MP: ComfortZone - All MA Nations - Running

[cleveland]

ComfortZone is an All MA Nations game. It is unique in that it's as non-unique as possible in every regard.

The game uses no mods, no crazy settings, and no special rules. In other words, it makes no attempt to compensate for perceived imbalances in Vanilla Dominions 3.

Consequently, it places the burden of balance on the players.

Sure, some nations are powerhouses. Sure, some nations get great starting positions. Sure some nations will turtle, clam, and try to wish their way to victory. In a vacuum, these would be the nations that win. But we're not in a vacuum. Instead our universe is populated by 23 agile, cleaver, & opportunistic minds all expecting to win. Through trade, diplomacy and good ol' fashioned treachery, these 23 are capable of dynamically balancing & rebalancing the game better than any artificial mechanism ever could.

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Excited? Good. The specifics:

Setup: Middle Age, all nations, Llamaserver PBEM (under the name A1ComfortZone)

All game settings: Default for MA (except for renaming, because it's not really a setting, and HoF=15, because here in America everybody deserves a chance at unequaled obesity)

Mods: none

Victory: "There can only be one." - Dominions 3 Manual, back cover

Diplomacy: "All's fair in love and war." - some creepy rapist
[Note to new players: this means that Non-Aggression Pacts (NAPs), which are very common in MP games, may be broken without affecting a player's out-of-game reputation. In other words, if your pretender is a lying backstabber, feel free to lie and backstab; nobody will hold it agaist you in other MP games. Though the players in this game may think twice about dealing with your underhanded pretender. Also, think carefully before entering into any NAP/alliance; they tend to benefit strong nations more than weak nations.]

Map: By popular demand, we'll be using a slightly modified version of Fallacy, a 330 province map by Velusian. Download from the link below.

Hosting: We'll be using a novel hosting scheme. Full explanation is available in this post. Key points:
- In general, the game will run on a 27hr quickhost.
- The game will change to a 51hr quickhost only when a majority of players vote to do so. Same goes for 75hr, etc.
- During major "traveling" holidays, when most go to visit with family, hosting will be postponed during the travel period, and quickhost will be turned off.
- Reasonable extensions will be granted upon request with sufficient notice.
- You will be PM'ed if you stale. If you don't reply to the PM within 12hrs, a sub will be found.

Advice: This is a game. Don't take anything personally and don't make anything personal. Refer to your enemies by their nation's/pretender's name. Smilie your trashtalk . Have fun.

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Upcoming delays:
none

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Current status: Game is running on 51hr quickhost.

Llamaserver status.

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Roster:

Abysia - licker - defeated
Agartha - duncanshriek - AI
Arcoscephale - slayers_ai
Ashdod - hunt11 - defeated
Atlantis - JimMorrison
Bandar Log - Omnirizon - defeated
Caelum - qio
C'tis - vfb
Eriu - zzcat - defeated
Ermor - Quitti - defeated
Jotunheim - rabelais
Machaka - Otherling
Man - cleveland
Marignon - phalent - defeated
Mictlan - alhorro
Oceania - Mithras
Pangaea - Juffos - defeated
Pythium - Fakeymcfake - AI
R'lyeh - MadFrancis
Shinuyama - DonCorazon - defeated
T'ien Ch'i - statttis
Ulm - BesucherXia
Vanheim - Valerius

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Map file: Final ComfortZone map.zip
Note: You MUST redownload, even if have the Fallacy image previously posted here. It has been very slightly changed to work on llamaserver.

Orange dots = caves. Yellow line = unexpected connections due to "fjords."