Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

My advice would be:
Dont let solo play make you too cocky, and try everything.

What might be a full game strategy in solo play, becomes a one-shot tactic in multiplay. Get a full toolbox of tactics. No matter how many different guides and strategies you read about your nation, read more. Dont toss any out because at some point in some game when you are really hurting then it could be a workable surprise. It will help in keeping you unpredictable.

Gandalf Parker
--
GameMaster: Now you are at the fifth door. Bash it in also?
Paladin: No, its time for Change of Tactics. I knock.
GameMaster: Ummm... Ok... They say "What?"
Paladin: I say "Pizza."

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

Slight disagreement.

My experience is the AI is always at war with somebody other than at the very start. If you're it's only neighbor that almost certainly means war no matter what.

In fact, I've had the AI declare on me once when there was no possibility of attacking me that turn as we had no points of contact. There were two AI's at war with each other. I didn't particularly like the prospects of war with my neighbor so I was pushing dominion. He popped--the remaining AI immediately declared on me, despite the fact that we had the big empty zone of the dead AI between us.

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

Loren: I've noticed that AIs declare war even if using remote spells. Now, we all know when an enemy throws remote attack spells on us... it may be possible that sometimes when the AI declares war, they've thrown another spell at you that is cloaked by a random event, or maybe has a spy raising unrest somewhere.

As far as SP/MP differences, this I'm sure will come out wrong, but MP doesn't seem to have room for anything but blind optimality. I'd have to research some of the MP games that try to 'enforce' some flavor, but basically, I can see many reasons to play SP Dom3. I can see only one reason to play MP Dom3.

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

Firstly, I generally agree that high PD will not deter an enemy in MP: I generally never use more than about 20 except in rare circumstances. However, high PD does have benefits.

If an invader knows they are facing a series of low PD provinces, they can take several a turn by splitting their forces. However, if they are up against high PD, they may not be able to do this safely. Thus high PD can potentially reduce the number of provinces you lose. Provinces mean money: arguably a 50gold province is worth 100 in a war, in that it's not just a drop in your income but an equivalent increase in your opponent's. Obviously the same is true of gem income.

Furthermore, weak PD can be destroyed often with minimal loss. More substantial PD is much more likely to cause casualties in return. Going from PD 10 to PD 20 costs you about 150 gold, but if that PD destroys 10 basic units more than PD 10 would, you've cost your enemy 100 gold, plus possible afflictions.

A final note I'd say regards misfortune scales. You'll need high PD (20+) just to resist the frequent barbarian hordes who tend to pillage your empire, although it might not stop a tougher encounter like knights unless it's really high. Particularly if that square has a fortress or you can't reclaim it quickly because troops aren't available, that extra gold per province can save you a lot of grief.

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

In late game, however, barbarian hordes are known as "walking death gems" if you happen to have a flying SC who wields the Sickle whose crop is pain. Then you'd wish that your PD doesn't kill too many of them for the harvest.

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

Well, while MP for sure requires a player to play "better" (thus, probably, giving less of what you call "flavor"), it still requires you as well to have a bunch of different styles available - just in order to be able to surprise your enemy ;)

Oh, there are probably lots of reasons to play SP, and each of them is 100% valid, since it's you playing :)
But the "only one" reason to play MP is simple - because it's a real challenge, a challenge to play versus someone that can actually surprise you, that can adapt tactics.

Ah, and you can also make fun of your opponent, and taunt them in the forums or via ingame messages. The AI doesn't really respond to those ;)

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

Bleh.

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

Of course you can get creamed as well, but even if you lost a battle in the game, you can still tickle your enemy with snippy remarks in the forums ;)

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

I understand what you are trying to get at, but its not true.

Playing in MP forces everyone to be efficient, not uniform. The CBM mod (the most popular MP mod by far) is a brilliant example of this - it doesnt force players into specific units or tactics but tries to make every unit in the game viable. MP games force players to constantly innovate against each others strategies and as a result there is a constant churn of new units and spells as players try to exploit them in new ways to outwit thier enemies.

Re: The #1 Difference New Players Must Know For MP
 

#1 thing to remember when starting MP:

People will get hurt.

At first, it will mostly be you, unless you are an evil sonuvabytch.

8-60 people join a game, only one wins, this means that many people in the game will be hurt.

Therefore - you must be able to tolerate adversity, or your panties will get bunched up so tight they cut off blood flow, and then you have to explain to people that your legs were amputated because you couldn't handle fully cerebralized fantasy online warfare between sprites. Sad, really. :shock: