Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

So far it's working fine. Simple enough to use. Just as long as the admin doesn't read all forums ;)

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

A bit weird getting used to after forumotion, but it works well enough.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Nice logo Sept. Like the look of it.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Sept,

I was looking over the settings again. Would you consider BI resources instead of gold? I changed my single player to gold this week to try it out and it's pretty painful with astral nations using Enslave or lucky nations. But, no need to change if it's a problem. We'll just have to sacrifice those militias.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

That's what I'm for. :)

then I'll just slip the info to sep...
oh wait, I'm not supposed to tell you that part :doh:

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

are you entirely certain it sent your upkeep throught the roof? i've played an entire MP game with the BI money and resource mod, and no one ever complained of militia events bankrupting them. weird :confused:

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

My mistake. I reread the thread on BI. The milita from events are a different unit than those recruitable and the gold is disabled for the event ones. It must have just looked like a problem. I was using a lot of enslave mind and that has the possibility of gaining you some very high upkeep.

Doing the numbers the jump from 300 to 900 would make sense if I enslaved a single unit from a neutral which is likely because I was using reverse communions with yogis and gurus. 9000 gold in BI gives 600 upkeep each.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

lol. note to self: do not use enslave spells on indies. :p

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Zactly!

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Ok, I have to appologize here, I PM'd Septimius (I think) but haven't heard back from him and thought I'd post in the thread so people know whats going on.

It looks like I may not have time for this game unfortunately thanks to a few separate events. First off you may have seen on the news that Atlanta Georgia has been hit pretty hard by a flood. Just check out Youtube and do a search for "Sixflags flooded" I live just about 10 mins from there (When traffic is normal) and I am currently working about 2 miles from there.

I have been transfered to this new job where we are working 12 hours 7 days a week and they are now talking about moving to 14 hours for a while because we lost a number of days when we just simply could not get to work at all because of the flood and are behind. And of course after that long day I have the fun of trying to get home when most of the roads that I normaly take are washed out and I do not know when they will be open again so it means everyone is now taking the same few roads that are open which were already normally fairly busy. And so now what should be a ten minute drive to and from work can take more like 2 hours on top of working 12 or 14 hours.

I just do not see how I will have time to devote to this game until things settle back down to normal. I'm sorry, but I just could not forsee something like my city getting flooded and the repercussions of such thing when I signed up for the game. If it was a non team game I might could pull it off but not something where I will have to sit down and cooridinate with other people and get everything planned out which would take significantly more time. I MIGHT could manage if I were not team leader and someone else took that responsibility but it is just not feasible for me to lead any kind of team right now and devote extra time to trying to strategize with other people..

The only good thing I can say about the whole situation is that I'm glad some of my family members were sick 2 weeks ago when I asked them if they wanted to go to sixflags and I was going to buy a season pass. :cool:

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I don't think anyone can fault you for pulling out. Well, I don't anyway. Natural disasters have a way of taking control out of one's hands.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

That thing with your family members remind me of a story I heard.

There was a family of farmers in a small village in china centuries ago. They got a new horse, and their neighbor came by and said "you are so lucky!
The father of the family replied, "We'll see"

Well when the son was trying to break the horse he fell of and broke his leg. The neighbor heard and said "What bad luck!"
The father said to him "We'll see."

a few weeks later the army came by to conscript peasant for war. Well, the farmer's son had a broken leg, so they couldn't take him, and the father was too old and frail. The neighbor said to the father, "What luck!"
The father turned to him and said, "We'll see."

A few weeks later, an illness swept through the village. it only struck the young, and the farmer's son died. Most of the other young men were away at war, so were not harmed. At the funeral, the man's neighbor wondered aloud at the man's horrible luck.

So the man turned to him and said, "We'll see."

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Was there a point to that story? We'll see.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Thanks for informing us Psi, I got your PM. I'll keep you in an alternate slot on your team for now. You can keep up with things either here or on the forums. Hope you get things straightened out.

Blesseds and all players, we need a new capt ASAP, let's get those invites and PMs out. We don't want a setback at this juncture. The Mysterios are currently composing their ranked list. I hope the Blessed Ones have had a chance to at least discuss their nation preferences.

For those unfamiliar with the BI mod, we are using the second variant of the 3 versions of the mod, the least drastic version and apparently the most problem free.

The good thing about the new forums, no ads, and not as funky as forummotion. The attachment functionality, while present, is not working. Support seems to have dried up as well but it should meet our needs for now. Not bad for the price.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

So I'm just curious about when this is getting started. i know we need another captain, but also nothing seems to be happening on the team threads, or at least Executor hasn't said much about our picks. am i just missing something, or what. i'd like to get started soon

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

It does seem to be quiet of late, on all the threads. Psi's dropping out of the captain's slot, means we need another experienced, confident player to take the captaincy of the Blessed Ones before we can really get moving.

I am frustrated that people are so quick to join these FFA and RAND type games that Pasha and others are starting, but no one seems to have the guts to take on a leadership role or the interest or time to invest in our team game.

A great deal of work has been put into this game and I'm not willing to have it go to waste. If I have to assume the role myself I will, but I depending on all of our players to assist me (so this won't be necessary) to fill this last slot so we can get things moving.

I am confident we will be moving soon, one way or another. Blesseds: Algae, viccio, Rabbit, have you guys been working on possible strategies, nation preferences? How is the search for a captain coming?

Sometimes people are just busy, or real life things come up, sometimes you really need to prod people to get them off their you know what and get moving. In the end, if you want things to happen, sometimes you just gotta make them happen! :up:

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Team games DO take a lot of effort to coordinate. When we were doing NvV1, that game devoured every second of my free time. It can be a bit of a chore getting all that communication done each turn. The more experienced players tend to play very close to their limit in games already, and adding a bit time intensive team game on top of all that could easily be more than most people could handle. The job of a team captain on top of that, can really be quite stressful. So it takes a certain amount of dedication, not to mention free time, to really fill the job. Kind of like being an admin ;).

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Speaking of making things happen, I want more alternates in this game.

Being an alternate is really a goodness and a blessing. Why you ask?

• Doesn't require as large a time commitment as being in the starting lineup.

• You are potentially able to play up to 4 nations, instead of being limited to just one.

• You have access to the team forum and are privy to all team discussions.

• A guaranteed position in the starting lineup of the next game in the series with first or second choice nation privileges and/or other bonuses.

When it comes right down to it, being an alternate is a great thing. I wish more game creators incorporated the idea and took the time to think ahead. So don't miss out, be an alternate today!

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

That is true, but the more FFA type games you join, the less time you will have to enjoy a team game. It seems many vets would rather join 5 FFA games, than 1 or 2 team games. It doesn't take that much time and effort and thought does it?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

why not just have two teams plus an ai team?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Or three teams and one AI team (5x5x5x5) since we already have 3 captains.

Can be done. Will require some rearranging and rethinking of start locations.

I'll look into it and see what I can come up with.

That it should be necessary due to the inability to find a single player really ticks me off though.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Hi Sept,

Unfortunately there are far less Vets than there are Intermediates (or Noobs, or at least most Noobs would be interested while only some Vets would be that which comes to the same thing).

Plus it is potentially a lot of work for a Vet. I am not sure how the teams will work in practice. But some Vets may fear that they will need to spend a lot of time advising teammates on each turn. Or even worse giving lots of advice only to have it completely ignored!

As there are a lot of potential Intermediates you might want to have the fourth team have all Intermediates (as the Noobs are meant to be learning from Vets)? Or let there be two or three Intermediates and the rest Noobs but let the intermediates both choose their powers before the list system.

Also the AIs may have put some people off, especially the potential Vet players. And the AIs are not really central to the theme of this game.

Anyway Sept I hope you can get this one going.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Well, I can be an alternate.
I can't play before the 7th though.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I'm curious, what exactly are the responsibilities of a team captain?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Hoplo, thematically, it was actually the threat of these AIs (or unfeeling ones) that made noobs and vets (and intermediates) unite together into the mixed teams they now comprise. The combination of the BI mod, dastardly AI builds with deadly suprises courtesy of Gandalf, and 4 extra starting locations should at least make expansion a bit more difficult for the experienced players (rather than steamrolling weak indies like they are used to), while the corner AI starts will give the noobs a good chance to gain some AI/SP experience, which again is the reason I consider them important. Sorry if I come off as whiny, but really all we need is a single intermediate, with a semblance of guts, to fill a slot, and save me extra work having to come up with a new set of starting locations. My point is simply that, if you've got the time and dedication to participate in 5 or more FFA games, or spend larges amounts of time chatting it up on IRC, you should have the time and dedication for a single team game.

Algae, being a captain is nothing really. You get first nation choice and you become moderater of the team forum, not a big deal. You draw up the ranked list based on your teams preferences. You PM it to me. You work with your other teammates to defeat your enemies. Come now. I think people are so focused on winning, getting the RIGHT nations and other details, they forget about having fun. Throw your team together and lets mix it up. I promise I won't slap anyone in the face if their team loses. :doh::D:

No one should use the AI element as an excuse not to participate. Compstomping can be great fun, and in this game it is only the preliminary. And now I will get down from my noob soapbox.

Welcome back Illuminated, good to have you. I'm putting you on the Deva's, unless you've another preference.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I'll take your your word for it, I'll be captain then. If nothing else, it'll give me something to put in my "Leadership" section of my eFolio.

I'll pick Vanhiem. Now what order are we going to make the rest of our picks in?

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Great :clap:

And PS to Sept didn't mean to come off as criticising. I think it's a great idea of yours. Simply suggesting some reasons why not everyone might not like it....

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

No, your not coming off as criticising. I am aware of all of these objections to my idea. And the objections to team games in general (too much trouble coordinating, dealing with others, lots of back and forth and debates, depending on other people, etc.) add to this the fact that the game mechanism doesn't really support the concept well. Some may see the presence of the AIs as unnecessary regardless of my stated purpose.

I am hoping the presence of the AIs will at least slow down, what would otherwise be a very rapid expansion phase and make things a bit more interesting, as opposed to just turning up indy strength which might cause problems for noobs.

On the other hand, it might bog the game down and make things unfun. Especially if the noobs can't make any headway against them. This is where tips from the captains may come in handy.

We won't know till we play, what is going to happen.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Algae, I'm glad that you have decided to take up the mantle of leadership. I was getting ready to redefine the start locations to accommodate 3 human+1 AI team (probably 1 team in each corner). But this announcement saves me the time and trouble.

We now need to switch in one of the alternates. Some of whom may have privy information they need to "forget". To fill the empty slot on your team that would normally be filled by an intermediate level player. I'll need to hear from either Immaculate, Illuminated One, PsiSoldier, or Shard, whoever is ready to go. Either that or wait for another player. I'll PM them to see. Whoever responds affirmatively first will take the spot.

We can now finish our 12 nation ranked lists (this should be enough to complete the process with 4 teams).

I will resolve using the two methods I described earlier and post the results. Whichever method is satisfactory to the majority of the team captains will prevail.

If team captains want, they may decide whether they are A, B, C, or D for the purposes of assignment from the lists as opposed to the rand method, but anything more complex is unnecessary fuss. If this be the case, then the Deva's have already claimed D, and chris has indicated C. This leaves A or B for yourself and Executor.

So lets get this on and start to have some fun then.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Hi, I got one of the requests for assistance. I'll fill in a spot if required.

I've got about 10 MP games under my belt, and I'd say I'm a pretty handy player, around the upper regions of intermediate to lower reaches of veteran.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

People, I think I'll have to drop this game, in fact, I'll probably have to Dominions all together, I'm the phase of moving and currently I practically have no internet access.
I have no idea if I'll settle in a week or a month, or if I'll have reliable internet access even when I finally move.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I've been wondering why we hadn't heard from you in awhile. Sorry to lose you. Luckily, Agema, has arrived, and will hopefully be able to take your place on The Mysterios team.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Welcome, Agema. Upper intermediate, to lower veteran. That is good. Your timing is good. As a slot has opened up in the starting lineup for the Mysterios as captain. Please go to the team forums and register here:

http://noobsvets.silverforum.net/

You can then get yourself up-to-date by reading the messages on the Mysterios team forum. We are in the process of finishing up our ranked list for the nation selection process. As captain you have first nation choice, you may either keep Lanka or choose another nation, before the rest of us pick.

Immaculate, I've received your response, your heading over to The Blessed Ones to fill Algae's spot. Good luck, and remember you know nothing of our plans. :) Psi, will remain on your team as an alternate and to assist you guys.

Hunt11, you're account has now been activated, you should now be able to log in and access your team's forum using your regular username.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I'll stick with Lanka, thanks.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

So are we ready to finalize nation selection? Attrition is going to rise if we don't start soon, folks...

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

All the captains are in place, so it's time to strategize in the NvV forums.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I don't think anyone was expecting what occurred with Executor and perhaps with Psi. Nothing can be done. But make sure your team has alternates, that is something you CAN do.

I am awaiting submission from Agema and Algae of their team's 12 nation ranked list chosen from among the 17 land nations still available. Agema need only post on our forum what our list will be, I'll need a PM from Algae though.

Once this is done, I will resolve and post the results. Team captains will then assign nations to their individual players and inform me of who is playing who. Then Gandalf can perform his wizardry, pretenders can be designed, the game can be created on llamaserver, and pretender uploads may begin.

I know it has been struggle, many of us are familiar with the time these things can take and I'm glad to see people taking it in stride. It looks like we are finally on our way though.

For the benefit of Agema and perhaps Algae, regarding the nation resolution process:
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showp...&postcount=134
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showp...&postcount=141

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

List received from Algae for The Blessed Ones.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Are you still looking for alternates? I'd be interested as a new player.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Yes, we are, welcome aboard. Check the opening post for info on the teams, if you have a team preference let me know, otherwise I'll assign you to my team, The Mysterios.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I'd be happy to be an alt.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Welcome. I'm putting you on the Mysterios team for now unless you've a preference otherwise.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Team nation assignments via dual methods will be posted very shortly. If any team wishes to resubmit a revised ranked list now is the time to do so. Once nations are resolved to teams, no changes will be allowed except via first come first serve swap for unassigned nations. I expect we will be able to move into the pretender design/AI creation phase by the time the weekend rolls around if all goes well.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

You read the admin, now's the time to give me suggestions (in the team forums).

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

We've got 3 alternate slots still available for anyone else still interested in getting in on this game.

For the Mysterios, Agema, is back on top of things, so our nation list will be ready to go soon.

After (to avoid any more delays) team nation assignments have been completed, I am considering granting the teams led by Agema and Algae the optional right to retain a veteran in a non-participatory (non-alternate) role as "technical" advisor ;) to compensate for the experience levels of Drp and Chris and to give them an added measure of confidence going forward. The advisor will basically have access to their team's forum and will be able to answer any questions put to them.
*Note: They will just function in an advisory role and will not displace/replace the team captains rights or responsibilities for setting overall strategy.

I trust their will be no objections from DrP and Chris on this, but if there are, I will nix the idea.:D

For future games:

Since we've had such a hard time getting highly experienced/top vets to join as team captains in this game, I might incorporate this advisor type role in the next game in the series (for all teams) should it turn out to be feasable.

The bonus of this approach is that we can proceed with only intermediates and noobs on the teams, and vets can participate with minimal time commitment and without having to shoulder any responsibilities.

Thanks.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Thanks. :D

All right, noobs, I'm sending the revised pick list tomorrow morning so post your suggestions in the team forum.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Here are the ranked lists from each team in the interests of full disclosure (minus any nations already claimed):


<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="64*"> <col width="64*"> <col width="64*"> <col width="64*"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="25%"> The Mysterios

1. Fomoria
2. Kailasa
3. Helheim
4. Tir Na nOg
5. Yomi
6. Arcoscephale
7. Tien Chi
8. Abysia
9. Pangaea
10. Marverni
11. Agartha
12. Caelum

</td> <td width="25%"> Deva's Darlings

1. Hinnom
2. Ulm
3. Ermor
4. Sauromatia
5. Fomoria
6. Caelum
7. Yomi
8. T'ien Ch'i
9. Abysia
10. Arcoscephale
11. Helheim
12. Kailasa
13. Agartha

</td> <td width="25%"> The Blessed Ones

1. Helheim
2. Tir na Nog
3. T'ien C'hi
4. Caelum
5. Sauromatia
6. Marverni
7. Arcocephale
8. Ermor
9. Ulm
10. Yomi
11. Hinnom
12. Abysia
13. Kaliasa
14. C'tis
15. Fomoria

</td> <td width="25%"> Noobheim

1. Sauromatia
2. Hinnom
3. Formoria
4. Arco
5. Ermor
6. Ctis
7. Caelum
8. Abysia
10. Kailasa
11. Pangaea
12. Tien Chi
13. Tir na Nog
14. Ulm
15. Yomi
16. Marverni
17. Agartha
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Results:

<table width="100%" border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0"> <col width="124*"> <col width="132*"> <tbody><tr valign="TOP"> <td width="48%"> Method 1 (uncontested top picks)
My original method
</td> <td width="52%"> Method 2 (ABCDDCBAABCD) Rand
Grudgebringer's ordering method </td> </tr> <tr valign="TOP"> <td width="48%"> The Mysterios
Fomoria
Kailasa
Yomi

Deva's Darlings
Hinnom
Ulm
Ermor

The Blessed Ones
Helheim
Tir na nog
T'ien Chi'

Noobheim
Sauromatia
Arco
C'tis

Unassigned land nations (available via swap on first come first serve basis)

Abysia
Pangaea
Marverni
Agartha
Caelum
</td> <td width="52%"> The Mysterios (Team D)
Fomoria
Kailasa
Yomi

Deva's Darlings (Team C)
Hinnom
Ulm
Caelum

The Blessed Ones (Team A)
Helheim
Tir na nog
T'ien Chi'

Noobheim (Team B)
Sauromatia
Arco
Ermor

Unassigned land nations (available via swap on first come first serve basis)

Abysia
Pangaea
Marverni
Agartha
C'tis
</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Admin's commentary:

There was enough variety in the topmost picks of most of the teams that the top 2 results were identical regardless of the method used.

Chris' ordering method (ABCDDCBADCBA) produced the exact same result as method 1 so Grudgebringer's ordering method (ABCDDCBAABCD) was substituted in method 2. The only difference is with the 3rd picks of the Deva's and Noobheim and a slight difference in the unassigned nations.

Team captains choose your poison: method 1 or method 2. Majority decides, then its first come/first serve swaps depending upon the method you choose. After that assign your nations to your team members and tell me who's playing who so I can update the opening post.

Thanks.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

Under Method 1:

Team A: Got its 1, 2nd, and 5th pick
Team B: 1, 2, 3
Team C: 1, 2, 3.
Team D: 1, 4, 6.



Under Method 2
Team A: 1, 2, 5
Team B: 1, 2, 6
Team C: 1, 2, 3
Team D: 1, 4, 5


Since every team got its first and second pick except my own, I'd like to suggest that method 2 is a little fairer.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

I don't quite have our captain's approval yet but Deva's Darlings would like to swap out one of our nations for Pangaea. The nation we are swapping for depends on which selection method we are going with.

Re: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI, Nation Selection Underway.
 

That's fine. I'm surprised Pangaea didn't go in early draft. That said, we'll take Hinnom+Ulm+Pangaea, whichever selection method is used :).