Who here is a Vet?

[Hoplosternum]

Originally Posted by Gandalf Parker

Some of the most ancient of players would definitely be "veterans" but far from any "expert opponents" list. Im not sure that would meet your needs anyway.

For the purpose of the original post I think you might have wanted to ask for people who are consistent winners in a specific type of game. Veteran lists in the past have often aimed toward kill-all games with CBM on medium maps. Since its a team game being created you might want veterans with proven histories in the areas of diplomacy and allied play which I think would be a very different group. In fact I can only think of maybe 1 or 2 people that I would ever consider for both lists.

Thats right for this post. AlgaeNymph is looking to recruit one

But it is also a fairly good definition for this site. You can quibble with the name but most mp games organised on this site are not blitzes or vast epics or team games or detailed scenarios. There are no sp game of the months (as at the Civ forums) or puzzle scenarios run. With a few exceptions, games are all against all with 8+ players here. These games dominate this site even if blitzes organised elsewhere and sp games in general are played more. Most of the guides and many of the strategy discussions on the site are focuses on this large free for all mp type game too.

So when people talk of mp veterans on this site, I think the sort of person AlgaeNymph is looking for is what they mean. That does not mean that they are any more than that - the very good players of the sort of mp games organised here.

And I don't really like any other criteria in any case for veterans.

I think the Thanks button is good for what it does and in general those people who get a lot of Thanks are those who give helpful advice in threads or have done mods, guides or maps. So people like Edi, gandalf, Baalz, Burnsaber and Sombre quite rightly get plenty of thanks. But I certainly thank people for funny lines or simply to show support in a row/reasoned discussion as well. And I have yet to thank someone for slaughtering me in mp (so bad luck Dimaz, Atul et al) and I am not about to start More likely to thank someone who was useless and I rolled them over early on So I am not sure how much of a guide it would be to how well they can play.

Those of us who have been here a long time are still waiting for our 5 year Gold Pen icon to appear next to our username And I sometimes wonder if Gandalf is only here now to get his Gold Watch icon when he reaches 10 years But I am not sure it is a guide quality of play wise.

Number of posts would be a poor guide too. Especially as no distinction is made post wise (or length of time on the board) between Dominions and other games on the board.

So go for it Calahan. I think your idea on recommending 3 people each is great Although I would ask for a sentence or so explaining why you have made your picks. Mentioning a game they played well in or tactic they used very effectively. Otherwise you may simply get a lot of people recommending 'famous' names even if they have never played them (or indeed those famous names never actually play mp....)

And finally can some Vet - self appointed or voted in - please sign up to the game AlgaeNymph refered to in his first post. Your team awaits and the rest of us can't start without you