PBEM game: Song of the Blade (Running)
 

The final roster is as follow:
- Blofeld: Vanheim - Standard theme
- Oversway: Man - Last of the Tuatha
- Panther: Ermor - Broken Empire
- PDF: Mictlan - N/A
- Gryffin: Jotunheim - Iron Woods
- Steerpike: Abysia - Standard theme
- The_Tauren: Ulm - Black Forest
- Turms: Machaka - N/A
- Alneyan: Arcoscephale - Standard theme

The settings of the game:
- Map: Inland
- Independents: 6
- Research: very hard
- Renaming is on, HoF has 15 entries.
- Victory condition: controlling half the capitals, though the game may go on if the player in control of the capitals wishes it.
- Nations will be assigned randomly, and themes must be announced publicly.
- All the other settings as default

Mods: a mod making hoarding items much less appealing 4 Water/1 Astral for the Clams, 3 Nature/3 Fire for the Fetishes, 4 Blood and 2 Earth for the Bloodstones. Zen Pretenders 2.0 will be used as well: it can be downloaded from here, and the change list is available here.

My mail addresses : alneyan[AT]fastmail[DOT]co.uk and alneyan[AT]dom2minions[DOT].com (replacing [AT] and [DOT] by @ and .)


And my common hosting policies:
- The host (myself) will probably be playing in the game. I will choose my nation when most spots have already been filled, or last if we go with the random order.
- The deadlines will be at a fixed hour, so any turn running earlier than expected will result in a longer deadline for next turn. In other words, if a game is scheduled to turn at 2000 GMT, and I received all the files at 1400, the game will run at 1400 and the next deadline will be on tomorrow at 2000. The game will only go ahead of the schedule if we gain a full day; for example, if I receive all the files by Sunday 1800 instead of Monday 1800, the next deadline will be on Tuesday 1800 and not Wednesday 1800 (as it would have been otherwise).
- Whenever possible, I will send a status mail about the turns I have received. If we are under a 24 hours schedule, the status mail will be sent as soon as I can, though it may be as late as three/four hours before the deadline. If we are playing with a 48 hours turnaround or more, the status mail will be sent 24 hours before the deadline.
- Two mails will be used for this game. If one of the mails has bounced, feel free to resend it on both addresses, even if I have likely already received it on my other mail. If you want to make sure your turn did reach me, I also have a third mail set to send a "message received" mail (dominions2[AT]yahoo[DOT]fr).
- Mails will be sent to each nation individually, so you do not really need to set a password as you will only get the files for your nations. The fatherland file will not be sent to the players.
- All turn files will be backed up on one of my two mails.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Yeah, I really like the random nation Idea, why not go further and randomise what nation you actually get.
People who have their Pet nations will be put out of their comfort zones.
Im in regardless.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I have nothing against random nations, though it may be a bit drastic. Then again, the best way to discover other nations is to play them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I'm in. Palesunn@worldnet.att.net

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Panther and I are in. As for the CD key problem, I don't have any problem with you seeing my capitol every turn. Also... I think going totally random on the nations would be really cool.

And by the way everyone, Alneyan is a great host http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

So, the roster would be:
- Panther
- Steerpike
- TheBirthdayParty
- The_Tauren
- Alneyan

Random nations it shall be then! I will put myself somewhere in the order, according to the Rule of the Die.

Should I remove the water nations from the list of nations? Inland has only a few water provinces, but it may make for an interesting position. Or perhaps not.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I'm in. Random nations could be fun - I have to start playing something else than Ctis or Marignon at last.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I'd like to join. I think Zen's balance mods would improve the game, especially the pretender one.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Blofeld! Please sign that non-aggression pact, for a duration of 200 turns! No strings attached, no fine print (none that the naked eye can see at least), a once-in-a-lifetime offer! I'm cutting me own throat!

Welcome aboard Oversway and Blofeld. It makes seven of us, so I guess there is still room for a couple more players. The current settings go as follow; feel free to protest if something does not quite strike your fancy.

- Map: Inland
- Independents: 6
- Research: very hard
- Renaming is on, HoF has 15 entries.
- Victory condition: controlling half the capitals, though the game may go on if the player in control of the capitals wishes it.
- Nations will be assigned randomly
- All the other settings as default
- Mods: a mod making hoarding items much less appealing (I think I will go with Panther's values: 5 Water for the Clams, 3 Nature/3 Fire for the Fetishes, 4 Blood and 2 Earth for the Bloodstones). Zen Pretenders will be enabled as well.

And the remaining queries about the settings:
- Should water nations be kept out of the game?
- For the victory condition, should it be "full control" of half the capitals, or would "being besieged" be enough?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Erm, I couldn't agree more that clams are way underpriced, but 5W??? Couldn't we stop at 4W? I think 4W 1S would be cool. And what about soul contracts? Am I the only one who thinks those are just as badly underpriced?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Well, the values Panther proposed were made to make those items too expensive I believe, hence the 5W. I have no objections to lowering it to 4W however, with perhaps another path thrown in for good measure.

I have no opinion on Soul Contracts, simply because I have never seen them hoarded, but they seem to be quite a bargain for their price (if left alone for a while). How more expensive would you make them?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I don't care too much either way. Depends on the map, of course.

I'd vote for full control.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I'd like to play, if there is room.

I think a small map is critical for a game like this.

Are themes being randomized as well, or is no one being forced into Iron Faith, etc http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

dgo@pcfastnet.com

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

There is still some room, so welcome aboard Rabelais!

I like the idea of enforced themes, but it would be difficult to check. I could check the starting sites on turn 1, and give the location of all the capitals, or the first turn could be sent to a third party for a quick check. "Hey, lucky you, you got Caelum in the random picks... Too bad I rolled heads, and you end up with the Raptors theme." http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I vote for control of the capital and no water nations.
Forced themes would be cool as well (Tien Chi Barbarians).

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Hello,

The settings of this game seem very interesting.
I would like to join if there is still room.

Turms

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Welcome aboard Turms!

There is still one spot open for a player, and we will have a full house.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I would prefer not using randomized themes, for I intend to pick a theme I have never played after being assigned a race.

As for the clams, 4W1S is good. At least that means you might build a couple of them as the cost is not totally prohibitive.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

hmm, I may want to join. Is it all Zen mods or only pretenders?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Random nations, not randomized themes, and no water nations...er, that's what i vote for.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I vote random nations, random themes, and 1 water nation would be ok as long as we dont have both.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Quantum Mechani => We currently only use the Pretenders mod, but I have no objection against the Spells and Scales mods.

Two votes for random themes, two votes against; two votes against water nations, one vote for them. Anybody would like an increase in price of the Soul Contracts? If so, by how much?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

We are playing very hard research on a small map. Will there really be enough time to really get a huge amount of soul contracts (or vampire lords or whatever) going? But I won't object if everyone else wants to bump the price.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

We had a NAP, Alneyan. Only you withdrew from it. He who sows the wind ... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

I'm against random themes, wouldn't like to be forced to play i.e. Ashen Empire or vanilla Ulm
Yea for random nations, of course
I've no opinion on water races

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

If there is still a place available, I'd like to join in. Oh and do I have to download those mods from somewhere or will they be automatically uploaded by the server?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

On Soul Contracts => They require little research to use (Construction 2 or Construction 4; let's say Construction 4 for the Hammers), so they would not be too difficult to get. On the other hand, blood nations will likely be more interesting in summoning the uniques. On yet another hand (I am a Nataraja, didn't you know?), Soul Contracts would seem to qualify as hoarding items, and so should be weakened as well. Perhaps Death 3 or even Death 4 would be in good order?

Blofeld, you were the one who broke our NAP. See, my Astrologers cast themselves in the future, and had visions of Arcoscephale slaughter by your hordes. You therefore broke the spirit of the NAP (by wishing to destroy Arcoscephale), and we had to defend ourselves against your incoming invasion. Any claim that our breaking the NAP triggered your attack will be dismissed as being treacherous and anti-patriotic.

It looks like we are heading for "no random themes". There remains one question I forgot to ask however: do you want scores on, off, or something in between? For example, I could send the score file every three turns, and/or send the score files with a delay of a few turns (so you would get the scores for turn 2 on turn 5). Since I am playing in this game, I cannot make this information more vague however.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Water nations - No, if we are doing Inland. The four water provinces is not really enough to recruit your national mages and national troops as much as you may want in the mid-game. Don't forget that you can't recruit ambiphious troops in a land castle, other than that special weak infantry guy from R'lyeh shore provinces. I have never seen a water race do anything decent on the map Inland.

Soul Contracts - They are fine as is. With the horror mark they give, it can be problematic making them work well as there is a chance every turn that you may lose it. Also, on a fast map like Inland, you would be far better off getting the devils now instead of later. By the time the soul contracts begin to work for you, you may have already lost your capitol.

Zens Mods - Yes for pretenders. It might be best to avoid the spell mods since we have some newbies signed up for the game, though I don't really care either way.


I am kind of hoping I get Caelum so I can check out the Return of the Raptors theme! hehe

Panther

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I am in favor of graphs off with NO information provided other than what your own scouts report.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Welcome aboard Azhur! There is still one spot available, so you are in. We now have a full house, though Quantum Mechanic may join in if he wishes (we will be eleven if he joins, a nice figure).

You will have to download at least one mod (Zen Pretenders), and any other Zen mod we use. I will give a bit more information on that mod as soon as I am done updating the first post in the thread. Another mod will be sent in a mail (the home-brewn one for hoarding items). All the mods should be enabled while creating your Pretender: it is necessary while using a mod altering the Pretenders, and *may* be needed for the other mods (it will not hurt at any rate).

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I'd vote for Zen's spell mod, but like most of the options I don't feel that strongly about it.

Score graphs off sounds good. I'd say the element of the unknown makes the game more exciting.

Alneyan, should I PM (or otherwise send to you) my email? Also, you mention three email addresses in the first post but I only see the "message received one". Apologies in advance if I missed the other two.

One last thing. Random nations could very well mean a lot of us get nations we are not very familiar with. Which is great, but hopefully there will be a little extra time to test a pretender build before we start the game?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Well, it indeed looks like I forgot to put my mail addresses. They are alneyan[AT]fastmail[DOT]co.uk and alneyan[AT]dom2minions[DOT].com (replacing [AT] and [DOT] by @ and .) Please send a mail at either of these addresses, or drop me a PM to give me your own mail.

The dice will be cast soon, as all players are in. You will have at least a few days before the game starts, as there are still some settings to agree on, and the "uploading Pretenders" phase.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Yes, I will join. I figure this is a way to finally make use of the fact that I never stick to one nation in MP... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

I would vote for graphs on and mods on.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Hello,

I would prefer the following options

Random nations, theme can be chosen at will but must be announced.
No water nations for this map.

Increase the cost of all hoarding items/spells.
These are: clams, fetishes, sould contracts, vampires and
blood stones (just a little increase for stones)

I'd prefer to keep the mods otherwise at minimum.
Zen's pretender mod is however quite allright (doesn't change the feeling of the game).

Good luck with the dice to everyone!

Turms

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Well, the die was cast, for the better or the worse. Here are the nations you will all have the pleasure to lead:

- Azhur: C'tis
- Blofeld: Vanheim
- Oversway: Man
- Panther: Ermor
- Quantum_Mechanic:Mictlan
- Rabelais: Jotunheim
- Steerpike: Abysia
- TheBirthdayParty: T'ien Ch'i
- The_Tauren: Ulm
- Turms: Machaka
- Alneyan: Arcoscephale

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Ah Ermor! Very nice indeed, for I have never played that race. Only once in SP with Ashen Empire doing a 1 on 1 on a tiny map, and never in MP.

Since we are announcing themes, I will state that I am going Broken Empire for the following reasons:
1. They say it is a very bad theme, and I want to see for myself. After all, my son is winning in the King of the Hill game using BE, so it can't be all that bad. Either that, or he is just good at the game.
2. I won't be spreading death and decay into my neighbors like typical for the undead. On a small map, people usually try to destroy Ermor early to avoid their lands getting trashed by the starting 10 dominion of SG or AE. But Ermor with a growth scale like my son is doing? Very funny indeed!
3. I have never once even looked at the theme, so it will be cool to try something totally different.

Anyway, I will need time to make a pretender and test out some things. Can I ask for 48 hours to do this?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Ah, excellent indeed. I have been wanting to try out black forest, but havent had the guts http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Fantastic, I havn't played Abyssia before either, what luck!

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Panther => A certain Broken Empire player has indeed been doing well in the Hill game, though victory is not yet his. It is the last step that appears to be the hardest, but we shall see if he manages to snatch the crown. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif On a side note, Broken Empire has peculiar mages: they have halved upkeep, but cannot be blessed, but it does not appear anywhere in their description. Your son pointed it out in a thread a few weeks ago, so that may be old news for you.

Feel free to use a couple of days before sending in your Pretenders; in the meantime, there are still a few settings waiting for a clear answer (such as the rankings).

I have already played Arcoscephale in multiplayer, and I have done surprisingly... Let's just say I was crushed both times (though I stepped in as a replacing player in one of the two games). Third time is the charm, or so they say: I hope there is some grain of truth to it. If not... Well, look at me going down in flames. Literally.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Could someone tell me which map we are going to use and if it needs to be downloaded? Thanks. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Inland is the map suggested in the first post, and I believe it is a default map.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Nice... the only nation, which I have never figured out. It seems to be strong in MP, but I just don't get it how. Seen all tricks and tips about it though... still an interesting nation to have.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Well, well.
Vanheim - a powerhorse, they say. We'll see.
Now just to take a look at Zen's mod...

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Will we need the item mod before we can send in our pretender? Or will that not matter since the pretender will still be valid with or without that mod?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Is there anyway to prevent the game from starting until Sunday? It happens to be, that I'll be going on a cruise and return home on Sunday morning.

Btw. So what mods do I require for making my pretender?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

One of the great things about the lizards is that all three themes are excellent and near equal to each other (though highly different). This is maybe the only nation that this can be said about it.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

As for the pretenders, you MUST downlaod and instll the mods. If you use a pretender with insufficient points due to the mod, it will replace it with an arch mage with zero magic skills. Not a good thing at all.

The mod link is in the first post on this thread. Make sure it is enabled when creating your pretender.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

Right, I have zens pretender balance mod installed. But since the item - clam nerfing, etc. mod doesn't change pretender points, does it still have to be on when making the pretender?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

You do not need the item mods enabled when creating your Pretender. You must have the Pretenders mod enabled however: otherwise, you will either spend too many points or not all your points, and may trigger the cheat detection.

Waiting until Sunday is fine with me: I was planning on starting the game on Sunday or Monday.

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

I'm assuming we are using 2.15, right?

Re: PBEM game: Song of the Blade (open)
 

2.15 it will be; if another patch comes out during the course of the game, it will be put to the ballot.

The final points that were being discussed will be as follow:
- Themes will be announced publicly, either on this thread or when submitting Pretenders.
- Scores are off; if nobody objects to it, I will give the relative size of all the turn files. This can be an indicator of the degree of activity of all the nations, but tells nothing more (and it is information I will see as I am the host).
- Zen Pretenders mod will be enabled, and Clams, Fetishes and Bloodstones will be made more expensive. Contracts and Vampires will stay the same.

Feel free to start sending in your Pretenders; I am aiming at getting the game started on next Monday. My addresses can be found in the earliest post of the thread.