"A Song of Ice and Fire", veterans-only game, MA. In progress, midgame... [Archive]

Corwin

June 10th, 2010, 03:10 AM

Greetings all – friends, old allies and opponents and many of you whom I haven't had a chance to meet yet.

I am coming back after more than a year long break from Dominions3. Back then I was feeling burned out after finishing 3 very long MP games. But recently to my own surprise I have been feeling an increasingly strong urge to come back to Dominions. :) And here I thought I was free from Dominions addiction, at least until Dominions 4 would come out. ;)

Anyway, it's good to be back. I've already joined a MP Dom3 game (on Quarter To Three forum). However I have enought time on my schedule for one more MP Dom3 game.
But it looks like here on this forum all current MP games seem to be either ongoing or in the process of being started all spots already taken.

I've waited for some time, but I wonder if perhaps I should consider starting a new MP game and see if there is enough interest among local players to get it on the road.

With few important exceptions I am very flexible about proposed rules for the game. Here are the some vague guidelines that I would like to propose for your consideration. Let me know if you would be interested in such game. Also any suggestions or comments about rules are most welcome. Especially about mods, since I've been mostly playing vanilla with few simple mods in the past, with some houserules fixing most glaring exploits, but I haven't used mods too much.

So here are some bullet points about potential rules and setup for the new game.

1. The proposed game is *veterans only*. This is the only rule that is none negotiable. Please only consider joining this game if you have strong MP Dom3 experience behind your back.

2. Only join if you have enough time for a long and deep MP game with challenging opponents. Please keep in mind that unless you are eliminated, the game might last 4+ months.

3. No early quiters. Even if you are losing the war please stick with your nation as long as you can before going AI.

4. Posting in character/Roleplaying when posting on the board is highly encouraged, although not necessary of course. From my personal experience some of the best Dom2 and Dom3 games I have played were those where people posted amazing AARs and tried to stay "in character". Although of course there will be no roleplaying nazi police in the game, so you don't have to do it if you don't like it.

5. Mod selection - open to suggestions. As I've said I've been away from Dom3 MP for a more than a year, and even before that I didn't use mods too much. Two mods that seem to be interesting and popular, and which maybe a good idea to use in this game (depending on how you guys feel about them) are CBM 1.6 and recent EndGameDiversity mod. However any comments, feedback and suggestions about these and other mods are highly appreciated.

6. Map, game settings - open to suggestions.

7. Number of players - open to suggestions. Not too few certainly, but perhaps not overly many, to speed up the game in these first 15-30 turns.

8. Hosting time - open to suggestions. I've been thinking about 24h hosting time for the first 20 or 30 turns, then switching to 48h hosting. But we could start with 48h, if 24h in the beginning will be too fast for some players.

9. Host type. I would prefer regular dedicated server if we can arrange one. But if not, PBEM Llamaserver would work too.

10. Nation selection. Personally I would prefer system where each player throws one nation into the hat, and then get one randomly assigned to him. I think it will stir things up a bit, forcing players to play with nations with which they may have not played too much in MP before. But we can do standard nation assignment, depending on players preferences.

11. Diplomacy. Now here is a tricky one. I am really torn on this. On one hand Machiavelli tactics, trade, alliances and backstabbing, propaganda wars and disinformation - are all parts of what can make some Dom3 MP games such fantastic experience. On the other hand - it can sometimes get out of control.

Perhaps we should consider choosing one of these types:

1. Normal diplomacy game
2. Normal diplomacy but no trading in gem, items, blood slaves.
3. No diplomacy or trading whatsoever.
4. Some other diplomacy model?...

Like I said I am torn on this issue. So what do you guys think? Which game type would you prefer and why? Or would you suggest something else? And is it a dealbreaker for you, or you don't care about it too much? (of course the last case doesn't mean that your opinion on this subject will be disregarded when choosing the game type, I am just testing waters here and gathering feedback)

12. Houserules. Totally open. Anything that makes game more fun or stops some cheese or exploitive tactics is welcome here. Any suggestions? Personally I've been thinking about prohibiting one or two overpowered globals (unless CBM 1.6 has taken care of it already, need to check it up)

Please let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Corwin

UPDATE: 7/10/2010 The players list is closed, game rules are finilized, the map has been created. The game will start as soon as pretenders are uploaded to llama server.

Final list of players and their nations(after assignment):

1. Baalz - Shinuyama
2. Aethyr - Ulm
3. Squirreloid - Pangeya
4. Dimaz - Vanheim
5. Fakeymcfake - Abyssia
6. Lingchih - Tien Chi
7. DrPraetorious - Jotunheim
8. PriestyMan(FL) - Machaka
9. Graeme Dice - C'tis
10. Ghoul31 - Agartha
11. Corwin - Pythium
12. Executor - Ermor
13. Iainuki - Bandar Log

Mods used - CBM1.6, EndgameDiversity mod 1.1
3 banned spells (Forge, Arcane Nexus, Astral Corruption)
Game Settings: MA, Magic 55. Graphs are on, HOF 15, renaming allowed.
Diplomacy and trading allowed.
Victory conditions - 1 VP for each capital, to win the game you need to get 50% of total VPs(rounded down) + 1.
Hosting - 24h for the first 10-30 turns, 48h later on.
Host - llama server
Map used - specially modified for our game Cradle of Dominion map

No chese stuff, which includes:
- Bogus orders
- lab filling
- suiciding mages/priests intentionally to turn them undead
- giving up without fight

Nation assigments is semi-random. Each player will submit one nation to the pool, and then each player will be randomly assigned a nation from that pool. Note that the are no limitations in the assigment process, so you can be assigned the nation you have picked, depending on the random dice. This is important to prevent players sumbitting weak nations to the pool, since there is a reasonable chance (1/n, where n number of players) that you will get your nation of choice.

Baalz

June 10th, 2010, 03:32 AM

Corwin

June 10th, 2010, 04:31 AM

I'll play. The only point I have too much of an opinion on is that we use CBM. Virtually every MP game nowadays uses it, particularly the vet games. It really opens up a hell of a lot of units/spells/pretenders/items that are impossible to justify using in a competitive vanilla game. It also adds "good" national heroes to every nation so getting them is actually an event, and removes gem generators (clams, fetishes, bloodstones) which is a massive change to how the endgame plays - in a good way.

Oh, and welcome back! You were the first guy to beat me up in my first dom 3 game. ;)

Thank you Baalz. :) It's very good to see you again. Oh, and by the way, that game, as well as the last game of mine, in which you and me have also played together, were a blast. :D I just finished re-reading some of the awesome AARs people were writing for that game.

I can see that you have been very busy on Dom3 scene since then, writing a large host of nations guides, a "Good player pledge" (very well written btw, I fully support it!) and undoubtedly becoming extremely formidable opponent. It would be great to play with you again.

Also it is nice to see that many other players of the last Dom3 game I've played ("Figment", http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=37917 ) are still around and active in Dom3 community. Perhaps we could get some of them as well... :)

Regarding CBM - I agree, even based upon my limited experience with it CBM is what I am very inclined to use myself. Thank you for the feedback.

Aethyr

June 10th, 2010, 04:33 AM

Welcome back. I would be interested in playing, depending on start time, final settiings, etc.

I agree with Baalz re: CBM and consider this a must. I'm also highly in favor of Llama's end game divserity mod.

Gregstrom used a random nation assingment process a while back (can't remember the game) in which each player nominated a nation for the "pool". Players were gauranteed that they would not receive the nation they had nominated; this seemed to produce some interesting results.

I prefer PBEM on Llamaserver.

Squirrelloid

June 10th, 2010, 04:40 AM

I would certainly be interested in the game.

I support both CBM and Endgame Diversity.

Dimaz

June 10th, 2010, 06:46 AM

I'll join. Vote for no diplomacy.

Corwin

June 10th, 2010, 03:28 PM

Thank you for your response and your interest in this game guys. Based upon your feedback, it looks like CBM and Endgame Diversity Mod will almost certainly be used in this game, unless other players will strongly object and would offer convincing arguments against their use. My own gut feeling - I like both of these mods, they should make things more interesting and balanced.

To Baalz: I've just re-read "Figment" game thread to refresh my memory. I take back what I said about you becoming extremely formidable opponent during the time I was away - I forgot that you already were such opponent even two years ago, since you were the brain and the voice behind cunning Marveni nation. I still remember your bold globals and cunning teleporting blitzkrig from across the huge map, and how much I've struggled to fight you - first through proxies, and then in direct violent confrontations across the globe. You and AdmiralZhao were my most brutal opponents in that game.

Man, that was a great game. Good times. :)

After re-reading that thread I am now more inclined toward allowing full diplomacy in the new game I am trying to orginize. According to many players in that Figment game (which was great fun for everyone based upon players numerious posts on the subject), diplomacy and cunning plots and counterplots were part of what made that game so much fun for all people involved. And (partly because of it) it was still surprisingly balanced until the very last turn. Even the final outcome was very much in question - Mictlan had surrendered to me, but after reading his final AAR I think he had at least 50% chance of winning that game, based upon what I remember of my own position.

Baalz

June 10th, 2010, 06:02 PM

Graeme Dice

June 10th, 2010, 06:06 PM

Wow. That game is old, and that server computer that I was running it on doesn't even exist anymore. The power supply was dying at the time, and caught fire one morning when I turned it on. So yes, I'm very happy that Llamaserver exists.

Corwin

June 10th, 2010, 07:36 PM

Hehe, Figment was indeed a fun one but you've got to go back a good deal further for the one I was talking about (my first mp dom3 game)

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=30896

Gah, rereading that thread reminds me how nice it is to have the llamaserver now.

Yes, I know, I remember that one as well. 2006, huh? :) Man, it's been a while...
You did very well there as well, for your first game, surviving to the endgame. I have also re-read parts of that thread after you've posted a link to it here. I have to say that you tend to write great comments and AARs. :)

...Baalz said (back in 2006):
Hmmm, for some reason the rest of my scattered jaguar warriors have all chosen the martyr's path as well. They seemed...uncomfortable with the idea of returning to report a cowardly retreat to the red god. Nonetheless, I will heed your advice and withdraw. Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced all my leaders in the area, so I have no way to recall my wayward troops. Pay no attention to the large army marching towards your capital, this is just the honor guard of the king I sent to collect these troops, and he is VERY honorable.

:D

To Graeme Dice&Baalz: How is this Llamaserver working for you guys? Unless I am mistaken, this is essentially PBEM with some simple webbased UI showing you which nations have submitted their turn and which not, right? Can you automate email turn submission somehow?

Baalz

June 10th, 2010, 11:02 PM

llamaserver is the bees knees. llamaserver.net. It makes it real easy to start and admin games, manage mods, see score graphs, track stales, sends confirmation when it gets your turn and reminders if you're about to stale and very seldom has any issues. Virtually all the games are on it now. I've written a little batch script to automate turn submissions for windows not sure how everybody else does it. I've attached it here in case you want to use it, but you'll need to tweak it to use your email address to submit. I've got the smtp setup for my gmail account so if you have a gmail account its as easy as putting in your EMAIL USERID and PASSWORD.

Then you just make a shortcut on your desktop for each game you're in like this:

C:\utils\domturns.bat c:\downloads "c:\dominions3" mid_ctis vendetta c:\utils

c:\downloads - the directory your turn files are downloaded into
"c:\dominions3" - the directory dominions is installed to
mid_ctis - the name of the turn file
vendetta - the name of the game directory in dominions
c:\utils - the location of the sendmail.exe (also included in the zip)

A little bit of a pain to set up the first time, but once you do you just download your turn, run the shortcut, it'll launch dominions to the game you want, take your turn, end turn, close the dominions window and it'll upload it for you. It's real easy to set up your next game as well, you just change the game name and nation name.

DonCorazon

June 10th, 2010, 11:39 PM

Fakeymcfake

June 11th, 2010, 01:56 AM

Wouldn't mind throwing my hat in for this game. Just got off a bit of a break myself so I wouldn't mind jumping back in with both feet. Personally I'm all for diplomacy and CBM. Endgame diversity I'm not familiar with however, but it seems like it's getting strong recommendations.

Corwin

June 11th, 2010, 03:44 AM

Corwin! My old Sauromatian neighbor...I'd love to join this - am torn - I don't really have the time these days given a new 9 month old addition to my family (DonCorazoncita :) ). Been taking a break myself but like you started reading some old threads like Kingmaker and getting the itch to jump in again. I remember Figment was my first exposure to the horror of Horrors thanks to the Admiral. Hmmm...I'll think about it but welcome back!

DonCorazon! Great to see you, my old Vanheim ally.

Congratulations on your addition to the family! Please convey my deep regards to the young lady Corazoncita. :)

Funny, I've just reread Figment thread yesterday. It is funny how that wierd incident with your vans being caught on my territory and capturing my province on the same turn as Lanka attacked, lead to the fall of mightiest empire in the game (Lanka), as well as the foundation of a strong alliance between our two nations for the rest of the game. :) After meeting Baalz and seeing him expressing interest in joining this new game I am orginizing, and rereading Figment thread, I was just thinking that it would be great to locate you and have you with us in this game. And here you are... :)

You know that itch to play the game will only get stronger, right? ;) You might as well give yourself a little present and submit to it now, when there is a perfect opportunity to play in interesting game with good settings and against fun and challenging opponets, with many familiar faces. :) I don't have a baby (yet), but like yourself I also have serious work and personal commitments, so I will be perfectly fine with switching to 48h host pretty early, if some players will find it difficult to stay on 24h. Also I have no problem to add more time to any hosting interfval, should you or other player request it for any personal reasons.

Think about it. Should you decide to join I would be very happy to have you in our game. :)

Corwin

June 11th, 2010, 04:24 AM

To Baalz: Got it, thank you for the helpful info. So do you feel that llamaserver with such automated setup is actually better than having a regular Dom3 server?

To all potential players:

Ok, here is the current list of players who have expressed an interest in joining this game:

1. Baalz
2. Aethyr
3. Squirreloid
4. Dimaz
5. Fakeymcfake
6. Myself

7(?) DonCarlazon (thinking, depending on personal commitments)

So we have 6 solid players in less than 24 hours. Not bad at all. :) I think once we have about 10 players we are good to go, but the more good players the better.

Some things are shaping up in based upon your guys feedback so far. We are certainly going to use at least these two mods - CBM and Endgame Diversity mod. The dimplomacy is probably going to be fully allowed - it's just too damed fun, even if it has its drawbacks. :) We will likely use llamaserver for our hosting.

The choice of nations will likely be semi-random, where each player would add one nation to the pool and then get randomly assigned nation from the pool. The twist to this system Aethyr has mentioned ("Players were gauranteed that they *would not* receive the nation they had nominated") is interesting, but I don't think we should use it in our game - such twist will almost certainly result in the weakest nations being selected by all players.

Graphs will be on.

Few questions for you future players:

1. Which map would you suggest for us to use? (let's consider two scenarios - one where we have about 10 players, and another with 15+ players)

2. Are there any other mods you would recommend for us to use together with CBM and Endgame Diversity mods, that you feel might enhance overall game experience?

3. Are there any houserules you would suggest for this game? Personally I suggest that we use a houserule that would prohibit Forge of Ancients and Arcane Nexus - I think they are just too unbalanced for a long MP game.

4. Which Era do you prefer to play and why? (if you have a preference) Should some nations be prohibited for being overpowered even with CBM mod, or is it not necessary because CBM balances nations enough?

Dimaz

June 11th, 2010, 04:41 AM

3. I think with no gemgens we can allow everything, since it'll be hard to cast 999 AN or something as crazy as that.
4. MA (didn't play MA game recently). Again, allow everything.

Squirrelloid

June 11th, 2010, 04:49 AM

Ashdod is still crazy overpowered. I think that's the only one you'll find everyone agrees on. (although, in a set of only 10 players, i suppose its possible we'd agree on some others).

Aethyr

June 11th, 2010, 05:13 AM

Since selection will be ramdon, I would vote to exclude Ashdod.

Psycho

June 11th, 2010, 08:17 AM

Fakeymcfake

June 11th, 2010, 03:17 PM

I'm going to agree with no Ashdod, but since we're selecting nations I doubt anyone will select something too overpowered. I also don't think that we really need anything more in terms of mods, but will go with the crowd on this one. As far as maps and eras, I'm open for anything personally.

Corwin

June 11th, 2010, 06:58 PM

Hi Corwin, nice to see you again. Figment was my first Dom3 MP game. I didn't do too well (and I think I was the first target that the notorious Baalz Marverni guide was tested on), but it was great fun and I managed to survive in my capital to the end. Watching some of the Sauro-Marverni and Sauro-Mictlan battles was great experience.

It's a shame I don't have time for a new game now.

Hi Psycho! Nice to see you too. :)

I remember you and your nation - small but extremely stubborn race that simply refused to go quietly into the night despite strong odds stacked against you in one war after another. ;) You were my only ally left in the 2nd part of the game, and I have been secretely and later on openly supporting you with various items and gems to help you in your struggles. You've played well, very few first time players survive to the endgame in their first large MP game with many old time players as it was the case with Figment.

Too bad you are not avlaible for another game at this moment, it would be great to have you with us. Oh well, another time perhaps.

LOL, I am pleased to see so many familar places around here. :)And this game I am trying to orginize almost shaping up to be Figment 2. Now if we could only get AdmiralZheo on board... ;) As well as some other players from the past. :rolleyes:

Speaking of which, I have a favor to ask from players who have signed up for this game, as well as those reading this thread but unable to join due to various commitments. Since unlike myself you guys are all very active in current Dom3 MP, perhaps you could ask around among veteran players you know or are friends with (preferable those who are also fun to play with :) ) , and recruit them for this game? I have the feeling that it's going to be a very fun game, based upon players who are signing and game's settings and rules. And I would like to get at least 10 players before we start.

Lingchih

June 11th, 2010, 08:20 PM

I'll join. I'm a bit low on games atm. Don't think I ever played with you Corwin, though our history is similar (I played way back in Dom 2 as well). Though I know most of the other players signed up so far.

I would agree with CBM and Endgame Diversity mod (though we should probably wait until the new version is released... it's a bit in flux right now), and full diplomacy.

I don't really care about the age or the map. If you go with MA, I would say that Ashdod should be allowed. They have their weaknesses that can be exploited.

Psycho

June 11th, 2010, 09:50 PM

Don't think I ever played with you Corwin, though our history is similar (I played way back in Dom 2 as well).

Really? I remember you playing with Corwin. You were also on Figment, playing Tir, had a Cyclops pretender and I think you were the first nation Corwin eliminated. My memory of that game is still very vivid.

Lingchih

June 11th, 2010, 10:23 PM

Perhaps I just went out too early on those games to commit them to memory.

I've played, what, 20-30 MP games now? Those where I did not do well aren't all that well remembered.

Plus, I've lost a PC since then, so all those old games are pretty much lost.

DonCorazon

June 11th, 2010, 11:04 PM

Yeah Ling, didn't you have a Cyclops with some unusually normal name like Frank or Larry? Really keeping with the epic fantasy feel..

Lingchih

June 12th, 2010, 12:29 AM

Oh yeah, Larry the Cyclops. It all comes back to me now. He was awful.

Corwin

June 12th, 2010, 04:12 PM

Oh yeah, Larry the Cyclops. It all comes back to me now. He was awful.

;)

Hi Lingchih. Good to see you. And welcome to the game.

Ok, we have 7 confirmed players.

1. Baalz
2. Aethyr
3. Squirreloid
4. Dimaz
5. Fakeymcfake
6. Lingchih
7. Myself

It would be nice to get 3 more players and before we launch the game.

Lingchih

June 14th, 2010, 09:08 PM

This should be a good game, with some nice players, and the latest endgame diversity mod. I think Corwin wants three more. Some of you vets should consider joining.

Fakeymcfake

June 15th, 2010, 08:42 PM

We may want to just go ahead with the game at this point. Doesn't look like there is any other interested players.

llamabeast

June 16th, 2010, 08:06 AM

I am tempted to join in with this game, although I think I may bring the standard down a bit!

I may be away a few weekends over the summer. Hopefully that won't cause too many problems.

Corwin

June 16th, 2010, 02:55 PM

I am tempted to join in with this game, although I think I may bring the standard down a bit!

I may be away a few weekends over the summer. Hopefully that won't cause too many problems.

Llamabeast - you are welcome to join this game, don't worry about standard. :) Absense on few weekends over the summer shouldn't cause too many troubles as far as I am concered.

Ok, looks like we have 8 players total.

1. Baalz
2. Aethyr
3. Squirreloid
4. Dimaz
5. Fakeymcfake
6. Lingchih
7. Llamabeast
8. Myself

I am ok with launching the game with 8 players, as Fakeymcfake (and Lingchih in IRC) have suggested. 8 players also means less delays and will make a game move faster. However since starting tomorrow I will be in the country camping for few days, from Friday to Sunday anyway, I suggest that we wait a little bit more, until the beginning of next week. Then we could start with 8 players or with more, should any additional players decide to join by that time.

Summorizing settings of the game:

Mods used - CBM1.6, EndgameDiversity mod
2 banned spells (Forge, Arcane Nexus)
Map settings - magic set at 55 regardless of age, the rest is standard. Graphs are on, HOF 15, renaming allowed.
Diplomacy and trading allowed.
Victory conditions - 1 VP for each capital, to win the game you need to get 50% of total VPs(rounded down) + 1.

No chese stuff, which includes:
- Bogus orders
- lab filling
- suiciding mages/priests intentionally to turn them undead
- giving up without fight

Meanwhile let's use the remaining time before lauch to finalize remaing settings of the game. We need to decide on age and the map used. It looks like we will have 8-9, maybe 10 players total. I think it would be nice to have a map with around 15 provinces per player, 20 top.

We could use a random map or one one of the custom made ones.
Assuming these numbers, do you guys have suggestions as to which map to use?

Regarding age, most people do not seem to have preferences toward one or another. I am would like to propose EA, simply because I like playing with magic toys. :) Dimaz suggested MA, since he haven't played that much recently. Let's vote on it, if you have a preference in this matter - will it be EA or MA? It case of tie I will flip a coin. Should we choose MA, Asddon nation will not be allowed, since several players strongly feel that it is overpowered. For the sake of harmony let's just ban it for this game.

Oh, and the most important thing - we will need a name for our game. :D From now on this game shall be known as

"A Song of Ice and Fire".

(Love these books. ;) )

Squirrelloid

June 16th, 2010, 03:57 PM

If we're banning AN and Forge shouldn't we also ban AC? Not that I'm really in favor of banning anything, but AC is at least as disruptive.

Corwin

June 16th, 2010, 05:11 PM

If we're banning AN and Forge shouldn't we also ban AC? Not that I'm really in favor of banning anything, but AC is at least as disruptive.

Personally I prefer not to ban too many spells. AC is very powerfull but it could be worked around, to some degree. Nevertheless I am fine with banning AC as well, in addition to Forge and AN.

Forgot to add something to the game rules, and now it's too late to edit my post (what a stupid forum limitation! ). So I'll add it here:

Nation assigments will be semi-random. Each player will submit one nation to the pool, and then each player will be randomly assigned a nation from that pool. Note that the are no limitations in the assigment process, so you can be assigned the nation you have picked, depending on the random dice. This is important to prevent players sumbitting weak nations to the pool, since there is a reasonable chance (1/n, where n number of players) that you will get your nation of choice.

llamabeast

June 16th, 2010, 05:58 PM

I vote MA, and for a not-too-large map (not more than 15 provinces each ideally; that still ends up being a lot).

Fakeymcfake

June 16th, 2010, 06:22 PM

I'm good with either age (so I guess that's an abstain)

ghoul31

June 16th, 2010, 08:43 PM

I'll join
I vote EA

Lingchih

June 16th, 2010, 08:50 PM

I'll go for MA.
I've been playing a lot of EA lately, and need a change.

Oh, and you can edit the original post, since you are the original poster. Just none of your posts after that. So you could go back and paste all the info into the OP.

sansanjuan

June 16th, 2010, 11:42 PM

I'll join if you are still looking for another. I've won a couple MPs but am likely to be a punching bag in this field. Good thing I'm into that...

-ssj

Corwin

June 16th, 2010, 11:45 PM

Update. We have two more players from Dom3 Free Forum - FrozenLama and Diceman. Welcome to song of "A Song of Ice and Fire" game guys.

With players who have already registered here, we have 11 players total. I think it is a good number, so we should probably stop acceting new players.

1. Baalz
2. Aethyr
3. Squirreloid
4. Dimaz
5. Fakeymcfake
6. Lingchih
7. Llamabeast
8. FrozenLama
9. Diceman
10. Ghoul31
11. Myself

1 more person expresed desire to play MA than people who wanted to play EA. Since I've set it up as a democratic vote (damn! >:) ), unless one of the undecided people will express desire to play EA, we will play MA.

Meanwhile let's finalize the map. We need a map for 11 players, around 15 provinces per person. I would prefer to play on a good custom made map, not a random one. Any suggestions?

Aethyr

June 17th, 2010, 12:45 AM

Just in case it matters I vote for MA (sorry Corwin). :)

Corwin

June 17th, 2010, 03:20 AM

To ssj: Ooops, looks like you have posted a message while I was typing mine. Didn't mean to ingnore you, my appologies.

Right now we are one player above the target number (10) so at this moment we are not accepting additional players. Sorry.

To Aethur: Heh. "Et tu, Brute?..." :)

All right, that settles that. The "Song of Ice and Fire" will be played in MA. Ashdod nation will be banned. 3 banned spells - AN, AC, Forge. For the rest of the settings check out my previous post.

You guys can start selecting nations and throwing them in my virtual hat. Meanwhile we still need to decide on the map. Suggestions?

llamabeast

June 17th, 2010, 04:41 AM

Regarding the map, have you seen the "Map and Mod Browser" feature at llamaserver.net? I'm afraid most of the maps are a bit disorganised, since they're just in the order they were uploaded, but it's quite an extensive listing. Note that all the maps have previews which appear to the right, but they can take a while to appear. I would browse it myself now to suggest some, but I'm actually at work. :o

As someone else commented, you can edit the first post in the thread to keep track of game settings etc. However, perhaps we should migrate to the other forum so that Frozen Lama can post?

I'd like to add T'ien Ch'i to the hat.

Dimaz

June 17th, 2010, 11:47 AM

Ashdod plz!

Oops, sorry, just cannot resist it :)
Well, let's make it hotter. Abysia to the pool.

lch

June 17th, 2010, 11:51 AM

What would be better as a map for a "Song of Fire and Ice" game than Westeros? :) I still hope that somebody takes the images that I stitched together (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=39527), adds a few borders with a graphics program, and creates a new map for Dominions 3 out of it. Wouldn't this be perfect? I'm too graphically inept to do it myself. :(

PriestyMan

June 17th, 2010, 02:45 PM

I throw shin into the hat... FL

Baalz

June 17th, 2010, 04:18 PM

The forges of Ulm should ring out in this contest. Let man and beast test their strength against the legendary black steel.

Squirrelloid

June 17th, 2010, 04:26 PM

Oh hell, if we're adding Ulm to the pile I will throw in Agartha.

Damn it Baalz

ghoul31

June 17th, 2010, 06:50 PM

I'll throw in pangea

Fakeymcfake

June 17th, 2010, 08:28 PM

C'tis up in... this?

Lingchih

June 17th, 2010, 09:15 PM

Oh, I see Ashdod is banned. Pythium then.

Aethyr

June 17th, 2010, 09:58 PM

Ulm...Agartha...you guys are killing me...

Vanheim

Baalz

June 17th, 2010, 10:40 PM

I'd be happy with either one, I've had a shot at winning with both in different games (didn't quite close the deal though). I suppose we're doing a random selection, but I tend to like taking the nations nobody else wants. Except MA Oceana, nobody could love that retarded abomination. Since I said that some joker is indubitably gonna toss them in the hat so I'd also like to suggest that each player get one or two choices of nations they really don't want to play out of the pool of nations.

Squirrelloid

June 17th, 2010, 11:57 PM

Hey, this is a vets game. You play what you get handed. And remember, someone else put it in there.

That said, I'd be happy to play MA Agartha. MA Ulm though? Oh dear god, so much fail.

Lingchih

June 18th, 2010, 12:01 AM

Oceania

llamabeast

June 18th, 2010, 06:56 AM

Well luckily Lingchih has already said Pythium, so the Oceania doesn't count!

In all seriousness though I would much prefer if we didn't include a water nation. Or if we do, we should use Burnsaber's underwater mod.

Fakeymcfake

June 18th, 2010, 01:22 PM

I'm all for no water nations. And by the great and fluffy lords, don't get me stuck with Agartha.

Squirrelloid

June 18th, 2010, 02:50 PM

You'd rather have Ulm? I wouldn't.

Lingchih

June 18th, 2010, 09:29 PM

Fakeymcfake

June 18th, 2010, 10:17 PM

You'd rather have Ulm? I wouldn't.

It's like having to choose between a finger in the eye and a knee to the groin. Neither is good, but dammit I can't take anymore fingers in the eye.

llamabeast

June 20th, 2010, 10:33 AM

So what happens next? I'm keen to start!

Fakeymcfake

June 20th, 2010, 12:50 PM

I think Corwin's out for the weekend, we'll probably carry on when he gets back.

Lingchih

June 22nd, 2010, 08:35 PM

Perhaps you should just randomly assign nations, Corwin, since not too many have sent in candidates.

llamabeast

June 23rd, 2010, 04:42 AM

Or randomly add nations to the set to randomly assign nations from. Seems a shame to throw away the selections we've made so far.

I'm keen to get started though. Are you around Corwin?

Corwin

June 23rd, 2010, 07:34 PM

Hi guys. Sorry, I've been MIA for the last few days - I was away from civilization camping on the weekend, as I have warned earlier in this thread, and on Monday I've had family emergency that has been taking all my free time for the last few days and will keep doing so for a day or two more. My apologies.

Nevertheless I fully intend to kick this show on the road very soon - this week, over the weekend. Meanwhile since I am currently swarmed, if somebody could help me a bit and take a good look at the collection of available maps (Lamabeast has suggested llamaserver.net, which has large collection of maps), and choose 2-3 interesting maps that fit our criteria (about 15 provinces per players, 11 players total) for the final consideration, it would be awesome and I would really appreciate it.

Meanwhile - here is final list of players, together with nations they have chosen to throw into the virtual hat:

1. Baalz - Ulm
2. Aethyr - Vanheim
3. Squirreloid - Agartha
4. Dimaz - Abysia
5. Fakeymcfake - C'tis
6. Lingchih - Pythium
7. Llamabeast - T'ien Ch'i
8. PriestyMan(FL) - Shin
9. Graeme Dice(Diceman) - ???
10. Ghoul31 - Pangeya
11. Myself - Jotunheim

The only player who hasn't picked up a nation to throw into the hat is Graeme Dice. I'll send him PM in few minutes.

Here is the aprox. schedule for the game launch I would like to propose:

1. For the next 2 days, until Friday - finalize map selection, Graeme Dice submits his nation, I roll the dice and assign all nations to the players.

2. Friday - start designing and sending pretenders.

3. On Sunday (assuming the everybody has created and sent their pretenders by then) -

The Song of Ice and Fire will ring in the air, shaking the foundations of the mountains, diving into bottomless oceans, reaching to heavens, calling to experienced warriors, wizards and warlords to clash in the titanic struggle to claim the eternal Throne.

PriestyMan

June 23rd, 2010, 07:48 PM

Graeme has thrown ctis into the hat. technically he did it before fakey did. you gotta keep an eye on those other forums man. :P

so either he or fakey needs to pick again.

Lingchih

June 23rd, 2010, 08:12 PM

Winter is coming.

Fakeymcfake

June 23rd, 2010, 10:02 PM

I'll pick again then, Machaka.

Baalz

June 23rd, 2010, 10:30 PM

Baalz always pays his debts.

PriestyMan

June 24th, 2010, 01:44 AM

corwin - i will be gone friday-sunday this weekend, so if you could give nations out tomorrow asap that would be really helpful so that i could make a pretender hopefully tomorrow and send it in/to you before i leave, then i could not be holding up the game. if not, i'm really sorry to be the cause for more delay.

Corwin

June 24th, 2010, 06:05 PM

Heh, it looks like both Graeme Dice and Fakeymcfake have chosen their 2nd pick as Machaka (based upon Graeme Dice's PM and Fakeymcfake's posting). Considering that they both selected C'tis as their first choice, it looks like they are certainly on the same brainwave. Regardless of who selected what, both Machacka and Ct'is has been added to the hat.

At the end, the virtual hat with all our choices looks like this:

1. Baalz - Ulm
2. Aethyr - Vanheim
3. Squirreloid - Agartha
4. Dimaz - Abysia
5. Fakeymcfake - C'tis
6. Lingchih - Pythium
7. Llamabeast - T'ien Ch'i
8. PriestyMan(FL) - Shinuyama
9. Graeme Dice - Machaka
10. Ghoul31 - Pangeya
11. Myself - Jotunheim

I've asked by Priestyman to speed up nation selection if I can, so he could create his pretender before leaving for the weekend and perhaps delaying the launch date. So I am going to go ahead and roll the dice now. The map selection will be done tomorrow(Friday) evening, unless I'll get some volonteer to help me choose the map today.

.
..
...

...And so Dices of Fate have been thrown. Round and round they went, and as when they have finally stopped, the great collective sigh has been released by the owners of many mortal and immortal eyes who have been tracking dices movement closely...

In an age not yet dawned, the generations of bards will sing ballads and the piles of history books will be written with these names of the mighty nations and their cunning leaders, who had burned the Song of Ice and Fire with their steel, magic and blood into the very foundation of this world, changing it forever...

1. Baalz - Shinuyama
2. Aethyr - Ulm
3. Squirreloid - Pangeya
4. Dimaz - Vanheim
5. Fakeymcfake - Abyssia
6. Lingchih - Tien Chi
7. Llamabeast - Jotunheim
8. PriestyMan(FL) - Machaka
9. Graeme Dice - C'tis
10. Ghoul31 - Agartha
11. Corwin - Pythium

Lingchih

June 24th, 2010, 08:11 PM

As far as map recommendations. Other than just using a using a random map, I would recommend (in order of personal choice):

Sharivar
Orania
Desert Eye

You'll have more provs per player with Orania, probably enough with Sharivar, Desert Eye would be a little tight, but probably playable for 11. All are easy on the eyes, and have had a lot of playtesting.

Corwin

June 24th, 2010, 08:52 PM

Thank you Lingchih.

Sharivar is a great map, and fits aprox. 15 provinces per player perfectly. But unfortunately I've just started playing a game on that map on Q3 forums, as an MA Ermor. Playing similarly-themed nations on the same map maybe be a bit too much for me. I would like to try another map if we can find something that fits our requirements.

Orania is good but maybe a bit too large - 279 provinces means 25+ provinces per player. I am afraid the game may take too long with that many provinces and players.

Desert Eye is an opposite - a bit too small. 125 provinces means just 11 provinces per player.

But thank you for your suggestions, I really appreciate it. Do you, or anybody else, know of any other good maps? Ideally we are looking for about 15 (perhaps up to 20) provinces per player, easy on the eyes map.

Corwin

June 24th, 2010, 09:14 PM

Replying to some earlier SoIaF-related posts:

What would be better as a map for a "Song of Fire and Ice" game than Westeros? :) I still hope that somebody takes the images that I stitched together (http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=39527), adds a few borders with a graphics program, and creates a new map for Dominions 3 out of it. Wouldn't this be perfect? I'm too graphically inept to do it myself. :(

Excellent images Ich. I agree, that would make an awesome map for our game, and a great map in general.

Winter is coming.

Aye, indeed it is. :)

Baalz always pays his debts.

Heh. They say that demons are not to be trusted. But we shall see... :smirk:

It's nice to see that several players seem to have read and enjoyed that book series. :)

"We hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die."

Graeme Dice

June 24th, 2010, 10:25 PM

Exactly the nation I wanted. Beware, C'Tis is my absolute favourite nation. :)

Corwin

June 25th, 2010, 12:56 AM

Ok, I did some research into potential maps for our game, using llamabeast server's map catalog. It looks like there are not that many maps that fit our criteria.

Here are two maps that may fit our bill, I would like to get your guys opinions on them.

1. Primea. Looks nice. A bit on a smallish side - 147 land, 9 water. That means 14.1 province per player, or 13.3 provinces per player if you only count land provinces.

2. Urraparrand. (It comes with Dom3 I think) 145 land + 35 sea. 150% money modifier recommended.

That means 16.3 provinces per player, or 13.1 province per player not counting water. Note that there is significant amount of water and since we have no water nations, battles for control of the sizable seas will be fought by land nations. So nations with easy access to underwater troops may have a bit easier time on this map.

Please let me know what do you think of these two options. Also if you have some other good map in mind that you think may fit our game well please let us know about it.

Fakeymcfake

June 25th, 2010, 01:17 AM

Hmm, I just realized I've never actually played abyssia before. This'll be interesting. As for the map choices, they're both about the same as far as provinces go, though personally I'd lean towards Primea.

Lingchih

June 25th, 2010, 02:21 AM

I'd still vote for Sharivar. Heck, if you're already playing it, then you know it even better for this game. I've often played the same map in two concurrent games, and found it only to be a bonus.

Primea is a bit ugly, though serviceable. Urraparand, I seem to recall, has some really nasty prov connection problems that would have to be fixed. Not to mention it's a wraparound.

llamabeast

June 25th, 2010, 07:39 AM

Unfortunately Corwin, between my recommending my map catalogue and your looking at it, almost all the maps got deleted in a hideous server bungle (I've improved my backup system now!). Sorry about that. There are many more good ones around - elmokki's, in particular, are well worth checking out.

Baalz

June 25th, 2010, 11:17 AM

Aren't all the ones that were on the llamaserver also on the forum somewhere?

Lingchih

June 25th, 2010, 01:03 PM

The links under the LLamaserver maps and mods browser will work to point you to the original download links for the maps. All of them are still listed there, with thumbnails.

http://www.llamaserver.net/mapModBrowser.cgi

You'll have to download the map from the original link, and then re-upload it to the Llamaserver. I had to to that with Tyrande for my new EDM test game.

llamabeast

June 25th, 2010, 03:10 PM

They're not there any more though. Only the ones I still have, which is a small fraction.

I do still have the original list, and am planning on making an "Old map browser" page so you cam see what's missing. But I'm afraid I'm away for the weekend so can't do so for the moment.

But yes, all the maps do still exist, mostly on this forum, and all that needs to be done is finding and reuploading them. In the meantime the only problem is that the llamaserver is no longer a very comprehensive list of maps.

Lingchih

June 25th, 2010, 06:09 PM

Sorry if all this may be a bit confusing for you Corwin, since you've never done a Llamaserver game, and all the maps on it got wiped. But the map upload process is pretty intuitive and painless.

Aethyr

June 26th, 2010, 07:18 AM

Corwin

June 26th, 2010, 05:54 PM

Do you, or anybody else, know of any other good maps? Ideally we are looking for about 15 (perhaps up to 20) provinces per player, easy on the eyes map.

I like the Sharivar map, but I've played a couple of MP games on it recently (still in one) and I'd like to find an alternative if possible.

I believe that there is a version of Cradle of Dominion on Llammaserver that has 11 fixed starts w/199 land provinces (+22 underwater). This is perhaps the most viable aternative to Sharivar for this number of players that I know of.

I like this suggestion, thank you Aethyr. I've checked Llamabeast server, there is indeed Cradle map with 11 fixed land starting positions.

Cradle is a very fine map, if not a new one. It's a bit larger then 15 provinces per player (18 land provincess per player, 20 if you count water ones) but it should be all right. It has an interesting geometry with good amount of bottlenecks, rivers, ports, et cetera. We also won't need to do any modding on that map to use it in our game.

What do you think guys? Unless someone strongly objects to it, I suggest we use this map in our game. Let's wait until Sunday, and unless ther will be strong objections I will create the game on llamaserver and we can start uploading pretenders.

Lingchih

June 26th, 2010, 07:32 PM

Cradle is a fine map, but did you see this info in the 11 start map description?

"Note that you can't download this map file - it's only on the LlamaServer, so the start positions will remain a surprise."

I think the relevant point would be that it was on LLamaserver. It's not anymore.

militarist

June 27th, 2010, 12:36 AM

I'll play. man and ermor to the pool (corwin asked 2 from me to be more random)

iainuki

June 27th, 2010, 12:57 AM

I'm joining the game to balance cradle. My two nation picks are Mictlan and Bandar Log.

Corwin

June 27th, 2010, 01:33 AM

Welcome to our game Militarist and Iainuki.

After a lot of considerations and discussions based upon players feedback and our game's settings, the decision has been made to choose Cradle of Dominion as a map for our game.

We will add two more players, 13 total. That will make the number of land provinces per player to 15.3, total provinces per player - 17. Perfect balance, just what we were looking for.

Since there is space on this map for only one water nation, and a single water nation will not have any competition in the water until much later in the game, to make our game more fun and exciting we will only have land nations in our game. This way the both land provinces and sea provinces can become battlefields from the beginning of the game.

I have rolled the dice for our two new players. Militarist will play Ermor, Iainuki will play Bandar Log.

We are almost ready to roll. All is left to do is to create a modded version of Cradle map with 13 preselected starting positions. This way we will have more fair initial distribution. reducing the effect of luck and increasing the effect of players skills.

I am going to ask Ironhawk and Zeldor, if one of them could do us a favor and create such modded version of this map. Both are experienced map modders and are not players in our game.

Meanwhile everybody please create your pretenders and be ready to send them to llamabeast server, once we will have the map and the game will be created there.

Here is the final list of nations and their leaders:

1. Baalz - Shinuyama
2. Aethyr - Ulm
3. Squirreloid - Pangeya
4. Dimaz - Vanheim
5. Fakeymcfake - Abyssia
6. Lingchih - Tien Chi
7. Llamabeast - Jotunheim
8. PriestyMan(FL) - Machaka
9. Graeme Dice - C'tis
10. Ghoul31 - Agartha
11. Corwin - Pythium
12. Militarist - Ermor
13. Iainuki - Bandar Log

llamabeast

June 27th, 2010, 06:01 AM

The 11 player version does still exist - I have carefully fixed the list on llamaserver so that everything listed is available. They survived because I had copied on my desktop.

Sounds like a new version will have to be made though. A surprisingly tricky task in my expeience, finding a load of evenly spaced and suitable start spots. Well, about an hour's work I guess. Very worthwhile doing for Cradle though, the default start positions seem to be terrible.

Corwin

June 28th, 2010, 01:26 PM

Update: IronHawk has kindly agreed to help us with the map. He said he will probably be able to do it tonight. As soon as it is done the game will be created on llamabeast's server. I'll post update here when it'll happen.

Hopefully you all have already created your pretenders and are just dying to upload them. ;) If not, please do so, hopefully we will kick this show on the road very soon.

llamabeast

June 28th, 2010, 06:07 PM

With considerable regret guys, I think I'd better drop out of this game. I'm very sorry - particularly if Ironhawk's already done the map (hope not!). I just realised that I don't reliably get to the computer in the evenings these days - it often takes me a few days to get round to some five-minute e-mail or llamaserver fix, so I don't think I'd be a reliable player in a game of this size. Basically I think I would be hoping to lose so that I didn't get into the mid/endgame, which of course is a ridiculous way to play.

I'm getting a new laptop soon, which I will put in my own room; my computer's currently in the lounge and basically people constantly come and talk to me when I'm doing stuff on it (I live in a shared house). Lovely and very sociable, but leads to little computer time. Hopefully once I have the new computer I may find the time to join a game again with some of you.

Sorry again Corwin and Ironhawk for dropping out at a very unhelpful moment.

DrPraetorious

June 28th, 2010, 08:21 PM

I'll take Jotunheim if it is indeed available.

llamabeast

June 29th, 2010, 01:46 AM

Hooray! Thanks Dr P!

Dr P is much more of a vet than me anyway so this is a win for everyone.

If anyone needs any subbing done in this game, I will quite likely be up for it.

Corwin

June 29th, 2010, 02:29 AM

It's a pity to loose you llamabeast but understand your circumstances. Hopefully we will get chance to play some other time.

Welcome to the game DrPraetorious.

Ironhawk is still working on the map for our game, please stay tuned.

Corwin

June 29th, 2010, 04:31 AM

Final list of players:

1. Baalz - Shinuyama
2. Aethyr - Ulm
3. Squirreloid - Pangeya
4. Dimaz - Vanheim
5. Fakeymcfake - Abyssia
6. Lingchih - Tien Chi
7. DrPraetorious - Jotunheim
8. PriestyMan(FL) - Machaka
9. Graeme Dice - C'tis
10. Ghoul31 - Agartha
11. Corwin - Pythium
12. Militarist - Ermor
13. Iainuki - Bandar Log

Final settings and rules for the game:

Mods used - CBM1.6, EndgameDiversity mod 1.1
3 banned spells (Forge, Arcane Nexus, Astral Corruption)
Game Settings: MA, Magic 55. Graphs are on, HOF 15, renaming allowed.
Diplomacy and trading allowed.
Victory conditions - 1 VP for each capital, to win the game you need to get 50% of total VPs(rounded down) + 1. (7VP to win)
Hosting - 24h for the first 10-30 turns, 48h later on.
Host - llama server
Map used - specially modified for our game Cradle of Dominion map (with 13 pre-selected land-based starting locations)

No chese stuff, which includes:
- Bogus orders
- lab filling
- suiciding mages/priests intentionally to turn them undead
- giving up without fight

Corwin

June 29th, 2010, 04:40 AM

The IronHawk has finished creating a modified map for us. (many thanks man!)

The game "A Song of Ice and Fire" has been created on llama server! :angel

Please upload your pretenders. The game will start as soon as uploading is completed.

The Song is in the air, riding summer winds, whispering from the shadows, on the edge of the lips, waiting to be sung... ;)

Graeme Dice

June 29th, 2010, 01:36 PM

Would any of the people playing in this game be willing to play the first couple of turns for me?

Ironhawk

June 29th, 2010, 01:46 PM

One note about the start positions I made for your game: the map Cradle is somewhat unbalanced in terms of terrain and chokepoints. To that end, I tried to balance starting positions in a more general way, giving nations with poorer starts more area to expand and nations with great starts more competition.

So, if you feel like your starting position is not so hot, don't worry too much. And if you started next to a load of plains / farmlands, then expect your neighbors to come calling soon...

Corwin

June 29th, 2010, 02:02 PM

Would any of the people playing in this game be willing to play the first couple of turns for me?

It's much better to find replacement from outside the game Graeme. Please try your best to do so.

But if worst come to worst, I could play first few turns for you, assuming we are far enough from each other so it would not give me any unfair advantage (intellegence most likely) over my neighbours.

Corwin

June 29th, 2010, 02:03 PM

llamabeast

June 29th, 2010, 03:47 PM

I can play Graeme's turns. Let me know what your tactics were going to be if you want to take me up on it Graeme.

Also, a copy of a post I just made in the EDM thread:

"As Corwin pointed out (thanks Corwin!) the version number of v1.1 was still listed within dominions as v1.04. I've fixed that now in the attachment to the first post. The error will not cause any compatibility problems as I understand it - if different players in the same game have the mod with or without the fix then I think they will still be fine."

Corwin

June 29th, 2010, 08:32 PM

"As Corwin pointed out (thanks Corwin!) the version number of v1.1 was still listed within dominions as v1.04.

You are most welcome Llamabeast. I am sure you've heard it countless times by now, but you have made a great job with this mod. I've been lurking on your mod thread, following many tweaks and abjustments you've made. Having tried it in a test SP game I can't wait to try your new creatures in a real MP game. 2 games in which I am playing, plus this one I am orginzing, all use this mod of yours.

I have small concern that few of these creatures may still be a little bit too powerful for their gemcost/reseach level, but it is minor thing. All and all - very well done, both from thematic/artistic point of view and from the game balance perspective.

Corwin

June 30th, 2010, 04:58 AM

9/13 pretenders uploaded. Still missing:

2. Aethyr - Ulm
3. Squirreloid - Pangeya
10. Ghoul31 - Agartha
13. Iainuki - Bandar Log

Squirrelloid

June 30th, 2010, 04:41 PM

Sorry, working on it. There was car drama yesterday.

Corwin

June 30th, 2010, 06:50 PM

Sorry, working on it. There was car drama yesterday.

Was it a car accident? Are you ok?

Lingchih

June 30th, 2010, 09:43 PM

Sorry, working on it. There was car drama yesterday.

Was it a car accident? Are you ok?

Just some brain damage, which he had already. No biggee.

Let's go people. This game has languished too long.

Fakeymcfake

June 30th, 2010, 10:39 PM

Might be a silly question, but where can I grab the map? Found it uploaded at lamaserver but couldn't see a download link.

Corwin

June 30th, 2010, 11:14 PM

I was just told by few of our players in IRC channel that we don't need map files, since IH only modified .map file, which has been uploaded to the server and that players do not need. The .tga file we all have, since it is standard Cradle of Dominion .tga file.

Since I have no experience with map creation/modding, I am relying on thier words. If anybody here have different opinion or info on this subject please say so now. But for now according to what I've heard we should be fine.

Two players left who need to upload their pretenders:

2. Aethyr - Ulm
13. Iainuki - Bandar Log

PMs have been sent.

Aethyr

June 30th, 2010, 11:17 PM

I'll have mine in soon.

Squirrelloid

July 1st, 2010, 12:53 AM

Sorry, working on it. There was car drama yesterday.

Was it a car accident? Are you ok?

Mostly just drama. Nothing involved the car moving when said drama occurred.

Fakeymcfake

July 1st, 2010, 12:53 PM

Sorry, working on it. There was car drama yesterday.

Was it a car accident? Are you ok?

Mostly just drama. Nothing involved the car moving when said drama occurred.

Did the car get arrested for shoplifting or knocked up by the bad-boy honda down the road?

Squirrelloid

July 1st, 2010, 03:14 PM

if by arrested you mean I spent hours in a mechanics waiting for them to look at the alternator, then sure. Its kind of like being in jail for a few hours.

Corwin

July 2nd, 2010, 02:45 AM

The Song has begun!

Lingchih

July 3rd, 2010, 03:13 AM

Umm, it's a slow song :)

Fakeymcfake

July 3rd, 2010, 11:15 AM

That means it's more romantic.

DrPraetorious

July 3rd, 2010, 12:27 PM

Let it be known that Knife Bright Insight, True and Righteous God of the World, has generously and for a limited time extended the offer of total subjugation and complete obedience to any false idols with the foresight to grovel before Him.

Offers of obseqious subserviance may be sent to:
attn: Prophet of the True God
1313 Iron Woods Lane,
Jotunheim

Lingchih

July 6th, 2010, 03:25 AM

There's a new Song of Ice and Fire artwork book coming out this fall, if anyone is interested. The first edition was quite good, though out of print now.

Most of the new artwork came from the board game. You'll have to wait for the HBO series :)

Fakeymcfake

July 6th, 2010, 08:45 PM

I'm going to be absent from the 9th to the 11th, would appreciate a short delay of the game.

Corwin

July 7th, 2010, 04:45 AM

I'm going to be absent from the 9th to the 11th, would appreciate a short delay of the game.

All right, I'll increase the timer accordingly.

Fakeymcfake

July 7th, 2010, 01:48 PM

Thanks, I'll be sure to send off whatever turn we're on before I head off.

Executor

July 8th, 2010, 06:27 AM

Hello everyone, I'm the new Ermor player, stepping in instead of Militarist.

Lingchih

July 8th, 2010, 07:00 AM

Welcome, Executor.

Aethyr

July 8th, 2010, 11:36 PM

Hello Executor, it's been a while since we've played together. Welcome!

Corwin

July 12th, 2010, 03:46 AM

New turn.

Executor

July 13th, 2010, 07:27 AM

Thanks Lingchih, Aethyr.

That was the weirdest battle I've ever seen...

Dimaz

July 16th, 2010, 01:55 AM

If anyone is interested in dwarven hammers, you can contact our dwarves and we'll make you one really fast. The cost is 7E + 7(E, F, N), F and N are preferred.

Lingchih

July 16th, 2010, 02:37 AM

If anyone is interested in dwarven hammers, you can contact our dwarves and we'll make you one really fast. The cost is 7E + 7(E, F, N), F and N are preferred.

That's not a bad deal at all. We'll keep it in mind.

Corwin

July 17th, 2010, 01:42 PM

The nation of Pythium would like to aquire a small quantity of earth gems (10-15). We can offer astral, air, nature, water, death or fire gems in return.

Lingchih

July 18th, 2010, 01:52 AM

Hmm. Our first stale... on turn 12, at 48 hour host! Methinks that's not a good sign.

Corwin

July 18th, 2010, 06:03 AM

Well, I don't know. 13 players, 12 turns, 1 stale total. I think it's pretty good, don't see any bad omens.

Anyway, I got a request from PriestMan to delay next hosting until Monday night. The timer has been abjusted accordingly.

Fakeymcfake

July 19th, 2010, 01:50 PM

Corwin

July 19th, 2010, 02:55 PM

Sorry about that folks. Took extremely ill over the weekend and literally couldn't get out of bed. Only thing I had on my mind was icky pain and, strangely, Daleks (I blame my girlfriend's thing for The Doctor on that one). I'll look over my situation to see if it's salvagable if I can today, or you can go on without me.

Sorry to hear about your sickness Fakeymcfake. :( Get well soon!

Hopefully you'll be able to continue - it's just one missed turn, and I don't think you are in war with anybody. Personally I have no problem with delaying hosting time for as long as needed. (currently it is scheduled to host tonight, but it can be easily postponed)

Fakeymcfake

July 19th, 2010, 04:02 PM

Odd, I thought I would have missed more than that. What's our current hosting time at?

Squirrelloid

July 19th, 2010, 04:54 PM

48h, ie, painfully slow (unless you happen to be really sick)

Corwin

July 19th, 2010, 05:07 PM

Odd, I thought I would have missed more than that. What's our current hosting time at?

We are on 48h host. I've added some time to the host for the current turn on request of another player, who was travelling over the weekend. So you've only missed one turn.

The game is currently set to forcehost at around midnight tonight (PST). Would you like me to bump up the hosting time?

Corwin

July 19th, 2010, 09:43 PM

The nation of Pythium would like to buy one or two items from the following selection - shroud of battle saint (preferrable) or ring of regeneration.

We need to aquire them in the next 4 turns, preferably next 3 turns. Please let us know if you are able to forge them (or will be able to soon) and we will arrange some gem or item deal.

PriestyMan

July 20th, 2010, 12:41 AM

three guesses what that's for. Not an S5 arch therug that's diseased i hope? :)

Corwin

July 20th, 2010, 01:10 AM

No, just regular theurgs. But still I would rather save them if I can, if it won't cost me too much.

Fakeymcfake

July 20th, 2010, 03:40 PM

No, my turn went fast enough, no worries on my end.

Lingchih

July 21st, 2010, 02:43 AM

Mmm. Game too slow. Lingchih loses interest. Too many take advantage of the early 48 hour host.

Squirrelloid

July 21st, 2010, 04:09 AM

Seriously, Ling is right.

Nostalgia was running turns every 12h for the first like 24 turns, and that was with all of EA Pan (massive maenad spam), LA R, LA E, and a crazy EA Aby that may have been as much micro as the three of those put together. Needing 48h this early is pretty sad, bar extenuating circumstances. Could the laggards pick up the pace a little bit?

Corwin

July 21st, 2010, 05:54 PM

Personally I am ok with decreasing hosting time for a while, but it is really up to you guys. I haven't been the last one to take turn yet, and usually I do it quickly, within 24 hours or less after hosting.

However I am a bit concerned that if we decrease timer at this point it may pose problem for some people. I like how we have been completely stale-less (with one exception) up until now, despite pretty large map and 13 players.

Like Squierrloid and Ling said - if those players who are often among the last ones to submit their turn could pickup their pace a bit it would be great.

Fortunately we are on the turn 13 already, so as turns taking longer and becoming more complicated, the current 48h hosting will feel better.

DrPraetorious

July 22nd, 2010, 12:39 PM

I'm in two other major/intense games and do not want hosting time decreased.

I would like to buy Bracers of Protection and/or Hammers. I understand that earth gems are dear, and I do not have any - so I am willing to pay a modest premium in nature, death, blood, gold or diplomatic considerations for these items.

Fakeymcfake

July 22nd, 2010, 02:48 PM

Lingchih

July 22nd, 2010, 06:32 PM

Nice. Now this pace is much better. Even if we are still on 48 hour, it seems we are getting turns done in a timely manner now. Thanks.

Corwin

July 22nd, 2010, 07:02 PM

I'm out folks, Ermor broke my only army and Van is crawling up my backside. I honestly don't really feel like playing out the turns in a game where I barely got started so I'm going AI. So, luck all, and feel free to give either of the above nations a good kicking while they're distracted.

Ouch! Sorry about your tough luck in this game Fakeymcfake.

I wonder if perhaps you could at least play for few more turns? You still have relatively large nation, it's a lot of territory suddenly up for grabs if you go to AI immideatly. You don't have to spend much time on your turns at all, just enough to make your neighboring nations work a little bit before gobbling up your entire territory, as they will instantly do if you go AI, since it can't resist at all. Not to mention you could have the last stand in your castle, should you choose so. Even if you won't be able to recover, it would be much better for the game balance, then to have still pretty large nation suddenly go AI so early in the game.

Of course it's your call Fakeymcfake.

Lingchih

July 23rd, 2010, 12:57 AM

Hmm. Did you ever sign the Baalz "Good Player Pledge" post, Fakey? Let's see.. oh, it seems you did. And by bowing out, with cap intact, high research, and troops available, it seems you have violated that agreement.

Fakey is banned from any further MP games, then. Lingchih has witnessed. Let others speak their mind.

Fakeymcfake

July 23rd, 2010, 02:04 AM

Corwin

July 23rd, 2010, 04:19 AM

Lingchih, seriously? It's turn, what, 12? I'm not leaving the game with a nation that could do anything and I'd rather not bother play out the turns until I'm inevitably defeated. I didn't sneak off in the night, I didn't stop playing suddenly when things could still go my way.

If you want I could post for a sub and delay the game further so that someone else can play out the last half a dozen turns until I'm defeated utterly.

Seriously Ling, take a moment, you'll probably realize that what I've done isn't anything worth getting worked up about.

And Corwin, I considered it but my army is such that even if I went for a last stand it'd be a pathetic one. I was caught with my pants down and I wouldn't be able to stop either Van or Ermor (my only two neighbours) from taking my provinces without any resistance anyhow. It's a serious no-win scenario and not worth playing out, even for the purpose of balance as anything I could do the AI would be able to do anyhow.

I have to disagree with these arguments Fakeymcfake. Based upon graphs it is clear that you still had a a lot of provinces, some soldiers, a lot of mages, and great reseach. In fact your reseach and number of mages still left are such that you are less then 1 turn behing the top reseach nation in the game! You clearly accumulated some gems, that could be used to do some cheap (with CMB mod) summons. It would be at least 2 more turns before Vanheim would reach your capital, even if they beelined to it and met no resistance. And more turns until they would broke down the walls. Also it will be at least 4-5 turns before your empire will be overrun, even if you would offer no resistance, simply because the size of it. All and all - plenty of time to orginize a decent last stand, if not defence of the realm. Even basic setup of several dozens of firemages raining death on fire-unprotected troops of Vanheim or Ermor, while they are tryign to squeeze though castle gates of your capital? Very nasty.

And of course AI can not be even remotely compared to the human in its efficiency. And it can't make a last stand for the life of it, not in the situation like the one when you have quit. It'll simply waste its resources in piecemeal fashion trying to protect its empire, instead of concentrating and building up its remaining strength during whatever time left, to delay inviders and make them pay for taking your castles, if nothing else.

You are right, your situation was probably hopeless. But Baalz's good player's pledge, as well as the rules of this particular game, displayed on the first page of this thread (*Not* giving up without a fight - meaning of course, fight to the bitter end or at least until very close to it), strongly discourage quiting in such situation.

So personally I can't help but think you have quited way too early. But it's your call of course.

Executor

July 23rd, 2010, 06:09 AM

The Empire of Abysia is hereby annexed in the name of the one true Pretender Tizhyarshtay.
Our Mighty Empire lays claim to the lands of Abysia, all hostile acts towards this nations are to be stopped, noncompliance will be considered an act of war.

Aethyr

July 23rd, 2010, 06:17 AM

Corwin, I completely agree with you. Unfortunately, it appears that the nation has already been set to AI. Hopefully, Ermor and Van will fall upon each other to help ensure that balance is maintained. :)

Fakeymcfake

July 23rd, 2010, 11:48 AM

I had planned a lengthy post defending myself but really it's not worth it. I had posted here explaining my leaving as a courtesy, had I simply gone AI none of you would have noticed the difference in all likelihood and in the future I might consider doing just that rather than having to deal with this nonsense.

If you have anything pressing you feel you must say to me, do it in a PM. Leave the thread for things that actually matter to the game.

Calahan

July 23rd, 2010, 01:39 PM

I had posted here explaining my leaving as a courtesy, had I simply gone AI none of you would have noticed the difference in all likelihood....
ROFL, you honestly think you would have been able to just go quietly AI in a 'vets only' game without anyone noticing. This wasn't some newb teaparty game you signed up to you know, where nobody notices anything, or where players generally just don't give a crap about what's going on outside the little world in which only their own nation exists.

A quick glance at the high class player list shows there's enough experience in this game to make it unlikely that you are even going to be able to take a piss without one of the vet players knowing about it. A lot of vets check stuff like stales and AI status on the llamaserver before even opening their turn file. So any sudden AI-turning will be spotted immediately.

"had I simply gone AI none of you would have noticed..." :lol:lol:lol Now THAT is funny.

and in the future I might consider doing just that rather than having to deal with this nonsense.
Well, that remark clearly shows everyone what type of player you are, and the kind of respect you hold for your fellow Dominion gamers. But thanks for letting all the other Dominions players know what level of respect you have for them. Much appreciated.

Maybe your biggest mistake in this game was signing up for a game that was far in excess of your very casual and care free commitment to MP games. Despite the OP clearly stating the opposite was required in points 2+3. Maybe you didn't even bother to read the OP though, and you just signed up for this game simply because you saw a new game starting.

DrPraetorious

July 23rd, 2010, 02:00 PM

I'm certainly a veteran, but I am playing this game for fun. You can notice that I didn't sign Baalz pledge, so I reserve the right to have a childish tantrum at any time, should I wish to do so. And, in general, I don't think it's cool to "police" sportsmanlike conduct too strictly. If Fakey is dead and doesn't want to stick around as a spoiler, I view that as fair. It's up to him if his position really is hopeless.

I signed up anticipating a challenge, so I welcome this development, as it will make the opposite corner of the board substantially more powerful. When Heliophagii and Seraphs are duking it out with magebane in space, I will know that this was the seed of the overconfidence that will be my enemy's downfall! HA HA HA HA!

Corwin

July 23rd, 2010, 02:26 PM

Ok guys, let's try to keep it civil and polite please.

Besides as Aethyr said, there is nothing that can be done at this point. Let's move on.

Executor

July 23rd, 2010, 02:35 PM

Corwin

July 23rd, 2010, 02:57 PM

Besides as Aethyr said, there is nothing that can be done at this point. Let's move on.

Of course there is, you can all concede to the Ermorian Empire and spear yourself the pain, suffering and humiliation...

:) The High Council of Pythium Empire will consider your proposal. Some of the eldermen there are no strangers to pain and suffering. But I am afraid the hotter heads may preveal... ;)

Lingchih

July 23rd, 2010, 09:06 PM

Thanks for the input. I officially drop the ban request, and look forward to the rest of the game.

And, DrP, you don't need to sign Baalz' pledge. We all know you don't drop out of games.

Lingchih

July 29th, 2010, 03:50 AM

Well, there aren't many indies left, but those that are left are bad mofos. You sure this was indy 5, Corwin?

Dimaz

July 29th, 2010, 04:41 AM

I'll be away 2-12 of August. I have temporary sub (Kuritza) who is aware of my plans and agreements. I asked him to check PM box here periodically, but please don't count on it too much.

Corwin

July 29th, 2010, 02:35 PM

All right Dimaz, thank you for letting us know.

On an unrelated note - the Empire of Pythium would like to aquire some death gems - 10-15. We can offer you any other gem type except earth in return.

Executor

August 2nd, 2010, 09:54 PM

errr, shiny AI?

Baalz

August 3rd, 2010, 01:14 AM

Yeah, something about the 4th nation piling on in year 2 kinda destroys my motivation to fight much of a drawn out defense.

Lingchih

August 3rd, 2010, 01:16 AM

4th nation? You don't mean me, do you? I just took a water prov next to you. No harm done.

Squirrelloid

August 3rd, 2010, 02:52 AM

I think he's referring to Machaka

Corwin

August 3rd, 2010, 05:39 AM

Yeah, something about the 4th nation piling on in year 2 kinda destroys my motivation to fight much of a drawn out defense.

:mad::confused: I have to say that this is quite shocking Baalz. What Fakey did with Abyssia was bad, but I really didn't expect it from you - your nation is the leader in research, has strong army and has twice as many provinces as Abyssia did when they went AI. And you are one of the very experienced veteran players, whom I remember from several of my previous games. And you did it without even courtesy of letting me or anybody else know that you are switching to AI.

What has happened to your own "Baalz Good Player Pledge" ?!? :confused:

" If real life prevents me from doing this (emergencies, lack of internet access, etc) I will at the very least try to contact the game administrator and ask him to do it – realizing this is an imposition that should be reserved for things other than lack of interest. I will not set my nation to AI until 1) No substitute is able to be found after a couple days or 2) My capital has fallen (feel free to play through this if you like).
I’ll do my best to at least put up a token defense with the last of my forces when defeat is all but certain – this doesn’t take much time and makes the game much better for everyone else."

Yes, getting dogpiled always sucks, especially by 4 nations. But you are screwing everybody by going AI in this manner. All these good words about respect to other players time investment you have written in your pledge?...

Baalz

August 3rd, 2010, 09:27 AM

I can't express how bloody frustrating it is that 6 out of the last 10 games I've been in have resulted in 3+ (usually 4+) dogpiles on me before the end game, usually before the end of my first war. 2 were anonymous, and 1 is in progress and early enough that's still a possibility - which means I pretty much can't play non anonymous games. Justified however you want to, lopsided dogpiles are bloody miserable with neither attackers nor defender getting a good game. There's no strategy, no skill, I basically got voted out the game before the first blow was struck. I've got the research and skill to inflict a bit of damage and draw it out, but having intimate experience with this what usually happens is everybody knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have no chance and thus nobody is super motivated to actually pay in blood to finish me off once I'm good and crippled by storming castles, etc. Putting up a defense will likely result in me limping along for some time in a hopeless situation. Why would I do that (yet again) when a significant portion of the players of the game just let me know they're not interested in having a good game? Every one of my neighbors was attacking me last turn (sounds like TC gained a token border...though he did let me know that he'd attack me if it looked like I couldn't hold off the dogpile), so I don't even feel any guilt for unbalancing the game with a power void since half the bloody game should more or less get an even piece of my corpse. I do apologize to you specifically Corwin, but I can't in good conscience stick a sub into this miserable situation - they're too hard to come by for even viable positions. My own frustration aside, it's best hat Shin just implodes evenly at this point.

DrPraetorious

August 3rd, 2010, 12:41 PM

Oh, come on.

You were in the middle - which I'll allow, is unfair - and then you proceeded to spread out over the sealanes expanding as fast as you could. I did measurements, for each and every one of your neighbors, you were closer to their capital than to your own. You take a strategy that enables you to grab all that territory - okay - and then you complain because not one neighbor will just let you have it?

I agree that it's no fun to get dogpiled, but you also didn't engage in any diplomacy that I could detect. I, for example, was entirely bribeable!

You're right that if you want to expand as fast as you can and never talk to your neighbors, you can only play in Anonymous games. Expect to get dogpiled anyway.

Baalz

August 3rd, 2010, 01:08 PM

This is kind of a silly argument, but you'll have a hard time making the point that I was overly aggressive this game, at no point was I more than 10% bigger than the smallest player (excepting when Aby folded), never remotely a leader in anything other than research. Perhaps I'm a bit jaded and could have pushed the diplo front more, but at the point a couple NAPs have been rejected and nation 3 is piling on, and there are indications that even more have signed onto the dogpile it's a bit late to start trying to desperately bribe people off. Meh, I really don't feel the need to justify my playstyle to you but the picture you paint isn't very accurate.

Meursy

August 3rd, 2010, 06:33 PM

I would have subbed for Baalz.

Apologies for jumping into a game thread like this, but I've come back to Dom 3 recently after a single MP game in 2008, which included Baalz, as well as Jazzepi.

As well as being a lot of fun, the game was a good lesson on what constitutes taking a dogpiling well, and badly. I'm happy to say Baalz was a very good sport on both ends of the hurled bratwurst.

So to see him setting AI here is surprising for me as well as others, but anyone who's read anything he's written here, or played with him, knows that he wouldn't be doing such a thing unless his frustration was well-founded and vast.

I can also attest to the mentality that causes less reputed players to want to step up and take a (well-supported) swing: throughout the time I was playing in that aforementioned MP game, whether I was sitting on the bus, walking through the park, or perhaps spending some quality time with loved ones....no matter what was going on around me, from time to time a dark cloud would cross my features and in some weird Dom 3 Tourette's syndrome kind of way spit out "Dogpile Baalz!", for no reason, before calmly returning to whatever it was I was doing. It was uncanny.

It is a very unfortunate side effect of posting so many awesome strat posts methinks: he's painted a huge target on his forehead. So many more players have heard about him as a result of the guides, and they just assume he's gonna mangle their elite sacred squad with a single monkey if don't combine to take him down. It happened in our game, and I have no doubt it happened in the other games he mentioned.

Obviously there are plenty of other good players out there that people should be similarly scared of, but simply aren't because they aren't so publicly visible. These players might even post in his guide threads, but no one remembers them so much.

Just give it a thought before you judge too harshly :)

Ok, end thread invasion. But seriously, I have some time the next month or two, so if you need some hopeless positions subbed in this or other games, drop me a PM, and I'll probably give it a go.

PriestyMan

August 3rd, 2010, 08:08 PM

well here's my 2cents.

Honestly i felt pretty bad about ganging on baalz because i know it happens to him in almost *every* game.

first let me explain why i attacked him. I was obviously looking for a war about now, so i started looking for allies. i heard from several players that vanheim/ermor/shin had all allied up and had started to work together to conquer the world. seeing baalz + the two strongest nations in the game all teamed up is scary. baalz happened to be the only one i bordered with. also, who else is fighting you besides me and nief? BL skirmished a little, but obviously ermor is their new problem. pangea hasn't attacked yet right?

In all honesty, this game for me, is one where all of the players should have a lot of fun. playing with players we respect. i don't want to make one of the most valuable players i know feel dissallusioned with the game. I honestly have no problem with rolling back to shin being not ai, and simply not attacking him. its more about fun than winning for me.

i know how baalz feels in a way, having been ganged then not finished myself. its happened many times to me. it sucks. the only thing i should say to baalz, is that Dr.P is right in regards to diplo. i never got a pm from you at least. you might have been able to point me towards nief instead.

Squirrelloid

August 3rd, 2010, 08:35 PM

I was the first to attack him! After he seriously gimped my expansion. Was not able to press as hard as some others, and certain... realities... made continuing the war wholesale kind of inadvisable. (To start with, pretender to the face kind of hurt).

DrPraetorious

August 3rd, 2010, 10:18 PM

Baalz

August 3rd, 2010, 10:33 PM

No worries man, it's just a game. It's easy to say push diplo, but all that seems to accomplish is a bunch of simultaneous NAP cancellations (if I'm lucky) once the dogpiling starts (or NAP violations if I'm not lucky). Very much not disparaging anyone in this game, just explaining my recent history and frustration. Bribing people off from a position of getting steamrolled doesn't leave a lot of negotiating power.

Anyway, Shin is doomed, I definitely don't recommend a rollback. As I pointed out it shouldn't be unbalancing for the rest of the game as there's just not that much spoils once you split it between everyone attacking me.

Squirrelloid

August 4th, 2010, 12:28 AM

Corwin

August 4th, 2010, 01:02 AM

I do think, next time we do an all-vets game, that we should do wrap-around, or start in a circle around the edge, or something.

The all-veteran makeup of the game magnifies the unfairness of starting in the middle - in a mixed-and-matched game, veterans in the middle will have more neighbors, but more choices of "soft targets" to compensate (admittedly, newbies in the middle are completely screwed.)

In an all-vets game, starting in the middle has zero upside.

Definitely agree in the wrap-around part. My position is so bad...

Yes, I think wraparound is a good suggestion for the next vet game. I admit I do feel sorry for Baalz, after hearing his backstory, and I understand his frustration. Although I still think that this was certainly not the best way to handle the situation.

I am also thinking about having all players for the next veterans-only game I will be orginizing (if I will be orginizing it at all) to swear on the blood of their firstborns that they will *not* quit the game no matter what. At least not until they have 1 province left and no army to harm an enemy. Seriously, the upside of getting dogpiled and steamrolled is that you don't have to spend much time on the turns, since your options are shrinking quickly. As Baalz has explained well in his good players pledge.

Valerius

August 4th, 2010, 01:26 AM

Meursy

August 4th, 2010, 02:14 AM

Hi there again Valerius, thanks for the welcome and the fun game!

And yeah, I forgot to mention that too, but in the 2008 game and the current MP game I'm in, I was following one of Baalz's guides, and I know that at least one other player in the game I'm currently in is too! Don't underestimate the Baalz Effect, word gets around...

Executor

August 4th, 2010, 06:04 AM

i heard from several players that vanheim/ermor/shin had all allied up and had started to work together to conquer the world. seeing baalz + the two strongest nations in the game all teamed up is scary.

Ermor was not aware that we had an alliance with the nations of Shinyama and Vanheim, we are joyed to hear this, and equally saddened that our newly found ally has fallen, surely if we had known we were allied, we would have aided them, alas.

And those who should conspire against us, be wary of Ermors wrath! for it shall be great...

Lingchih

August 5th, 2010, 01:30 AM

Baalz. That was lame... in the extreme. Sorry, I don't journey to this forum much anymore, but good god man!. You could have fought! I had not even declared war on you. And probably would never have. You had only two nations actively fighting you.

Methinks the Baalz good player pledge is no more. Anarchy for everyone now!

Executor

August 5th, 2010, 07:38 AM

Bandar Log, your lands have been annexed to our Great Empire, please accept this transfer of power peacefully.

PriestyMan

August 5th, 2010, 09:02 PM

I don't want to sound mean or anything, but that's two for baalz. this and warcry. at least say something please.

Squirrelloid

August 6th, 2010, 06:33 AM

requesting 32h extension to the current turn.

Corwin

August 6th, 2010, 01:25 PM

All right, 32 hours have been added to the hosting timer.

Squirrelloid

August 8th, 2010, 09:19 PM

Vanheim, that was the most pathetic first strike ever. You lost more than half those battles. Seriously pathetic. I'm even more sad that Abysia set AI against you if that's the best you can do. I think my wife could cobble together a better first strike than that, and she hates games like this. Hell, if i was the generous sort I'd be tempted to set AI out of pity.

Wasn't this supposed to be a vet game?

DrPraetorious

August 8th, 2010, 09:41 PM

It was supposed to be a trash-talking game!

On that front, at least, it has delivered 100% :).

Lingchih

August 11th, 2010, 05:08 AM

Another 24 hour bump? Without anyone even requesting it? Corwin??? Really?

Corwin

August 11th, 2010, 08:48 PM

Another 24 hour bump? Without anyone even requesting it? Corwin??? Really?

It turned out to be much less then 24 hours, new turn has hosted 2 hours ago. It looked like Vanheim is about to miss his turn (less then half an hour left before hosting), and because I also needed more time to complete mine properly, I bumped timer up a bit. The previous bump was due to Executor moving to new place and not having internet connection. He didn't post it on the thread but he told me about it in mail. But Ermor has submitted their last turn, so I hope things have worked out. Right Executor?

All and all - it is turn 26 already and we only had grand total of 1 stale turn, for a game with 13 original players. I think it is great and I would like to keep it this way, even if it means bumping a timer a little bit now and then. I will keep it to minimum though.

Squirrelloid

August 12th, 2010, 04:03 AM

Unsurprisingly, no nation who started without a corner or edge is doing well. Non-wrap maps suck.

Lingchih

August 13th, 2010, 02:02 AM

Hey, don't mind me and my timer posts. I'm well known for them. I check and see that 3 hours are left. I go watch a game on TV and drink a few beers, and when I come back, if it has been extended, I tend to do a rant.

Corwin

August 13th, 2010, 06:11 AM

Calahan

August 13th, 2010, 09:57 AM

Linglich #5 rules the interweb.

Corwin

August 13th, 2010, 05:16 PM

Ok, I've just bumped timer by 48 hours, since Ermor is missing and is about to stall.

As I said earlier, Executor has been moving to a new place and won't have an internet connection right after the move. I want to give him some time to settle and sort out his ISP. (meanhile I am trying to get in touch in him to find out what his situation is)

I think we should give him more time to sort out his connection troubles over the weekend, that's why I've bumped the timer. It would be a pity to lose a good player because of things beyond his control. If he won't appear by Monday, I think we should pause the game and look for a replacement. Ermor is in a strong position, so I hopefully we will be able to find a good vet replacement quickly.

In other news - I will be out in the country for a first week of September. (Going to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, and they don't have internet in the middle of the desert ;) ) If we could pause the game for that period it would be great. Of course I will make sure to submit the turn right before I leave and will make my new turn the moment I come back. Would you guys be ok with it?

DrPraetorious

August 13th, 2010, 07:00 PM

This is okay as long as it doesn't extend for two more days after this. Delays of more than 4 days, at least in non-team games, really kill my incentive to stay interested. It completely killed me in Countdown I just couldn't move myself to keep caring after a certain point.

If Ermor can't be contacted, we either need to let him stale or find a temporary sub. Not Callahan (he's too good.) Someone else.

Lingchih

August 14th, 2010, 03:25 AM

Burning Man, really? You gdamn hippie.

Corwin

August 14th, 2010, 04:07 AM

Burning Man, really? You gdamn hippie.

Thank you Ling. I think this was the first time in my life I was called a hippie. :D I am honored.

Although frankly these days the price of Burning Man tickets and the cost of transportation and accomodations in the Black Rock desert put the whole BM experience beyond the price range of most real hippies. I've been there 4 times and I would say that most of the visitors of BM are more like yuppies playing at being hippies. :D But they are having a lot of fun while doing it. :)

Lingchih

August 16th, 2010, 03:41 AM

Well, the modern day equivalent to a hippie.

Corwin

August 17th, 2010, 04:03 AM

Ok guys, it looks like Executor is not coming back, he probably does not have internet connection in his new place yet, and it is unknown when he will get it. So I am going to make a post for looking for a new player to take over Ermor. Since Ermor is a leader in number of provinces and is in a very strong position overall I hope we will find a good sub quickly.

If any of you know of a good and veteran player you might recommend to fill this slot please recruit him and let him know.

Lingchih

August 17th, 2010, 05:02 AM

Shame to lose Ermor. But, at some point, one needs to just move on. Subs are tough to find these days. If one cannot be found, well, let's just have someone set him to AI. AI setters are easy to find. It's been what? A week since last hosting?

DrPraetorious

August 17th, 2010, 02:26 PM

+1. I hate for this thing to end by default, but if he vanishes from the face of the earth we're all going to lose interest.

However, as an alternative, I'd propose that we let him stale once (hosting now) and then give it another 72 hrs before we do anything drastic?

Shame to lose Ermor. But, at some point, one needs to just move on. Subs are tough to find these days. If one cannot be found, well, let's just have someone set him to AI. AI setters are easy to find. It's been what? A week since last hosting?

Corwin

August 17th, 2010, 03:45 PM

+1. I hate for this thing to end by default, but if he vanishes from the face of the earth we're all going to lose interest.

However, as an alternative, I'd propose that we let him stale once (hosting now) and then give it another 72 hrs before we do anything drastic?

In general I would agree with you, but in this case we should go with the sub route. Before going offline and moving Executor told me that if he won't came back relatively quickly, we should start looking for a sub in all his games.

DrPraetorious

August 17th, 2010, 06:21 PM

Well, we should've been looking for a sub for four days - if someone wants to step forward and volunteer, give them a day or two to find a sub.

Otherwise, either stale him or set him AI.

Corwin

August 18th, 2010, 01:32 AM

Ok, I've posted that we are looking for a new perm sub for Ermor. Let's see who will come up.

LoloMo

August 18th, 2010, 01:22 PM

The discordant voices ringing across the Ermorian psyche has for a second time resolved itself into a single thunderous beat. Arise our ancient friends and foes alike. Much work remains to be done. Death is but the beginning!

Let any and all with previous dealings and agreements with Ermor present their case to the reinvigorated Council of Elders that we may reaffirm or reject them according to our new 100 year plan!

Corwin

August 18th, 2010, 06:05 PM

Lingchih

August 19th, 2010, 01:14 AM

Yay! And there was much rejoicing.

PriestyMan

August 27th, 2010, 01:00 AM

hmmm... problem with working a 12h shift is that you miss the 12h warning, AND the hosting. lol. no worries. hopefully won't happen again

Lingchih

August 28th, 2010, 06:13 AM

A petition to move the game thread to here:

http://z7.invisionfree.com/Dom3mods/index.php?showtopic=186

Aethyr

August 28th, 2010, 07:49 AM

I vote no as there is no compelling reason to do so.

DrPraetorious

August 28th, 2010, 09:11 AM

If we move the thread I'll just stop reading it, I don't have time to check more than one forum at once.

Dimaz

August 28th, 2010, 10:41 AM

I vote no.

Lingchih

August 29th, 2010, 01:51 AM

Fair enough. Seems to be no support for it. Petition withdrawn.

Corwin

August 30th, 2010, 12:34 AM

As I had warned before, the timer is removed for a week. I was hoping to submit my turn before I leave but I am completely out of time and had to leave 6AM tomorrow morning for the desert. Very sorry about it. :((( Thank you very much for your patience guys.

The first thing I will do after I will came back the following Monday (September 6th) and take a shower to wash away desert's dust will be to make my turn, I promise. :)

Lingchih

September 6th, 2010, 05:35 AM

Bumpity, bump, bump.

(Lame, yes, but with a week off, you need to keep it current).

Corwin

September 7th, 2010, 12:52 PM

Bumpity, bump, bump.

(Lame, yes, but with a week off, you need to keep it current).

Hi guys!

I am back from the desert! Will finish and submit my turn before the end of today, so the game should host later today. Thank you guys for waiting for me and for your patience, most appreciated. Please don't forget to submit your turns - 3 nations other then mine have yet to do so.

Looking forward to continuing this exciting game with all of you.

Corwin

September 8th, 2010, 07:30 AM

Damnit!

I can't believe I have stalled this turn! Wrong time calculation, had finished turn ready but missed it by split second!!!

:(((( And it just happened to be the most critical turn of the game for me - the one when I was about to clash with Agartha.

As the result my entire army was completely wiped out and more then 50 percent of my military forced annihilated without inflicting any real damage. :((( All becaouse of the stall. :(

Any chance you would consider a rollback guys? I hate to ask for it after just coming back from 1 week long pause due to my absense. I promise on my honor not to change anything in my turn. In fact the scripting for the battle and positioning will all remain the same, all the new turn would do would be to add to battle the nearby soldiers and mages who were schedulled to join the battle but who have missed it due to stall. As with any rollback, you won't need to reupload your turns.

I don't think it would change the battle outcome for me, but at least my army would do more damage to enemy forces before dying and it would not feel so incedibly stupid to me to stall the one and only critical turn in the entire game, the turn for which I have been planning for the last 20 turns. :(((

What do you think? If you object to rollback then I will not do it of course.

Squirrelloid

September 8th, 2010, 07:33 AM

i have not looked at my new turn and don't care either way.

ghoul31

September 8th, 2010, 07:50 AM

No rollback. You already delayed this game by a week. Plus, you have been attacking me 2 on 1 the whole game. And you still have ten times the money, resources, etc than I do.

Dimaz

September 8th, 2010, 08:51 AM

I don't care much, if we have to vote I vote for rollback. I've been in similar situatons (and even worse, when something critical goes wrong due to the game bugs and not due to player's mistake as here) and no rollbacks were given, which was strange for me as in Russian community we usually rolled back in such situations.

DrPraetorious

September 8th, 2010, 08:57 AM

I vote no rollback, because I always vote no rollback and certainly can't make an exception here.

I agree that stale-ing sucks, but...

Lingchih

September 8th, 2010, 10:43 AM

Absolutely NO rollback. I can't believe you have the gall to even ask for one, Corwin.

Corwin

September 8th, 2010, 01:11 PM

Ok, no rollback, no need to vote more.

PriestyMan

September 8th, 2010, 01:58 PM

i'm fune with a rollback. (too late i know)

Lingchih

September 9th, 2010, 01:19 AM

Ok, no rollback, no need to vote more.

You could probably tell I was a bit annoyed by the request. Sorry, that was hardass Ling posting.

To be more diplomatic. Rollbacks are only to be used when the game turn was broken for one or more players for some reason. One missing one's turn is not a reason for a rollback. They are the last resort, and generally only allowed when all players say unanimously, "yeah, let's roll it back".

Corwin

September 14th, 2010, 04:27 AM

The Pithium Empire would like to inform other powers of this world that the the Imperial Grand Bazaar of Magic is now open for business in the empire's capital.

Due to crazy throw of dice Pithium land is rich in certain magical gem types but extremely poor in other. We would like to try to correct this imbalance to some degree though the trade with other nations.

We are looking to acquire:
Nature gems: 10-30
Death Gems: 10-30
Blood slaves: 5-40
Astral gems: any amount

We can offer in return:
Air gems
Water Gems
Fire gems
Earth gems

In addition we can offer a forging services for various useful items, including magic path boosters.

We also will pay very well for the following boosters: Fire Skull, Staff of Elemental Mastery. We will pay in gems or in items.

Please send your offers in PM, the gems will be traded on first came first served basis. Thank you!

Executor

September 14th, 2010, 02:55 PM

Hi folks, sorry for me vanishing as I did, I really hopped I'd have everything set in a few days but I guess I was wrong, bureaucracy's a *****, long story...

So sorry for the inconvenience and good luck to you all, especially Lolomo, cheers.

LoloMo

September 14th, 2010, 10:38 PM

Welcome back Executor! I'll turn over Ermor back to you :) I'ved PMed you what happened while you were away.

Lingchih

September 15th, 2010, 12:20 AM

Umm, I don't think he wants it back Lolomo. I could be wrong.

Lingchih

September 15th, 2010, 12:28 AM

On another note, I need an air booster. I will pay well for one. One might ask, why the hell does he need an air booster? Air is worthless. And, I would say yes, it mostly is, but I want one anyway. As I said, I'll pay well for it. PM me if interested.

LoloMo

September 15th, 2010, 05:16 AM

Hi Corwin! Executor has agreed to take Ermor back. Please switch the nation back to him. It was fun while I was at the helm :)

Executor

September 15th, 2010, 02:23 PM

Howdy folks, LoloMo has kindly offered to return Ermor to me, so I'm stepping back in, please direct all future war declarations to me, cheers.

Oh, and the current treaties will be upheld on my part.

Corwin

September 15th, 2010, 06:39 PM

Heh, that was a bit unexpected, I thought you are a permament sub after Executor had to drop from the net due to RL circumstances. Sure, if you guys agree to it.

Done. Welcome back Executor!

Lingchih

September 21st, 2010, 03:10 AM

Well, you can't always get what you want. Lolomo is probably the better Ermor player, but Executor is no slouch. It doesn't matter to me much at this point who plays them. But, I'm sure it will soon.

Lingchih

September 25th, 2010, 06:26 AM

Looks like Pan is going down. The Sea of Ice was cast too late. To be legit though, pan vs. van. It's not an even match. Van is one of the best nations, and Pan doesn't come into it's strength until late game.

Executor

September 26th, 2010, 04:23 PM

Diseased,
Lost one eye,
Lost the other one as well,
Weakened,
Chest wound,
Limp,
Crippled,
Never healing wound,
Mute,
Lost an arm,
Feeble minded...
Lord of Plenty? Plenty of what? Afflictions? :p

Dr.P. Please kill Snihy, he's constantly attacking my poor, endangered, badly defended, politically unstable exclave, pleeeeeeease?

Corwin

September 27th, 2010, 03:50 PM

Lol

Dimaz

September 29th, 2010, 03:39 AM

I agree that in this game Van had stronger position before the war, but still I think Pan could've performed a bit better ;)

DrPraetorious

September 30th, 2010, 11:04 AM

****! Forgot to submit last night! Argh!

Well, that sucks - but I can assure everyone that I'm not quitting in a funk!

Corwin

October 4th, 2010, 01:27 PM

Hi guys,
Machaka (controlled by Priesty Man/FL) has stalled the last two turns. I'll send him PM, but unless I will hear from him in the next 48 hours (before the next turn hosting), I am going to switch Machaka to AI. They have very few provinces/soldiers left, but they might as well do something rather then just stall. Any objections?

Pjoo

October 4th, 2010, 03:50 PM

Corwin

October 4th, 2010, 04:59 PM

Nevermind that, I've just spoken with PriestyMan on IRC. He is still playing and he said he is going to submit turns normally in the future.

PriestyMan

October 4th, 2010, 05:11 PM

sorry about that guys. last week was my first week of college, so as you can imagine it was a bit crazy and for some reason this game was the one that got put onto the backburner

Lingchih

October 7th, 2010, 04:23 AM

Hmm. A nation falls, and not even a peep. An odd game.

Executor

October 8th, 2010, 01:23 PM

Hrm, Vanheim, it seems you've just eliminated us both from the winning contenders...

Corwin, due to this most interesting development I'll need a 24h delay as I have an exam tomorrow, and another one in 3 days.

Dimaz

October 8th, 2010, 01:46 PM

We'll see.

Corwin

October 8th, 2010, 04:48 PM

Hrm, Vanheim, it seems you've just eliminated us both from the winning contenders...

Executor may very well be right Dimaz. Pythium Empire is not going to sit quietly and watch Vanheim taking over Ermor. Considering the huge size of the Ermor's territory and their gem income, as well as recent Vanheim's conquest of Pangaea, that would make Vanheim too powerful. It's a first turn of their war, and Vanheim has already propelled himself to a leading position in province graphs. I don't know if Van would be able to keep it up, Ermor does have strong network of castles to rely upon to defend against raiders as well as good research. But then again Van likely has tons of teleporting stealthy raiders by now. And I know that Ermor does not have (at least for now) a strong tartarian factory, since both chalice and scepter are owned by other nations (I don't have them, but I can see that both these artifacts have been forged), and GOH has been casted by me.

Frankly I expected either me or Tien Chi would be Vanheim's next target.

Corwin, due to this most interesting development I'll need a 24h delay as I have an exam tomorrow, and another one in 3 days.

No problem. 24 hours have been added to hosting time.

Question - has Vanheim attacked Ermor *and* Ulm at the same time this turn? I thought Vans and Ulm do no have a border, no? But provinces graphs do not seem to leave any other options. Teleporting van commanders raiding Ulm's uncastled provinces for gems and money boost? But if this is the case, I am curious why has Van decided to go after two nations and not concentrate on Ermor, who seems to be currently his primary target?