People take PBEM to seriously?

[Skirmisher]

Why is it whenever things are going to well in a PBEM,the opponent drops out?

Do you need to get beat up in order to keep an opponent interested in a game?

One particular game comes to mind where I was able to knock out 4 Abrahms tanks in one turn,then the other player "disappeared",aparently to bruised to continue...

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Skirmisher

Why is it whenever things are going to well in a PBEM,the opponent drops out?

Do you need to get beat up in order to keep an opponent interested in a game?

One particular game comes to mind where I was able to knock out 4 Abrahms tanks in one turn,then the other player "disappeared",aparently to bruised to continue...

Similar happened to me in a game of SP3 back before 2000. Opponent who was very talkative etc in the set-up walked into a nicely timed barrage in turn 2 or so that whacked his advancing panzers hard and then he just disappeared off the face of the planet.

Basically, you have to build up a set of trusted opponents.

That can be easier to do if the player is a member of a wargaming site like the blitz say. If he is established then he'll have a track record on whatever scoring system they may have.

Newbies though are always a bit of a shot in the dark. But that was always the case in say a tabletop club - some guys would turn up for a week or three, and then wander off if they got too much of a drubbing. At least in a tabletop club you could get an idea of the other players character "visually", but in the electronic world it may be difficult to tell if a random prospect has the attention span of a gnat or not - until you have expended time on the initial set-up and a few turns.

So it is worthwhile to go to somewhere like the blitz and hook up with some established players. http://www.theblitz.org/message_boar...lay.php?fid=14

Andy

[Skirmisher]

These people I'm talking about were not noobies,I had played 1 or more games with them before the "vanishing" act.

I actually had played with "blitz" people some ten years ago.

At the time I found alot of "cutthroat" type players where winning was everything.

Very important to remain atop the ladder to these people.

I'm just looking for a good game,matters not who wins.

[Mobhack]

Originally Posted by Skirmisher

These people I'm talking about were not noobies,I had played 1 or more games with them before the "vanishing" act.

I actually had played with "blitz" people some ten years ago.

At the time I found alot of "cutthroat" type players where winning was everything.

Very important to remain atop the ladder to these people.

I'm just looking for a good game,matters not who wins.

Then your best bet is to try posting here on the opponents wanted forum, and accepting that some will be drop-outs. Eventually you'll get a set of folks who are acceptable opponents - hopefully!.

People who are used to competitive games tend to approach each and every one that way. I got that way with 15mm and 1/300 and competing for the World Teams at Derby, club championships etc, and eventually realised the fun part had gone out of it. Then I found SP1, and dropped tabletop.. (Still got some toolboxes in the spare room full of 15mm Macedonians, late Romans etc which have moved house with me several times but probably not even been opened since 1997-8 or so).

Cheers
Andy

[Skirmisher]

I was on the SP3 ladder back around 1999.

The problem with competitive gaming is the kit rarely changes after the winning combination is found.

Each game tends to be like the next,usually the same nations as well.

Being that the WinMBT unit selection is so vast,I like to actually try out
different things.

[paulo]

For what its worth, the same thing happens in online chess.

[Wdll]

You just need to find a few good players and stick with them. It's like finding a wife, or a good gaming mouse.

I have 3 players I constantly play PBEM games, the newest of the three is a couple of years "with me".
I have gone through a variety of players who would either just vanish after a few turns, usually right after their surprising drop from the air fails.
I had a guy who was ok with me losing, but when I won a couple of rounds he was gone almost as fast as....something fast.
The most absurd was when with one opponent we were at 50-50 games and he left right after I destroyed a B-2 of his with a lucky shot. He spazzed out and left.


Unless of course there are other reasons. If I suspect something is wrong, then I will end the game first. I was fighting with one (single battles, which is unusual for me) who would manage to almost always know where to go where to avoid etc, and I kept getting security "alarms". I kept asking him and he had various excuses all around the "I don't know" or the "Oh yeah sorry, I forgot to tell you I had to reload".

Now, I am sooooo happy with my foursome!

[RightDeve]

Yea, better stick up to those ladder sites like theblitz.org. Because if you lose an opponent that way, you can't lose the winning streak; those silly AWOL will be counted as your victory. And things are very well organized there, they keep track of each person.

Personally, I would send an opponent a rule that states if you go awol the victory will be mine as "Decisive". Or I would send him some "surrender now! give me decisive victory" e-mail to spice him up when I know there's some nerve racking losses he gets.
You can also look for those "old breed" veterans on the ladder site or forum, then state a rule if he loses the battle you have the right to put his moniker under your signature, sort of a victory tally. That way he won't give up the battle so easily. But old breed folks are mostly gentlemen, and they will fight you to the end, to the VERY END i must say, LOL.

Going to a PBeM means to draw a full sword to our opponent. And that's a chore! You have to set up and conceive the battle plan painstakingly; and even more if you are the one designing the map single-handedly for the battle you think will be very fierce and interesting. For that I would rather have some painful losses but a great fierce game than a cake walk or walk in the park game. Because when designing the battle (and drawing the map), often I would dream of some "soon-to-be-part-of-history-books" skirmishes here and there where bloodbath is something you will cherishly remember long after the battle ended. Something like role-playing battles which the AARs read as good as a war novel.

But too bad Steel Panthers don't have a feature to review each expended turn in a PBeM; you can't relive those "frightful" moments you had on the battle. It'll make for a damn good addition if implemented; just like when you're "watching movies" in Combat Mission games.