RAFT - Late Age (Game Over!)

[LumenPlacidum]

Random Anonymous Fixed Teams

Having been eliminated from my first RAND game, and wishing for one of the more interesting formats to be proposed after the Noobs Vs. Vets series, I'd like to post a new game.

Team game. Teams of 3 players. Each team will have at least one experienced player. Teams are selected in the beginning.

Nations will be randomly distributed, 3 to a team. Not entirely random, since we'll avoid having all the best nations on one team. But, mostly random.

Your team will select who wants to play each of the 3 nations given to them, but outside of your team, no one will know who's playing what! People will not know what nations are on which team, either, although they may be able to figure that out through observing interactions.

There will be NO DIPLOMACY between different teams. We're all in it to go for the win for our teams.

We will be using the following settings:
Starting provinces per player: 1
Magic site frequency: 40
Strength of Independents: 7
Money/Resource/Supply multiple: normal (100%)
Common random events
No score graphs
Hall of fame: 15
Standard magic research
No commander renaming (to help prevent people from knowing who's who)
Map: Greece Stain (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=44078)
Number of players: teams of 3, 6 teams (i.e. 18 players)
Mods: CBM 1.6

So, don't select a nation, since they'll be assigned to your team. Feedback on the game's settings would be good, especially if there are any nation combos that should be avoided.

Team/Players List (Team leaders are first listed):
Team 1
Grijalva
Alpine Joe
Viajero

Team 2
Kojusoki
LumenPlacidum
LupusFatalis

Team 3
FAJ
Septimius Severus
Dark Kitty

Team 4
Sir_Dr_D
Agusti
Cidi

Team 5
Fantomen
Skor
Amonchakad

Team 6
Baalz
Krauser
Morpf

That's all folks! But, if anyone drops, then the following people have priority:
*Dr. Praetorious

[LupusFatalis]

Count me in.

[Alpine Joe]

This sounds really fun. Count me in.

[Grijalva]

I'm in...not a noob but certainly not a vet...

[Baalz]

I'll play.

[Septimius Severus]

I like the name. Mixed experience levels is good. You could have 1 vet, 1 intermediate, and 1 noob on each team if it works out that way. High indy strength instead of AIs and CBM to boot, this should be quite competitive and mysterious! :D More team games are definately needed. Cooperative play has many benefits. If I can be of any assistance, setting up forums, etc, let me know. I will play if you have need of a noob, though I think I am too casual of a player to be considered an intermediate or super competitive. Or a alternate/backup player if you need one. :up:

[LumenPlacidum]

Mixed experience levels is good. You could have 1 vet, 1 intermediate, and 1 noob on each team if it works out that way.

I'd love to have it work out that way, but I don't want needless complications to get in the way of getting people into the game. Oh, people should say whether or not they feel experienced enough to form the basis of one of these teams. So far, I assume that's just Baalz, but I'm just unfamiliar with other people.

[Cidi]

I join :up:

[Agusti]

I join too. Not a veteran player, of course :)

[Dark Kitty]

I would like to join too :) (also an inexperienced player)

[qui]

I'd like to join. Newbie skill level at the moment I'm afraid.

[Skor]

sign me, please.

[Kojusoki]

sign me in!
Im not a Dominions genius, but played 20+ MP games, some till almost the very end.

[Viajero]

Count me in too. Not a noob but not a vet either.

[Morpf]

i am a total noob. can i join?

[LumenPlacidum]

Sure. Now, in theory, we should be hoping for four more experienced players.

[Krauser]

Hey, i'd like to join too if you guys don't mind coaching me a bit. I'm a noob with very limited experience(just a couple of unfinished EA sp games under my belt) but with a somewhat workable grasp of basics/strategy from reading a couple of guides. Oh and first post!

[Fantomen]

I'd like to play.

Medium experience, I beleive I could lead a team if necessary.

[LumenPlacidum]

Hey, i'd like to join too if you guys don't mind coaching me a bit. I'm a noob with very limited experience(just a couple of unfinished EA sp games under my belt) but with a somewhat workable grasp of basics/strategy from reading a couple of guides. Oh and first post!

Hmm, well we've had a big rush of new players. I suppose I can change some of the people who wrote saying that they weren't new, just weren't veterans to possibly being team leaders. Especially since we're slow going on the advanced players.

Pleased to have you aboard, Fantomen.

[Baalz]

One thing I wanted to point out with all the new players is its double important for a team game that you be committed to seeing the game through. The game might last several months so please don't sign up to be on a team unless you can commit to not leaving your teammates (and the whole game) hanging if you get tired of it.

[LumenPlacidum]

Indeed. That's especially true of an anonymous game, where there's an irksome process to go about getting replacement players. The YARG game I was in was especially awesome about that, and I'd love to have people sticking around, fighting to the bitter end.

[pyg]

I am in too many games already otherwise I love this concept and team games in general. The wild cards of starting position and diplomacy in regular MP seem to have a larger role than skill in most of the [few] games I've played. I am available for an alternate position and if the game doesn't start for a while may be ready to play.

[Agusti]

I'm new in this forum but not new in Dominions 3. I know some of the players who have joined to this game and they're very serious players (and very good) ;)

[Krauser]

Oh yeah, I understand your sentiments guys. I'd hate to see any games ruined by early quitters, especially team games where group strategy is critical. Rest assured, I'm in in for the long haul as I'd like to learn as much bout this whole mp thing as possible.

[LupusFatalis]

Ah yes, its definitely of critical importance--not punking out that is! But worry not, I will strive to eat the brains of my enemy until the bitter end. And should I need a sub for a turn or two, I'll just pass it to a team mate--the whole thing would be simpler most likely.

[LumenPlacidum]

Well, don't forget that someone who's already playing in the game can't take a turn for someone else because of the CD-Key conflict thing. Unless, I guess, you send them your key and they switch keys to take your turn, then switch back.

Sorry for not having been updating for a couple days; been at family gatherings for the holidays. We still need some experienced players! Please, mention the game to people who you think can handle the teams!

[Sir_Dr_D]

Count me in. It has been at least a year since I have last played but I am experienced enough to lead a team.

[Grijalva]

yeah, I'm definitely in this for the long haul, but I may not be experienced enough to formulate strategies for a whole team, especially when it comes to endgame.

[Amonchakad]

Hey everyone, after settling some RL issues, I'd like to get involved in Dominions again, and a team game sounds great:)

While I've played some MP games, I definitely wouldn't count me as an "experienced" or "skilled" player(I've actually never managed to get to endgame in MP), so I don't think you should count me as a team leader.

[Grijalva]

hey guys, I'm going to be offline for a few days (until wednesday) so if we need to get going on this game I'll be back then...

[FAJ]

If recruitment is still open, I would like to join.

I am not new, but I am not exactly a very experienced vet.

[DrPraetorious]

I'll take a slot if there is one free. I can certainly play turns but may not be able to chat extensively as I'm going to be traveling some.

[Sir_Dr_D]

It seems like we now have enough experienced players to form the teams. I am looking forward to find out which nation I will be playing.

And for names that I recognize from when I played before, hello again Baalz, FAJ, and Dr P.

[DrPraetorious]

Oh, in terms of experience level - I am older than fear, I gibber and meep unspeakable blasphmies beyond the spheres, before ripping the veil of your reality casually aside to destroy you with indifference and contempt.

[LumenPlacidum]

First, Amonchakad, I'm sorry but we have enough players who were not team leaders. If it should come to pass that anyone doesn't pull through from their initial entry, then you'll get first shot at their spot.

With FAJ, we have 6 people who are team leaders (Baalz, Fantomen, FAJ, Grijalva, Kojusoki, and Sir_Dr_D). Very sorry, Dr. Praetorious. Again, if anyone doesn't pull through in their commitment for the game, I'd love to have you aboard as a team leader.

In both cases, if there's anyone who isn't sure that they really want to do this, then say so now, because either person would, I'm sure, be happy to take your spot.

The players list is:
Leaders:
Baalz
Fantomen
FAJ
Grijalva
Kojusoki
Sir_Dr_D

Other players:
Agusti
Alpine Joe
Cidi
Dark Kitty
Krauser
LumenPlacidum
LupusFatalis
Morpf
qui
Septimius Severus
Skor
Viajero

If there are any people who have specific teammate preferences, please let me know. This is one of the not-necessarily-random parts of the game's construction. If you have no preference, then you will be placed with others in an attempt to balance out some of your experience.

With regards to the map choice, I've been generating random maps with ParadoxHarbinger's wrapping map generator, looking for ones that have acceptable distributions of terrain. If anyone has any suggestions for a good 3-person-team map that could be moderately balanced, then please make your suggestions. Once teams are selected, then I will send out the random nations to everyone. I will assume that there are no particular objections to any LA nations.

I would like any team preferences to be in by Wednesday evening. I will form the teams late on Wednesday and send out nation assignments to your teams. You will have time to select a build for your god and communicate with your team while we make our final decisions on the map. I want the game to open on Friday night.

[Krauser]

Cool, i'm excited for my first mp! Just a couple more things though. How do we go about organizing teams? Noobs get dibs on the vets or something?:D Nation assignments?

[Krauser]

Oh sorry bout that, my previous questions were posted before reading LumenPlacidum's instructions.:doh: The only one i recognize from the list is Baalz (from reading a couple of his excellent guides) and he seems really helpful with stuff so i'd like him to be my captain/mentor if he'll have me, otherwise no preferences really.

[Kref]

I'd like to sign in, if there would be vacant places.

[Kojusoki]

great
Balance temas as much as you can:)
I.e. Baalz should get totaly unexperienced players:)

How about Saturday? Just to mention, we have a New Year incoming ;) We will need some time to discouss strategies, GODs/dominions within teams...

[Grijalva]

Is there anyone with whom I can switch my leadership role for a follower role? If not, then I'll certainly give leading a shot...since I'm def interested in this game....Alpine Joe? anyone? :)

[FAJ]

I think he just set aside some as "team leaders" as to make sure each team has at least one experienced player, for balance. I wouldn't worry too much about having to be an accomplished general ready to lead multiple players under your command to execute an elegant, complex strategy.

Wouldn't hurt though ;)

[Grijalva]

right, from a balance perspective that makes sense...in that case I have no qualms with the designation

[LumenPlacidum]

Unless preferences say otherwise, I will be putting people who I think are somewhat more experienced people with you Grijalva, so you'll have more of the middle ground.

[LumenPlacidum]

Well, no one has indicated any preferences at all, so I might as well name the teams early. Remember, everyone sees who you're teamed with. They just don't know who plays which nations except within their own teams.

Teams will be as follows:
Team 1
Grijalva
Alpine Joe
Viajero

Team 2
Kojusoki
LumenPlacidum
LupusFatalis

Team 3
FAJ
Septimius Severus
Dark Kitty

Team 4
Sir_Dr_D
Agusti
Cidi

Team 5
Fantomen
Skor
Qui

Team 6
Baalz
Krauser
Morpf

Please, get in contact with your teammates. I'll be sending the list of nations for your team to your team leaders. You can all work out among yourselves which nations to play. At this time, you should all consider working on pretender builds and strategies.

[FAJ]

Will we know which nations are in a team?

For example, knowing Ulm/Ermor/Jomon is one of the teams, but not knowing which team number or which players are playing them?

Or will we not know anything about any of the nations?

[LumenPlacidum]

No. Your perspective will tell you that you are three nations among an incomprehensible sea of hostiles. You know there are alliances among them, but you will not be able to know (without scouting information) who's working with whom.

[LumenPlacidum]

Ugh. After generating about 200 maps with various settings, I realize that ParadoxHarbinger's MapGen mixes up wasteland and mountains. Giving only a few mountains on each map, and a bunch of deserts. We might be forced to look for a pre-built map.

[FAJ]

Will the teams be randomly started around the map, or do the teammates start near eachother?

[LumenPlacidum]

Teammates will start near each other. Simple layout of the starting nations won't necessarily give you the teams, though, since everyone should start about the same distance from one another, just with some of the adjacent players being allies.

[Kojusoki]

great
Im waiting for the nations. I suggest skype or other messanger for contacts and startegy

[Krauser]

This whole anonymous thing sounds exciting! Can't wait to start!

Regarding the map, maybe we could ask for suggestions in the main forums. I'd like to help, but being quite new to the game, i really have no idea.

[LumenPlacidum]

Nations have been sent to team leaders.

I'm looking favorably at GreeceStain by Pashadawg as a map. It's very nice.

[Krauser]

It does look nice and balanced.:) I'm assuming someone's gonna help out assigning locations to players/nations?

[LumenPlacidum]

Oh, an important bit of design information for many nations. R'lyeh did NOT come up as a nation. They aren't out there.

[Sir_Dr_D]

How should we name our pretender, since the name could give away the player. The last time I did a random game, the pretenders were named after the nation, in capital letters. So the pretender for yomi was named YOMI,etc.

[LumenPlacidum]

That sounds like a good idea, Sir_Dr_D. Please, everyone name your pretenders the same name as your nation.

I just finished adding starts to the GreeceStain map. Lots of colors, wraparound, and the convoluted nature of correspondence between real countries and the map's analogs WILL ensure that I do not remember who's who.

Er, how do I post the .map file to llamaserver so that it will use it? This is the last step. After this, I will make a game on llamaserver and people can start posting pretenders. How about we start on Saturday? Can everyone manage that?

[Baalz]

Hey Morpf, looks like you have private messages through the board disabled. Drop me a line at my regular email RAFT.20.dre@neverbox.com so we can get with the planning.

[FAJ]

Starting saturday might not work out. With New Years comming up, I know that at least I will be visiting family/friends, so it is a hard to to concentrate on Dominions.

[Fantomen]

Thats a litle bit too quick for me as well.

[Dark Kitty]

I also think having one or two more days would be nice

[Septimius Severus]

That sounds like a good idea, Sir_Dr_D. Please, everyone name your pretenders the same name as your nation.

I just finished adding starts to the GreeceStain map. Lots of colors, wraparound, and the convoluted nature of correspondence between real countries and the map's analogs WILL ensure that I do not remember who's who.

Er, how do I post the .map file to llamaserver so that it will use it? This is the last step. After this, I will make a game on llamaserver and people can start posting pretenders. How about we start on Saturday? Can everyone manage that?

From what I recall of Llamaserver, assuming the image file for the map is already on the server you can upload the modified .map file either when you create the game or before hand through the same create game link (without having to actually create the game). It is important that the .map file point to the exact filename of the image file as currently exists on the server, if not you'll be prompted to upload another copy of the image file as well. The image file cannot have any spaces in the filename, whilst I believe the .map file can. You may wish to post a snapshot of the map image or link to it for player reference on the opening post, but of course you will not want to link to the modified .map in any event.

[LumenPlacidum]

Ok, perhaps we should wait until sometime in the next week to open the game? Whatever you guys need is what we'll do.

[Sir_Dr_D]

Yes that delay will help. I have to communicate with players from another time zone, so it will take a bit longer to plan everything out.

[Sir_Dr_D]

And Where is this GreeceStain map. I haven't been able to find it. I would like to practice with it.

[Baalz]

Hmmm, I haven't heard anything from Morpf, and it looks like his last activity was the post he made to joint this game almost a week ago. Dunno if we want to give him more time with the holidays or what...

[LumenPlacidum]

Greece Stain is available here: http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=44078&highlight=greece+stain

There will be fixed starts so that everyone starts adjacent to at least one other teammate.

If Morpf doesn't contact you by Saturday, I'll see whether AmonChakad wants his position. If that happens, then you should let me know how much prep time you need to make sure that your team is up to speed.

[Amonchakad]

Yeah, I'd still be interested in the game(if Morpf doesn't show up, obviously), so I'll stand by.

[Septimius Severus]

How should we name our pretender, since the name could give away the player. The last time I did a random game, the pretenders were named after the nation, in capital letters. So the pretender for yomi was named YOMI,etc. Either that or you'd have to use pretender names that you've not used in past games and/or that are not related to your online persona or that can be otherwise guessed at.

It's doable, but standardizing probably makes sense. I generally avoid strict RAND games because I like some say in what nation I will play, but in a team game like this you have some room to work within your team's available nations.

[Morpf]

I'm back. I haven't been online the last few day, sorry about that. It will not happen during the game. I wrote Baalz an email

[Baalz]

No worries, holidays have everybody out of their usual routines. :)

[Kojusoki]

so...when we start?

[qui]

I'm out, as it seems doubtful I'll be able to put in enough time and effort. Hopefully it's not too much of a problem as the game didn't start yet. Sorry.

[LumenPlacidum]

Thank you very much for deciding this before the game actually started. It helps immensely to prevent it from gumming up the works.

Amonchakad noticed before me and is still interested in grabbing that spot. He's in, then.

[LumenPlacidum]

Is there anyone who would object to starting to upload pretenders tomorrow? Seems like we've had enough time to run tests at this point.

[Sir_Dr_D]

I have no objections.

Will the game be hosted on the llamaserver?

Also will quickhost be on or off? I prefer quickhost off. It is much easier to schedule turns, if it hosts at the same time each day. Especially for this game, where we have to do more communication, it would help if there was a consistent schedule.

[FAJ]

I would also prefer quickhost to be off.

[Kojusoki]

quick host is in my opinion way better - if you are not rdy with your turns, simply dont upload them...
lets vote i suggest - qhost will make this game faster

[Septimius Severus]

Well it's player preference I guess. Lumen what is the hosting interval btw? With a lenient enough hosting interval, having quick host on doesn't hurt at all and may speed things up. True it may lead to a less than constant hosting schedule, but having it on ensures there's no situation where every turn is in and there's still 12 hours left to go on the clock. Also good for early game. I am for it, depending upon the generousness of the hosting interval.

[Amonchakad]

My 2 cents: quickhost would be good in the first turns of the game, when a turn is just a matter of 5 minutes; from then, given this is a big game, and a team one to boot, I'd gladly have a fixed hosting time, so that we can actually organize our schedules. So, imo, we could make it with quickhost for the first 10-12-15 turns, then get off with it.

EDIT: So, the setup for this game is taking a while, and that's expected, considering the holidays and the need to coordinate in the teams; how are we going anyway? Do some teams already have their nations/gods figured out? Can we expect to start the game within the end of this week?

[LumenPlacidum]

I think that's a good idea. I think 24 hours for the first 12 turns, with quickhost ON is a good idea. After that, we'll switch to 48 hours with quickhost off. Should be plenty of time until about the 4th year. After that, we'll go to 72 hours, quickhost off.

How does that sound to people?

[Septimius Severus]

I think that's a good idea. I think 24 hours for the first 12 turns, with quickhost ON is a good idea. After that, we'll switch to 48 hours with quickhost off. Should be plenty of time until about the 4th year. After that, we'll go to 72 hours, quickhost off.

How does that sound to people?

Sounds fine to me, people will definitely have lots of time at least from turn 12-30, after that though, more time may be required per turn.

However, teams will need to decide whether 24 hours is sufficient for communication and scheduling purposes during the first 12 turns. With 3 person teams, it might not be a problem at all.

[FAJ]

48 hours with quick host off may make the game very slow, especially if the teams can get a turn done every day. Perhaps 24 QH, at turn 12, go 48 QH, then at turn 24 we can switch to 48 QH off?

Is the game up/open yet? Can we get this thing started by the end of the week?

[LumenPlacidum]

Game is up on Llamaserver as 'RAFT1'. We will start when all pretenders are in. Good luck, everyone!

[Viajero]

Sorry, but I must have missed soemthing. What nations we get? I re read the first post that says nations will be assigned to each team?

[Sir_Dr_D]

Viajero, the nation assignments would have been sent to your team leader about a week ago, who should have forwarded the information to you.

[LumenPlacidum]

Viajero, make sure you contact Grijalva, he's your team leader. I sent the list of nations to the leaders, and you should have been discussing who should be playing what and how for the last few days.

[Grijalva]

I think just didn't check his PMs before, should be all good now...

[LumenPlacidum]

Only 7 pretenders are in so far out of 18. I hope to start in the next 24 hours, so please try to finish up your builds and submit them. The game is called RAFT1 on llamaserver.

[Viajero]

I plan to upload my pretender tonight GMT+1 time.

[Amonchakad]

I plan to upload my pretender tonight GMT+1 time.

I'm being overly paranoid here, but don't say when you're going to upload your pretender, or a cunning enemy might check the list and determine your nation!:p

[LupusFatalis]

Huh, I suppose that's true. Well in an effort to screw with such people I too shall upload at GMT+1!

[Sir_Dr_D]

What happened? The game dissapeared from the llamaserver.

[LumenPlacidum]

I have no idea, but you're right...

My guess is that the last person submitted their pretender, but some hiccup prevented it from moving on. I'll send a message to llamabeast.

[Fantomen]

Lost in time and space...

I suspect we'll have to rebuild it.

[LumenPlacidum]

Ok... I remade it as 'RAFT2', since RAFT1 is apparently an "old game on the server"

[Agusti]

The problem is that someone is sending his pretender without applying the 1.6 CBC mod.

[Fantomen]

Wouldn't that just trigger a cheat message ingame?

[Agusti]

Wouldn't that just trigger a cheat message ingame?

No, there is no message, the game dissapears, that's all. I'm a moderator in another forum and we had the same problem. We have to set up three games before beggining and the problem was that one player was sending his pretender without applying the CBC mod.

[Viajero]

True. That is what is prolly happening. Everyone needs to recheck if they did the pretender on CBM 1.6.

[Kojusoki]

uploaded - seems we are almost done...

[Kojusoki]

how about forcing start? we are setting up this game way to long....

[Amonchakad]

how about forcing start? we are setting up this game way to long....

That's not really doable. We're still missing some pretenders, and until they're in, there's not much we can do. The odd fact is that it's been what, 3 days now? How long does it take to re-upload a pretender?:o

[Agusti]

People have to be compromised with the other fellows in this kind of game. If we need two weeks to send the pretenders is that something is going wrong. If I have a problem, I'm out of the city for example, I would try to post here and explain my problem. But two weeks without news about some players, without sending the pretender...bah, that's disrespect to the other players. Get a sub and go ahead.

[LumenPlacidum]

I'll contact the teams of people who haven't submitted and ask if there are enough communication issues to warrant bringing in a new player or two...

If you're having an issue like that with people on your team, then please let me know. If the fastest way to get the game going is to consolidate the dedicated people in two teams into one, then we can do that, although the map would get weird.

[Sir_Dr_D]

It is probably people who don't know enough to check the forum for news. Next time to sign up for this sort of game people should have to pm the the game leader their email address.

[Grijalva]

Hey guys, I must be holding things up...sorry I lost track of things after the first restart...I'm at work right now but I should be able to submit within a few hours....

thanks,
Grijalva

[Amonchakad]

Aaaaaand...the game's disappeared.Again.

:tough:

[Krauser]

Oh boy..:doh:

[Sir_Dr_D]

Somehow I knew this was going to happen.

Is there way for llamabeast to figure out which nation doe not have CBM enabled. And can we get the email addresses that were used to submit the pretenders, so LumenPlacidum can send out game messages to people. It is clear that not enough people read this forum thread.

[Kojusoki]

How about reducing number of players...? And maybe changing the map a bit?

[Amonchakad]

I hereby rename this game as "The game that will never be";)

Seriously though:

How about reducing number of players...? And maybe changing the map a bit?

And how would you do that, exactly? We don't know who keeps sending the unmodded pretender(s)...perhaps we might at least check who is NOT following this thread?

[Alpine Joe]

I would be up for redoing the game entirely, with new teams, and players. Having a person on some team that isn't really interested enough in the game to read instructions properly is a disadvantage to that team.

[Krauser]

Yeah, or at least have all players post to confirm their pretenders are CBM 1.6 compatible (double check to be sure).

[FAJ]

Suggestion for if we were to restart from scratch, or try this again:

1. Have a pool of team leaders and a pool of team members.
2. Assign members randomly to the leaders.
3. Assign the nations randomly to each team, inform the team leaders by PM.
4. Have the teams work out their picks/strategies amongst themselves.
5. Have the team members send their pretenders to the team leader.
6. Team leader can then test each, if they wish.
7. All team leaders should have access/password to alter the e-mail for each nation
8. The team leader uploads the team pretenders and sets the e-mails appropriatly on llamaserver

This method would require the honor system. We would need to trust the team-leaders to not peek at the other nations e-mails in order to try and decipher who is playing what. I think that level of integrity can be expected of the leaders.

This would also promote communication between team members and their leader. It is easier to keep track of the few teams and leaders than it is to try and keep track of a big pool of anonymous uploaders.

[Kojusoki]

well I suggest to make a deadline. Once again, EVERYBODY is doing his pretender and uploding until Wensday. Those who are late, are out - doesnt matter if are checking emails/forums or not.. I think if there are teams which have some not too interested players - if those players are out from the very begining, it will dont bother them too much anyway.

It will speed up the game also - if we are starting it for so many days, we will enter turn 10 in 2011... At leats me, who was really excited, is loosing heart for this game.

Makeing new teams will take another 2 weeks...

[Dark Kitty]

well I suggest to make a deadline. Once again, EVERYBODY is doing his pretender and uploding until Wensday. Those who are late, are out - doesnt matter if are checking emails/forums or not.. I think if there are teams which have some not too interested players - if those players are out from the very begining, it will dont bother them too much anyway.

It will speed up the game also - if we are starting it for so many days, we will enter turn 10 in 2011... At leats me, who was really excited, is loosing heart for this game.

Makeing new teams will take another 2 weeks...
Having 2 or 3 teams of 2 and 1 or 2 "teams" of 1 might be a problem for balance, don't you think?

A big game like this is going to take time anyway. I would rather us to take one more week, sort problems and have a nice game than rush and discover later we still have some problems...

[Kojusoki]

and after next week we will find out that even then, there will be 3 persons missing...what then?
we can start it asap, merge incomplete teams, or start everything again... but the same problems will occur im afraid

[Sir_Dr_D]

Having 2 or 3 teams of 2 and 1 or 2 "teams" of 1 might be a problem for balance, don't you think?

A big game like this is going to take time anyway. I would rather us to take one more week, sort problems and have a nice game than rush and discover later we still have some problems...

At the same time, if a player is finding team members unresponsive, it would have been there responsibility to complain about it by now and get another member reassigned. If there was communications issues they should have been reported.

I say we leave a deadline of two days. Everyone should email their pretenders to LumenPlacidum by the end of that time. He can then check to see if the game works with all the pretenders added. If not he can find which one is causing the problem. That pretender will then be removed from the game. LumenPlacidum can then upload to the llamaserver, and change the email addresses to the appropriate ones afterwards.

Team members should make sure that each others pretenders are submitted by the deadline, and are created using the CBM mods. If the team does not have the comunication facilities set up yet to do this, they won't do well in the game anyway.

[Kojusoki]

"If the team does not have the comunication facilities set up yet to do this, they won't do well in the game anyway."

Sir_Dr_D - 100% agree

[Sir_Dr_D]

To be fair, it may not be non-CBM pretenders that are causing the game to crash. It could be a problem with the map, as an example.

[Morpf]

A few weeks ago, i have send in a pretender without cbm 1.6 in another game. I'm pretty sure the game didn't disapear. Instead of that, there was an ingame-message after i tried to load the game that told me, i had to enable cbm 1.6. After i did that the game worked without problems.

[FAJ]

So, what is our plan of action? Send our pretenders to Lumen? He should PM everyone as a reminder/request, if this is the case.

[Sir_Dr_D]

A few weeks ago, i have send in a pretender without cbm 1.6 in another game. I'm pretty sure the game didn't disapear. Instead of that, there was an ingame-message after i tried to load the game that told me, i had to enable cbm 1.6. After i did that the game worked without problems.

It may have to do with what pretender is used. If the base magic paths, or similar, differ between versions it may cause the game to crash.

[LumenPlacidum]

I'm just doing a quick test of the map to make sure it's not some failure to modify the .map file correctly.

[LumenPlacidum]

Well, the test game I put on llamaserver also disappeared. This suggests to me that either MY pretender is bad, the .map file I uploaded is bad, or that llamaserver hates me.

My pretender was made with CBM Complete 1.6.

The .map file is exactly the same as that of Greece Stain, but with all the #start commands changed to #specstart X Y, where X is the nation's number, and Y is the province number. Is it no good to not have #start commands also?
Oddly, looking at a single player test run, two nations (Marignon and Atlantis) are not starting in the provinces that I assign for them, but are placed randomly around the map... Their nation numbers ARE 53 and 66 respectively, right? That's what the mapedit file says, at least.

It is feasible that llamaserver just hates me. It sends me threats on a regular basis and just last week, the server hired a goon to try to rough me up.

Ideas?

[Sir_Dr_D]

I suggest that you post this question outside of this thread, and someone more knowledage can help you.

Thanks for looking into this Lumen.

[Septimius Severus]

Well, the test game I put on llamaserver also disappeared. This suggests to me that either MY pretender is bad, the .map file I uploaded is bad, or that llamaserver hates me.

My pretender was made with CBM Complete 1.6.

The .map file is exactly the same as that of Greece Stain, but with all the #start commands changed to #specstart X Y, where X is the nation's number, and Y is the province number. Is it no good to not have #start commands also?
Oddly, looking at a single player test run, two nations (Marignon and Atlantis) are not starting in the provinces that I assign for them, but are placed randomly around the map... Their nation numbers ARE 53 and 66 respectively, right? That's what the mapedit file says, at least.

It is feasible that llamaserver just hates me. It sends me threats on a regular basis and just last week, the server hired a goon to try to rough me up.

Ideas?

The #specstarts should be all you need to use in the .map file. I believe that LA Atlantis must start on land. Don't know about Marignon.

[Squirrelloid]

Both LA Atlantis and Marignon are forced to have coastal starts, and will not obey commands to give them anything else.

(Coastal means on land next to a sea province. LA Atlantis is most definitely a land start).

[Septimius Severus]

Also, Lumen, if you are changing the original (or suggested) #starting provinces to ones of your own choosing, you'll need to make sure the terrain mask of a planned start is not set to 512 (no start). You can change the terrain mask via the map editor or directly in the text file. If your just using the 18 land starts that are already suggested (usually by the mapmaker) in the .map and clustering nations of the same team around each other, it can save you some time in placement issues and decisions. No one knows the map better than the mapmaker.

[LumenPlacidum]

Both LA Atlantis and Marignon are forced to have coastal starts, and will not obey commands to give them anything else.

(Coastal means on land next to a sea province. LA Atlantis is most definitely a land start).

If this is true, then it would definitely explain what I've been seeing.

[rdonj]

It is true. There's a couple of nations that require coastal starts... fomoria is another.

[Amonchakad]

So...any news?

[Amonchakad]

Hello? Did we all silently decide to let this game die?

[FAJ]

I think we are all frustrated. Also, people get busy and don't post over the weekends.

I think it is up to Lumen to decide to let this thread die, and to start a new one. If the problem was indeed the map, that should not be a difficult fix. We just need to get a working map and maybe a different system of uploading pretenders.

I am still interested in a random team game. Maybe start a new one, a smaller one that would easier to manage?

[LumenPlacidum]

I'm redoing the map. It'll be up in a couple hours. I will then do a very quick test with it on the server and, if it works, then I will open the game to pretenders again. If it doesn't work, then I really will have no idea what the problem is.

[LumenPlacidum]

Ok, I ran my tests. All the games I tried disappeared. Perhaps the Greece Stain base map image file isn't named the same thing as it is in its download. In any case, all starting positions work now. I used 2 pretenders guaranteed to have been made with CBM 1.6. I know none of the starts are labeled nostart, since that would surely show up in my local tests. The only things I can think of are that either I'm using the wrong CBM mod, but I can only find one "CBM 1.6 Complete" mod in the list, or, that my modified .map file is referencing a bad location for the map's image file. I'm currently using #imagefile GreeceStain.rgb to reference it, just like the original .map file.

[Sir_Dr_D]

I don't think that CBM is a problem. It is likely distinct pretender choices that cause the game to crash, if the CBM modes are incompatible. I think the problem is the map.

Ask the question on the maps forum, and someone can likely help you get it set up. Provide an attachement of the map you are trying to use, and hopefully someone else will try it and tell you what is wrong.

[Sir_Dr_D]

I see you did ask the question in the main forum. Never mind then.

[LumenPlacidum]

Ok, so there's some weird thing with llamaserver's OS that requires map names to have no spaces. In other words, it's entirely my fault. Great. Test game was successful. I'm opening up RAFT3 for pretenders... AGAIN. This time, it should work.

[Septimius Severus]

Yes, I mentioned that caveat a few pages back. Depending upon how you've named your image files you may never have actually run up against it till it happens, unless you are familiar with the naming, directory conventions, OS, that Llamaserver is using.

[Amonchakad]

Heck yeah! Let's get this party started:D

[Sir_Dr_D]

Thanks Lumen for resolving this. I was worried there for a momment that the game woudn't be happening, but I am glad it is.
This team play sounds like fun.

Augusti! Cidi! We have a world ready to conquer. Lets get ready to knock these other teams all the way back to Dominions 1. :p

[FAJ]

You should send out PMs to alert everyone. I am sure some people have stopped following this thread.

[Sir_Dr_D]

And everyone, make sure you contact your team members and let them know the game is starting up again.

[LumenPlacidum]

I received a number of messages asking if people needed to download the map for the game. Yes. Greece Stain is not included in the initial dominions install, so you need to obtain it. The map is given in this thread (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=44078), which is also linked on the first post.

All the map confusion came from the .map file that I uploaded to the server, which contains information that only the server needs. You don't have to worry about that; you just need the image file for Greece Stain (GreeceStain.rgb) to be in your maps directory.

[Krauser]

Just.
One.
More.
Dude.

[Viajero]

Who´s that dude! upload already!! Im going to go for him straight off the bat. Does not matter if he is in the corner opposite of the map (not a wraparound is it?)I will kill you all including my team mates to get to him and then kill him slowly!! Duuuude!!! :D

[LumenPlacidum]

Game on! Good luck, everyone!

[Kojusoki]

Caelum!!!!

[LumenPlacidum]

Please try to nudge your teammates into action to make sure they don't stale.

[LupusFatalis]

Oh, right. If I neglect to post my turn for some reason and its coming down to the wire, by all means contact me. Email or a PM isn't bad, though if you guys are really having trouble you might have to resort to astral projection, skywriting, smoke signals, etc...

[LumenPlacidum]

Less than an hour is left for Caelum's turn. Could be devastating for a nation to not really have a first turn. Should I extend the limit? I think Caelum's teammates need to tell me if they're having general problems contacting a player.

[Fantomen]

I think you should extend the timer if anyone risks staling the very first turns.

[LumenPlacidum]

I will do so, then.

[Grijalva]

good lord, do we have to find a sub already?

[Kojusoki]

if we will be babysitters for everyone, we will never finish this game. End of the world is expected in someting like 1bilion years...it may be to short for us...

[rdonj]

Surely you don't mean that. The world only has 3 more years left. Its days are clearly numbered. So hey, you probably won't have even gotten to turn 5 :angel

[Krauser]

Don't you see people, these are all signs that this is going to be an epic game!

Well, epic in length at the very least.:D

[Amonchakad]

I'm having an odd problem with the llamaserver files. For some reason the turn file I receive is shown as a .zip file: in the mail it's called nation_name.trn, but when I try to save it it actually changes to nation_name_trn.zip, and it's effectively a compressed file which contains the .trn.
Is this normal?(I haven't used the llamaserver for some months) Or it's something with my pc? I use gmail, got windows 7, and the attached file gets opened with WinRAR. Could any of these things be causing the problem?

[LumenPlacidum]

You've already requested a turn resend?

What kind of antivirus program are you using?

[Amonchakad]

You've already requested a turn resend?

What kind of antivirus program are you using?

Uh, I haven't requested a turn resend because the .trn files ARE there, but for each I have to save the compressed file, extract the .trn, and move it into the savedgames folder. It's not a big problem, just kind of an annoyance.

I have Avast as antivirus.

[LumenPlacidum]

Wait, you mean it's actually WORKING with that process? That is weird... I'm pretty sure llamaserver isn't compressing the file before sending it.

Your setup is almost exactly the same as my laptop. Curious, what do your Firefox settings say with regards to other applications? >Tools>Options, Applications tab, WinRAR Zip Archive. Is it set to always ask before its use?

[Amonchakad]

Yes, it is working, and I use IE:p

I already checked anyway, and WinRar isn't set to automatically open any .trn files...it reads that .trn as a .zip file and it IS indeed a compressed file, because I can extract a working .trn file from it.

[Sir_Dr_D]

Questions like this are best asked on the main forum. People will be able to answer you faster.

And it is probably not a good idea to mention that you use internet explorer here. Too many unix geeks. :p


*** Looks around. Makes sure no is listening. whispers 'I use internet explorer too.'

[Grijalva]

what about your email, is it browser based...your email program may be zipping it. Have you had other files sent to that address?

[pyg]

Yes, it is working, and I use IE:p

I already checked anyway, and WinRar isn't set to automatically open any .trn files...it reads that .trn as a .zip file and it IS indeed a compressed file, because I can extract a working .trn file from it.

Sounds like http compression is not automatically decompressing. IIS and IE can do this (two M$ products working together!). Try Firefox and see if you have the same results. Depending on where you live even your government recommends not using IE.

[Grijalva]

....but back to the pressing issue for this game...what about Caelum?

[Krauser]

You mean, he's stalled again?

[FAJ]

Team leaders should be able to PM Lumen and ask for their teamates turn/info so they can play the turn for them, if they are about to stale.

[Sir_Dr_D]

Team leaders should be able to PM Lumen and ask for their teamates turn/info so they can play the turn for them, if they are about to stale.

You cannot do this. The game will not allow two turns submitted from the same amchine.


And I do not think Caelum stalled this time. The turn was processed a number of hours before the deadline.

[Amonchakad]

Nope. The Llama server data shows that Caelum staled 2 times already...this can be quite crippling for him.

[Baalz]

From Caelum (via email):

Damn,
I feel so sorry guys. I wasn't available the whole weekend and i just forgot the game. (friday night is a bad starting time).

I just recognized that i just can't play a game of that size because of my lifestyle. And i really do not want to bother anyone. So i think it is the best, if you guys get another player for me, if possible.

Sorry again,
Rob

[LumenPlacidum]

Sorry, haven't really been feeling well while being super-busy. I've postponed the new turn for 24 hours while I inquire as to a replacement.

[LumenPlacidum]

By the way, thanks Tien Chi for not sending in your turn since I forgot to turn off quick host for the period of time where we were looking for a sub. Sub is just ironing out his position, then we'll get underway again.

[LumenPlacidum]

Ok, sub placed and rip-roaring to go.

[Grijalva]

just a friendly tip:

If you happen to be the last guy to submit your turn, I find its best to wait a few minutes (5-10) for the turn to process and then play out/submit your next turn as well.

This way you don't end up being the last guy next time and making everyone wait.

Later in the game you may not have time for this method but this early in the game its nice to move it along.

thanks

[LumenPlacidum]

I have postponed the hosting of this turn by 12 hours in the hopes that neither midgard nor tien chi will stale. Teammates of these players, please poke them or something. We're not far from switching to the 48-hour hosting interval, in case that's the problem.

[LumenPlacidum]

We have reached the end of year one. The hosting interval is now being bumped up to 48 hours with quickhost off. This should last us for a while.

[FAJ]

Can we delay hosting until monday?

I will be away for the weekend and will (as I suspect a few others may) be at a super-bowl gathering all day sunday.

[LumenPlacidum]

That's fine. I need to look for a substitute for the staling Tien Chi anyway. Should have found one before this current turn, but my schedule got in the way.

[13lackGu4rd]

is there a reason why the next turn is scheduled for Wednesday when all the turns have been submitted?

[Amonchakad]

is there a reason why the next turn is scheduled for Wednesday when all the turns have been submitted?

Yes, we agreed to turn quickhosting off after the first turns to make the hosting schedule always happen at a specific time, so people can better organize on when to play their turns...though why it suddenly moved from last night to tomorrow night is a mistery;)

[Grijalva]

In that case, if no one objects, I would like to request a force host since this turn has already been delayed enough,

thanks

[FAJ]

I thought we were looking for a sub?

[Grijalva]

Lucem' found one, he just posted it in a different thread in the mp forums.

[Septimius Severus]

Lumen, are players/nations to remain anonymous forever or will who played what nation be disclosed at some point? Either as a player is eliminated or at the end of the game. It might be nice to know who you were up against.

[LumenPlacidum]

I see no reason not to reveal someone's identity should they be completely eliminated.

[LumenPlacidum]

Some people are having problems sending their turns to llamaserver for some reason, so I've extended the turn for 24 hours to see what's going on. If it's resolved soon, I'll manually host the turn so we don't end up waiting an extra day without need.

[LumenPlacidum]

Problem resolved; I've undone the 24 hour delay. Turn will host normally in about 4 hours.

[13lackGu4rd]

so, how is everyone doing? no specifics, being random and all, but still... something to cheer ya'll up ;)

[Amonchakad]

so, how is everyone doing? no specifics, being random and all, but still... something to cheer ya'll up ;)

That's the downside of anonymous games, you can't really comment on the game without giving your identity away:o

[13lackGu4rd]

not trying to get any real comments, hence the no specifics part, more like pushing some fresh air into this seemingly dead thread. answers such as "doing good" or "doing badly" are vague enough, especially since there's no way to connect the person to a specific nation...

but heck, it was more of a bump and an attempt to cheer everybody up...

[Sir_Dr_D]

Well thanks. I feel more cheery now. :D

I would like to add though that I have found this game one of the funnest I have played.

[Krauser]

Aha!! You've finally revealed yourselves! I knew "they" were after me! Oh yes, I knew "they" would come for me! You were all part of "them" all along!

It doesn't matter! Nothing you do will make me talk! You're never gonna break me! Never!!

We know all about you! Just you wait! All truths shall be revealed in the end! Hahahahaha!!!

[Amonchakad]

Oh I see, you're just looking for some cheerful spam! Count me in lad:D

Now, we might actually play a metagame of Guess Who? here; let me start.

Does Lumen's nation have giant recruitables?

Come on, people; the first one to guess a player's true nation wins 5 Internets™!

[13lackGu4rd]

well, spam was not really what I had in mind, but at least it got this place active again... so I guess it's alright ;)

[Kojusoki]

Sorry for not sending cheerful spam :)
Seems we need a new patch installed!

[Viajero]

Hi there, revealing myself a bit now but i guess not big deal, this is just a game after all :)

Quick note to the whomever is leading Midgard: all my respects to a player that is showing great mastery of this game... although I really hope this latest battle with Ctis has been a bit of a surprise! :D

[13lackGu4rd]

going out of town until thursday, my current turn is in but I won't be able to play the next turn until I get back, so I'll need an extension...

[LumenPlacidum]

Understood. After the next turn, I'll extend until Friday to give you some time to get the turn done.

[DrPraetorious]

Oh, are we revealing ourselves now?

Very well. To whom it may concern:
You messed with the wrong guy, mofo. Your skank *** is mine, and I'm going to ride it raw.

[LumenPlacidum]

Um, only those who have been eliminated are doing anything of the sort. At least, I'm assuming that Viajero is saying he was Patala.

[13lackGu4rd]

thanks for the extension, got back a night earlier than I expected, so I've got my new turn in now.

[LumenPlacidum]

thanks for the extension, got back a night earlier than I expected, so I've got my new turn in now.

Pleased to hear it, but if I brought it back by 24 hours then I think it would skip the reminder e-mails for people who haven't submitted yet. That wouldn't really be fair. An extra day won't hurt anyone overmuch.

If all the turns are in by tonight, I'll make it host and we'll keep going. Otherwise, we'll leave it delayed.

[Grijalva]

Um, only those who have been eliminated are doing anything of the sort. At least, I'm assuming that Viajero is saying he was Patala.

Nope, I was Patala, may the great Marduke rest in peace.

[Krauser]

Um, only those who have been eliminated are doing anything of the sort. At least, I'm assuming that Viajero is saying he was Patala.

Nope, I was Patala, may the great Marduke rest in peace.

What the?! All the while I was thinking Viajero was Patala.. D'oh!:doh:

[LupusFatalis]

What, who, where? Don't answer, I probably won't read this again for another month! And boy that really makes me like this style game.

[Sir_Dr_D]

A couple more players have been eliminated. Do we get to find out who they are?

[LumenPlacidum]

Up to them. Because each team distributed their nations among their players, I don't actually know who each individual person is.

[Krauser]

Guys, there's a lot of stuff going on in life right now and frankly I'm stressed the hell out. I'm finding it difficult to focus on this game and suspect I won't be having enough time to do my turns as well. It's been an awesome experience so far, kinda surprised to be doing well for my first mp game, but I think I'll need someone else to man the ship. I can probably send in this turn(38) though so let it host normally, but I'm gonna have to ask to delay turn 39 til I find a permanent replacement.

Hats off to Patala, Bogarus and C'tis for the fighting spirit. It's been a pleasure bashing heads with you, good sirs.

[LumenPlacidum]

I've received a request for delay of the current turn for 48 hours. Sorry it took me this long to actually see it. The game has been delayed. This time will also work to find a replacement for Krauser.

[Krauser]

Sorry bout your God, TC.:D

[Agusti]

Hi all. Who is Pangaea, please?

See you

[FAJ]

Our team is pretty much down now, so:

I was Ulm
Dark Kitty was Marignon
Septimius was Pangaea

Good Job Arco/Atlantis! Kicked our butts :D

[Dark Kitty]

Congratulations to them :)

I would be curious to know who they are if they can send a pm

[LumenPlacidum]

Hail, the glorious dead!

Also, I didn't get my turn 54 from llamaserver until only a little time was left, and I saw a bunch of turns outstanding. I've pushed back this turn for 24 hours because I suspect this happened to others as well. Please check on the game page to make sure you've submitted your turn #54

[LumenPlacidum]

I want peoples' opinions. Is it getting to the point in the game where we need to move up to 72h turns? I'm having a bit of difficulty finishing my turns in time, and I KNOW I'm not the biggest nation in the game.

Of course, for me, I'll start having much more time after this Friday, so it's not as much of an issue.

Anyway, if we get a few people who want to bump up the turn time, then I'll do so.

[Sir_Dr_D]

I am up for a longer turn timer.

[fungalreason]

Me too

[LumenPlacidum]

Very well. Turn timer's going up to 72 hours, and I'm delaying the hosting of this turn by 24 hours to simulate that for this turn as well.

[Sir_Dr_D]

Is about time to end this game. Midgard and its team are so far ahead of everyone, no one stands a chance.

[fungalreason]

I'm in favor of ending it too, especially since it appears that several of the remaining players have abandoned already.

[Agusti]

+1 :(

[FAJ]

Yeah. My team is dead and I am just waiting for midgard to sweep through and kill me.

[LumenPlacidum]

Sounds about right to me. I'll delay this current turn for a day. If, in that time, someone messages me disputing the Midgard team's victory, then we will play on. If not, then we will end it.

Also, sorry for not having set a definitive victory condition. That was foolish of me, and I'll keep it better in mind next time.

[DrPraetorious]

To clarify things for the end-game, can we identify "Midgards Team" explicitly?

[LumenPlacidum]

You should base it on what you think your team's chances of winning are against the current major powers. The other people on Midgard's team, if they're still alive, probably won't oppose the victory themselves. I suppose if the people on that team wish to make this known, then I can relay that information if they PM it to me. I've lost my basic record of which nations were together from when I was making the game.

[LumenPlacidum]

edit: er... I should probably send out an admin message to get people to check this thread before declaring a victor. I'm an idiot. So, I'll delay for 12 more hours and do this...

[LumenPlacidum]

Alright, still no contest.

Congratulations to the Midgard team. Come forward and claim your accolades.

Feel free to reveal who you are now.

[DrPraetorious]

I was Caelum. I was mostly forge-***** for Midgard and Mictlan, but I'm pleased to recount - when attacked, I was quite able to defend myself.

Overall, a very positive impression of LA Caelum.

Mad props to Midgard, who walloped all comers with verve and gusto.

[fungalreason]

I was playing Midgard for the last 20 turns or so.

However, Krauser deserves much of the credit for locking down such a strong lead before I subbed in.

Overall, I thought it was a fun format. I'll have to be on the lookout to join the next rand game when it starts up.

[Baalz]

I was the third with Mictlan, though I didn't contribute too much to our victory other than keeping Man and Jomon locked in a stalemate forever.

[LumenPlacidum]

Alas, for I was Man. Curse you, Baalz! I was really stymied by that bless on those flying demons until I had storm available. Then I tried to defend my Jomon ally from Midgard, but attracted much more of a retaliation than I could deal with.

Learned much from this game:
1) Gargoyles sometimes just die for no reason...
2) Ozelotl are SCARY with a F9 bless!
3) I continue to be at a loss to counter skinshifters at any research level...
4) Get and equip the thugs BEFORE you need them!
5) Mictlan gets assassins with blood magic...

Stupidest moment on my part: having only one death mage leading my iron-skinned-hasted-quickened-flying-ethereal-lucky behemoths and then letting about 6 skinshifters reach that mage...

[rdonj]

DrP and Baalz on the same time? I am so glad I was not on the receiving end of that!

[Baalz]

5) Mictlan gets assassins with blood magic...


Hehe, that was definitely my favorite moment of the game. For those who didn't see it a dozen leech spamming assassins took out all his commanders sieging my cap, I cut off the only retreat option and chased a substantial army into routing death with a bunch of slaves.

[rdonj]

5) Mictlan gets assassins with blood magic...


Hehe, that was definitely my favorite moment of the game. For those who didn't see it a dozen leech spamming assassins took out all his commanders sieging my cap, I cut off the only retreat option and chased a substantial army into routing death with a bunch of slaves.

That is epic :D

[LupusFatalis]

Ah, yeah...I was playing Jomon. learned some interesting things--like storm demons are amazing. Also trying to fend off raids from quite a few people is difficult--even if they aren't on the same team, hehe... Those blessed Atlantis troops were fairly effective, and yeah mictlan's blessed ozelots...

Still not sure why my scripting on the last major battle failed to go off, we had declared the game at the point but I was curious to see the results of my newest strategy--how sad.

Also, I've decided that the opponents getting a misfortune event while besieging your capital (resulting in them burning down your lab) should probably not be possible. Admittedly looking back it was pretty amusing.

Anyway, all in all I enjoyed the game concept. It ran smoothly and was interesting. I'd certainly be up for a RAFT2 if one were in the works.

[Krauser]

I was playing Midgard for the last 20 turns or so.

However, Krauser deserves much of the credit for locking down such a strong lead before I subbed in.

Overall, I thought it was a fun format. I'll have to be on the lookout to join the next rand game when it starts up.

No man, you deserve as much props. I would've fumbled the end game for sure.:D