PBEM Game: Yarnspinners 2 (Running)

[Alneyan]

I don't think there is any wrap-around map bigger than Inland and smaller than Orania; with the current players, I believe Inland will be fine. If more players join in, Orania will likely be used. There is also the problem of water nations, which would be in dire straits on Inland: the biggest "sea" only includes four provinces. It may be interesting to play a water nation put in this situation though.

I don't know how Wiki are set up: what is needed for them to work? I believe my own web space should be able to handle it, but I am not too sure. The problem with all of us having our own webpages is organising all the yarns. It was planned to have two ways of sorting the yarns: depending on the nation and on the turn number. So, R'lyeh yarn for turn 36 would be both on "yarns for turn 36" and on "yarns for R'lyeh".

[djo]

For those who don't know: a wiki is a web app for collaboration; all users can edit the web pages, add links/images/etc. It uses a simple markup language similar to html or UBB codes.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

There are a zillion varieties of wiki, but in general you need to be able to install and run CGI scripts on a webserver. After that, you configure, generate a few starter pages, and (in theory) the users do the rest (adding pages and links). Disclaimer: I've read a lot about wikis and plan to use one at work in the future, but I've never set one up.

Advantages: once set up, everybody can pitch in on generating and organizing content; all content in one place

Disadvantages: someone needs to set it up & host it; users need to learn to use it (far easier than learning to play dom2...)

[puffyn]

I like the wiki idea, though I too have no practical experience running one. It would be especially useful for linking between the dramatis personae and the narrative ("Who the heck is this Pandokos character again?") It would probably be best if we semi-restricted editing capabilities, ie, only give out the password to people in the game?

I'll look into whether it would be feasible for me to host it and get back to you.

[djo]

I would be willing to help make a wiki work, although I can't host it myself.

If it's easy to do, we could restrict editing for most pages, but allow a page for spectators' comments. That could be amusing (if the comments are amusing) or disheartening (if there are no spectators!).

[The Panther]

My son has offered to host this game (PBEM, of course) without playing and play the observer role. In case you are worried about favoritism - don't! He will certainly not give me any special advantages over anyone else. He is also very trustworthy and would never even remotely think of allowing cheating of any kind.

I like the idea of a closed overseer myself, posting only the eyes of god every third turn. But I am a trusting sort...

[Alneyan]

Very well Panther; it is certainly fine with me - less work for me.

[The Panther]

Map sizes:
Inland - 154
Cradle - 221
Orania - 279

Actually, Cradle could work because of all the choke points, for the starting spots in the middle are not as bad as they may appear at first. Still, corners are far superior, of course. Also, the 60 turn limit means the game won't drag out into the tedious phase typical of the larger maps like Cradle and Orania.

Wraparound is far superior for balance issues. Overall, Inland is perhaps the single bast Dominions map there is.

[puffyn]

The revolution will be wiki'ed...

I've been playing around with MediaWiki (same one as Wikipedia uses), with some help from Sedna, and I have a website that will be able to host it eventually. Currently you have to go to a temporary URL, which will only work as long as my router behaves:

Test wiki

There are some sample pages up using turns from Yarnspinners 1, showing how various race and turn pages could look. Input, as always, is greatly appreciated. There's even a little discussion tab at the top for our adoring fans to leave us love mail.

[Alneyan]

I have just sent you a mail about hosting Tauren.

The Wiki is lovely Puffyn, though I must admit I do not like the sample map for turn 1: it looks too much like the squids' invasion scheme. Nasty critters.

Otherwise, there appears to be a problem with some links, but that's only because the Wiki is on a temporary site (going from "per nation" to "per turn" doesn't work without switching "alea.local" with the IP).

[puffyn]

Oops, sorry about the bum links. I hope to have the real site up tonight, maybe tomorrow, so it should be working properly soon...