End Game Slaughter Moves

[DonCorazon]

Wow that is some nice customer service in Finland.

[Edi]

Happens when you work the late evening shift. Have to answer the phone. I'm off to home now.

[Tyrant]

I pretty much agree with Baalz on this issue. It's a sometimes a fine line between an exploit and clever play, and only things that are CLEARLY abusive should be considered exploits. Among other things, how's a newb supposed to know their clever trick is considered an exploit?

My buddy K is blowing smoke out his butt on the MoD issue- i agree that it's possible to counter it sometimes, but all of his suggestions are pretty iffy. It's exploitive 'cause once it's been triggered there is no counter- the battle never ends and you all die.

But really, what else is there in DomIII that falls into this category? The Bogus script is a maybe- i personally consider it dirty pool, but it's defenders point out that you have to work to get it, and it's not in and of itself invincible, just a big advantage. Also, if your opponent is using it on you you have the opportunity to get it from him the same way he got it from Bogus. The locker flood would be BS for sure, but how's that work, do you do it every turn? If so the perpetrator needs psych help.

Are there others?

I'd also like to second kasnavada's point, a single instance of this should not be grounds for a lynch mob, it could easily be a mistake or ignorance. Continued use is another matter.

[Edi]

Foodstamp said:
An exploit should be defined as an action that keeps an enemy from playing the game. An example would be flooding someone's item inventory with slave collars. You have eliminated the player's ability to forge items and the player has no recourse beyond doing the same to you.

That's an exploit of the message system which can be added to the bug list so that total messages sent to the same player by any single player be capped at e.g. eight. The removal of ability to forge items is only temporary and unless the opponent can keep flooding you with 50 slave collars per turn, he hasn't accomplished much except waste blood slaves that could have been used more productively.

Not defending this practice, it's abuse through and through, but for some reason I get the impression that people seem to regard as if it was a permanent state of affairs once it was done.

[Twan]

In fact it's a totally ridiculous exploit : the victim will just send back the 50 slave collars, and it's the bad guy who will be unable to forge the next turn (may end in ping pong).

[kasnavada]

An exploit should be defined as an action that keeps an enemy from playing the game.

Wiki says :
"In the realm of online games, an exploit is usually a software bug, hack or bot that contributes to the user's prosperity in a manner not intended by the developers."

A bug does not work as intended. Definition of a bug :
"A software bug (or just bug) is an error, flaw, mistake, undocumented feature, failure, or fault in a computer program that prevents it from behaving as intended (e.g., producing an incorrect result)."

Therefore, using that combo is an exploit. Not much more to be said, unless you wish to recreate the meaning of the english words.

[Foodstamp]

I could care less what "wiki" says. If both players have access to it and it is not game stopping, what separates it from a game feature? Only your opinion.

P.S. Tuidjy I didn't realize you were in a game where this is such a heated topic. Next time you will do better to take your anger out on the person in your game instead of me, because when it comes to your insults, I am the CEO of IDGAF.

[K]

Tuidjy said:
> Thats actually pretty easy. You cast assassin spells on the home province and kill those mages.

Wow. Assassin spells on the home province. Thank you for your insight! Hey, but are you saying that someone could actually teleport on top of my capital.

Woah! I would have never thought of that. And those assassin spells! Man, they can really clear a lab, can't they? Well, I guess this game is just won by casting assassin spells. Given that obviously no one could ever protect against them, even in one specific, valuable province in the late game.

Or maybe I will just cast 3 air domes for 60 gems, and have a 99.2% chance that my capital will laugh at assassination spells.

Well, JK says that Domes of the same type don't add up(the 80% is checked until it drops, then the next 80%, etc), and each separate kind of dome is checked separately (Air, then Frost, then forest, etc. and I don't know the order). So with a big enough gem investment you can knock down all a province's domes. JK or KO can chime in here, if they wish.

But, if you need someone to hold your hand, here is a foolproof way to beat the situation described above.

Assuming the enemy is patrolling his home province with mages to cast MoD, then:

Turn 1
1. Attack the province with a force big enough to set off the AI's choice to cast gem spells. Set them on Retreat, if you want. The enemy mages Return home, by whatever means they have.

2. Send in a Stealthed SC/SCs/thugs/armies who can beat the province defense and whatever patrolling armies are left after the mages leave. This battle happens after the first because it gets caught by PD and patrols. You take the outer province.

Turn 2.

3. Move in a mage/mages who can cast MoD on turn 1 of the battle. Since the defender gets the first round of actions, then they can't ever use it against you if they try to Break Siege.

Dominion them out, or just invade with a small enough force to make them retreat when you knock down the door (its their home province, so they have nowhere to Return).

If he is not patrolling his capital, then switch to turn 2's instructions, or just send in Assassin and kill his mages that way.

-----------
Dominions is complex enough that there are never "perfect strategies." YOU might not be able to beat an enemy's strategy because of lack of mages with the right kinds of magic, units, or research, but it doesn't mean it can't be done.

By the late-game, people should be diversified enough in magic that any tactic is available, if you have enough research. Figuring out what your enemy is using and preparing for it is exactly what this game is about, as well as choosing the right research for your opponents.

[lch]

CUnknown said:
All hosts who think these things are illegal should say so ahead of time, because apparently not everyone agrees (although it is mind-boggling that they don't).

I, as a host, would leave it up to the players to decide what's fair use and what isn't. Which should more or less coincide with the general consensus. Pure democracy...

[thejeff]

As long as it's spelled out ahead of time.

Anything else leads to assumption clash and ruined games.