# of Posts

tesco samoa · #1 January 22nd, 2002, 02:27 AM

(*^(*^ or some other combo is my way of swearing.

Now I have a question. I have to hide it in here because it is a question of ethics and it is about PBEM ethics ( and the person does come to this site every once in a while but only reads pure game Posts )

Now in the PBEM game 3 humans, 9 computer players 12 clusters 1 cluster each. ( designed map. where the humans start in each cornor and there is only one way out of each cluster to the middle cluster and all the middle clusters are connected with each other plus connected to the cluster above and below ( make sence ??)))
Any way it is a designed map.

I am in the top cornor and another human is in the opposite cornor.

At this current time in the game I have a higher level of cloaking than this other pbem player has in scanners. So I was scouting out the cluster below me ( to invade ) and what do I see but the player from far away has moved in and parked a huge fleet in this cluster below me ( 1 3rd of all there ships from what there saying or 100 ships ) Now we have not met yet in the game. But this fleet is just sitting there. This is in the system that links to his area of the map. While he is fighting a war in the cluster above him. This fleet does not move, it just gets ships sent to it to make it stronger.

I think this fleet is waiting in ambush for me. But in the game the player does not know I exist. So technically they should not be doing that.

Now I think that if this is what the player is doing then it is out of context of the game and cheating.

What do you think???

Gryphin · #2 January 22nd, 2002, 02:28 AM

Growltigga,
I was re - reading the post, I ran across this,
"You must remember the old military adage - "never engage in a direct frontal attack against an enemy equipped with efficient projectile weaponry"
Yes, I believe the English taught that to the French at Agincourt with the longbow.

mac5732 · #3 January 22nd, 2002, 05:09 AM

TS, I can think of several possibilities, either one of the other human players or even an AI one, that he has a treaty or partnership with has shown him your part of the map, or one of the players that has a higher cloak then yours found your system and gave him the info without your knowing it, or Last, he is planning a major offensive into the system he is fighting over or planning to invade yours thinking it belongs to the same enemy he is fighting. I don't know if there is a cheat but I guess it could be possible, but you may want to check out the other possiblities first.

PS. Growltigga, I took your advice and indulged myself in a cool shower, after all the illustrious discussions that took place here, it was getting a bit warm and my wife kept asking me why I kept looking at her with a twinkle in my eye all the time,....

I took the bull by the horns and put the blame on ..... But it didn't work, after all these years she knows me to well,
ahh, women don't understand the intricacies of scientific debate, research, and experimentation

but like someone once said, "Tommorrow is another Day" heh, heh,

just some ideas mac

Puke · #4 January 22nd, 2002, 05:31 AM

ts: is this supposed to be a RP game? if it is not, i would not worry about it at all and start planning for battle. since you have a symetrical map where rough starting positions are known, players are probably taking a pure tactical approach.

he could be doing lots of things with those ships. but if you found them while cloaked and thus avoided diplomatic contact and he is unaware of your existance in a role playing sense, (and IF it has been predetermined as a RP game where players have agreed to pretend not to know about each other until contact has been made) there are a couple possibilities. 1, he heard about your race from some third race. 2, he is 'cheating,' in the loosest interpretation of the word. in the second case, there are a few things you can do: 1, mention it to him and see what he says. 2, mention it to the game admin. 3, take note of whats happening now, and mention it after he sneak attacks you. 4, circle your wagons and prepair to defend yourself.

but if you were not aware of each other before, how do you know the total number of his ships to figure out that this group is 1/3 of that?

tesco samoa · #5 January 23rd, 2002, 02:47 AM

he told me he has over 300 ships and this fleet is about 1/3 of that total.

I have decided to take the fleet out since I believe he will keep it stationary near the warp point. So I can build up for another 4 to 6 turns and then send a fleet down there to attack it, before it attacks me.

I think it will only be fair to completely destroy the fleet and then talk about it afterwards and how I thought the 'surprise' was cheating...... then forget about the whole thing as a lession learned, and randomly create maps for now on.

mac5732 · #6 January 22nd, 2002, 07:48 PM

TS, the way you have explained it, I agree that your map starting points is more the problem. It wouldn't matter if he knew exactly where you were. He would know that you started in one of the cornors and he could just build up until he was ready. I think your better off with a game where no one knows where each of you start.

just some ideas mac

Growltigga · #7 January 23rd, 2002, 11:01 AM

TS - I agree with Mac on this but I have to admit, keeping a third of your fleet sitting in an empty system where there is no apparent threat is decidely fishier than a week old herring.

I am personally (given my newness to actually playing SEIV - on turn 32 of my second game) extremely surprised as to the size of the fleet - 300 ships?? I presume these are all dinky types?