

P.S.: Zeldor should answer his private messages.

[DrPraetorious]

Ugh, that took longer than expected. Barring some kinda glitch, game should be up for loading pretenders tomorrow.

[Lingchih]

I won't be back until Thursday evening, but my Pretender is done and it should be a simple matter to upload it then.

[StrictlyRockers]

Cool. Looking forward to it Dr. P.

[Zeldor]

I was away for 3 days [as I said before].

Are we playing with any mods? I hope it has at least CBM gods in it.

[DrPraetorious]

I need to find my manual so I can start the game, as it needs my CD key manually entered. It's buried in my car somewheres.

Is there a problem if I play from a CD key (on my machine,) that is the same as the CD key on the server (which will be using my key)?

[StrictlyRockers]

Not sure...

[DrPraetorious]

We are uploading pretenders.

There is a map file at the root of the thread, when you download it if you start a game you can see your start location. Let me know if anything is wrong - I can still make changes to the map before the game actually starts.

It also has a mod file which you will need. At present it does nothing, I may add:
* A blessing hotfix (does LA Agartha still need this?)
* Any hotfixes required by current or future patches.

Enjoy!

[Zeldor]

When I try to start a game on that map to check it out the game crashes without any info.

[DrPraetorious]

Weird, it worked earlier :sad:

[DrPraetorious]

Okay, for some reason it has decided that #setland is a map directive which has been educated to be evil :(.

Debug output was not informative, unfortunately. Any suggestions?

[Ershalim]

Seconding Zeldor's problem. I have no idea how the game actually works, so I can't help there. But at least we know it's not just an isolated issue?

[DrPraetorious]

Wang.zip, attached to the previous post, has a .map file which actually works.

[Ershalim]

Oh, super. It works just fine. :)

[Lingchih]

Hey, I'm back, but I find that my PC is totally fried now, and won't even turn on. I'm in the process of putting Dom3 on my Mac and installing all the updates, maps and mods. When I get that going, I'll remake my pretender and upload it. I'll try for tonite, but it might be tomorrow.

Thanks

[DrPraetorious]

Nations in red have not uploaded. It'd be nice if we could start Monday of next week?

Mictlan/Abysia - DrPraetorious+, Hadrian_II+
Pythium/Marignon - James243+, nozshand+
Atlantis/Bogarus - Nikelaos+, revolution+
Man/R'yeh - Zeldor+, AreaofEffect+
Ermor/Agartha - Unoptimized+, StrictlyRockers+
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal+, EvilHomer(?)
T'ien Ch'i/Jomon - Psisoldier+, Ershalim+
Ulm/Pangaea - Micah+, Lingchih+

[Aezeal]

I don't think I'll be able to get things done then.. it's very hectic for me and I'm not happy to miss this game but with job interviews, night shifts starting tomorrow and needing to study for my advanced trauma live support course after I've prepared the last job interview I'm not going to get this done.

[DrPraetorious]

Well, Evilhomer hasn't checked in either - I'm going to cut the Caelum/Utgard position out of the map and move some start locations around a bit.

[Nikelaos]

hmm i'll give revolution a pm

[PsiSoldier]

Ok how the hell do you upload? when I connect I only see the screen that tells me to choose my nation, I do that and it asks about my god but never lets me select my pretender, I dont know if it went ahead and did it automaticly (hopefully uploaded the right one if it did) or if something is wrong.

maybe you can check and see if Im good or not.

[DrPraetorious]

If you only have one saved pretender for your nation, it should upload that pretender automatically.

If you're worried about it, make another pretender with a different name for the same nation, a dialogue should appear and you'll choose which God you want.

I'm wasted, I'll deal with this some more in the morning.

[Zeldor]

I will upload my pretender today.

[Zeldor]

All hail X'chll'at-aa, Lord of the Great Old Ones, The Unborn God, Enemy of All That Live !!

[Lingchih]

Phtagn to that. Put up or shut up.

[PsiSoldier]

What are we waiting on..

Agartha= StrictlyRockers
Caelum/Utgard - Aezeal, EvilHomer

As far as I can see these people have not uploaded their pretenders.. Is anyone sending them PM's? or know another game their in? I sent EvilHomer a PM since he posted on this first page and could just click his name but havent sent the other two one cause Im lazy but its not really my job to be doing that anyways.

[AreaOfEffect]

Well, Evilhomer hasn't checked in either - I'm going to cut the Caelum/Utgard position out of the map and move some start locations around a bit.

My understanding from this is that we are only waiting on StricklyRockers. I contacted him about a nation trade quite a while back and he refused. He is at least half aware that he's suppose to be playing this game. Unoptimized might have contacted him more recently.

[DrPraetorious]

If he doesn't upload by the end of the Day I suppose I'll open his position up to a replacement?

Has Unoptimized heard from him?

[Unoptimized]

I have not heard anything, which makes me sad. I sent him a pm or two as well, so I'm not sure of what is going on.

[PsiSoldier]

I kinda liked my starting position. hopefully we can get someone soon, but hell if you get 3 responses let em take the other two nations and no shuffling start positions would be needed..

Although I just checked that thread and see 0 responses so far, although you may have posted it 2 minutes ago for all i know.

[Unoptimized]

Hm. This is a dill of a pickle. I still have no reply to any of my messages from Rockers. If it comes down to it, I'll happily play team-mateless. It'll involve some sad strat re-working, but I can manage.

[DrPraetorious]

I suppose that LA Ermor is actually almost-balanced as a solo start - everyone teams up on you anyway, what's to lose?

Unless there are objections, I will rework the map so that Ermor starts, by himself, in the middle, with some guaranteed mines nearby.

[Unoptimized]

HA. That sounds awesome dude, thanks. If there is any convenient way to re-work my pretender then I'd love to. If it is not SUPER easy for you to do, I am more than content to stick it out with my current setup.

[DrPraetorious]

Just log in and send in a replacement pretender - it will overwrite the old one.

[StrictlyRockers]

I'm sorry I have to bow out of this game. I was really looking forward to it TNDP, but I have RL problems that get in the way of gaming lately. I have internet issues at my house for one thing, and also my dad just got into a serious accident on his motorcycle.

You all should try to get izzyz to sub for me. He is looking for a good game.

SR

[Unoptimized]

My replacement pretender is in.

Also; Rockers, I hope that your dad is all right. That is aweful. I'll be thinking of you while desperatly fighting off attempts to halt the march of the implacable dead. No hard feelings whatsoever :).

[DrPraetorious]

So Frank Trollman is back from his red cross deployment and might take LA Agartha - presumably I'll know by morning.

In any case, I'll finalize the map file and we'll start the game sometime tomorrow. There will be no time limit on the first turn (in case of technical difficulties) and then 24 hrs per turn after that.

Sorry this has taken so long to launch; people always drop out when you actually start a game, but with a team game the problem is magnified.

[Unoptimized]

So...I've got my dancing shoes on. Are we dancing?

[DrPraetorious]

Either Frank will upload a pretender - or he won't.

Either way, we're starting tonight!

[DrPraetorious]

And we're go.

Once this turn has gone in, I'll move to 24 hr + QH.

I'll go to 48 hr *no QH* after that, as soon as people's turns actually matter.

Let me know if there are any problems.

[PsiSoldier]

Errrr, I'd suggest sending a PM to all the nations that havent sent their turn in yet, they probably dont know we have started... This game has kinda taken a while to start and they may have forgotten or not check back too often.

[Zeldor]

We will probably have to restart anyway [DrP knows why].

[Lingchih]

Enlighten me as to why we have to restart. I have already done my turn.

[DrPraetorious]

I understand the concerns but I don't think we can restart at this point. If several people chime in asking for a restart I would do it, but....

Also, everyone contact your partner. I'll contact people who haven't done turns by PM this afternoon, but if they're not checking the forum they're probably not checking forum messages, either.

[Zeldor]

DrP:

Did you read my PM? You didn't password your pretender either.

[DrPraetorious]

Yes, I know. But I'm not going to restart b/c of 2 such oversights.

[Zeldor]

DrP:

I think that it is rather 2 people that have passworded, not the other way.

[DrPraetorious]

The game has already been delayed too much, we'll just have to depend on people to play honorably. If four other people demand a restart, I'll do it.

[archaeolept]

heh, it's a problem w/ the prevalence of llamaserver's games, as those don't use passwords.

when i first started playing, i never bothered to p/w. Norfleet convinced me otherwise ;)

however, if the server maintains some sort of connection history, as to whether new/suspicious IP's have d/led the players turns, then that provides a modicum of protection.

[Unoptimized]

Psh. I trust you guys :).

[Zeldor]

Are we sure we want to take that risk, while we are on turn1?

[DrPraetorious]

It's up to you guys; but unless a bunch of people come on and demand a restart, I'm not going to do that now. Especially a restart that requires everyone to log back on and upload new pretenders.

[Lingchih]

It's up to you guys; but unless a bunch of people come on and demand a restart, I'm not going to do that now. Especially a restart that requires everyone to log back on and upload new pretenders.

I'm afraid if we did that, it would take a week to get everyone to re-upload their pretenders, and some people would probably drop out during the process, delaying us again as we look for replacement players.

[AreaOfEffect]

I'm obstaining from this decision. All I will say is that I intently watch this thread and would have no doubt in my own ability to swiftly resend my pretender if needed... with a password of course.

[Zeldor]

Lingchih:

You are the one that didn't forget about password :) I'm just stating my concerns. Even if everyone is fair then at the end someone may claim that he lost because someone was looking at his turns. I have no idea if there is a way to check if someone else looked at your turn.

[PsiSoldier]

Yeah I too did not password my pretender. All I have played on is Lllamma server where there is no need for such a thing. I could always resend my pretender with a password easily.

If we are going to do it now Is the time as the game has not really started yet. Personally I think it would be a good idea. But I'll go with whatever the consensus is.

[DrPraetorious]

I believe that the server logs IP addresses from incoming connections - I will check in the morning, I'm wasted.

[Lingchih]

Well, it's rather easy to know if someone else has accessed your turn on an mp server. If, when you log in, the game asks you to choose your nation (after you have already chosen it in the beginning), then someone else has viewed your turn. True, this does not prevent cheating, but it does let you know if cheating has been done.

Seriously though, if this had never been brought up (Zeldor!!!), this would never have been a problem. Hardly anyone in Dominions even thinks of cheating. Almost everyone I know would find that way beneath them. But, when it is made obvious that it is easy to look at another's turn... well, people get tempted.

That said, I could deal with a restart. The only really acceptable restart is a turn 1 restart. But people... please, PW protect your nations. This is not a PBEM game.

[James243]

I actually thought about it and didn't password. Figured that since it's a team game, there will probably be times when teammates need to perform sub duties, and passwords would just complicate things. We're all adults here right? I don't cheat at scrabble and I wouldn't cheat at this, and until disappointed otherwise I'm happy to go with no passwords. I agree *very strongly* with Dr Praetorius that it's better to get this thing going.

[James243]

Hey, gorgeous map btw!

Sorry I was the last to go...i'll be prompt from now on!

Wattup nozshand?!

[DrPraetorious]

Host timer is now set at 24 hrs. Good luck!

[Zeldor]

JAmes243:

It is easy to say that now. Different thing will be later, when you are at war, you know you can look at your enemy turn and probably no one will notice. That is Internet here, people tend to be evil :)

[James243]

Other than logging in, is there any way to check the game status? Like a website or something?

[James243]

Haha - Zeldor you're probably right! My post earlier may one day go down in the 'famous last words' category...! :|

[DrPraetorious]

As per request - yes, I can tell which turns are accessed, and when (it's in the text dump that the server is spitting out.)

Then, if I ask Gandalf, he can tell me which IP address connected to the server at that time.

But Gandalf and I are both busy men, so -
1) Do not spy on eachothers turns, and
2) Do not accuse eachother of spying on turns unless you're pretty sure, because it's a major pain in the arse.

I'd be sanctimonious about not uploading pretenders without passwords, except that I myself send in the wrong build (it's not a big deal, just a dominion scale shifted), so I'm hardly in any position to lecture people.

Thank you.

[James243]

Sounds fair Dr Praetorius.

Just a bump to my previous question - is there any way to check game status without logging into the game itself? A website or something?

[archaeolept]

there was a little app made by wraithlord to check the status of all your IP games... "PyEye" - can find it in mods subforum.

[StrictlyRockers]

Things seem to be mellowing out for me a bit now. I don't have to go to Tucson anytime soon, so I am available if anyone can make any use of me. I can sub in for Frank if he needs it, for example.

[DrPraetorious]

Frank will probably need a sub for a few days when in route to Prague.

[DrPraetorious]

Just in case anybody is having power issues - I have turned off the timer, the game is now on quickhost *only*.

If people are able to continue at >= 1 turn/day, that'd be much preferable! If someone isn't taking their turns, we can maybe assume they've lost internet access and we may have to do something about it?

[Lingchih]

Could we please host? Only Atlantis is still out, and he has had plenty of time to do his turn.

[DrPraetorious]

I'm going to force host a turn. If Atlantis is gone, we should find a sub for at least a few turns.

[Zeldor]

Game crashes [well, turns inactive and I see only empty map] when I try to end my turn.

[AreaOfEffect]

The turn worked out just fine for me. Maybe its corrupted on transfer. Delete the TRN file and log in to get a new copy.

[Nikelaos]

sorry for that mates i'm still in, just ran into some unexpected trouble

[PsiSoldier]

Hrrrm, If someone is taking a long time to take their turn how about letting their teammate do it for them. Should help keep things speeding along a little better.

I dont know if we wanted to allow teammates to look at each others turns or not but If we could let teammates do something for someone who is slow then that might help. I would only say, for a teammate not to do anything with their mates turn until they ARE running behind for some reason.

But if the concensus is for teammates not to look at each others turns then that might shoot that down, I dont know if that is allowed or not... ???

[DrPraetorious]

It's fine with me if team-mates look at one another's files, as long as people use more or less consistent IP addresses.

Don't look at your team-mates turn from some wandering IP range or hotel.

However, I'm worried about multiple turns being taken on the same CD key. If the dom3 server doesn't mind, I don't mind - as long as it doesn't become a habit. This *is* supposed to be a team game, and not a 1-player-2-nations game, after all.

[Revolution]

Hrrrm, If someone is taking a long time to take their turn how about letting their teammate do it for them. Should help keep things speeding along a little better.

I dont know if we wanted to allow teammates to look at each others turns or not but If we could let teammates do something for someone who is slow then that might help. I would only say, for a teammate not to do anything with their mates turn until they ARE running behind for some reason.

But if the concensus is for teammates not to look at each others turns then that might shoot that down, I dont know if that is allowed or not... ???

As far as I know, 2 nations being played from 1 CD key can cause the game to mess up due to the games anti piracy measures.

[Zeldor]

afaik it was true up to patch 3.10 or 3.15. They all must be played from the same machine though.

[archaeolept]

afaik no one is sure about that ;p

better to find someone to temp sub the turn

[AreaOfEffect]

I'm sure about it.

[Lingchih]

We had this discussion last Pimping game, and the consensus was (including Kristoffer, who was playing) that you could do it.

[Lingchih]

So, is anyone playing Agartha? It doesn't look like anyone is.

[DrPraetorious]

AFAIK, Frank Trollman is playing Agartha. He hasn't been staleing, has he?

I've been busy with work and haven't been paying attention - if someone can give me quick, easy advice on how to turn on e-mail turn notifications (for those who want it), I'll do so, since I've been told Gandalf's server supports this.

[Unoptimized]

He has been playing, and being an excellent team mate.

[Unoptimized]

We, the peaceful land of Ermor, find ourselves targetted by unprovoked aggression. Sacred hoplites of Pangea have marched into our quiet forrests unprovoked. While we are loathe to send the silent legions at this time, our hand seems forced.

To our more reasonable friends and neighbors, we hearby open a market of vibrant trade. Any who wish items such as skull mentors, champion's skulls, or any number of boosters should let us know post-haste. Our mages are standing by to process your requests. We will even let Jomon trade with us, as they have been kind enough to correct some of our cultists who were clearly doing it wrong.

[Lingchih]

Yes, we of Pangaea don't like the stench of you Ermor. We've decided to evict you from the neighborhood.

[Kristoffer O]

> Yes, we of Pangaea don't like the stench of you Ermor.

Look who's talking. You smell of mold and rotting carcasses!

[Ershalim]

The people of Jomon stand by their decision to eradicate the cultists, and further would like to decree that Emrorians are in no way invited to their stuffed animal tea party happening later this year.

Without the leadership of Elore, who had gone on a bender and ended up with three extra years in Tartarus, the Jomon people often defer to their big brother nation of T'ien Ch'i when making decisions. In Ermor's case, they simply appeared and started robbing our graves -- we did what any self-respecting tattle tale little brother would do. We told TC and then threw a tantrum. You know, with horsies of death and mayhem!

Sadly, the whole experience has turned us off to the idea of an undead nation, so we fully support Pangaea's eviction.

Also? Jomon can make stuff too. So if you want the non-death and non-corpse-smelling stuff, get it from Jomon. You might even get invited to an imaginary tea party!

[AreaOfEffect]

Wow, eviction notices. Pangaea has really modernized themselves, haven't they.

[Micah]

The forges of Ulm hunger for Earth gems, please let us know if you have any that you would be interested in trading. We are also looking for a pair of flying boots.

[Lingchih]

Hmm. This looks grim. 300-500 undead converging on us (Pan). I didn't expect this kind of response. I can hold, but you others might want to consider taking on Ermor now, since he seems to be sending his full weight against me.

[Unoptimized]

We are pleased to inform you that through creative dominion growth and our innovative construction projects we will be quite capable of defense. It is also our strong recommendation that all parties interested in visiting Ermorian territory strongly consider investment in food, as the land has been thoroughly processed. Considering the apparent prejudice against us, did you really think I would leave the means of production unguarded?

[Lingchih]

No worries about food mate, we Pan are pretty good at living off the land. Sometimes we just boil up a spare vine creature, and have vine creature stew. Tastes like crap, but it's very nutritious.

[Ershalim]

It's a great food source for horses, too. The people of Jomon frequently make vine people for the stables. Though sometimes they get a bit out of control and start abducting small children...

[Lingchih]

Pangaea is in need of an amulet of luck. We can pay in water gems. In fact, we can over-pay in water gems. PM me if you are interested. We would preferably like one that has already been forged, and can be sent this turn. But we will also trade for one that has to be forged.

[James243]

Any chance of changing to 48 hour hosting?

I'm aware of the ermor problem but lack a border - how can I help?

[Zeldor]

Ermor has plenty of allies.

[AreaOfEffect]

Which nation are you playing as James? Pythium or Marignon?

[DrPraetorious]

We'll switch to 48h hosting if, let's say, four other people request it.

My turns still don't take very long, but I'm sympathetic to those who are micromanaging more.

[James243]

I'm Marignon

[Lingchih]

I am unsympathetic to those nations who have extreme micromanagement, since I am fighting one of them. I vote we stay on 24 hour.

[AreaOfEffect]

I'm Marignon

Alright, well then it is helpful for everyone to know that you don't border either Ermor or Argatha. You could aid your ally, Pythium, as he has a clear border with Argatha and Ermor. Now is a good time to take the land from Ermor as Argatha just cut a path through him in order to flank Pangaea.

If you have researched enough evocation then I could be your spotter and tell you where to drop some Flames From Afar.

Here is something for starters:

Doven (116) The province contains about 60 hostile units. The army consists of mainly Argathan Light Crossbowmen. Crossbowmen, Blindfighters and Agarthian Heavy Crossbowmen. The army appears to be commanded by Zanerio the Ktonian Necromancer. The local defense of the province only consists of one officer and a few loyal henchmen.

Binophe (204) The province contains about 40 hostile units. The army consists of mainly Circle Masters and Longdeads.The army appears to be commanded by Primus the Master Lich who radiates power. The local defense of the province appears to be quite well organized. There is a simple Hillfort located here...

P.S.: I'm managing 41 scouts, several spys, and numerous commanders. Yet I still don't need more then 24 hours.

[Lingchih]

Agartha ain't cutting a flank on me dog. He can never even dream of what is about to hit him.

Hysteria, oh Hysteria, must you kill so many? Why do you so revel in death?

-Pangaea

Wow, is this open diplo or what? I've never seen this much open diplomacy.

[AreaOfEffect]

When is starts to become Ermor vs. The World, it becomes more conveinent to just post a notice rather then a series of private messages.

[Unoptimized]

So much posturing chatter. We would like to remind our friends in silly hats that if they wish, they are welcome to send fires to our few living mages. However, we would like to remind you your bolts are, like as not, going to hit chaff.

Also, we strongly suggest that you take AOE's words with more than a dash of salt. He is attempting to turn focus away from his own ally, who is much more dangerous than I.

[Zeldor]

Am I? It looks otherwise from scouting and battle reports.

[Unoptimized]

(OOC: Please keep in mind that my comments are in character and in the nature of good fun. I'm havng a blast with this game so far, and the guys who I've been fighting have been awesome opponents :).)

[PsiSoldier]

Also, we strongly suggest that you take AOE's words with more than a dash of salt. He is attempting to turn focus away from his own ally, who is much more dangerous than I.

Errrr, I think you have Zeldor and AOE mixed up. AOE is R'lyeh... Unless you happen to think for some strange reason that Man is stronger. Hell I'm not even going to be fighting against R'lyeh but by the time I finish moving north R'lyeh will have already dealt me a serious blow without ever having lifted a finger, considering that as I look at Mictlan's troops and see they are all Insane, Mine shall be too soon enough...

That or I just forget about Mictlan and leave them to their insanity where they can drool on themselves and preach to their livestock all they want.

[Zeldor]

So imagine how many insane troops R'lyeh must have :)

[AreaOfEffect]

Also, we strongly suggest that you take AOE's words with more than a dash of salt. He is attempting to turn focus away from his own ally, who is much more dangerous than I.

All of the targets I listed are of no use to me. None of them aid me in my current struggles. Yet, if you want I could easily post some targets I would personally like to see get burned.

Also note that Marignon asked for ways it could help. Nobody is forcing another player's hand here. I'm simply providing options for the fulfillment of another player's desire.

[nozshand]

Can we at least keep the diplo in private, giving out people's intention is simply not a good idea, and it might just turn a friend into an enemy.

[Lingchih]

Agartha ain't cutting a flank on me dog. He can never even dream of what is about to hit him.

Well, actually, he did flank me. Damn cowardly Satyrs. Agarthan army is in 79 if anyone wants to send some hate that way.

[Revolution]

Can we at least keep the diplo in private, giving out people's intention is simply not a good idea, and it might just turn a friend into an enemy.

What's the fun in that :p

[Lingchih]

Yeah, let's go to 48 hour. It's getting tough, even for me. Who wants to let Gandalf know?

[Lingchih]

I sent a PM to Gandalf to set this to 48 hour host.

[PsiSoldier]

Bleh.. I'll never understand why it takes some of you people so damn long to take a turn.

[DrPraetorious]

I'm the game admin, not GP :). I have (sinister music), access to his server!

If one more person asks for 48 hrs, I'll up the host interval.

[DrPraetorious]

Okay, 48 hrs it is.

[Lingchih]

Thanks, DrP.

Not much to report from the front. Ermor continues to move this way and that with his big army. Seems afraid to attack.

Imagine that. Afraid to attack my Gorgon. Why, she's just a little thing... I'm sure she could not do much against big, bad Ermor.

[Unoptimized]

The same could be said of you. However, we think you will find that the time for dancing has passed. We will silence your people and bring them true peace.

[Zeldor]

Who turned off the quickhost?

[DrPraetorious]

Space elves.

In order to turn quickhost back on, you must give if yourself to the Great Red Ape.

I actually turned it off by accident, but personally I prefer to leave QH off once we're taking 48 hrs/cycle anyway. It prevents people from stale-ing because they're afraid of triggering a QH with a partially complete turn.

[Micah]

Can I vote to have it back on? I agree that the auto-upload thing sucks, but if someone really wants to check the timer/server status they can move their 2h file out of the game folder and that should keep them from uploading when they connect. I haven't tested this, but I don't see why it wouldn't work.

[Zeldor]

Yeah, 48h is really a lot, and we are not so far in the game that we need people doing partial turns few times.

[DrPraetorious]

Okay, I will turn QH back on after this turn hosts.

[AreaOfEffect]

Oh the torture. Four more hours of waking agony. Is their nothing I can do to traverse time and bring my suffering to an end. This only proves that god put us in this horrid world of disease and death only to see us suffer. I can feel his/her piercing gaze look into my inner soul and cackle in pure delight. I can't take it anymore. I feel as though the world is closing in and their is nothing for me to look forward to but emptiness. The dark and cold emptiness which is a direct result of the hollow pleasure I derive from this game. Is there... oh, sandwich... *num* *num* *num*

[Unoptimized]

...Someone has been close to LA Ryleh for too long...

[Lingchih]

OK. The Ulm/Pan alliance is falling to the deadly forces of Ermor. If any of the civilized nations want to send help, send it now. We'll, take gems, magic items, long range strikes, anything. If you don't want to see your provs reduces to mindless undead of Ermor, send help to the defenders of freedom now please.

Ulm/Pan

[Lingchih]

Defenders of Freedom is now copyrighted. Anyone that would like to join us is welcome.

[Revolution]

Bogarus is in the market for some earth boots...I have some delightful astral pearls or perhaps some other nice stuff to trade for said boots.

[Lingchih]

Well, the Ermor situation is getting grim folks. Several thousands of undead have descended on Ulm and Pangaea, and these aren't dumb undead either. Early in the game Ermor got access to circle masters, and so, along with massive hordes, he also has decent research, as the Darkness and Shadow Blast spam from our last battle will attest.

We will hold as long as we can, but we need help now, or you will one by one, alone most likely, face the unimaginable wrath of Ermor.

Pangaea

[Micah]

I think I accidentally sent an SDR to someone in error (I'm ulm) if you could pass it on to Pan it would be much appreciated.

[AreaOfEffect]

Interesting team work strategy. I like it. Classy. It might even pay off if you can get some assistance. I was personally going to focus on the stealth aspect if I had got those nations. Then again, that's more for conventional warfare against an enemy that cares about their non-castle/non-temple provinces.

[Micah]

Our teamwork strategy at this point pretty much consists of group prayer sessions, hoping we get some help with Ermor. =)

[Zeldor]

Ya na kadishtu nilgh'ri stell'bsna Nyogtha,
K'yarnak phlegethor l'ebumna syha'h n'ghft,
Ya hai kadishtu ep r'luh-eeh Nyogtha eeh,
S'uhn-ngh athg li'hee orr'e syha'h.

[Lingchih]

Arrgh. Agartha eliminated, for now. It's up to Pythium to take them out now. Ermor force is staying strong and headed for my cap. We will hold as long as we can.

Pan

[Micah]

Ulm's still in the market for pearls, anyone trading? We have most other gems available and some limited forging capacity! (stupid junky mages)

[Unoptimized]

We of the silent lands are pleased to have caused so much commotion. Once again, we would caution others from getting involved in this conflict. As Pangea can attest, our war machine is geared towards the permanent destruction of provincial long-term viability.

However, we would like to pose an alternative to all of the urgent negative propaganda spewed about the coming Ermorian threat. Arguably, we are at our strongest presently. Through liberal use of skull mentors, we have achieved a level of research which makes our hordes dangerous, and capable against traditional counters. However, this advantage is a fleeting one. As this war goes on, our hordes will have a harder and harder time countering the communions that you can bring to bear.

As this war goes on, the threat that we pose will wane. At the same time, the longer these battles go on, the stronger Ryleh becomes. We ask you now, who would you rather fight in later years?

Think on this question carefully. We have enough bane venom charms and castles to make any offensive against us costly to the extreme, irregardless of our military might. Or, we can use our resources to help new friends bring down a looming threat in the sea, which has already annihilated one nation. You cannot stop us without ruining your ability to stop them.

[Zeldor]

You forgot to mention that R'lyeh controls a magic site that enables recruitment of Markatas.

[AreaOfEffect]

Yeah all he needs to do now is back those monkeys with some of Bandar Log's national summons and they'll be able to take on knights...

Edit: Listen to Ermor. They can't possibly cast any global spells which is the ruin of every nation but them. I mean, they need income too... right? Oh. Never mind.

[Lingchih]

Yeah all he needs to do now is back those monkeys with some of Bandar Log's national summons and they'll be able to take on knights...

Edit: Listen to Ermor. They can't possibly cast any global spells which is the ruin of every nation but them. I mean, they need income too... right? Oh. Never mind.

Heh. Nicely put.

[Micah]

If the nations of Ulm and Pan fall Ermor will have a corner of the map, along with all of the income of our broken empires as his military outpaces his dominion, which will allow him to pop up temples and forts en masse.

I'm also sure Ermor will be much weaker later once he can summon up tartarians and really open up his magic diversity. At least rlyeh's mages cost money, which becomes problematic with their upkeep sucking freespawn and their pop-killing dominion.

In addition, we of Ulm have lost barely any ground to the undead hordes, and that only due to their clever dancing and refusing to meet our priests and steel on the field of battle. We have been holding them to a stalemate, which suggests they will have few resources to divert elsewhere if we receive assistance soon. Our nature-loving ally does not fare so well, sadly, so our time grows short before our borders become too numerous to defend, but victory is well within grasp if we have some assistance, and Ermor's threats of devastation have not visited our borders, which have long been locked in struggle with them.

[Micah]

This month Ulm has lain to rest over 600 Ermorian soldiers, along with a pair of spectators. The victory was not without loss, as some of our brave priests were slain whilst banishing the horde, but we do not lack for volunteers and they will be quickly replaced. Ulm holds strong against the Ermorian tide, and continues to call for help from the other nations.

[AreaOfEffect]

Wow, Ermor finally builds an unprotected temple (Nenhaboa, 132). The first one I've ever seen since I've had my eye on them. Nuke it! Nuke it! Poor guy must be losing his mind, cause it sits right on the border of an Ulm province.

Somebody tried to nuke the mind of one my scouts. My apologies to Ratheldun, I'm sure it was intended for another bothersome stealthy unit. Maybe you could PM me some provinces I should stay clear of? Unless it was intended for me, in that case, I believe you take your privacy a bit too seriously.

[Unoptimized]

(OOC I was out this weekend, my teammate was awesome enough to play my turns :) )

Hm. It seems we have slightly fewer forces. However, while Ulm cries victory, the lands of their ally are silenced. Soon they will have no other to shield them.

[Lingchih]

Silence? meh. Up yours Ermor.

[Unoptimized]

Up mine indeed. Excellent battle. Your god hysteria gets a tad bit more terrifying each time I see her.

[Lingchih]

Up mine indeed. Excellent battle. Your god hysteria gets a tad bit more terrifying each time I see her.

Indeed. We are actually afraid of her now. She is not a kind Goddess.