Boot Camp - Finished - Soyweiser/Jotunheim wins!
 

It seems we've had a number of new people joining the forum. A recent newbie game filled up in short order so I thought I'd see if there was enough interest for another. Looking for people with 0-3 games experience.

This is intended to be an intro to standard MP settings. This of course changes over time but I think the mods we are using here reflect the current state of MP play.

This will be a friendly game, hopefully there will be some discussion of how things are going as we progress (note: don't give away your strategies! :)), and if any of you have a talent for writing in-character posts are always welcome (I don't have a knack for it myself but I've read many engaging and funny posts).



Settings

Age: MA
Players: 8
Banned nations: water nations and Ashdod
Hosting: llamaserver - llamaserver FAQ is here
Hosting interval: 24 hours up to turn 20, 48 hours up to turn 40, 72 hours from then on
Mods: CBM 1.6 and EDM 1.1
Map: Parganos (dead seas version - this means you can conquer sea provinces but they will not provide gold/gem income)
Hall of Fame: 15
All other settings default

Note: Apparently PM's are turned off by default when you create your forum account. You'll want them on as this is a much quicker way to conduct diplomacy than the in-game message system.


Player Roster

Abysia - minko
Bandar Log - durecellrabbit
C'tis - Pjoo (originally Duncan_Frost)
Caelum - arnob
Jotunheim - Soyweiser
Marignon - Dragonrider
Pythium - Ragnars Wolves
Shinuyama - Groundworm

--------------------

Ok, the stuff above is the only thing you need to read. The rest of this is just something I wrote up in case it's helpful to a new player.



Conceptual Balance Mod

We will be using the CBM mod because it is used in most of the MP games that I am aware of. After you have played both CBM and vanilla, you may decide that you prefer vanilla. If so, no problem. The only "right" way to play the game is in a way that you find fun and, if it is MP, that you can get others to sign up for. These days you will have a smaller pool of players than a CBM game would but you shouldn't have a problem getting a game going (some players don't like CBM, others like both CBM and vanilla games). The main game type that I think would be difficult to fill is a large vanilla game (say, all nations in an era) because of the challenges of gem generators (clam of pearls, etc.) in such a situation.

So, if you're new to CBM what should you keep an eye out for? A lot of what CBM does is adjust prices in gems or gold in order to make under-utilized units more appealing. Perhaps the most popular, and easily noticeable, of CBM's changes has to do with pretenders. Most of the changes involve decreasing the cost of rarely used pretenders to make them more affordable (take a look at the various titan and human pretender chassis) . Occasionally pretenders are given abilities like summoning allies. However, in a few cases, underpriced pretenders have had their cost increased. So if you have been playing Pangaea or Sauromatia and choosing the gorgon pretender you'll notice quite an increase in cost under CBM.

Another area to keep an eye on is the gem cost of summons. Sadly, it is hard to justify spending the gems on many summons in a MP environment. Let me give an example. Let's say I'm playing Machaka. In the vanilla game I can summon a fire drake for 8 gems. That's a pretty steep price. In CBM I can summon them for 4 gems - much better! But then there's this Dragon Master spell. It let's me summon three drakes instead of one. That's great! Hmm, but it's Enchantment 8 and costs 30 gems. By the time I reach that how much of a factor will drakes be in the game? But wait a second, under CBM Dragon Master is only Ench. 3 (and only costs 5 gems to boot). My army of fire breathing drakes will be on the march in short order! Now this example is a bit different than most in that it involves two spells working together. But you will notice many price decreases on troop summons. Where you won't see them much is on thugs and SCs who, due to their power, don't need a drop in price.

As far as combat spells go look through the spell lists in-game. There can be differences in casting level, casting requirements, and effects compared to vanilla. Global spells can be very powerful and even game winning. They can also be kind of lame. So some them have had their level or costs increased and others the opposite (I still don't think the lame ones get cast much).

There are also a number of forging changes. Cleveland's item forging reference is a great way to see at a glance what forging costs/requirements are for both vanilla and CBM games.



Endgame Diversity Mod

The EDM adds a variety of thug and SC summons in the four elemental paths and nature. The goal is to provide alternatives to Tartarians in the late game. In case you're not familiar with "Tarts" the way it works is this: Tartarians are the only non-unique, non-national SC available. The catch is, most of them are feebleminded and the only way to heal them is to have forged (or wished for) the Chalice or to have cast Gift of Health. This means that at most two nations will be able to take full advantage of tarts. Oh yeah, they also provide you with tremendous magical diversity and they're cheap. So you can see why games so often fall into a pattern of Constr. 8 (for the Chalice), then Conj. 9 (pick up Well of Misery along the way at Conj. 8).

The EDM helps address this by providing alternative, non-unique SC options. Tarts still have an edge in price and, especially, magic diversity but the situation is much better than without the EDM.

Since an increasing number of games use the EDM mod (my guess is more than half) we will be using it as well.



Diplomacy

Normally I never say anything regarding diplomacy but since this is a newbie game and the Dominions community may be different than other games you've played I thought I'd mention it. Probably the most common diplomatic message in Dominions is "NAP 3?". This asks for a non aggression pact with 3 turns notice before launching an attack if either party decides to end the NAP. So, that's worth the virtual paper it's written on, right? Well ... not exactly. The reality is that the terms of diplomatic agreements are usually honored. Some people don't like this, feeling it makes games too static, but even many of them will say they've never violated a NAP. Why? Partly because there's consequences in the game in which you're involved. Usually such situations devolve into charges and counter-charges but if the rest of the players come to believe you did in fact violate a NAP they will view their own agreements with you as being suspect. They may also be less inclined to hesitate at violating their own NAP's with you.

Then there's the impact it can have in other games. I want to make it clear that carrying a grudge from one game to another is not acceptable. But there's another aspect to consider. Many Dominions players are very pragmatic and diplomacy is just another variable to consider. All other things being equal, if given a choice between dealing with a player they know sticks to agreements and one that they believe has violated an agreement, they will go with the former. It doesn't really matter if you were role-playing in the game in which you violated the NAP - you are still unreliable vs. the other player who is a known quantity.

Having said all that, even players who always honor NAPs will consider them void if you engage in certain actions. Burden of Time is a good example of a global that would be a cause for voiding a NAP immediately. Game winning globals such as Arcane Nexus and Forge of the Ancients would also qualify. Sneaking combat forces into the player's territory would also cause most players to consider a NAP void if they are discovered. Then too, some players who normally wouldn't violate a NAP say they will do so if they think it will win them the game - the stakes are then high enough to be worth it.

All that is by way of background as to the common practices in games I've been in. I never specify whether diplomacy is binding or not in games I admin and I won't do so here.

One last thing. Diplomacy is an important part of Dominions. Even the most tactically skilled player will fall under the weight of enough attackers. If that same player can use diplomacy to turn one or more attackers into neutral parties, or even allies, the equation changes considerably. But don't expect great results if the only effort you put into it was to agree to a NAP 3 a few dozen turns ago. Of course don't pester people non-stop either - then they might attack you just out of annoyance. :)

BTW, because diplomacy takes time and can lead to dogpiling many players will mix in no-diplomacy games. In these games you cannot have any contact with others players (no NAPs, no trade, etc.). Taken to a further level, a RAND game (Random Anonymous No Diplomacy) will conceal the identity of players by randomly assigning nations.

Ok, one other thing. When you end a NAP (or someone ends it with you) I would recommend specifying what turn attack orders can be given and when the battles will take place. Both players can have the intention of abiding by the terms of the NAP and through a misunderstanding one attacks earlier than the other expected. It's worth the effort to be on the same page.



"Things are going too slow, I'm going to join more games"

Don't. Really, think twice before you join more than 2-3 games. Turns can literally take a minute early on but if you enter a half dozen games and they enter the mid-game at the same time you will almost certainly regret it. If you have that many late games going on you'll be cursing yourself and looking for subs (or staling and abandoning games, which is poor form). Start with just a couple of games and get an idea how much time the mid and late game take. Once some of your games have progressed you can manage it so that you have, for instance, one late and one early game. But for now you are better off just signing up for a couple of games and exercising patience until they develop.

BTW, you can use the extra time you have now to test some of your strategies so that when the mid game arrives you have a plan of attack in mind. You can also try a duel with another player. These aren't to everyone's taste but they play quickly and with only two players it is easy to agree on house rules (for instance, a 10 turn NAP to begin the game in order avoid an immediate rush).

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

WOW, I'd love to but I have never played MA, even SP. I will watch this and if you decide to go EA or LA I will join and not quit on you.

Great concept, this would be my first MP game.:)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Can I please reserve a place for the player 'durecellrabbit' as Bandar Log. He is a new player on IRC who is waiting for his Shrapnel account to be activated.

TIA Valerius.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

I'm going to stick with MA because it is the most balanced and has the fewest unusual nations. If you have played EA or LA you shouldn't have a problem dealing with MA.

And actually you are exactly the audience this game is intended for. Think it over; there's a good chance a nation you've tried in EA/LA has an MA version.


Will do. Thanks for sending him over.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

OK, I read some guides and am ready to die an honorable death. In order to die an honorable death, I need to play a nation that....1. I know NOTHING about. 2. Is a reasonably complicated and somewhat weak nation so I will have no clue on WHAT to do with my troops, as they die easily. 3.Has a cool name that inspires TERROR into my opponents (since nothing else will).

On that note, if you will have me in my first MP game....I will take (drumroll) MA Pythium!!!! (Uhhhhh, BTW, a 10 turn Nap mandatory with me from everyone else would be a very nice and special welcoming gift).

Thank you kind sir....

Ragnar

I have noticed that I have the Paragos map but NOT the dead sea map. Could you possibly put a link to that map on the first page and perhaps the end-game diversity mod, or direct me to it. Thank you agian and thank you for the explanation of what to expect in the game, it will be a big help.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

heh. thats funny,

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Hello

I would love to join this MP game with Caelum - Reign of the Seraphim !

It's my second MP game

Arnob

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Hi, sounds like a great idea! I'm technically a new player (brought the game ages ago, only just reinstalled thanks to the excellent LP over on Something Awful) and I've only been in about one quarter of an MP game before - I'd like to sign up for this.

...It's kinda unfortunate that Bandar Log is already taken, since that's the only nation I'm any good with. :p

Could anyone suggest a nice replacement for a new player to try out on his almost-first MP game?

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

LOL, me too....

Check the Strategy Guides List, that is what I did. I also am playing a Nation I know zip about.

Be warned though, with these new mods I understand it is NOT like playing SP without them. Guess i'll find out soon enough.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Actually, after messing around in the Pretender screen for a bit, I've decided on MA C'tis. (if a veteran comes in and tells me this is an incredibly difficult nation to play then I'm happy to switch, of course :p)

I don't seem to have a Dead Seas version either.

The end-game diversity mod is in the first post, by the way. :)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Welcome to the game, everyone! On to the questions:

PriestyMan is right - Pythium certainly isn't a weak nation. But you are welcome to it - only the notorious Ashdod is banned for being overpowered (OP).

Here is a link to llamabeast's modified Parganos (I'll update the first post as well). Note that this doesn't have his preset start locations. This isn't a problem, though, as only the server needs to have them.

Hmm, similar to Bandar? Have you looked at Arcoscephale? Like Bandar, you can use elephants for expansion. You also have strong astral magic and risk-free mind hunting thanks to your recruitable healers. But unlike Bandar, you don't have a host of sacred summons and troops. Depends how you play Bandar. If you play them as a bless nation then Arco isn't a good substitute.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

MA C'tis is tricky because you always have to take into consideration your miasma dominion. Diplomatically people won't want to have their commanders and quality troops diseased in the process of attacking you but at the same time if your dominion starts to bleed into their territories they'll be unhappy. If you find excellent indie mages you'll have to find a place outside your dominion in order to avoid them being diseased.

Definitely check out the guides on this nation. Executor's has a good discussion on C'tis. And I'd run some test games and see how you feel about having to manage their dominion.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

I like the sound of this game. I'm currently in the middle of my second MP game, with my third about to start up this week. I've also never played a MP game with EGD.

If you'll have me, I'd love to claim Shinuyama.

Thanks for hosting a newb-friendly game!

Groundworm

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

I would also like to try. So far haven't really done that much MP. More a SP player.

And while I don't really like the removal of gem gens in cbm 1.6, I do like the settings of this game.

Sign me up for Jotunheim. (Why is Ashdod out and Jotunheim in? Both are strong giant nations imho).

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Yay, I can finally post, took longer than I expected. Just to confirm I'm durecellrabbit and I'd like Bandar Log please. Thanks for posting for me Calahan. I've been playing SP for about half a week and I'd like to try MP now.

Thanks for the detailed intro post Valerius, it was helpful.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

I'll throw my hat into the ring for this. Honestly, I'm probably a bit too green even for this most newbiest of games (I've been playing for all of a week or so), but I doubt there will be a better time to learn the basics of multiplayer any time soon so I'm not about to pass up the opportunity.

The problem is that most of my already-limited experience is in the Early Age. I think Pythium is the only Middle Age nation I've so much as touched, and of course they were taken during my 12-hour validation process. So I guess I'll go with...Arcoscephale, maybe? I don't know my astral magic from a hole in the ground, but they seem interesting enough (even though I'm pretty sure I like their Early Age version better). Or possibly Marignon, if I can figure out a good Pretender build that goes well with them (I have a strong tendency to lean towards Titan-type chassis that can act as at least pseudo-supercombatants, but Marignon is just begging for an Enchantress rainbow mage or whatever, which I'm not sure I know how to make good use of yet).

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Full, design pretenders
 

Welcome Groundworm, Soyweiser, durecellrabbit, DragonRider! The game is now full.

As much as possible I've tried to go with "standard" settings. So out of tradition Ashdod is out, Jotun is in (though I agree with you that Jotun is very strong). The toughest call was actually some of the globals that are frequently banned but I left them in.

Glad to hear that! :)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Full, design pretenders
 

Uh, actually we need one more player. Apparently I have to work on my counting skills. ;) Open for recruiting again.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Probably some of the players here are in the same boat. Since you'll keep learning about the game as it goes on the main thing to worry about now is expansion. The SP game is quite good for testing this. Start a test game with the pretender you have in mind and see how expansion goes. The faster your start, the better, but if it takes a few turns to get going and then all of a sudden you're taking 3 provinces a turn that can work pretty well. But if you've only got a handful of provinces at the end of the first year you won't have much room to expand since so many indie provinces will already have been claimed.

Marignon is a pretty good substitute for Pythium. Not as strong, but you have decent astral and the same angelic summons available. I don't think they need an awake SC to expand so I'd save the points and go with the rainbow (a light bless, especially N4, would be nice).

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Full, design pretenders
 

But EGD does make Jotun, or other giant nations, a bit weaker. The grendelkin kills any normal giant in one hit.

And Jotun has some problems in the endgame. (At least that is what I think, only good access to blood, no high death, nor high astral). Armageddon spam kinda ruins the nation. (as do utterdark and BoT of course).

--
And thanks for the large intro post too :), it is very helpful.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Full, design pretenders
 

The grendelkin is certainly a tank but keep in mind that giant nations can summon SCs like any other nation - they aren't limited to their recruitable ones. You can have your own grendelkin (summoned by indies, spectres or even your pretender). Then too, this is later in the game that those summons become available. And I'd still argue Jotun, in particular, is in a good position. Skratti can dish out tremendous damage, even more so if they can use a damage multiplying weapon like a herald lance (they can't against grendelkin, which is a big reason they are so tough). And then there's the always popular "attack one turn, cast Claws of Kokytos" script.

Those are valid points but I'd say much of a nation's endgame strength is based on what they did earlier in the game and that eventually everyone's endgame starts looking similar.

But I do agree with you that having decent astral on your pretender is important. I've had good results with a sleeping enchantress. As an aside, expansion is a breeze with just couple of light blesses (F, E, N come to mind) on Jotun's sacreds.

That's good to hear. When I was writing it I was wondering if it was just because I liked to hear myself "talking." :)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

The problem is that I don't really know what to do with a rainbow pretender. There's site searching, I guess, and of course casting rituals or forging items with the paths that your national mages can't use (i.e. pretty much all of them for Marignon), but I don't really know too much about which rituals are most worth casting. It's pretty clearly the best choice, though; the window of opportunity between getting Alteration 3 and pushing a Virtue/Titan/Lady of Love/whatever out the door and getting access to Harbingers who do the same job as well or better would be kind of narrow.

Really, my biggest weakness right now is that I don't think I site-search enough and I don't make enough use of the gems I do have, so I'm not sure if going for a rainbow pretender will force me to learn or just leave me with a pretender that I'm totally incapable of using correctly. If I can get past that, though, I think I'm leaning a bit more towards Marignon, if only because I can look at their troop lineup and have a reasonably clear idea of what I should be doing. Arcoscephale looks like more of a grab bag of random magic which, interesting as it is, would probably just confuse me at this point.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Ok, I see what you're saying. Well, I think you've got basic idea.

Here's what I think of with rainbows:

Site searching - Jump start your gem income, especially in paths your national mages can't. If you get lucky find useful indie mages or excellent magic sites (Conj. bonus, etc.).

Summoning - Summon mages that can take over the task of searching for paths your national/indie mages can't as well as provide magic diversity.

Forging - Especially forging boosters and unique items.

Spellcasting - One nice thing thing about rainbows is they are able to take advantage of what the game gives you. Not an earth nation but you've ended up with a very strong E income? Rainbow pretender can either cast Earth Blood Deep Well themselves or summon another mage and give them the boosters to do so.

Endgame magic - This isn't unique to rainbows but keep in mind what endgame spells you want to be able to cast, especially Wish, and make sure you have a plan to get there.

BTW, it's a good idea to have an endgame plan in mind. You can play the game like I do ("Haha! Check out my E9N6 Sidhe Lords! What? Endgame strategy? Uh ... I don't know... Hey, did I mention my cool raiders?!") or you can play like the better players and have an actual strategy in mind. ;)

One last thing: unless you get lucky with indie mages I find many times rainbows have more to do than there's time for and you have to prioritize (especially when you hit Constr. 8 and are racing to forge items before someone else takes them). Whenever possible summon other mages that you can delegate tasks to - the rainbow opens doors and handles spells and forging that summons can't.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

I think I'm just going to go ahead and commit to Marignon instead of Arcoscephale. I did a few test runs for the first year or two and it seemed to go well enough. Of course, that's just against the AI (I think Bandor Log wound up with a total of two territories in the most recent one, and I personally watched Caelum lose its army two or three times), but I have a general feel for things now.

I also learned some very important information. Like the fact that nine out of ten 60-year-old human fire mages will pretty much die of spontaneous combustion within a year and a half unless you take some growth scales, which narrows down my Pretender build quite a bit. Now it's just a matter of finalizing my paths and figuring out a research plan...

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting!
 

Ok, I switched you to Marignon.

Old age is a PITA. The only one of my favorite nations that has to deal with it is MA Aby and at least they have easy access to Boots of Youth (blood slaves are cheaper than gems). This works fine until someone decides to cast Burden of Time. :hurt:

So, growth scale is good, if you go with an N4 bless you can forge a Shroud of the Battle Saint to help minimize with afflictions and, if you find enchantresses, you can forge Elixirs of Life.

BTW, the first year is when SP most matches MP since you're just grabbing indies. If you're meeting your goal there then it sounds like you've got a solid expansion strategy.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting! 1 more player needed!
 

Id like to join if there is still room. I have one game under my belt (i got demolished in the first 10 turns and then kept on having two provinces full of PD :P) and 2 games that im currently still in.

When will the game start? I'd like a day or 2 to decide on a nation since I haven't played MA that much...

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting! 1 more player needed!
 

Need another player ? I just played MP stackers which is still running (but without me...)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Recruiting! 1 more player needed!
 

Minko it looks like you posted right before cwkjc. I just setup the game on the llamaserver. How about we aim for a Thursday start? Would that give you enough time?

Cwkjc, unfortunately this map is setup for 8 preset start locations - otherwise I'd just increase us to 9 players. How about if I add you as the first person on a wait list? I'm also thinking about starting another newbies game soon and I could already put you on the list for that.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Sure, Thursday is good for me (thinking about Ulm or Aby... i'll prolly decide/send the pretender wednesday). Sorry cwkjc :(

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Ok, sounds good.

A quick note to everyone that when you send your pretender to the llamaserver you'll want BootCamp in the subject line (no spaces between those two words).

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Ok for another newbie game, i'll check the forum later, good game !!!

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Pretender Send.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Sent my pretender in. :)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

It just occurred to me that I've been suggesting people take a look at strategy guides. That's a good idea but it's important to keep in mind that most of them were written before CBM 1.6 removed gem generators from the game (clams, bloodstones, fever fetishes) and may recommend focusing on them. So keep that in mind when planning your strategy.

Duncan_Frost you may have already realized this but in case you haven't, be careful what pretender you choose. C'tis has pretenders available that are not immune to its own miasma.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

@DragonRider - I wouldn't worry too much about not knowing how to use everything. I know what Thugs, SC and communions are, for example but all my attempt to use them have failed so far. Hopefully this game will provide the chance to get it right or see someone get it right and be able to learn from that for another game.

I got really confused about the clam economy a lot of guide mention and had to ask about them in IRC. Reminded me of Cottage Economy from Civ4 from some reason.


It's very early morning here so I'll send my pretender in after I wake up and do a quick test. I have a good idea about it but I want to quickly run through a SP game to make sure I'm not making any massive mistake like too low dominion.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Well, my Pretender is as ready as she's going to get. I should be good to go, assuming I understand Llamaserver correctly.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

I noticed that not all of you have private messaging enabled. Most diplomacy in dominions tends to be done either by: private messaging, email, and IRC. Private messages are not enabled by default, and if you want them allowed you'll have to go to your user cp, click options in the drop down menu, and that'll bring up the page with private messaging options on it.

Dragonrider... your name is familiar. Have you ever posted pictures of yourself involving a pole and a trenchcoat?

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Definitely agree with rdonj that in-game messaging is kind of a last resort. The two big drawbacks are that it is slow and there's no history of what you sent. The only thing I'd normally use it for are as a second form of communication to end a NAP or to get someone's attention if you think they aren't regularly checking their messages.

Regarding IRC, you'll notice durecellrabbit has already gotten help there. You'll find a lot of knowledgeable players there and this is probably the quickest way to get answers to questions and one advantage it has over a forum posting is that you can ask a question and not have it publicly posted for other players to see (rdonj can correct me if I'm wrong in this understanding).

So we have six pretenders in. I think we'll probably start Wed., worst case Thurs. if minko needs more time for testing. By default the llamaserver has a 48 hour hosting interval for the first turn in case any problems need to be worked out. After that we will be on 24 hour hosting until turn 20.

I'll try to check this thread as close to hosting as possible in case there are delay requests but of course if you think you need more time the earlier you can post the request, the better.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

This is certainly true, yes. I haven't been on IRC very much lately so I'm not sure who all is likely to be around during the days, but there's almost always some very good players on who should be able to answer anything other than a finalgenesis question pretty casually. That channel idles a lot though, so it may take a few minutes for someone to notice you showing up.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Y'know, I completely forgot that. The poison-immunity ring (Snake Ring?) would prevent that, right?

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

No, it won't. IIRC swamp survival is the key thing (or being undead, demon, and I think lifeless).

Edit (from Executor's guide):

"Although MA C’tis has a variety of pretender to choose, half of them are useless.
They can only use lifeless, cold blooded and swamp survival pretenders."

So it looks like the cold blooded tag will also protect you. But I'd run a test to make sure. Also, undead and demon should be fine as well.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Pretender sent. I'll be playing Abysia

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Ok, I've updated the player roster. Durecellrabbit's pretender will be ready in a few hours so we'll be on the way shortly.

Duncan_Frost can you let me know when you've had a chance to revise your pretender? I turned off the autostart feature so the game wouldn't begin before you had a chance to resend your pretender.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Alright, I'll do that now! Thanks for the heads up, it would have been pretty embarrassing to have my Great Sage die of disease four turns after I got him... :p

edit: Sent and confirmed, I'm all ready now :)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

I've sent mine in. Is there anyway to check I sent the right one in? The naming scheme for these doesn't make it easy.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

The best way would be to delete all your presaved pretenders and create a new one. But they're numbered in order of creation, so the highest number is the most recent pretender. There's also a program called catgod that should do that but I've never used it.

By the way valerius, I think you're doing an excellent job as admin of this game. I don't think I've ever seen an admin do a better job of starting a newbie game up than you're doing here. Keep up the good work :)

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

I deleted all the pretenders, remade and resent my pretender. Ready to go.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

I've found catgod to be quite useful (link). I'll sometimes run it on all my pretenders to check out previous builds (because I've tried so many different variations of an E9N6 bless :)).

Thanks! Thanks also for helping out with questions. I'll also mention that all vets reading this are welcome to participate in discussions as the game progresses if you see a question in an area of interest to you.


And without further ado, the game has begun! Good luck and have fun!

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

That sounds...vague. And disturbing. But no, I've never posted pictures of myself in any context.

PMing should be enabled for me now, by the way. I meant to do it immediately after making my account, but you can't access the options screen until the account is verified, and after the twelve hours that took I had forgotten.

Re: Boot Camp - Newbie intro to Dominions MP - Send pretenders!
 

Sorry, I was being purposely vague so as not to give either of us away if it turned out I did know you. But I guess not!