How many sites is dom III played on?
 

It would be interesting to know how many sites like this Dom III mp games are played on. Before Katrina wiped it out, there was a site in New Orleans where many locals gathered(not literally) and played mp games.

I was a member of that service for years, and we played many other games against each other. It had about 50 members.

In fact, after a time, many of us started meeting socially-not what you think(at least not all of the time).
Typically just breakfast on Sundays, etc.

But I played all of my dom II mp games there, blissfully unaware this site even existed(or had zero interest in it).

I would be curious to know how many other cities have 4x clubs that may have a very solid core of dom III players. Anyone know of any?

The advantages of local sites are you can meet other players for coffee etc. But the huge advantage here, of which i was unaware, is that the game developers are active on the site.
And your ideas can reach an ear that can actually implement them if they are good.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

You could also break it down by language. I am sure there are several "international groups", meaning NorthAm and Finns, for starters, and therefore at least two sets of forums running concurrently.

I am always a little surprised to find folks playing games like this "outside" the regular forums, especially when it is an independent game.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

The New Orleans site was not devoted to just dom II though, several space games, and other games were played as well. I think one of the 1st was VGA Planets, which i am quite sure no one here has heard of. We started playing that with 8 players back in early 90's.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I've heard of VGA Planets. In fact I'm quite sure lots of people here have! I even played it a bit single player, but I don't remember that working very well. I didn't know anyone I could get to play it with me.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Llama, how old would you have been in the early 90's? Or is that game still around? I thought it was a small market thing,
which was not too widely known.

Actually I have not even thought about that game in over 10 years until I thought back to the 1st mp game i was in with folks from the New Orleans site. About all i can remember was i liked the crystal race and drove people nuts with mine fields of immense proportions.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I'd think VGA Planets is the "classic" game of this kind, at least within certain age group. I remember Dominions: PPP was introduced to me as "like VGA Planets, but medieval and with magic". That didn't tell me a lot since I had avoided the VGA craze many of my friends had succumbed to, but I tried Doms anyway.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I actually ran a bbs and the VGA Planets games were the top attraction. Most people dialed in just to leave messages about it or get their turns.

(Privateers ftw!)

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Never played VGA Planets, though in retrospect it is probably only due to the fact that I wasn't exposed to it or I would have.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I stand corrected. The type of players that dom III attracts are indeed the same type of players that would have liked vga planets 15 years ago.

But I bet the average 18 year old kid that loves computer games today has never heard of VGA planets. Most of the kids that age i know like more action packed games, or the huge online games like wow.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I was quite young, and I never really worked out what was going on. But it seemed exciting!

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Yeah, but the same can be said at any point in history for stuff of this sort. Most kids don't play chess or Risk. They'd rather watch American Idol and play Halo.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Xietor, if you are looking for VGA planets players, you are at the right place.
Many of us are over 35, and have been strategy players for a long time.
There was a time where VGA planets and NetTrek were conspiring to prevent
me from finishing my MEng. They failed, but it was a close thing :-)

Oh, and there used to be at least two very popular French Dominions II sites.
I have not been there for ages, but I am about to check them out. Thanks
for reminding me.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

VGA Planets 4 is out in open beta. I suspect it will stay that way, never quite be released. They keep adding to it. Its already to the point that the game options would fill a fat book. I pre-purchased VGAP4 in 2001 and still havent received a real copy of it. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif There is a newsgroup for it where the ongoing development and setting up games happens.

As for Dom3 server sites, there 6 servers listed in the server thread that is stickied at the top of the MP subforum.

Then there are the games played the the Strategy newsgroup.

And the IRC Channel.

Then there is the After3 (something like that) site that is a developers hangout and there are games being played there.

There was supposed to be some live-voice channels setup for games but I dont think there was ever an agreement on what program to use.

I suspect that the FaceBook group for Dom3 will start setting up games. I wouldnt be surprised to see groups form on MyPlace, Squidoo, MeetUp, and even HotorNot.

(tracking such things is part of what I do)
Gandalf Parker

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

"Yeah, but the same can be said at any point in history for stuff of this sort. Most kids don't play chess or Risk."

Wrong! I loved Risk, and all of the Avalon Hill Strategy War games. And I was the number one board on my high school chess team. Luckily, I was also a 3 year starter in football in high school, and quite ornery enough that no one gave me any grief over being on the Chess Team. And hey, I was an average kid!

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Facebook group for Dom3? I can only find a 2-member dom2 group.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

What is facebook? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Its a site where people give details of there entire lives, so unscrupulous individuals and gangs can rip them off in the real world. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/Sick.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif(sick joke)

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I'm 23. I've never played VGA planets. But I've heard of it.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Its basically a MySpace which started out as being restricted to college students. Now its more wide open but not all that impressive.

I also wouldnt mind seeing a something done in SecondLife. (Thats a 3D graphical version of a MOO/MUSH with some interesting entrepeneur twists. Kindof an open build-your-own RPG world. I am predicting alot of future interest in that.)

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I think you meant myspace, not myplace. I have heard of myspace, but for the life of me cannot figure out why anyone would want to post their personal information on the internet.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Really? Is it that you feel there are disadvantages? Or you really cant understand why someone would want to talk about themselves online?

Personally, just about everything legally available about me has been part of internet since it was created. You can even do a "whois" on me in the internet database. Usually thats just for domain info but in the early days it included personal info also. I keep mine up to date because its kinda cool to be in there. Thats where my login of GP1628 came from. Its my internic registry and will give you my full name, home address, phone number, and statistical data on my internet involvement. Thats not to mention half a dozen personal blogs, and old sites with things like my resume, another with my military history, one with my family, and a hacker-tracker site that lists me as white-hat NetCop. Googling me used to come up with 37,000 seperate web pages altho they trimmed their database so its much less now.

And thanks, yes I mant MySpace
Gandalf Parker

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Gandalf(we are getting way ot, but wth).

i do not mind posting on my old wow guild website pictures of myself, or to a "known" audience. And most people that post here are likely "ok" as not many idiots like strategy games that require thinking.

But why would i want to make things easier for a hacker, id theft, serial murderer(not me and even at 47 would be no easy meat), but females are especially vulnerable to such things, and there is a great risk of sexual predators for the under 16 children.

So what possible good could outweigh the negatives of having your public information posted online? Especially for females and children. Maybe in Europe things are not a concern, but in New Orleans they are. In one recent month we had more people murdered in our city than our armed forces lost in Iraq.

National Missing Children's Day, 2003
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

"On National Missing Children's Day, we join with families, law enforcement officials, and child advocates to highlight our commitment to stopping the abduction and exploitation of children. During this year's observance, we celebrate the progress we have made in safeguarding children, and we renew our dedication to protecting our most vulnerable citizens and our most valuable resources.

The Department of Justice estimates that more than 50,000 children will be victims of nonfamily abductions each year...."

Fifty thousand children abducted each year in the US-and many meet unbelievable fates. Myspace recently published that there were 39,000 known sexual predators as registered members, and those were known only because they use their real names in registering. The more clever ones the company stated could be more than double that.

Why paint targets on your kids for these creeps? What purpose can it possibly serve that outweighs the risk? And the risk is death or rape.

Now obviously these same risks do not apply to me, or most men. But you see my point? I see no redeeming value in myspace and other such sites at all.

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Just to show you I am not a social recluse, here is a picture of me in a rural area I retreated to after Katrina. No home, no internet, no phone. But I did buy some new artillery, and honed my skills before returning to my beloved city. The way things looked on the news, I wanted to be prepared for the worst. Hopefully posting this picture of myself will not encourage anyone to rob me(:

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/6...tgun5vy.th.jpg

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

I said "most kids". Obviously if you were worried about getting beaten up by being on the Chess Team, you've proven my point. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

Same argument (pros and cons) as why go to bars, or why let my children play on playgrounds, or just plain why go outside at all. Being social has its good and bad points. Thats true whether its real world or virtual one.

As a NetCop I continually warn parents about Internet. But I basically say to treat it the same as you do the real world. The same basic rules work just as well in both.

Gandalf Parker
--
And the computer guru says "Google thyself".
It was then that we were told "For to google thyself is to know thyself,
and to see thyself as others see you". Now available as a shirt at
http://www.cafepress.com/oddthotz.40658864?pid=2837642

Re: How many sites is dom III played on?
 

VGA Planets 4 is at least as active as Dominions 3 currently. There's even an actually programmer working on it now.

I wish there was a dom.drewhead.org http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif