Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

If anybody else have problems with their turns - PM me, meanwhile I'll contact llamabeast.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I have no response from llama so far, and since strange things that happened to Executor have no critical consequences I suggest considering them a random event and continue the game as it is.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I had requests from several people to increase hosting interval, as 24 hours isn't enough for them to do their turns. From now on it is 36 hours for a turn.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Can I please just take this oppotunity to thank all the players in this game for making it a very enjoyable affair so far :) It certainly makes for a very different game when you are playing against entirely unknown opponents, which is something I am finding to be a really great change to the way normal games usually play out. So 'Thank You' all for this.

And also thanks again to WingedDog for the selfless admin duties, which he is performing admirably at.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I'm also enjoying it. In hindsight we should have requested every player keep a turn by turn diary, I'm sure it would be hilarious to read after the game what everyone thought was happening around them

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

That would certainly have been a fun read :D


I know one thing I'm finding interesting is the conclusions I am trying to make with regards how strong the other nations are (player wise) from the battles I see.

Sees Player X do Y in a battle. "Hhhhmmmm, that doesn't look a good idea to me. Looks very odd to do that, so I don't think that's one of the better players. But then again he did win the fight, so maybe it was a good idea, I just didn't think it was. So is that a vet showing their class, or a non-vet making a mistake, but getting a lucky result. Aaarrggghh". Finding that to be really great food for my mind to chew over though :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Well, I can't complain admining this game is incredibly hard. Everybody seem to be nice and disciplined, and if I'm not mistaken nobody gone AI so far, which is a good sign.:)
I really like the concept of the game, though I prefer wraparound maps, as nations starting in the corner have the unfair advantage in my opinion.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Agreed with all of the above. I like the "Cold War" situation you get in with neighbours, amassing troops and waiting (or planning) for the inevitable attack.

The full out wars are pretty sweet too. Free advice to fellow noobs: taking undefended border provinces seems to anger other players and start wars. Who'd have thunk it?

Back to battle!

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

They were undefended probably because someone put armies back to not provoke you to give sign that he does not want war :) Keeping armies on a border means "do not attack me, I am ready" or "they just sit there, you know, cleaning their weapons" :)

Anyway, Eriu is either Baalz or someone that read his guide :) Looks almost as cool as in Epic Heroes II.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

On the other hand if the other player takes an undefended border province, he angers you. :) The war is difficult to avoid, especialy in war game. :p

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Stop provoking a "guess who is who" subject and get back to battlefield! :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I don't think there is a person that didn't read his guides :) And are you suggesting that I;m at war? :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Zeldor, I declare war on you!
Now you're at war.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

:fire:Whops! Secret information had sliped away, now if anybody sees a nation at war they would know it's YOU! :fire:

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

WingedDog
I always liked the idea of RAND games (original name by PashaDawg) but unfortunately they need an admin who is not playing. Good admin, preferably.
Just a compliment for you being a perfect admin (from my observations of this thread). I really wish I played here...:(

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Thanks for the high praise, Ano.:) You are legend to both shrapnel and russian community, I'd surely let you know if I consider starting another game like this. Autumn more probably.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Heh, I was wondering if particular play styles would be telling to people who had played many games together before, didn't think about the fact that this might not be as obvious a tell about me for this reason. :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Llamaserver is stuck for the unknown period of time, I'll inform you when it is fixed, please get your turns ready and visit this page for the news at least once a day.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Llamaserver fixed! That was kinda fast. :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

The llamaserver......it's ALIVE!!

Thanks for keeping us updated WingedDog. Top admin stuff from you once again.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

This weekend I could possibly not have access to the internet, so if you have some delay requests give them to me for the next 20 hours.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Well I think it's the time for someone to shout:
FIRST BLOOD! :mean:
Still I'd like to express my gratitude to Jotunheim player for fighting till the very end - it is much apretiated!

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I'd like to notify you hosting time is going to be 48 hours from turn 31.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Who was Jotunheim?

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Zeldor
Don't you worry, Baalz is still out there praying on the unwary. :evil:

Jotunheim was ruled by Shuma.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I know who Baalz is :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

The Shinuyama player seems to go missing. I hold a turn for 24 hours and posted a sub request. Hopefully sub is found or player contacts me for that time. Sorry for inconvenience.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Found a temporary sub for Shinuyama. If Shinuyama lasts long enough ofcource to look for a permanent sub.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Thanks again for all your efforts WingedDog

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Trading water or some fire gems for gear that makes me regenerate. PM me please.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Sorry, out of stock. Last two gone to Wolverine and Clair Bennett. :D

Please check the thread you're in before posting. :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Haha, oops, this isn't the Mists of Time thread. Please disregard, unless you are in Mists of Time and want to do a little trading. ;)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I've set myself AI this turn, I'd stay til the end however I find myself with lack of free time now days.
Congrats to the nation that killed me, this was quite possibly my worst game ever played. My little experiment with the pretender turned out to be a total disaster.

BTW I was Pangaea.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Sorry to see you go Executor, but I'd really hate to see us lose our 100% record on having no AI's so far in this game. Can I suggest that if WingedDog is willing, that he looks for a sub for Executor, and delays the game if necessary to try and find one.

I think it really would be amazing to play in a game where nobody turns AI ever. It might not happen, but we've made it 37 turns so far so who knows?! As every nation being played out to the last by a human is certainly making a big differnce in this game I feel (compared to every other game ever). As how often do you see a game close to turn 40 with only one defeated nation?

Pangaea may be in a hopeless position, but then the Caelum and Machaka positions were appparanty 'hopeless' as well, and both of those nations appear to be making a fight of it. The spider lovers in particular. What's not to love about a nation who unleashes 'The Kindly Ones' upon the world? :)

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Cal, do you mind posting a sub topic with refference on me? I'm on a run, and I think sooner we'll post - more chances we have to find a sub before deadline. Thanks for all your help, I wouldn't be able to admin the game properly without it.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

OK, I'll try and stick to the end but I can't promise to make every turn.
Just finish me off soon.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

No problem at all WingedDog, always happy to help as you know. I'll put up a sub-post this afternoon first chance I get.

I know I for one would certainly appreciate it if you could stick it out until the last man, or maybe last maenad. But I'll still look for a sub to relieve you as WingedDog asked.

Edit: Sub post is up.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

:( 37 turns without the AI. A good effort everyone at keeping the evil Autobots out of our affairs, but guess our fine run had to come to an end eventually :( And a double-header as well, with both Pan and Man being turned to the darkside last turn.

My thanks to all those who helped keep the AI at bay for so long in this game. With an extra thanks going to all those who have subbed-in during the course of the game so far to lead heroic backs-to-the-wall defences. As those efforts have without doubt given considerably extra life to so-called defeated nations. My hat's off to you all.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Huh, people going AI without putting a fight? That really unbalances the game. Man giving up after what? 2 turns? of war with Eriu...

BTW, that game has some flaws:
1. Now matter what you do and how much you like that map, Glory of the Gods sucks for MP.
2. It is much much worse for RAND game and some nations that start in the middle are really doomed, no matter how good player is.
3. Too many players for no diplo game.
4. Too many unexperienced players that go AI, few better skilled ones don't even get a chance to fight fairly, simply the one that gets more noobs willing to go AI near him wins.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Sorry WingedDog, Calahan I have no idea what happened as I'm sure I sent the turn with different orders but it appears I still went AI?

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I agree it's a bit depressing Man has AIed. It might not be huge fun, but at bare minimum a human could stall Eriu potentially for many game years - he's got the gem income (Mother Oak and capital) to fill castles to the brim with units to repair the walls, and the Nature mages to feed them. Admittedly, Man is a pretty bad nation to combat Eriu thugs as there's not many damage types they can pack out Eriu can't easily 100% resist, but it could be done.

We should have a discussion about the game after it's ended to see how well we think it has worked, it's a bit premature and risks letting some stuff out that shouldn't before.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

@ WingedDog - Who was the Man player anyway? It would keep with the tradition of the game to know the defeated/AI nations. As we know Pangaea was Executor, now AI. Jotunheim was Shuma, now defeated. Man was ????, now AI.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Well, I PMed my opinion to WingedDog, can't post it here, as it'd reveal my nation.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Ok, guys, sorry for being silent for some time - some real life affairs need my attention, and even if I check forum page often and read everything you post I do not always have a time to write back.

The Man was played by Dragar, and it was a surprise for me as well when I knew he turned himself AI. He never PMed anything to me, and I thought my anty-AI policy was clear to everyone in this game. I was always afraid of the moment I wouldn't be able to find a sub and a nation is turned AI, as I knew it would shake the balance and there would be displeased players. I understand nobody likes another nation grabing loads of 'free' land while he had to make a heavy fight for every inch.

At this moment we can't do anything to change the course of the game, we can only make some conclusions and use our experience in future games. I made one conclusion for myself: if I ever make another game - it should be a closed game for proved forum members. The only question is: will there be enough of players to fill the game?

But, anyway, Man is dead, long lives the Man! At last, as much as I heard, Pangaea literally fought to the last comander. In Dominions, like in real life would never be a perfect balance, and personaly I find most amusing searching for solutions if anything goes wrong (and it does pretty often :)). So stop thinking about things couldn't be changed and better start thinking about what still could be done to remain competive and achive victory, but if you ever find your situation hopeless and not worth your time to continue - contact me, I would, at least, try to find a sub to make game more interesting (and balanced) for remaining players.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Yeah, it was rather interesting. I only had my immobile pretender left in the end and some scattered indie troops since I couldn't recruit commanders to lead them:p.

I still had a load of provinces once I was practically dead as it was just a rush to each others capitals back and forth the whole time.:)

BTW Order/Production is no way to play Pangaea.
A few times I recruited the wrong satires (they all look the same!!!:rolleyes:), forgot to attack my enemy while odds were still on my side, left sneaky troops to sneak instead of attack, left sneaky troops to attack instead of sneak, lost two forts under construction to stupidity...
Not my best game.

PS. Would you guys like me to update the first post and who was which nation?

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

@ Executor - I can only speak for myself, but I'd welcome an update to the status page with regards who played which nation (that we know so far) and who's been defeated/AI etc.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

@ WingedDog - You've done a wonderful job as admin so far, and you've put more work into this game than could possibly have been expected from you. Especially seeing as how you are not even able to enjoy the rewards of all your hard work (the reward being a really enjoyable game). And hard work it must have been as well considering the number of subs that have needed finding so far.

I agree with the one conclusion you've drawn as well. Having players with proven track records makes a huge difference. From an outsiders viewpoint, it never seems a 'nice' thing to do to start up a new game, but limit it purely to players who are 'known', and who have a reputation for always staying around for the long haul, and who don't drop out just because they are attacked. But for this type of game, and especially for good hard fought games, it is an essential ingredient.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

I think that:

1. That map is bad for MP, not matter what you do and not matter how much you like it [I really like it]
2. It is even much much worse for RAND game [corners and borders give way more advantage without diplomacy]
3. We have too many players for RAND game.
4. Too big skill difference, either no vets at all, or mostly vets.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

You know what, I kind of disagree that anything went badly this game. Having a game go to turn 38 without anyone going AI is a huge accomplishment, and while we had one person "give up at the first sign of defeat", I think that the rules laid down for this game have been hugely sucessful at preventing dropouts.

Re: New game - The Art of War, Fight!
 

Well, I do think perhaps this is a bit unfair to say that Dragar quit at the first sign of defeat. Only he's really in a position to say but maybe he's lost his pretender and all his mages. Maybe his castles are all sieged. He's certainly lost almost all his provinces and some big fights, and apparently made the call that Man is crushed...we obviously wouldn't ever find a sub for this position. Sticking it out is one thing, but it's hardly like he just abandoned a nation leaving a big power gap. Believe me, I'll be the first one to get annoyed at people ditching a game leaving a largish nation for all their neighbors to gobble up - but Man had 1 province left when he dropped.