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We should also put an add up on the other forum.

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Heck, I don't know if Pyg was joking in the "I want to be a queen" thread, but, considering the difficult sale Kailasa might be at this point (but then again, it might not), I'd say, what the hell, let him set Hinnom AI (not much but the Sphinx left in the tank), and take over Kailasa :D

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It'd work, I've seen it done in games before. Good way to keep ahold of a good player too.

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That's fine, as long as Pyg sends me all their gold and gems, so that I can spend them avenging myself on his hated enemy... Pyg! HA HA HA HA HA!

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S**t, at this point I'd be willing to take anyone, especially if we knew they wouldn't stale or bail (and I think Pyg has done himself proud on both accounts)!

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Looks like Maerlande has agreed to sub for Kailasa! Since he can't post here though, folks will have to go to "the other place", if you want to communicate quickly.

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"Hey Twobits. Can you do me a favour and post in the game thread that I'd like to learn about any diplomatic agreements in place? I can read shrapnel but not post." - from Maerlande

Done. From my end, I'm pretty sure Kailasa is not actively at war with anyone (Yomi seems to have taken over the effort to finish off Hinnom, and while Kailasa had besieged Arco's capital previously before being driven off, Marverni seems to be drawing the wrath of the Greeks currently - still plenty of punch left there - at this point).

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Ok.. I updated the opening post, with the players as I know them. Please report any errors.

I haven't heard on VP's Verji; do you have any to report/update?
(Why stop now).

The last I heard of the situation with kailasa was page 36 of the thread. Want to say thanks to Maerlande for prefering monkey meat. The other red meat. It really sounds like between Dr P., verji, Two Bits,etc you have a great contest going on with good secondary players as well.

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If you look back to my last post regarding VP's, I didn't stop because I didn't want to claim more VPs, but rather because all of the VP Provinces have been taken from me. I have but two provinces left.

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Sorry, didn't know. Thanks for being a sport and hanging in there!

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Maerlande has gotten his turn in as Kailasa.
Now lets get the rest o ya sluggards going = ).

Huh. I know the OP was updated with the correct information. I *saw* it.
This is the second time thats happened...

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Yep, time to get this show back on the road!

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I can't get this turn done today, I'm afraid :(.

But I'll get a turn in early next week. Someone might want to PM debaser8 and see if he wants to send in another turn as well? Although I'd say he's pretty well vanquished.

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I'm Yomi.

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Oops. Meant StaggerLee, sorry :(.

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Yeah, someone give stagger a kick ... :re:

I was away with the wife and kids at Sesame Place. If I wasn't going to beat the hosting time, I would have asked for an extension. Sorry to hold up your conquest of the known world TNDP, but I did whup you pretty good two turns ago, and if my battlefield placement wasn't left to Elmo, I might have actually turned this war around. As it is, my turn is in. Send yours at your leisure. :p

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I'll get in a turn tomorrow morning, now that I know who is still playing :).

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Applauds Stagger Lee's whupping Dr.P's butt... and taking a sub position, and staying with it.

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guys, I am going to be away Aug 5-12. Shall I give Fakey (or stagger, or ...) the password?

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Dr. P, you got that turn in yet?

Anyone have suggestions on chrispedersen's situation? I'd volunteer to admin, but I can see how others might not feel that's fair or competative ;)

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I'm working on it now.... but I have a meeting this afternoon :(.

On the plus side, I can now play dom3 at work!

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I'll do it if we are stuck :) But people will have to give me roughly half a days notice if they want delays as I can no longer access this site during working hours. I can access the other place :evil: and Llamaserver though - I just won't know if you post here while I'm at work :p

Not that I have anything against TwoBits doing it....

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I'm in favor of letting Hoplosternum handle the admin duties - as the 'dark horse' among the contenders, perhaps he's the most trustworthy! We all know how to access the :evil: place, I'm sure (maybe using the 5-4-3-2-1 Countdown thread I started there), and it would certainly be more convenient for Maerlande (who's probably wondering why he joined a game with no action anyway :rolleyes: ).

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I could care less who administers, as long as it isn't me.

If one of you cheats, perhaps it will finally end this...

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I got my turn in 15 minutes ago and it is still hosting.

I'm secretly hoping that I broke the game engine :).

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Whomever folks want to take over is fine. Just throwing my hat in if no one else wants the job.

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Ah, the game is afoot once more! Ermor's capital has finally fallen (valiant effort to be sure though, Stagger Lee!), and Kailasa's Guiding Principle has been given a rough welcome (as far as I can tell).

Regarding finding an admin-sub, I should tell everyone that I also will be traveling from the 7th to 17th. I'll have my computer, and should have internet access, but that access, or my free-time, or whatever, might not be reliable. I shouldn't have a problem getting in turns (I hope), but I may not be around for other stuff.

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I have the admin password now :)

Let me know if any delays are required.

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Oooh! Kailasa putting up the big bucks on an Arcane Nexus with so many people left in play.... Will it pay off or will it get Dispelled?

I'm betting successful collaborative Dispel next turn.

My SOAP is down, though... Why couldn't it have selected someone else's enchantment? :'(

Once again, my capitol has been cleansed of interlopers. Do you like my pretender Twobits? I think she's really cool though the scale sacrifice necessary to make her is rather crippling...

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On behalf of my friend playing Kailasa:

I think the other players realize the threat is Marverni. Not Kailasa. Marverni is parked on most of the vps but is not declaring them? Is this a plan to carry this game on to turn 200? Kailasa hopes their good friends will understand the purpose of the spell and realize that its bounty will be spent creative masses of sacred whoopass to beat the snot out of Marverni. Other nations of the world need not be concerned.

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lol, Eximius.

You'd best go get a great demagogue like Barack Obama to sell that one.

Regardless of what purpose you state that the Nexus is for, if Kailasa is allowed to make it permanent, then Kailasa will probably win. You're essentially going for a "two-party system" wherein the eventual winner will be either Marverni or Kailasa depending on how you vote for the Nexus.

I propose that the Nexus is at least as great of a long term threat as anything Marverni has.

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One itty bitty spell is as strong as that giant army of Icthytids? Methinks thou doth protest too much. Turtle spam FTW.

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All right, the last portion of my trip was busy, then followed by a brutal trip home (4 countries and 2 continents in just over 24 hours :( ). I thought I could keep up with the turns on the road, but obviously missed that last one - and came back to Arcane Nexus!

Well, Hoplo, can you add an extra 24 hours to the timer? I finally got a good night's sleep last night, but need the extra time to wrap my head around this.

Oh, TNN, Abysia, Yomi, Helheim - what are your thoughts on the Nexus, eh? ;)

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My thoughts are that things are more complicated than they were one turn ago.

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Done.

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I wouldn't worry about the other nations Twobits. They've already been brought to the side of light.

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Personally I'm still very much in a sort of dusk area, perhaps something in a nice ambient light... overcast perhaps...

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Have they now? Well, for their sakes, they better have all cut very good deals (did Kailasa promise a full share of the Nexus proceeds? and was believed? :re: ), otherwise, they just slit their own wrists...

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My understanding, and of course I could have my interpretation wrong, was that each was offered 10 Marverni provinces. Not a bad deal really.

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I haven't received any offer of any territory of Marveni.

I don't have a good idea of the power of Astral Nexus. Is it all non-astral/blood ritual spells and items or does it include gems used in battles? What percent of gems used does it give to the caster?

Yomi

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The Nexus takes the sum of all non-astral, non-blood gems used during the turn during ritual magic and forging and multiplies by 1/4 adds a small number and gives it to the controller after the magic phase ends.

Among its effects are:

1. Reduces casting among most players for fear of "powering" the Nexus.
2. Gives the owner an effective "25%" discount on everything cast, except the 25% return is given back in Astral pearls which are more valuable.
3. Once combined with Wish, the controller can wish for Gems and receive 150 gems in exchange for 75 Astral pearls. Once consumed, these 150 gems return 37.5 astral pearls back to the controller yielding 150 colored gems worth of whatever the hell you want for 37.5 Astral Pearls.
4. AI Players ignore the Nexus and power it.
5. Whenever a large global is cast, the nexus owner can use the average returns he's getting to gauge the number of gems put into the global so he knows how many gems he needs to take control of that enchantment.

I could probably think of more... It's not something you want to have up.

Anecdotally, I've seen single-turn returns from the Nexus at or above 100 pearls--especially on the first turn when everyone is casting and forging liberally. If everyone is being stingy it might go down to 25-30ish or so.

Usually, you have about 3-4 turns to dispel it, max, before it pays for itself. Once it pays for itself it sort of becomes a permanent feature until you destroy the player that cast it.

Once a healthy pearl "bank" is established for recasting (I like to increase the number of pearls in the nexus by 25-50 each recast), the Nexus can result in a wish every 1-3 turns strategy which is mindlessly simple to implement. Ever faced off against 5 Seraphs only to have 6 the next turn or Armageddon every 2 turns... You can use it to take over all of the globals by wishing for gems, steal artifacts, steal Unique SCs (especially if you find out one of them is controlling an enemy global), etc.

Oh, and anyone who accepts a "deal" valued in "someone else's provinces" in exchange for allowing the Nexus to live, is retarded and should quit playing right now. ^_^


----

Even more:

He suggested that "everyone" was already on board with his plan in exchange for a pittance of provinces that you have to collect yourself. What does that mean? In addition to allowing him to keep the Nexus, he also got you to agree to assist him in dismantling his biggest enemy, so he won't have to spend as many of his Nexus pearls doing it himself. "Oh, how gracious you are Great Monkey King, to allow us to attack your sworn enemy. I am in your debt!"

Frequently, when someone initially casts the Nexus, they have made a gamble and have put a big bet down (sometimes All-In as in all of their gems because it's so easy to get them back once it's permanent). If you call their bluff and collaboratively Dispel it before it's 3rd turn of operation (which is the earliest you can do so since you have to send gems on the 2nd turn), Kailasa will lose the gambit and pay for it dearly.

If however, you allow him to continue the Nexus AND do not exact ANY pearls in rent from it (e.g. an equal share divided amongst all participants), you are fools, and I will point and laugh at you if you lose.

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Thanks for the explanation. The wiki has Wish at 100 pearls. Shouldn't it cost the owner of the nexus 100 pearls to wish for gems because they receive no discount on astral spells/items?

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LOL, so it is "slit their own wrists" then, eh? :re:

I mean, let me get this straight - for siding with Kailasa, each nation will get 10 Marverni provinces? Well, let me just say right now, no one is going to just "get" anything. They can each try to take ten provinces, but I can promise, it will be a long, hard, and bloody slog before they can claim their 10.

Meanwhile, Kailasa will be rolling in hundreds upon hundreds of gems per month! Debaser8, Arcane Nexus is a well known game winner, if allowed to stand unchecked. It doesn't include gems used in combat (you can bet, that's where I'll be using the bulk of my gems from now on), but it'll give Kailasa 50% of all non Astral/Blood gems used in forging and ritual spells - which would be a huge crap-load, just going by what Marverni was using each month in that regard.

So, those siding with Kailasa should be asking for way more than "the chance" to fight Marverni for 10 provinces that wont come easy. You should also be demanding a massive number of gems each month (he'll get half of them back anyway), like 50-100 at least. Otherwise, it's a fool's bet.

Oh, and for those worried about Marverni's power, I'm willing to make whatever accommodations you feel are required (giving up VP locations, withdrawing from border provinces, whatever), until Kailasa and/or the Nexus are no more. Just let me know what it'll take to make a deal :cool:

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Ninja'd by Vergigorm. Crap, his description is way more scary than mine! :eek:

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Is it 25% or 50%?

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25%

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You get 25 of each gem including Astral. 175 for 100 becomes 150 for 75 after you subtract out the astral pearls.

Wishing for gems is a no-risk bet, btw, since if you need the pearls back, since you got twice as many gems as you paid in, they alchemize back into the same number of pearls that you initially paid for them, and with the Nexus up, spending them is very beneficial to you.

Seriously... I MUST repeat this part as it is essential that you understand what he's trying to sell you:

He suggested that "everyone" was already on board with his plan in exchange for a pittance of provinces that you have to collect yourself. What does that mean? In addition to allowing him to keep the Nexus, he also got you to agree to assist him in dismantling his biggest enemy, so he won't have to spend as many of his Nexus pearls doing it himself. "Oh, how gracious you are Great Monkey King, to allow us to attack your sworn enemy. I am in your debt!"

Also use of the word "everyone" is a psych tactic called "social proof" which is more commonly known as "peer pressure" or the "if everyone jumped off a bridge" technique.. IMO, lemmings deserve to die.

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Oh my. I think I better explain to my friend that he has enemies now. I think he might have missed that point. But frankly, Marverni has this game won if he had just declared his VPs. What is he playing? He's got near all the vps in hand for many turns and hasn't declared them? He's just waiting for the rest of the players to fart around fighting each other then he'll do a VP rush and win. The rest of you should be quite concerned.


Of course my friend running Kailasa is doing some spin doctoring. It's just sensible. Do you have a chance to stop the Marverni VP rush? If not you should join with Kailasa in any attempt to slow the hegemony of Marverni. Don't be fooled. Marnerni is trying to distract you from the real threat.

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PS: Why listen to Verjigorm. He's kaput.

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lol. You listen to me because you know I'm right. Even if you decide to side with Kailasa against Marverni, you still shouldn't let them have the Nexus. Therefore, even if you don't like Marverni and want to crush them, you still have an obligation to your own personal survival in the future to destroy the Nexus.

You surely don't need Kailasa to have the Nexus in order to destroy Marverni large though they are...