aar details to be determined

[condors]

i am looking to learn how to play something besides ulm or ermor. I will be doing an aar on this. Hopefully it will shed some light on this game for myself and other new players. What race would you be interested in seeing how a newbie handles them? Please include pretender scales suggestions and why. I will be starting this in about 3 hours(hopefully). Also advice on aar writing would be very helpfull.

[Arryn]

Since you have ruled out Ulm, may I suggest Man, Pythium, or Pangaea? Or if you are adventurous, R'lyeh.

With regards to AAR-writing, I know you've been reading mine, so ... keep reading.

[condors]

i didn't want to go ulm(because i play game after game with them) or ermor(i have mopped up everytime i played with them). I also expect to lose this game but hopefully will get insight on where i went wrong.

[Gandalf Parker]

Rlyeh would generate too many opinion/arguments I think. Arcos has a high learning curve and covers just about everything in the game. Marignon is alot of run and Im not sure if its been covered yet. Caelum would be interesting but its buggy until the next release. Abyssia hasnt been done.

Don't so casually overlook Machaka, just because the white devil has imprisoned your MIND!

~Malcom Z

[Targa]

With no offense intended to Arryn, I find AStott's writeup:
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...;f=74;t=001153
much more informative and captivating. I find Arryn's writing style too "poetic" or something. Most of the time I find myself saying something like, "Huh? Was that a turn or not?"

For example:

In light of my success in driving back the forces of Pythium, I feel that the Fates will be receptive to my request for one of Lit's sister Norna to join me, so I command that the appropriate gifts and celebration be prepared. I also command that one more Jotun Spearman be readied for the siege of the Pythium citadel. These preparations drain the treasury of 250 coins, and I defer bolstering provincial defenses, preferring to wait and see how Pythium reacts to his successive defeats.

Could have been phrased as:
"This turn, I queue 1 Norna and 1 Jotun Spearman for recruitment, which leaves my treasury at 250 gold. I defer investing this in province defense, as I want to see how Pythium reacts to his successive defeats."

Obviously there are others who are thoroughly enjoying Arryn's AAR, so this is just a matter of personal preference. I myself prefer something a bit less archaic/cryptic/melodramatic and more straightforward. I gave up on following that AAR after the first couple of Posts.

Another example:

Bdvar reports that the faithful in Saeborea have declined to just 10% of the populace. How fickle these mortals are, that they should forget me so soon. I decide to leave the scout in place for a fourth consecutive month.

Huh? How can you know that 10% of the people are faithful? What does leaving a scout in the province have to do with your dominion level? Completely lost me on that one. How does "10% faithful" translate into "dominion"? Is your dominion 1 in that province, and 10 in your home province? And no, I'm not asking for a translation of "Arryn's terminology". Would I be correct in saying that this could be paraphrased as, "My dominion in Saeborea is declining, so I'm leaving my scout there"? It doesn't seem to be very "newbie-friendly". Maybe more experienced players have no problem following along, but it just gives me a headache.

My advice on writing an AAR is this: Make it clear and concise. Write not only what you do, but why you do it (ie: what's going on in your head). Add a little flavor in the form of drama if you wish, but keep it at a reasonable level.

[Arryn]

Targa,

My AAR turn Posts are clearly labelled as turns, to set them off from other Posts in the thread.

AStott's AAR is fine, and very informative. I was aiming for something a tad less dry, closer to what Tacticus has been doing. Something that has most of Stott's level of detail, but presented more literarily. I'm sorry that you find it confusing or boring.

Dominion is a scale of 1 to 10. It requires no great leap of imagination to equate a ten-point scale with percentages. But you are correct that changing the phrasing from 1-10 to percentages may well confuse some newbies.

I just wish you'd made these comments in my AAR thread, days ago when I'd started, before you gave up. It's hard to know that someone dislikes something if they don't speak up.

[condors]

heh there is alot of choices but i am leaning toward pangaea(as i want to learn more about nature magic anyway). Any pretender and scales suggestions?

[condors]

i am looking at that father of nature guy seems to fit in with the theme

[Gandalf Parker]

You have 3 choices (I think just 3)
You can play Pangaea like an Ulm (new era) or like an Ermor (carrion woods) or the very difficult sneak army mode.