The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [Year 4, 8/12 remaining]
 

Edit: I forgot to mention; please give 2-3 days notice if you need to go absent/quit for attempts to find replacements.

What is meant by new player friendly: This game is not exclusively for new players (though I am one, and I expect there will be more). What is recommended is that new players take supposedly "stronger" nations and the most experienced players take supposedly "weaker" nations, or try something new.

Also, I think a fairness in this sort of game would be for new players, once defeated, to be able to request explanations of why people did things certain ways (IE, hold questions until you're out, then PM questions to your victor, to get some learnings). This game is all about having fun and improving, for newer players and vets alike. People should generally disclose their experience with their nation pick.

The specs:

Host:: PBEM Llamaserver.
Age: MA
Map: Primea [13 per playerish]
How Often on Turns: 24 hours quickhost to turn 20 (or requests), 48 hours from there, slow to 72 hours late game if necessary.
Number of Players: 12
Mods: Most new players struggle with the systems mastery required for dominions 3. Changing it up with any mod that does not have a completely accurate changelog amounts to adding a second level of systems mastery, making this harder for new players.
Non-Standard Settings: Special sites at 45%, Hall of Fame entries 15, Renaming is allowed.
Victory Conditions: Last one standing
Diplomacy Policy: None; do as you wish, keeping in mind consequences in future games, as well as later in that game (if you stab someone early, any alliance later in that game is likely to prove less trustworthy). Trades should be fulfilled
Cheesy Tricks: New players won't know them and won't be ready for them. This is things like sending 50 bad items to someone right as they put up forge of the ancients to make them waste gems, using scouts to constantly siege someone's fortress, and there are probably a few others I historically read about but have since forgotten.

My race: Ashdod. Note that this is my first MP game, so there may be things that I am just figuring out in terms of hosting. I have read this forum a fair bit.

Hope this sounds good and that I haven't forgotten anything.

1: 3V4JKZ2 : Ashdod : First Multiplayer. Eliminated
2: Samoht: Ermor: First multiplayer
3: Blubbernaught: Abyssia : First Multiplayer
4: Ragnarok-X: Pythium : First multiplayer
5: Nightfall: Mictlan: A few Games
6: Legowarrior: Agartha : A Few Games
7: Pavonis: Arcoscephale: A few games
8: kennoseishin: T'ien Ch'i: A few games
9: Wendigo_Reloaded: R'lyeh: Experienced but rusty
10: Korwin: Bander Log : Experienced, not expert
11: Ossa: Man: Eperienced, not expert. --- Eliminated
12: Executor: C`tis: Extra Experienced

Game link is here


Map is here

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [1/16 recruiti
 

I want to try Arcoscephale! I've only played a few games so am quite the nooby.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [2/8 recruitin
 

Dealsies. And I edited the title to show the minimum (8) rather than max (16), since it seems this game isn't getting too much attention.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [2/8 recruitin
 

MA Vanilla? I want another try with Bandar Log. So far I got crushed pretty fast with them...

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [3/8 recruitin
 

Sounds good. I'm guessing on the 400 posts and the (or so I've heard) historically weak nation that you've played a few games previously?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [3/8 recruitin
 

I would count me in the intermediate camp, loong way from expert Player (probably to lazy for that anyway)...

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [3/8 recruitin
 

I'd enjoy a game without CBM for once. It's been a long time since I played vanilla, if you'll have me that is.
As for the nation, not sure what you personally consider a weaker nation in MA, C'tis? Man? Arco?
I'll take anything really, no preferences.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [3/8 recruitin
 

Same here - I'd like to join, but I'm rather experienced (though not good at all;) ). Just assign me any nation of your choice.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [3/8 recruitin
 

ordered the game. having it shipped. truly a newbie, tho i have played the demo a bit. how long till this kicks off? i guess i'd like to take ulm(harder to get killed immediately).

if im too much of a newbie, i understand.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [3/8 recruitin
 

Ulm is really, really bad. I would advise against it.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [5/8 recruitin
 

Parone: Korwin is right that Ulm is quite weak. You might want to consider a "Giant" nation. I'm hoping this game will get going in 1-3 days; can you get on presently?

Ossa: I gave you man based on Executor's list, though if you'd like something else.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [5/8 recruitin
 

Sounds interesting. It's been quite a while since I've played, but I think I'll give T'ien Ch'i another shot.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [5/8 recruitin
 

done think ill have the game by then. have to catch u next time

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [5/8 recruitin
 

No worries man, and good luck; hope you enjoy it.

@kennoseishin: Got it

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [6/8 recruitin
 

Oh yeah, and this'll be just my third multiplayer, though I don't think that changes anything.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [6/8 recruitin
 

I've never played multiplayer before. Could I be Ermor?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [6/8 recruitin
 

I'm a multiplayer virgin myself, but have been wanting to start. Abyssia looks good.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [6/8 recruitin
 

Ulm has trouble with magic + gems since they can only search 2 Earth- 1 Fire. Maybe taking a pretender mage with all paths would help?

But yeah, I call Arco. It might not be the best choice for a beginner but I have some ideas on what to do.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, new player friendly, no mods [6/8 recruitin
 

Alright, so we're at 8; want to give it 1 more day, see who trickles in, and then get pretender submissions and map suggestions going?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [8, open 24 hours for mo
 

Greetings,
I am a veteran from the times of Dominions PPP, but have barely played Dom3, and in fact been away since roughly 2007, so what knowledge I had is mostly outdated or forgotten, tho I might still be able to pull a couple tricks.

Feeling the itch to get back into the game, and a vainilla one would great for this. I have trouble enough handling the new nations to add also mods on top.

Are sea nations ok? If yes, playing R'lyeh again after so long would be nice.

If otherwise, not sure. Maybe Vanheim?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [8, open 24 hours for mo
 

I'm brand new multiplayer, and I've only really played CBM recently. I liked to try either the Agartha or Shinuyama, depending on which be easier to handle for a newb.

I think I have a slight preference for the Shinuyama though.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [8, open 24 hours for mo
 

Battle for Wesnoth avatar! I'll think I'll have to get reacquainted with that game soon. Don't know why but that reminded me of plants vs zombies too...

I'm probably a bit more experienced than "experienced". Just though I'd get it out there before anyone implies I'm trying to mislead or join a newb game.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [10, open 12 hours for m
 

Can i still join ? I have plenty of SP experience butno multi. Can we use latest cbm ?

EDIT: Pythium, please.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [10, open 12 hours for m
 

Lego, Wendigo, I got you guys.

I just remembered one of those things that I should have thought to mention:
Edit: I forgot to mention; please give 2-3 days notice if you need to go absent/quit for attempts to find replacements.

Also, Wendigo, I gave you R'lyeh; It looks like we'll be finishing with 10-12 players. Can I get map suggestions for my creation this evening?

Also, could I ask the vets (Wendigo, Korwin, Ossa, Executor) to comment on R'lyeh as the only sea nation? I think that might have implications, but I'm not sure what they are.

In timeline; it looks like game up tonight at 11:00 PM PST, pretender submission, with first turn on Thursday or Friday...unless I screw something up in game creation.

10-12 people means 100-120 territories small, 150-180 medium. I'm not really friendly to considering "large".

That means 100-180. I am going over Llama's list, and removing the ones with insufficient land starts or too many sea starts (I have figured that giving R'yleh 30 provinces of sea is iffy :p ) It's possible I removed something good from the list due to short-sightedness. Apologies if I did.

So, organized by size:

Section 1: 100-121
Three Lake: 92 land, 12 sea (104, small)
Aran: 96 land, 11 sea (107, small)
Random map: Dark Paradise: 104 land, 16 sea (120, small)
Ilzgot: 104 land, 16 sea (120, small)
Random Map: Hellscape: 105 land, 15 sea (120, small)
Mines and Farms: 105 land + 16 sea. (121, small)

Section 2: 121-150
The Desert Eye: 108 land, 17 sea (125, small-medium)
Random Wraparound: Tiny_000, the middle one (the other two would be hostile to a water nation); 110 land + 15 sea. (125, small-medium)
Shadowshore: 120 land + 13 sea (133, small-medium)
Parganos (or fixed?): 116 land + 19 sea. (135, small-medium)
Random Map: Hieronica: 131 land + 19 sea (150, medium)

Section 3: 150+
Map for Old Kings: 135 land + 18 sea (153, medium)
Primea: 147 land, 9 sea (156, medium)
The Land of Loemendor: 142 land, 15 sea (157, medium) (The unmodified version)
Random map: Etruscae: 158 land, 22 sea (180, medium)
Urraparrand: 145 land, 35 sea, broken up. (180, medium)
ShariversomfixLlama: 168 land, 12 sea (180, medium)

So, looking for strong opinions/preferences from people (including the newer people), though I'm generally against going really large (more than 15-16 provinces per person)

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [10, open 12 hours for m
 

Ragnarok-X, you're welcome to join, but there will be no CBM.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [10, open 12 hours for m
 

Since most of us are noobs to MP, i would vote for less provs per player.
im in.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8+ players, new player friendly, [10, open 12 hours for m
 

I love R'ley (my only real win, was with R'ley, I sort of won another one with Vanheim (last man standing), but only because the strongest nations went AI).
It's a very strong nation (IMHO).
A second water nation would be really good to balance R'ley.


Maybe someone (not me) would be willing to play Oceania (It's a really weak nation, well its good at clamming, but thats all...) or Atlantis?

If we went with only one water nation, I would vote for very few water provinces, so R'ley would need to get and keep land...

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Whatever, if Wendigo hasn't played in 5 years, giving him R`ley alone should be fine if we go for fewer water provinces.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Can I switch to the Agartha. I just realized how annoyingly slow it is to start with the Shinoyama. I might be able to do it with against the computer, but I don't think I can against human.
Sorry about the last minute switch.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

No trouble whatsoever.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Also, when it comes to maps, as the Agartha, I am aware that border mountains are awesome, but I would like a map with regular mountains, since Cave Cities can't be built on border mountains.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

How can I tell the difference between border mountains/regular mountains on the map images?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

You can't with out clicking on the province. If the map has prominent mountains at the edge of the province, it is mostly like border mountains, but most map makers that use border mountains in random map making, go through, and change some of the provinces by hand to mountain provinces, or have both border and mountain provinces. It's not the end of the world either way. I'm here to have fun, I've never done multiplayer before, so, I'm not even sure to to turn in my pretender or my turns yet.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Cool story. I'm here to dominate and MAKE GROWN MEN CRY! YEEEAAAAHHHHH!

*cough* um...

But seriously, as far as map suggestions, the only one I have echoes what somebody else already mentioned. Considering most of us are new to multiplayer/rusty, I'd be partial to a map on the smaller end of the scale. Most of my games, SP, have been maps with only a relative handful of provinces.

But I'm going to have to hop onto the IRC sometime tonight so I can have somebody walk me through how playing on the llamaserver works.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

I am fine with less water provinces (say, a 70-80% of the land provinces/land nations?), or with a 2nd water nation, whatever you guys prefer.

Seas can also be split to make the early game more challenging (so long as I do not get a single sea start surrounded by land, I am fine with that too).

I would suggest 8-12 provinces/player, with more the game might die prematurely.

...
Wesnoth is one of those games you keep going back to, pretty much like Dominions, did not even remember the avatar I had.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

I found this to look pretty helpful. LlamaServer FAQ

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

I'd vote for Three Lake or Hellscape, since we've only got one water nation. My last game was on Ilzgot with a single water power, and I'd prefer to avoid a repeat of that 16 province turtling -.-;

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

if u guys haven't kicked off in a day or two and i get my hard copy can i join in? i'd still like to be ulm(when i get crushed, i can pretend it's cus i took a weak nation)

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Hey guys, mind if I toss my hat into the ring as Mictlan, this will be game number 7 for me.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Threelake is a little small for 12 players isn't? What about Cradle of Dominion? 221 Provinces, 22 of which are sea bound.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA, 8-16 players, [11 atm, open to 11pm PST or 16 players max
 

Lego, that's 18 per player, which is huge. We're generally looking at 10-12ish I think, which is small-medium.

@Parone: Looks like you'll be too slow on this one, but there will be other games.
@Nightfall: Mictlan it is

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

I'd like to suggest the short list of:

Hellscape: 105 land + 15 sea (120, small-medium) (10 per person), sea is broken up
Shadowshore: 120 land + 13 sea (133, small-medium) (~11 per person), sea is around edges.

This is based on the 10 provinces per player "small game", and things without strong sea advantages.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

I like the look of Shadowshore, but it's maybe a tough map for Wendigo_Reloaded.

I think Primea is a good size too at 147+9 or 13 per person.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

If I may also make a small suggestion to make diplomacy a little more newbie friendly; All trades must be honoured.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

Primea and Map of Old Kings look nice to me.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Primea

About Shadowshore, I disagree (I won on that map with R'leyh) :D
Yes, he may have a slight Dominion problem, but the up side is a huge mobility.

I vote Primea or Hellscape.

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

I could do Primea

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

We've got 5 support for Primea (including me), so that's sufficient. I'll be creating the game in about an hour, pretender submission today, turn one tomorrow, hopefully.

@Nightfall: I think all trades being honoured is a general rule of thumb. Vets, have you experienced a game where it was considered acceptable to not fulfill your end of a trade?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

What is the official game name going to be?

Re: The Ascension Wars: MA,12 players, no mods, newb friendly. [closed, choosing map]
 

Someone please post a small tutorial on how i can join the actual game. thanks.