OK, I guess it will be a no ruins game, though I kinda like racing with others towards ruins planets.
quote:
Originally posted by Rollo:
I have noticed that the Yvelon Republic led by Shounjo is using the same shipset as I do. To avoid confusion I will add a "(SV)" for Space Vikings to all my ship classes. I will also use the Scandinavian names most of the time. So, if you see something like "Alesund (SV) class", that ship should be mine (unless having been boarded or converted, of course 
).
I suggest that Shounjo will also add a "YR" for Yvelon Republic (or something like it) to his ship classes just to make sure.
I think that is a very good idea.
quote:
Originally posted by Rollo:
Just for the record, I live in the central European time zone (Berlin, GMT+1). What time zones are you guys living in?
The time zones are all listed in every email you get with a turn, although it won't show who is who. We have some Americans, a German and a Japanese player in Spiralus.
[QUOTE
I think we should set up a few house rules (code of honor, whatever...). Here are my proposals:
1. Diplomatic contact outside the game via email is allowed (and even encouraged).
2. The use of another players password (should it be known) is strictly prohibited unless approved by that player (I guess, that goes without saying...).
3. Since some players (myself included) are in multiple games, "cross trading" should not be allowed. What I mean with that is deals like: "Heh, xyz, if you give me Mines in Junkyard, I'll give you Fighters in Spiralus". While this cannot be controlled, it should be considered bad behavior and frowned upon 
.
Any comments/additions/suggestions/applause?
[/quote]
1) Definitely encouraged.
2) Of course, prohibited. But as far as I know every empire file has a password on it. If you forgot to include one, and are logging on with blank passwords, you can change this within the game under Empire Options.
3) I would definitely frown on such behavior.
I am glad you like my suggested map. The map will have several clusters of systems which are only connected by one line.
As for ancient quadrant type: I never use it, so remind me , how does that affect things? I seem to recall someone saying it gives you way too many black holes and asteroid fields...
As for number of players, I'm not so sure anymore if I'd like more than 10. I'm now thinking it is not so much the number of players which holds up a game, but the timezones they are in. Maybe 7-8 is better, depending on where they are from.
For example, in Spiralus I am already noticing the following: when a new turn becomes available it is usually afternoon or evening for us in America (not necessarily Americans). We here usually upload our turns within 1-2 hours after the turn is available. Then we wait until around 10 PM EST for Shoujo to get to his PC and send in his turn, but then it's 4 AM in Germany and it'll take another 4-5 hours for Rollo to be able to get his turn in. (I think he does it right before going to work/school or does it first thing when he gets there, judging by log timestamps). Then the next turn gets processed (3 AM in the US) and for some reason y'all in the US are nightowls like me cause you all upload immediately, even in the middle of the night. But then we're back to waiting for Japan...
I considered making a game that's restricted to all-American or all-European players, but decided that would not be fair. Also because I like everyone in the Spiralus game and would rather have somewhat slower turns with good diplomatic interactions than fast turns with unknown players which perhaps don't interact as well.
One tip, though this probably goes without saying: if you see that you are the Last person to upload, and you have a limited time-window to play in each day, please send in two back-to-back turns.