aar details to be determined

[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.

[Targa]

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

Yes, I know that. Poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was that in reading the AAR, it is, as you put it, "literarily written", which made it difficult for me to follow what exactly you did, and what happened on that turn. I'm sure that many (if not most or all) others have no difficulties in this regard.

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.

You're still confusing the newb in me. How is dominion a scale of 1-10? You stated at the start of your AAR: "With the remaining points we have, I increase Dominion as much as I can (to 5)." How is a 5 a 10? Unless you're equating 1-10 with 10%-100% (like "how would you rate this on a scale of 1-10"). Or, if you're talking about 10 being MAX dominion, then I just missed the part where you built enough temples to raise your dominion from 5 to 10.

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.

Nah. It was clear to me that many people enjoy your writing style, and that they had no difficulties in comprehending each turn. I would not be so presumptuous as to ask that you change your style of writing to accomodate my personal tastes (or ignorance). Your AAR is fine just the way it is, which is why I clearly stated in my post below that I intended no offense, and that it was a matter of my personal preference. Keep up the great work!

[condors]

argh i am overwhelmed to say the least

i tried to goof around a little and realised i have no idea what units are capable of what my pretender didn't have the ability to cast the ritual spells needed

i tried to goof around with the carrion woods theme and proceded to get my pretender killed(didn't seem close to the cyclops for early expansion ability) then spent way too long recalling only to get him killed again several turns later, the ulm forces are sieging my castle before i have any clue as to what i should be doing and i still am not sure what the units are capable of.

going to do a search and see what i can come up with to put a plan of action together. any pretender/scale setting thoughts are more than welcome