ComfortZone - All MA Nations - Running

[vfb]

As C'tis sallied forth to prevent the forces of Mictlan from conquering Machaka, we encountered brutal resistance. We have lost three tartarians now, at great expense of gems. And now the forces of Man have joined in the attack on Mictlan.

We suspected an alliance between Man and Mictlan when we saw both were attacking Machaka. That alliance is now confirmed, and it is as great a threat to the free South as the vast empire of Jotun is to a free North.

Any nations not under the yoke of the combined rule of Man and Mictlan would be most wise to take up arms against their alliance now, for otherwise your god will be next to be banished to oblivion as your provinces are overrun.

-- C'tis

[cleveland]

Er, check your PM... :)

[vfb]

The ambassadors of Man have crafted a somewhat plausible explanation of their incursion into the lands of C'tis, if one is willing to pave the way towards suspension of hostilities with a little suspension of disbelief.

So it seems it may be Mictlan alone we must fear, with his Horrors visiting the countryside, and super-squads of super-summons. He is a wily foe, and we salute his skill in dispatching our teleporting assassination squad with his own teleporting counter teleporting assassination squad assassination squad.

Now ... teleporting counter teleporting counter teleporting assassination squad assassination squad assassination squad ... teleport!

-- C'tis

[JimMorrison]

...
Now ... teleporting counter teleporting counter teleporting assassination squad assassination squad assassination squad ... teleport!

Form of - AN OCELOT!

[alhorro]

Do not listen to evil lizards. It's surprising that they have actually noticed the loss of 3 tartarians, cause they have much more, while we don't even have a single crippled baby tartarian. They wear Boots of Planes as sneakers and use Gate Stone as a paper press, while we don't have a single artefact. Holy mirror, we don't even have another ready teleporting squad to assassinate their teleporting counter teleporting counter teleporting assassination squad assassination squad assassination squad!

We were a very peaceful nation until we spotted a horde of evil insanely blessed spiders at our borders, which had just destroyed powerful Ermor with no casualties. We had to protect our lands, and we managed to defeat evil Machakan armies at the great cost, but lizards didn't gave us time even to replenish resourses. They are much more powerful, but they vilely attacked us at the daytime without notification, slaughtered our beautiful unsuspecting Air Queen (she was just trying to bring fertile rain!), raped, killed and ate thousands of innocent peasants. Support Mictlan - we offer vamp... immortality for nobles and fertile lands for sla... peasants, while lizards can offer you only insane rotting corpses! (our stock symbol SMMI)

http://www.picamatic.com/show/2009/02/07/01/33/2045789_400x610.jpg

[JimMorrison]

...slaughtered our beautiful unsuspecting Air Queen (she was just trying to bring fertile rain!), raped, killed and ate thousands of innocent peasants. Support Mictlan - we offer vamp...

Having witnessed the successive dominance of said Air Queen, said Tartarians, and said Coatls+Tlaloc, I can only say - dear god, how did we get this late in the game already? :p

I trace all ills in the world back to Marignon skimming 2 nice grasslands from Atlantis, causing a massive dip in disposable income just as we entered war with Agartha. Otherwise, you'd all be practicing your 'blurbs' and 'glubs' to prepare for your new national language.

[cleveland]

All,

Please accept my apologies for committing a serious Admin violation: I granted myself 1 extra hour on the game timer.

I certainly don't intend to do it again, but I've been entertaining guests for the past 5 days, and just dropped them off at the airport this morning. Plus I had to execute a massive sneak attack against C'tis, which was doubly time consuming, since I accidentally attacked him last turn ;)

Cheers,
cleveland

[cleveland]

The nation of Man is proud to announce that The Flailing Hands, a Death-boosting 2-handed artifact, is now up for grabs! Help yourself, and good luck!

[vfb]

Nooo! Cruel men hurts us. Nasty Man, they has tricksed us!

-- C'tis

[vfb]

C'tis has discovered the reason for Man's tricksiness. We sees they have our Precious, and we knows the Precious makes us bad sometimes.

While Man holds our Precious, be careful in your dealings with them. For instances, if tricksy Men says they will attacks Mictlan next month, do not tell them where your armies are heading. A nasty Cyclops will be there waiting for them, and he will drop a Rain of Stoneses on their heads. Ouch!

-- C'tis

[cleveland]

In honor of Valentine's Day, I formally request a 24hr extension to the game timer.

[In other words, if I don't stop playing this turn right now and take my wife on a romantic night out, she's going to throw my laptop into the fireplace.]

Are there any objections?

Sorry,
cleveland

[rabelais]

I cant really finish my turn anyway, so this is a blessing for me as well. Being married is like that. Have fun all.

[cleveland]

All,

I have bad news: unfortunately, rabelais, feared Lord of Jotunheim, can no longer continue the game, and has asked me to find a sub for him. Frankly, we owe him a debt of gratitude for sticking around this long, given his new baby and the awesome size of his empire. He's played a great game and will be missed.

I'm advertising for a sub immediately. The game will be postponed until one is found and he/she can get a handle on the Jotun Monster.

Cheers,
cleveland

[JimMorrison]

Why did he have to crush my skull before leaving? :p

I want my skull back. :(

<3 Rabe

[cleveland]

Duncanshriek - a former ComfortZone player whose nation is now ai - has volunteered to take jotun. Any objections ?

I'm traveling all day so talk amongst yourselves.

[vfb]

No objections here. Not that C'tis has high hopes for global supremacy at this particular moment.

[rabelais]

Go for it. I will send him a note. detailing what has gone before. thanks all.

[cleveland]

Well then let's all re-welcome duncanshriek as the new Jotun overlord by swarming him. :D

ds - You should now have the turn in your email. Good luck!

[duncanshriek]

Thanks. I knew, everybody was thinking of swarming the Noob. ;-)

Well then let's all re-welcome duncanshriek as the new Jotun overlord by swarming him. :D

ds - You should now have the turn in your email. Good luck!

Got it. It'll take some time to make my first move, but certainly not until Thursday. I wouldn't mind to restart the 51h intervall now.

[alhorro]

Jotuns turn was ready 24h ago. So what are we waiting for? :/

[cleveland]

The leader of Man apologizes, as he's spent the last 3 days moving across the country, and prepping for a new job he starts tomorrow.

I should be able to do it tonight.

[BesucherXia]

How about machaka? He staled last turn, and is very likely to have disappeared since there is not much left for him.

[cleveland]

I've asked the venerable SanSanJuan to flip Machaka AI.

As for me, I'm having a terrible time putting a decent turn together. Thank Caelum's mammoth herd for the delay! Very nearly done, though, thanks for your patience.

[qio]

I've asked the venerable SanSanJuan to flip Machaka AI.

As for me, I'm having a terrible time putting a decent turn together. Thank Caelum's mammoth herd for the delay! Very nearly done, though, thanks for your patience.

?

I've told you well in advance I would recruit those critters with tusks. I fail to see how blaming our national pet due to your chancellor's senile memory makes this our fault. Don't forget to mention to Mictlan that I am attacking him, with your approval and support while you're at it. :(

[cleveland]

The chancellor has many things on his mind, including the implications of the "Preventing Harassment Training" he received today as part of New Job Orientation.

Well, if those beasts are benign, I suppose my pathetic efforts to counter them are no longer necessary.

Apologies to the esteemed Caelum diplomat. :D

[Otherling]

Sorry about that. Meant to set things to AI last turn, but I must have forgotten to actually send it in, so go ahead and switch it over. It's been fun, and I thought my spiders had a chance for a while, but I can't take on that many people at once. Thanks for the game, everyone.

[cleveland]

1) A big Thank You to SanSanJuan for flipping Machaka AI!

2) Caelum has predictably attacked Man. In other words, Caelum has decided that MAN is a bigger threat than MICTLAN. I take great personal satisfaction in this fact. :D

No, but seriously...huh?

Really?

You haven't noticed all those demons?

*sigh* :re:

[vfb]

No sighing allowed! And no eyeball-rolling either.

A nation can pose a threat because it has grown powerful, agreed. But a nation also poses a threat when it cannot be trusted. The threat posed by a Man, who sneaks his armies into the lands of those he pretends to ally with, is far more immediate.

Man cannot be trusted, as the nation of C'tis can attest.

DEATH TO MAN!

[cleveland]

*sigh* :re:

[alhorro]

Huh, demons? We don't have any demons. Actually our first demon summoner will arrive only the next turn.

And we are very disappointed with a new jotun enchantment. We can't pool any pearls to dispel it, but we can offer D/F/W as our share.

[qio]

In all honesty. I'd much prefer you would all roll over and simply accept the grand council of Caelum as the only legitimate authority in all matters.


Caelum's scribes have postulated that perhaps the nation of Man made a small tactical mistake in attacking C'tis and allowing Mictlan free access to what once was Machaka. Given that C'tis was actually attacking Mictlan and not Man. It gets very confusing when so many nations have the same first letter. :re:

The current hot topic of debate is whether Mictlan will not take advantage of the current dire situation that Man faces - being at war on two fronts.

[duncanshriek]

Huh, demons? We don't have any demons. Actually our first demon summoner will arrive only the next turn.

And we are very disappointed with a new jotun enchantment. We can't pool any pearls to dispel it, but we can offer D/F/W as our share.

I just _had_ to cast Illwinter, as it was a fit as perfect as it can get, and that was the first time ever with that Global for me. One can't please everybody with globals. I knew it would hurt Mictlan most. Just keep your dominion up, it is really not that bad.

Rabelais wrote, that Mictlan owes Jotunheim a forging favor. I assume we can not count an that any longer?

;-)

[JimMorrison]

Dominion doesn't do any good against Illwinter. The entire world will be shrouded in 3Cold within a matter of a handful of turns. <3

Honestly, I think it was the perfect move as well, with the forces of the world already arraying against the Jotun, it was the most cost effective way to help themselves out, while hurting everyone else in existence. Bravo. :up:

[vfb]

Oh crap. Mass Protection < Rain of Stones. :hurt: What, do you want me to make armor for all my mages or something? I'm not made out of gems, you know!

-- C'tis

[alhorro]

What, do you want me to make armor for all my mages or something? I'm not made out of gems, you know!


No, just give your PoD a gate cleaver, replace that Armour of Cowards with some normal suit, and smash a head of that nasty Cyclops into his beloved earth.

And stop harassing that poor vampire, you sadist! We can't watch him dying every turn without tears, sell him to us, we will give him a rehabilitation course and a good job in logistics.

[vfb]

Okay, but you have to get Man to agree to send his Cyclops in and not his army. :)

I'm not sure you really want my vampire, he's not been feeling very well lately. I'm hoping he'll get better soon though.

[cleveland]

Dear Winged Sir or Madam,

The Caelum Department of War regrets to inform you that your son, while serving his country and noblely commanding our brave-yet-subpar troops, has been killed in action.

Actually, he died retreating, with his tail between his wings. But you don't have to tell anyone that if you don't want to.

Sincerely,
Flyteofaccordian
Decide-er of Caelum

--------------------

Caelum minister,

As a gesture of good will, the scribes of Man have prepared the above form letter to help ease your transition into the next turn. Simply run off a few dozen copies, no need to thank us.

Cheers,
Man

-----------------

OK enough fun. We seem to have a problem in that R'lyeh has apparently staled twice in a row. And has disappeared from the other games he's in. Jeez, I hope he's alright.

Regardless, I have no idea how competitive R'lyeh is...they certainly seem to be viable in the score graphs. Should we find a replacement or set him AI? Consensus?

Cheers,
cleveland

[JimMorrison]

He hasn't been doing his turns? I didn't realize. I'll kick him in the *** and see what happens - obstinate fellow, that one. :p

[duncanshriek]

OK enough fun. We seem to have a problem in that R'lyeh has apparently staled twice in a row. And has disappeared from the other games he's in. Jeez, I hope he's alright.

Regardless, I have no idea how competitive R'lyeh is...they certainly seem to be viable in the score graphs. Should we find a replacement or set him AI? Consensus?


My preference in that case would be to minimize the interruption time period. I vote for setting R'lyeh AI.

[alhorro]

Oh no. R'lyeh has borders with us mainly, and we can't afford anti-AI PD having zero gold income (thank you, jotuns!). R'lyeh has lots of forts and vastnesses, so it's quite playable.

[JimMorrison]

I'm not sure why this bears need for further discussion. :p

I have already stated - I can contact him through the mysterious outside world known as "Earth", or as you may know it, "Real Life", and will find out what the next step needs to be.

[vfb]

Yeah, MA R'lyeh is tons of fun. I don't think we'll have a problem finding a sub.

PS: Man, would you please quit goofing around with those birds, and get your armies back into C'tis where they are supposed to be polishing us lizards off. You had a less than stellar performance this month.

Edit: Jim, did not know you could contact R'lyeh's ruler via the Earthrial Plane! So if you can get him back in the game, good, otherwise finding a sub should not be hard.

[cleveland]

48 hrs added, sub announcement for R'lyeh posted.

Lizardmen:
***We are experiencing unusually high golem volume at the current time. Please stand by, and an annihilation specialist will be with you shortly...[message repeats]***

[alhorro]

...
R'lyeh 2h file received
...

Do we have a sub or MadFrancis is back?

[JimMorrison]

He has returned to Atlantis the items that we had sent to R'lyeh as part of a plan that he apparently then immediately abandoned. :p

He has then set the nation to AI, as it really is rather hopeless in the scope of what is currently occurring on the land around them.

Believe me when I say, I have rather intimate knowledge of what R'lyeh has, and their near term capabilities - and it is no way impressive or competitive with any of the "strong" nations in the game now.

Atlantis is almost as bad off at this point, but I swore that if Jotun attacked us, we would bring vengeance until a true god ascends, or we are totally annihilated - and I am a man of my word. :p

[rabelais]

Just for the record, jotun was attacking AGARTHA, you just got all snippy that I was cutting in to your vision of greater atlantis.


Good luck exacting revenge on my successor, even though you likely killed my water force with the stale, I had forged enough sea goblets that an invasion wasn't out of the question.

Go go gadget demons!

The funny thing is I had played thew diplo game very carefully, so I never had more than 1 or occasionally 2 wars at once, and the turn after I leave... illwinter with extra bloodslaves :) . Great stuff!

[cleveland]

Let it be known that Mismeasure of Man died comfortably in his sleep.

:rip:

Killed by a nightmare.

Not actually killed, mind you.

He autorouted when the turn limit hit.

During a Vengeance of the Dead.

Which counts as an assassination spell.

So he died.

Because it was not mechanically possible to win the battle...

:re:

[vfb]

The Sauromancers of C'tis are firm believers in the fairness of casting one successful VotD on enemy commanders. You must have known a VotD was coming after blasting away hordes of enemies with RoS.

If under these circumstances the god of Man sees fit to gear himself with a Frost Brand :re: and Vine Shield :re:, he deserves to sleep awhile.

DEATH TO MAN!

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Lizards

[cleveland]

Oh, we certainly don't mean to belittle the Lizard's success. Not at all. Spending that much time in enemy territory was a calculated risk...he was going to succumb to a Mind Hunt or something eventually. Please accept our congratulations. :beer:

It's just so sad to watch your champion fall...if it had been a Mind Hunt, at least I wouldn't have had to see it in technicolor...:(

[qio]

@duncanshriek: Told you it can work.

[duncanshriek]

@duncanshriek: Told you it can work.
VotD? Well, yes, kind of.

We are a little disappointed by Vanheim. Cold scales are also in their favor. But instead of sending an embassador with the proper speech of thank, the first thing we hear from them are armors rattling when their Vanherses dropped from the clouds.

From Ulm we expected nothing else than a mischievous attack after the example given by their new friend Arco.

Don't get too soon into conflict over your claims on our territory. :smirk:

[Valerius]

Well, Vanheim figured it had to act against its ancient foes before they wrapped up the game....

[BesucherXia]

well, I remember those provinces belonged to TC for years, who now has decided to surround and leave his provinces at the victors' deposition. Unfortuntely the evil Greek stepped into the war months ago and grabed them before either sides could deal with him. After sending 2 embassadors without getting any response, Ulm lords clearly tasted the insult and sweared to fight them till either sides' death.

For Jotuns conquer over greek rats, Ulm will show his appreciation. But after watching the giants movement, Ulm does suspect whether any chance of cooperation exists.
So that's the story. Ulm does not expect Jotuns friendship. Just want to clarify that Arco is not his friend neither.

[duncanshriek]

*bump*

Gentlemen,

as much as I'd like keep the game at fast pace, it is no longer possible. I'm honored with the unshared attention of 6 nations now. OK, Agartha is AI, but still kicking. Finding a worthy answer for each one is quite demanding.

I suggest we move to 75h quickhost.

[cleveland]

A motion has been raised to extend the game timer to 75hrs. Will anyone second the motion?

[vfb]

Motion seconded.

[BesucherXia]

I am for 75h quickhost.

[alhorro]

Are you serious?

It still takes me ~30 minutes to make a turn, and I'd better vote for Utterdark & Burden of Time than for a 75h interval. Just explain me why — every nation has almost same gem income as 15 turns ago, that means same amount of actions per turn. :confused:

[cleveland]

A vote is now on the floor to permanently extend the timer to 75hrs.

Per the lessons from the last extension, voting will be open until the end of turn 59. See the first post for details. Turns 58 & 59 shall be 75hrs to keep timing from skewing the vote.:up:

[duncanshriek]

Are you serious?

It still takes me ~30 minutes to make a turn, and I'd better vote for Utterdark & Burden of Time than for a 75h interval. Just explain me why — every nation has almost same gem income as 15 turns ago, that means same amount of actions per turn. :confused:

Are _you_ serious? Of course it is much easier to prepare for war undisturbed like Mictlan did these 15 turns, than to actually fight these wars. Jotunheim is fighting at 6 fronts now. Takes me well over 5 hours per turn.

[cleveland]

Well, I forgot to send an ingame reminder to vote...I'll send an email.

Regardless, the Crones inhabiting the Towers of Man fear the end is nigh. Losing Mismeasure took the wind from our sails, leaving our adrift ship to be smashed by the Ctissian hammer against the Caelum anvil. Our gem stores drained, our gold reserves depleated, and our frigid lands quickly becoming Ctissian, it's time for us to pass along the admin banner. Who shall carry it?

[duncanshriek]

Well, I forgot to send an ingame reminder to vote...I'll send an email.


A vote not showing up here is not counted at all, I hope. Otherwise elections would not make much sense.


Regardless, the Crones inhabiting the Towers of Man fear the end is nigh. Losing Mismeasure took the wind from our sails, leaving our adrift ship to be smashed by the Ctissian hammer against the Caelum anvil. Our gem stores drained, our gold reserves depleated, and our frigid lands quickly becoming Ctissian, it's time for us to pass along the admin banner. Who shall carry it?

Judgeing from the scores I'd say Mictlan is rushing to your aid. But I do not want to complain if you want to drop out. At least you didn't feel the need to test your tricks on Jotunheim like so many others :)

Perhaps I could be convinced to take the admin role, if there is no other way to disregard complete abstinations in votings ;-)

[cleveland]

As admin, I vote to abstain.

Of course, the only votes that will be counted are those cast here.

[duncanshriek]

A vote is now on the floor to permanently extend the timer to 75hrs.

Per the lessons from the last extension, voting will be open until the end of turn 59. See the first post for details. Turns 58 & 59 shall be 75hrs to keep timing from skewing the vote.:up:

Well, I count 3 votes for 75h, one against and one abstination. The election is aready closed for 2 turns. Would you please set the timer now, cleveland?

[vfb]

Oh, also I just noticed Man has been staling. Here I was, thinking I had stopped sucking so horribly, when in actuality it was just the complete absence of opposition forces for the last three turns. :o

Can Man go AI? Or get a sub? I don't mind either way.

[cleveland]

Right. Sorry for disappearing, I've been firefighting at work and - frankly - haven't had much to throw against the C'tissian juggernaut.

I'm sad to say that the Nation of Man is vanquished. Good game everyone! I hope you all had/are having/will have as much fun/disappointment as I have.

duncanshriek - check your PM...your the new admin!

:D

[duncanshriek]

"The hosting interval for A1ComfortZone has now been changed to 75 hours, and the deadline for the next hosting has been automatically postponed by 27 hours."

That was the reaction I got from the nice Llameserver upon my very firt admin action. I hope everbody is as content with that as I am.

[duncanshriek]

Sorry, but I had to delay the game. I was almost through with my turn, when I lost all the work on that by a Dom3 GUI freeze. There was not enough time left to redo the turn, but it will take me not all the 24 hours of the delay, so stay tuned ;-)

I'll file a bug report (in the bug thread? not sure yet), in case you are interested.

[vfb]

For the unpardonable crime of wishing away my Chalice, C'tis declares Vendetta on Mictlan!

We will abide by our 1-turn NAP, and not attack until next month. May Camilla have mercy on your souls!

(P.S. Make it quick, okay? I don't like those horrible lingering deaths where it takes forever and ever for me to die.)

[alhorro]

Err, we had to wish for the chalice, cause jotuns eliminated our entire army the previous turn, and now those few warriors our poor nation can afford are heavily wounded. And it would be hard to make it quick, cause now we have nothing but hundreds of slaves, trained to repair fortifications (:

[vfb]

Oh, you're not fooling us lizards. The armies of Mictlan have devastated the nation of Caelum with lightning speed, even while you have been messing about with the giants as a side hobby.

And we remember well the proficient and expeditious manner in which you soundly trounced C'tis the first time we tried to dislodge you from the spider forests. C'tis is writing our our final Will and Testament, and making arrangements for our imminent journey to the swamps of the underworld.

[alhorro]

Caelum was conquered with mercs, Hordes from Hell and Armies of the Dead mostly. Those spells may have loud names, but the effect is quite puny for everything except Caelumian PD. And speaking about wars of the past, our main heroes — Tlaloque Who Killed Three Tartarians And A Fire King and Magoth Who Can Gateway Demons — now lay dead awaiting for resurrection and the Chalice procedures.

[qio]

Caelum was conquered with mercs, Hordes from Hell and Armies of the Dead mostly. Those spells may have loud names, but the effect is quite puny for everything except Caelumian PD. And speaking about wars of the past, our main heroes — Tlaloque Who Killed Three Tartarians And A Fire King and Magoth Who Can Gateway Demons — now lay dead awaiting for resurrection and the Chalice procedures.

Yes. Caelum was fortunate you did not throw any brutes and SCs at it.

[duncanshriek]

Caelum was conquered with mercs, Hordes from Hell and Armies of the Dead mostly. Those spells may have loud names, but the effect is quite puny for everything except Caelumian PD. And speaking about wars of the past, our main heroes — Tlaloque Who Killed Three Tartarians And A Fire King and Magoth Who Can Gateway Demons — now lay dead awaiting for resurrection and the Chalice procedures.

Whom do you want to fool with that whining show? If I were Mictlan I'd also try to calm down my allies about my hegemony. Ulm, Vanheim, Atlantis, Arco and TChi have no longer the excuse to 'stop Jotun from wrapping up the game' for doing Mictlans work.

Mictlan crashed with Caelum the only friend Jotun had. I'm sorry to hear that our next natural ally, Ctis, is already starting without hope.

Yeah, catching one national hero and one arch devil brought a little satisfaction while the concerted enemies advance everywhere.

[vfb]

Thanks to everyone for a fun game in the crowded southlands of Comfort Zone! I'm pretty sure I've lined up a sub to take up the cause of the doomed lizards, he'll be PMing duncanshriek.

Extra thanks to alhorro for taking me to SC school. :)

-- vfb

[duncanshriek]

Thanks to everyone for a fun game in the crowded southlands of Comfort Zone! I'm pretty sure I've lined up a sub to take up the cause of the doomed lizards, he'll be PMing duncanshriek.

Extra thanks to alhorro for taking me to SC school. :)

-- vfb

A hearty welcome to Calahan
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/member.php?u=9597
the new ruler of C'tis.

May his appearance in ComfortZone be longer and more interesting than the rest of is expecting. ;-)

[Calahan]

A hearty welcome to Calahan
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/member.php?u=9597
the new ruler of C'tis.

May his appearance in ComfortZone be longer and more interesting than the rest of is expecting. ;-)

Wow, a direct link to me! I suddenly feel all special :D

And what have I let myself in for here :doh: I thought I was just going to be the steward in charge of putting up a last ditch defence for lizard kind in a few lonely provinces. But it appears I've jumped straight into the initial stages of a full blow-out endgame war. Oh well


The one king is gone, has fled from his land,
but fear not lizard kind, help is at hand.
The reports all read bleak, and morale at a low,
but rise shall we now, to land a fearsome blow.

Yes our blood may be cold, and the lands steaming hot,
but to our dieing day, be oppressed shall we not.
So out with the old, and in with the new,
lets go bag ourselves a Tart trophy, or two :)

[duncanshriek]

Hosting delayed by request of Calahan in order to let him comfort a little with the zone.

*cough* He requested only 6 hours though. The 75 hours were a mistake from me, which can't be undone to my knowledge. So please get in your turns soon. I'll force the turn in about 20 hours. You have been warned ;-)

[Calahan]

Am about to finish off my turn and send it in. It was touch and go for a moment, but just about got the turn done inside the 80hour deadline :)

Many thanks for the delay, (even though didn't need it in the end). I should be able to keep speed with it from now on, as I think I've got to grips with the standard 'first turn as sub' logistical problems.

[Calahan]

Hi Everyone

I'm having some problems uploading my current turn (C'tis). Sent the .2h file to the llamaserver 3 times in the past hour, but I'm not getting any email responses from the server either confirming the file has been received, or reporting an error with the file, and the status page is still saying it's waiting for my turn.

Have asked for a short delay (although it's very short notice). Not the end of the world if C'tis stale though, since they are at the mercy of Mitclan either way.

[duncanshriek]

Hosting postponed by 6 hours because CTis' turn emails are lost on the way to the server.

[Calahan]

Thanks duncanshriek. I will keep trying to get my turn in over the next hour ot two. If I don't get any success, I will PM llamabeast to see if he can help (don't want to bother him if it can be avoided though)

Edit: Just tried sending turns in for 2 other games, and am running into the same problems with those as well. So guessing it's a llamaserver problem rather than a specific ComfortZone problem. Or maybe the llamaserver just doesn't like my emails all of a sudden :)

[duncanshriek]

Hosting postponed by 24 hours on Calahans request. (This thread needed a bump, anyway)

[Calahan]

Thanks duncanshiek

And apologies to everyone for the slight delay. Work just kindly dumped a huge problem on me, and wouldn't want to make life for Mictlan even easier than it already is be staling :)

[duncanshriek]

Should we worry about JimMorrison? Atlantis seems on the way to stale the second time in a row.

Your opinions, please.

[BesucherXia]

I am not sure about the detail situation, but I think the only active competitors remaining in this game are Jotun and Mic, and any other nations could be simply ignored - don't look at Ulm, as the leader of them, the most part of my last 10 turns were seeing none were attacking me and then ended my turn.

Please just bring the final war on the table and let us congratulate the winner after that.

[Valerius]

I agree with Ulm that the only two players in this game with a chance to win are Jotun and Mictlan.

It seems like even before he staled Jim wasn't really engaged in any offensive action for quite awhile. Maybe he just lost interest? But he's active on the boards and it shouldn't be hard to get an answer.

[duncanshriek]

vfb, first ruler of C'tis, has retaken his responsibilies.

Thanks for your help, Calahan.

[vfb]

I see that the lizard empire has made vast progress in implementing the master plan to lure the Mictlan army into our swamps. Mu ha ha ha ha! We will sing songs of your doom, hiss hiss hiss, etc.

[Calahan]

Thanks for the game everyone, it's been fun in a "getting your butt well and truly kicked every turn by a load of SC's" kinda way.

Best of luck to those left standing. Sure I'll catch you all again soon in a less SC dominated game :)

Calahan

[alhorro]

Could we change the hosting interval to 48 or 24h? I've just staled a turn simply cause I'd missed a warning mail, and it was quite painful. And imo we won't be able to finish the game in any reasonable time with the current huge interval anyway.

[duncanshriek]

Could we change the hosting interval to 48 or 24h? I've just staled a turn simply cause I'd missed a warning mail, and it was quite painful. And imo we won't be able to finish the game in any reasonable time with the current huge interval anyway.

Well, sorry about your stale. 24h? No way. I've things to do beyond playing Dom3. And I was really hoping, Vanheim would keep neutrality this time, but now things have gotten complicated again for me.

But of course we could take advantage of quickhosting in the cases I (and all others) get the turn in earlier. I'll ask somebody to turn Atlantis to AI. The 5 remaining of us should often manage to get to quickhosting.

[Calahan]

Hello again all :)

I can turn Atlantis AI if you like, or take a look at the position if you are looking to sub them out. Since an AI water nation could attack anybody, which is a randomness that not everyone welcomes.

[duncanshriek]

Hello again all :)

I can turn Atlantis AI if you like, or take a look at the position if you are looking to sub them out. Since an AI water nation could attack anybody, which is a randomness that not everyone welcomes.

Atlantis' email is changed. Of course you could also sub instead, if you find it interesting enough.

[Calahan]

duncanshriek has just swapped Atlantis over to my email.

Have taken a quick look, and the position seems ok to me. I can still switch them to AI if that is the preferred solution, but would also be prepared to take them over on a permanent basis. I don't do the whole holding grudges thing, so if I did take them over I would play only as I thought best, and not driven by events that occured during my brief stint as steward of C'tis.

I'm easy either way though, but I just have a hatred of seeing viable nations turned AI. There is still a few days left before hosting, so will wait for some feedback before doing anything. But wouldn't want to do anything that isn't agreed by the main players in the game.

[vfb]

I think we should get Mictlan's opinion.

Sadly he staled last month, so he didn't get to see all the valiant running away my fearful lizards are accomplishing. Do we need to put the game on hold? There's not much point in playing without him.

[alhorro]

24h? No way. I've things to do beyond playing Dom3.
But of course we could take advantage of quickhosting in the cases I (and all others) get the turn in earlier. I'll ask somebody to turn Atlantis to AI. The 5 remaining of us should often manage to get to quickhosting.

I also have things to do, and that's why I'm for shorter hosting. Once you receive your turn in 3,5 days after you'd done it, it takes twice time just to remember what were your plans, so I have to do my turns within the last hour before the deadline. And I can't remember a single notable quickhost since ~turn 40. What about 50h, if 24 is not enough?

[Calahan]

Hey guys (and gals)

Any feedback out there on whether or not I should play as Atlantis, or just set them to AI? Willing to do the former, duncanshriek (as admin) asked me to do the latter, and happy myself to do either :)

[BesucherXia]

If no one minds, ulm can also be switched to AI. Another game is wasting all my life(circa 6 hours/turn) and I can not afford playing here.

And if anyone has interests, I will welcome him to replace my position.

[duncanshriek]

Since Mictlan has gotten Arcane Nexus up, let us recapture the measures needed to counter a premature game end.

A) Minimize the gains through Arcane Nexus:

No usage of gems besides astrals (For rituals or forging; also for battles?).
No usage of astral gems either, since they are needed to get Arcane Nexus down.

B) Get it down as soon as possible:

Kill the caster: How many S8 candidates does Mictlan have? Where are they? Any infos anybody? I'm in the dark there.

Overpowering would probably be to hard. Is there any known Enchantment site? I don't know any.

Dispel it: Since my Gift of Nature's Bounty fired first, it got the open global slot. Arcane Nexus overpowered Atlantis' Maelstrom. Would be nice to know, how many extra gems were put into that Maelstrom, but only the disappeared Jim Morrison knows the answer. :(

Volunteers, please donate gems! Alone Jotunheim is not in the shape to win the gem income race against the Nexus.

[alhorro]

Damn, it's not possible to describe how I hate clams.
I had to conquer half of the world, have been saving every gem possible for 10 turns, and alchemize everything I had just to cast this 999-Nexus — and it was overwritten (not even dispelled!) in one turn by some fishfolk who had never had more than 20 provinces. This was definitely the most crushing (though predictable) defeat I've ever experienced. Well, Mictlan is certainly doomed now, but while you are taking our lands we'll be forging our own clams, so we can expect this game to last a year more.

[vfb]

Oh bugger. Rappi forgot to buff for a turn to let Virtue turn returning on. Poor Rappi! All he wanted was to disarm a few of the tartarians besieging Abysia. Virtue, Picus and Procas are all up for grabs.

[duncanshriek]

There reenters an already eliminated unknown the equations. Admittedly I feel considerably more confident now. :smirk:

ComfortZone is just 7 months old now, so let's make the first year full at first...

Damn, it's not possible to describe how I hate clams.
I had to conquer half of the world, have been saving every gem possible for 10 turns, and alchemize everything I had just to cast this 999-Nexus — and it was overwritten (not even dispelled!) in one turn by some fishfolk who had never had more than 20 provinces. This was definitely the most crushing (though predictable) defeat I've ever experienced. Well, Mictlan is certainly doomed now, but while you are taking our lands we'll be forging our own clams, so we can expect this game to last a year more.

[Calahan]

Damn, it's not possible to describe how I hate clams.
I had to conquer half of the world, have been saving every gem possible for 10 turns, and alchemize everything I had just to cast this 999-Nexus — and it was overwritten (not even dispelled!) in one turn by some fishfolk who had never had more than 20 provinces. This was definitely the most crushing (though predictable) defeat I've ever experienced. Well, Mictlan is certainly doomed now, but while you are taking our lands we'll be forging our own clams, so we can expect this game to last a year more.
Apoligies for the Nexus overwrite alhorro. But getting the Nexus up seems to have been Jim's entire game plan from the outset judging by what I see (S9 God, clam forgers). Also know that Jim is a particular fan of the Nexus as well. But guessing he lost interest in the game long before his stales kicked in though, as there were a load of clams just sitting in the lab, plus a lot of provinces he hadn't been bothered to search yet (as seen by the recent Atlantis fort jump on the graphs). So would have been interesting to see how this game had gone if Jim had been focused on it.

I wasn't planning on prolonging this game by shifting the power balance around, but I also would have felt bad if I had intentionally played poorly by not putting the Nexus up (as it was a very obvious thing to do). Certainly nothing against you / Mictlan which was left over from my C'tis stewardship. I don't do that sort of thing, and I treat every new game or position exactly as it should be treated. As new, with no outside baggage.

But think you are right in saying this game will go on for quite some time yet. I'm sure wins should be awarded for endurance as well as for conquest :)

Also starting to agree with many others that making gem producing items unique is the way to go in future MP games.

[duncanshriek]

Hosting postponed by 8 hours on alhorros request

[duncanshriek]

As you might have noticed, I had granted myself three extra hours for my turn 94. I promise to work harder on turn 95 :smirk: .

But I already announce a delay now for turn 96. That turn would regularly be due on Sa the 18. I'm going on vacation from 15th to 22th. So I'll postpone turn 96 until Thursday the 23rd.

[duncanshriek]

And once again:

Hosting postponed by 8 hours on alhorros request

( Not that I'd mind having more time :smirk: )

[JimMorrison]

Damn, it's not possible to describe how I hate clams.
I had to conquer half of the world, have been saving every gem possible for 10 turns, and alchemize everything I had just to cast this 999-Nexus — and it was overwritten (not even dispelled!) in one turn by some fishfolk who had never had more than 20 provinces. This was definitely the most crushing (though predictable) defeat I've ever experienced. Well, Mictlan is certainly doomed now, but while you are taking our lands we'll be forging our own clams, so we can expect this game to last a year more.

Oh man, this makes me laugh so hard, I'm sorry alhorro. <3

This game wanted to thwart me every step of the way, but I was willing to play it out to the end, building up for the Nexus, and intending to do what I could to shake up the landscape. It's nice to see that even though I lost internet access (it's been back on for an hour now), that those pearls went to good use, rather than being squandered by the AI.

My apologies if my sudden absence caused any complications. <3

[Calahan]

Good to have you back Jim :)

If you want to step back into the Altantis throne room I'm more than happy to stand aside. Been keeping the seat warm for you while dealing with everyday Atlantian affairs. And making sure your lovely collection of clams didn't go to waste of course.

[duncanshriek]

vfb has passed C'Tis over to Pelthin ( http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/member.php?u=10227 ) .

As Jotunheims leader I'm glad that C'Tis lands will not fall undefended to Mictlan :smirk:

[Calahan]

@ All

Apologies everyone, but I think I'm going to have to look for a permanent sub to take over Atlantis. The turn time for the nation is creeping up every turn, and this is without me doing anything other than doing routine stuff and grabbing whatever R'yleh/Indy provinces are up for grabs. There is a lot of good things going on for Atlantis, but I just don't have the time personally to do this nation's position the justice it deserves.

I asked Jim Morrison a month ago if he wanted to resume control of his nation, but I didn't get any sort of committed reply, and that was two weeks ago now, so not holding out much hope for his return now. But I'm pretty confident I can find a sub given the position.

I'll certainly keep playing until I have found a sub though, since I wasn't willing to let Atlantis fall into the AI's hands 20 turns ago, and even less willing for that to happen now after the time I've put into them.

[duncanshriek]

@alhorro and @Valerius

You two are the last dedicated players in this game. So would please one of you volunteer to take over the admin role?

If no one speaks up, I'll give the password to both of you... :smirk:

[Valerius]

Well, I don't think I can call myself a dedicated player. I only take enough time on my turns to fight off your attacks to the best of my ability. ;)

I think it makes sense to send the password to both of us. But really I think we should call it a game. Anyway, I can't imagine we'd find anyone crazy enough to want to sub into this.

I also want to thank you for stepping in to keep the game going. At the time you subbed it was already a lot of work to run Jotunheim; now I can only imagine how bad it is. You played very well.

[Calahan]

I would also think it best to call the game at this stage. Either as undecided or a draw. The most important question that has to be asked is "Why is it worth continuing this game?" and I guess the only person that question is relavent to now is alhorro. As the other players are basically by-standers, with little chance of achieveing anything out of this game before the end.

There's also the problem of finding a sub for Jotunheim. I'd be more than amazed if a Vet took on the position, since the absolute definition of MM hell is currently occuring in both Jotunheim and Mictlan. A massive income economy is not an attractive thing as an advert to a Vet looking to sub. Since they well know that the game would immediately eat many hours per day of their time. So the only sub you will get is a new-ish player either looking for experience, or someone who just wants to try out late game strategies. For the past week, I've been looking without success for just such a sub for the Atlantis position.

You also have to consider that if this game continues along its current lines, then it will easily take another 50+ turns before any winner might appear. And that is if Atlantis does nothing, as just by joining the war I reckon they could add another 30+ turns on top of that again.

It's always nice to win a game of dominions, but at some point you really do have to consider what the worth is. Is it worth spending another 200+ hours on this game just to get an actual winner? And the Ulm situation was never sorted, so the game already has a few issues with credibility. As I've never seen a nation in a game be allowed to go on for so long as just left 'in status'.

[alhorro]

Hm, and I've just regained the interest after about 40 turns of Nexus-related boredom. It's a paradox why people banish themselves to MM-Hell if they are eventually getting bored with it — I'm still avoiding MM with this game, and it's not all that bad I must admit. And I definitely think we shouldn't declare a draw, as it makes all the time we put in the game pointless. It's a great opportunity to test different endgame strategies after all.

[duncanshriek]

And the Ulm situation was never sorted, so the game already has a few issues with credibility. As I've never seen a nation in a game be allowed to go on for so long as just left 'in status'.

Well. The only conceivable effect of resolving Ulms situation would have been: a longer front line between Jotunheim and Mictlan and thus even more MM.
I wanted to avoid that effect.

[Calahan]

And the Ulm situation was never sorted, so the game already has a few issues with credibility. As I've never seen a nation in a game be allowed to go on for so long as just left 'in status'.

Well. The only conceivable effect of resolving Ulms situation would have been: a longer front line between Jotunheim and Mictlan and thus even more MM.
I wanted to avoid that effect.
Yes, and that is my point really.

As the Ulm situation is something that has been artificially created, and is not something that should be part of any proper MP game (I've certainly never seen such a thing before). Ulm were, and still are, being used as a false barrier to make things easier for Jotunheim. An active Ulm could be, or could have been attacking Jotunheim, or upon Jotunheim's conquest of Ulm, have resulted in a second front being created for Mictlan to attack them. Which could be to Mictlan's great benefit, as then they could use resources they have in the C'tis area against Jotunheim a lot easier than they are currently able to.

Whereas a dead Ulm like we have now is just a very big benefit to Jotunheim, as it enables them to only be fighting on one front, and this is entirely down to the un-resolved issue regarding Ulm. Which I think is both unfair and unrealistic.

[duncanshriek]

It's a paradox why people banish themselves to MM-Hell if they are eventually getting bored with it

Master Enslave is the show stopper here.

I got pretty much pratice in MM. Probably I would have carried on without Master Enslave.

Without Master Enslave Jotun could conquer one castle after the other by concentrating the biggest army in the game with the most battle mages on one castle. Concentrating on only one big army is still micro-manageable.

Master Enslave is ridiculously overpowered and that is so only in favor of the _defending_ army.
It prevents the superior nation from excerting its force.

Regarding the MM thread on the general board:
Not Arcane Nexus or any other spells are a problem for deciding a big game. Master Enslave needs to be banished IMHO.


— I'm still avoiding MM with this game, and it's not all that bad I must admit. And I definitely think we shouldn't declare a draw, as it makes all the time we put in the game pointless. It's a great opportunity to test different endgame strategies after all.

I didn't do every possible min/max thing in order to cut down my MM. Only for cutting down MM I kept the front line short. Of course strategycally it would have been better to eliminate Ulm and make a second front there with Mictlan.

[BesucherXia]

Hmmm...

I was controlling Ulm and once forged a big alliance with Van/TC/Atlantis/Arco to stop Jotun, even had chance to break the big empire. But soon I realized we were just helping Mictlan and that was unfair for Jotun, especially for a relative new player.
Besides I was struck in the MM of another game, So I abandoned the hope and left the wars behind, just wanted to see who between Mictlan/Jotun would win in the end.
For me keeping neutral is the fairest thing I could do, otherwise I should have come to help Ctis by attacking Mictlan, as Ctis was my best ally in this game. I have less time for play, but ending a turn once a while would not take too much either. And I am caurious about its end.

I must say the current big stalemate is just the prove to this games disappointment itself. As the MM is hitting, even the game itself has been very cruel for any players still want to keep their track in the end game. And the exciting yet terrible map is also to blame. There is almost none chance for players started in the middle of the world. As I was in my position, I had to rely my back on ally (ctis) to win Ashdod/TC. But I also knew I would never get a solid place in another continent and keep my nation border in good shape without replacing the whole Jotunhiem which is of course impossible at all.

In this end game I beileve Atlantis is the more determined force as he can help one side to win or let them keep on drawing. As for Ulm, I doubt whether if I changed my side the game would be over soon in a "fair" end. And as Ulm has been doing nothing except ending turn since long, they would almost achieve nothing considering the current situation, just introduce more MM to other players.

For me as the Mictlan and Jotun were arising simultaneously in two separat continents and the ocean had been united by one race, the game had already be dropped into the draw. And all other people can do is whether to side and help one race to win or another.

[Valerius]

I think it's clear that we aren't going to find a sub. It seems a shame not to have some kind of resolution to this game given the amount of effort put in, especially by alhorro and duncanshriek.

Would anyone object to me declaring alhorro the winner and posting this game in the victorious nations thread? I'm not saying this as his ally but based on the fact that he is the last man standing. If this had gone the distance both he and duncanshriek would have been worthy winners but I think this game has gone as far as it's going to.

[Calahan]

Yeah, a sub for Jotunheim was never a likely possibility IMO, and only stood a remote chance if an 'active sub-finding' approach was taken, rather than a passive one.

A difficult call now with regards the result. My impression during my first stint in this game as C'tis (roughly turns 65-80) was that Mictlan was easily the dominant nation, and if Jotunheim had dropped out at that stage I would have had no problem declaring Mictlan the winner. But my second stint in the game as Atlantis (roughly turns 85-present) has seen Jotunheim certainly level the scale, and maybe even take the upper hand IMO. My impression is that the Jotunheim-Mictlan war will literally go on forever unless a significant other force intervenes on proceedings (namely Atlantis in this case)

But then again, if alhorro wants to play on for the win, and he has no opponent, then that's a win in my books no questions asked. He's certainly battled long and hard in this game against good opposition, so there's certainly no questions about having not earned a win properly.

So I'd pass the call on this to alhorro personally. If he feels he has done enough to claim the win here, then it's a win. If he feels he doesn't realistically have the resources to overcome Jotunheim from the current position given a competent opponent, then it's a draw.

[vfb]

As the original C'tis, I must say that alhorro really cleaned my clock! I'm eternally grateful to him for the painful lessons on efficient tartarian-destroying. Your cheaply-equipped Sea King SC was very cool too! Did he survive to the end? A well-deserved victory IMO.

Thanks to Cleveland too, for teaching me to ignore the "weak" nation of Man at my peril. :) And thanks to Calahan for subbing C'tis and teaching me some neat tricks with them too, in the process.

Final thanks go to Pelthin for taking over as the final leader of the doomed lizards (I think).

[alhorro]

Actually I expected Atlantis to win. Duncan posted his income — 500 gems & 500 slaves, I had a bit less, and we both had been burning resources at war, while Atlanis should have had much more. However we all had been using different strategies — Jotun had several Seraphs and LEGIONS of different fighters and mages, I had about 15 geared teleporting tartarians and 2 teleporting ME communions, and nobody knows what Atlantis had in the sleeve. As I've already mentioned, the game has only become interesting for me by the end. I don't know why people often consider endgame to be a stalemate — it's just a scaling, and someone inevitably wins — we're just using full-buffed demons instead of naked chaff, SCs instead of elite troops, S12 communions instead of A2 mages and FFtS instead of Seeking Arrows.

cheaply-equipped Sea King SC was very cool too! Did he survive to the end?

I had three Kings, and they all "survived" to the end... as HoF Mummies. One of them had Heroic Quickness with 6 swings per turn, he was a real death machine even at the endgame (:

[Calahan]

I think Atlantis has/had a pretty decent outside shot at winning right now. I felt I was certainly gaining ground at a fair pace due to the top guys expending/losing their resources against each other. And it was probably only my RL time constraints that prevented me from gaining ground quicker.

Off the top of my head, I think I was pulling in around 400 Astral each turn on average. ~200 from clams (adding 8 per turn) and ~200 from the Nexus. But all I was finding the RL time for each turn was to empty my lab, summon/recruit new equipment holders, summon several other things, and sort out battles for R'yleh. I was probably missing out on ~200 Astral per turn from the Nexus just by not having the RL time to use my ~4000 non Astral/blood stockpile in a productive way.

I had 5-6 wish casters, and was usually wishing about 3-4 times per turn. But the only thing I had time to wish for were gems, hence my gem mountains at the end. Anything else would have required me to have time to plan something more concrete. I was also summoning about 6 Juggernaughts each turn, and had about 50 by the end IIRC. Would have been interesting to see how quickly my dominion would have started ramping up had the game continued. There were already some signs of that happening on the graphs, and predicting Ulm's dominion would have fallen within the next 10 turns (especially with my many Stone Idol scout carriers in their land)

My plan for winning was probably going to be based on mass Armageddon's at some point soon, to both eliminate the blood hunting of my rivals (since I had no chance of getting a blood economy going, and could always Wish for slaves), plus it would be a good way of leveraging my S9 Bless (since every commander had a shroud by the end). And then perhaps gaining as much ground as possible against the minor nations, before turning on the strongest out of the remaining two. As I'd suspect/rely on neither of the two leaders wanting to start a war against me, as that could jeopardise their victory chances by having me side with their main rival.

But all those things are just unknowns now I guess, plus I would have had to devote a ridiculous amount of time to this game to have had a shot at winning. And that's time I am unlikely to have for quite a while (hence my attempt to sub-out this position in order for someone with time to do it justice).

Ah well, thanks for having me as sub, and well played duncanshriek and alhorro, with the latter getting my congrats for the win :)

Catch you all again in some future games.

[Valerius]

Based on the feedback I guess I won't post this game in the victorious nations thread. If there are no objections, I'll delete the game from the llamaserver in a couple of days.

Good game, everyone.

[alhorro]

Well, if my opponents still can't continue playing after some rest and my persuasion attempts — that means I won. Technical knockout still counts. Not that I care much about HoF, but let it be a lesson for everyone, that MM Hell is much more fearsome, than Cocytos and Inferno combined }:[

[Valerius]

Well, if my opponents still can't continue playing after some rest and my persuasion attempts — that means I won. Technical knockout still counts.

Well, as you can see from the comments above I don't think anyone objects to that. It was mainly your own opinion that inclined me not to post the win. But I will add the game to the victorious nations thread and delete it from the llamaserver this weekend.

...but let it be a lesson for everyone, that MM Hell is much more fearsome, than Cocytos and Inferno combined }:[

I don't think you need to worry about that. Plenty of players fear late game MM - myself included. :) I'll certainly never join another large game like this. It's fun at the beginning with different wars going on all over the map, but if you survive until the end it's tedious.

[rabelais]

so who won this?

atlantis? really? I thought I had killed most of their mages. Good show, if they recovered.

[Valerius]

Alhorro/Mictlan won by concession. Duncanshriek did a nice job taking over from you and eventually the two superpowers, Jotun and Mictlan, met and fought it out until Jotun had had enough. A good game until the end when the large map and clams made the whole thing tedious.