[PvK]

Originally posted by Borg:
Fact : we all play in our own distinctive way.
But what is that way ?
How different or how similar do we play compared to the others ?

Let's focus on Research Management as this is obviously one of the more important aspects of the game.

- Is there a certain "Research Rate" that you like to maintain throughout the game ? How many RP's are you gunning for per turn ?

- Do you sometimes interrupt that research ? For shorter or longer periods ? Or do you maintain research at all times ?

- When you forge items. Do you appoint one or several mages to forge continually or do you sometimes forge 4, 5, 6 items at the same time - so you can fully equip one of your Commanders right away ?

- Is there maybe a certain Research level where you stop researching and go on the offensive, because you can cast all the spells you're looking for ?

- Do you have special tips on research which you think other people haven't thought about or might find very usefull ?

In other words, I'd really like to hear how you approach and manage Research.

Thanks very much.

To answer the original questions:

I don't focus on research rate goals. If graphs are on, though, I do keep an eye on others' progress, and sometimes respond to that, one way or another.

I do interrupt research to do things. The point of research is to be able to do things, unless the victory conditions are set to research, which I've never played.

Again with forging, I usually forge things for a reason, and look at what mages can forge what, frequently shuffling around who does what. Rarely do I have people continually forging the same things unless I'm Ulm or hit on something I have a reason to mass-produce. Sometimes I do try to make a full kit for a commander all at once.

Yes, I do sometimes stop researching because I have learned the magic I need to do something, and want to use the mages who were researching, to go do it.

I rarely go all-out for research, and I see there are some people who do and are better at maximizing it than I am. However I do keep my mages busy with other tasks, and it depends which nation I am leading, what's going on, and what I'm trying to do.

Often, particularly as Ulm, I will have cheapo mages doing research (e.g. Revenants), loaded with items. Rule of thumb is that if my mages have something effective they can do, that can't be done by the army or someone else, they're better doing that than just researching. A counterpoint is that sometimes if everyone researches, they can develop some very useful new tricks.

PvK