Why do you play dominions?

[Edi]

With regard to moderation, this forum is still moderated. It's not quite as active as it was, with more activity shifting to other places, but it is still regularly checked and all reports are checked.

I never resigned my moderatorship of the Dominions 3 forums here, so I'm still doing it when moderator intervention is required. And when it's required, I'll moderate according to the guidelines set by Shrapnel Games.

In this instance it is, in my opinion, a good thing, because both the old official forum and the new official forum are thus managed by the same person, which ensures both a continuity of the community and a consistency of approach and behavior. I would prefer it if everyone refrained from fanning flames between different forum groups.

The Dominions 3 community (the community that originally formed here at any rate) has had quite enough shocks, upheavals and the broader community (with an influx of new people from various other corners of the net on the new official forum) does not need the resurrection of old grudges and interpersonal conflicts from here in any way, shape or form. The user base from here (including the people banned from here and who largely congregate at Dom3Mods) is a large, fairly coherent group that makes up a lot of the activity in the community, which will inevitably have an impact across forum borders if people do not keep that in mind.

The bottom line most of the time is that whatever happens at other boards is the business of those other boards and nothing to do with this one unless that business is deliberately brought over and/or intentionally made to have an impact (such as organizing board invasions or the like). Note that this statement is general in nature and would or should apply on almost any forum where it is posted.

In this case the roots of this thread are in what happened at another community, so discussion of some cross-forum business is practically inevitable in it. And as long as it stays reasonable, it's not a problem.

[parone]

ahh fanto. you and i have a lot in common. we both play dominions, we both like girls...

but this thing you keep doing where you pretend i said silly, indefensible things, and then talk down to me about them? me no like it.

i asked if there was room to play more then one way(ie, not always entirely to win). things like testing an unconventional build. or maybe just fighting an early war for that "fist fight on a burning ship" type of feel. i think these things can be fun.

i have tried stuff like this and gotten battered in the in game threads as someone who is stupid and doesn't know how to play the game 'right'.

if you ever read what i wrote, instead of what you wanted to believe i wrote, you would see i said over and over i didn't mind getting ganked and i really didn't mind losing games that much. but it seemed nobody could even comprehend that idea, much less try to give in any credence.

you, and about ten other people went bonkers. ok, good for you folks. one of you made the point that invision is a hard core forum with hard core players, and that my thoughts might be better received elsewhere. so i posted them here. at which point you, your fearless leader, and other likeminded folks went bannanas, saying i was a coward, crying to the people in this forum. very much not the case. in fact, quite the opposite.

i keep trying to let it go, and you just keep right on posting. i pick you up on being insulting, you pretend you didn't mean to be.

how about we let it go. it isn't the end of the world if someone has a different idea than you. some people even find it refreshing. i certainly don't expect everyone to see it my way. i just thought it might be a good idea to have different viewpoints. that's not going to happen at invision, and that, too is just fine.

but then gandy says maybe this forum has changed to the point where people don't shout eachother down and it is now diffent than it was, and you don't want that either? let it go. go back to invision, and the next time someone says something you don't like, gangbang em. go get em hon.

[Fantomen]

The last post wasn't directed at you at all, I responded to Gandalf. And in doing so I also discussed the subject of different playstyles in general terms. That is supposed to be the actual subject of the thread right?

"Go back to invision"??? I came here years ago, and I'm not leaving because of some imaginary disagreement.

What is this bs about a "fearless leader" blah di blah, who is that supposed to be? Sombre defended you, and I didn't post at all until you posted here, and only because I don't think it's ok to complain about people on another forum where they can't answer, especially not after publicly inviting them to be harsh and "not afraid to hurt my feelings".

Letting go of tha matter is fine with me, first lets let go of the silly conspiracy theories about dom3mods, I am me and represent only me, and I use all 3 forums + IRC to interact with what I see as the same community. No one is anyones great leader, no one want to do harm do any of the forums, everyone just reacts and talks for themselves. Sometimes people are blunt, harsh or misunderstand stuff, and sometimes that makes a little drama. No big deal, we've had plenty of bigger ****storms than this one, it will be more or less forgotten within the week anyways. You also should let go, let go of the idea that anyone on any forum is out to hurt you. Because no one is.

[Gandalf Parker]

Originally Posted by Fantomen

The last post wasn't directed at you at all, I responded to Gandalf. And in doing so I also discussed the subject of different playstyles in general terms. That is supposed to be the actual subject of the thread right?

That whole post was directed at me? I dont think that will work very well.

I was actually thinking about starting some games and considering where best to do it. Just some fun casual games from the game ideas in the "On The Fence" thread. I dont want to offend you but seriously Dom3Mods was not at all one of the considerations for where I would start such a game.

And I am sorry but there are definitely differences in the forums. I am thinking I will do it here. Some forums have too few dominions games going on and I want to allow them just the normal games. I only rarely answer questions or post news items there. And some forums a game thread gets a lot of helpful people explaining why the game wont work and no one should join it. But in this forum it is beginning to appear that busy enough to have players looking for a variation but quiet enough for people just to yes/no about playing.

[LDiCesare]

Originally Posted by parone

i asked if there was room to play more then one way(ie, not always entirely to win). things like testing an unconventional build. or maybe just fighting an early war for that "fist fight on a burning ship" type of feel. i think these things can be fun.

i have tried stuff like this and gotten battered in the in game threads as someone who is stupid and doesn't know how to play the game 'right'.

Testing builds for yourself in a MP game is ok. You take a risk, which may or may not pay. Fighting an early war with someone else for your own fun means the target of your early war may have his whole game spoiled in order for you to have your own fun. Since that player has no way of guessing that you're not playing the same game as the other players, you effectively ruin his game. That's very bad. When rules are posted in a thread, which include house rules (no lab filling, etc.), you should play the game by these rules. You can't expect people to respect house rules you make up. The real point is if you come to a game with different expectations from other players, you will ruin the game for you or (some of) the others. So don't do that.

[tenuki]

Originally Posted by parone

i asked if there was room to play more then one way(ie, not always entirely to win). things like testing an unconventional build. or maybe just fighting an early war for that "fist fight on a burning ship" type of feel. i think these things can be fun.

And you're free to do stuff like that in any game you care to play in. Just as others are free to unceremoniously remove you from the map for interfering with their plans without having the clout to back up your aggression.

Originally Posted by parone

i have tried stuff like this and gotten battered in the in game threads as someone who is stupid and doesn't know how to play the game 'right'.

In the game threads I'm familiar with, you got slapped for binge moaning and resorting to ad-homs when the consequences of your erratic playstyle were pointed out to you in a calm and rational way.

[Edi]

Calm down, Parone. You're way out of line with that last post. Leave out the personal attacks.

You have no place telling other people to go anywhere from here. The way I see it, many of your conflicts with some of the community veterans stem from rather fundamental philosophical differences regarding MP games. It might be best if you do not play with those people, or at least not in high commitment games.

In MP games it is generally assumed that certain basic things are the same for all participants, so if someone uses high commitment games as a testing ground for unorthodox tactics and builds and similar things that then leads to a completely unexpected power dynamic change, it may well ruin the fun for several participants and they will be upset or at least displeased with that. Trying those things in casual games is a different matter not such a great deal.

I will also make a personal observation: You come across as incoherent sometimes, it's difficult to parse what you're saying from what you seem to be saying on another level and your posts can sometimes be taken either way. This leads to a situation where you may have meant something a certain way and it is interpreted in an entirely different light. In such situations, the problem is not with the person making the different interpretation, but with your communication skills. Try to improve them.

There is also a difference between self-deprecation and woe-is-me sympathy begging and quite often your posts have slipped from the former to the latter, which is also not going to make people more favorably disposed toward you. Quite the opposite in fact.

At Dom3Mods all of these factors combined to get you into the center of a flamestorm when you and some of the veterans were working from completely different premises. And like Fantomen said, Sombre, who is the nominal leader of that board, actually stood up for you and in opposition to some (not all, but some) of the things your opponents were saying. Fantomen wasn't exactly on your case either, but more of a neutral observer.

Your own actions in referring to that thread there brought the reaction that you came here to complain about the treatment there, which is not an unreasonable interpretation when considering the tone that has been used in various places. You may have a great deal of self-respect, but it has not been apparent in your Dominions related posting, which is all we know you by, so the image of you as an insecure person has also been pretty strongly projected to the community here and even more so the Dom3Mods crowd.

Other than that one post where Fantomen told you to man up, she has not been out of line and she has repeatedly explained herself. Now it's you who is lashing out and escalating things.

I would seriously advice you to look at what you post and more importantly, how you post it, because there is a communication issue here that is causing a great deal of fiction and it is coming from your end. Post more clearly, unambiguously and if possible, drop the attempts at self-deprecating humor, because it's not working and is exacerbating everything else.

[Lumix19]

Well done Edi, I agree with what you said and thank you for bringing a firm, calm and honest voice to quiet the cacophony that this thread seems to be becoming.

[parone]

good advice.

i haven't been back to check it out. i really don't know sombre that well. and if you can't figure out who the leader of the pack is at invision, you aren't trying too hard.

i see an inequity in one person being able to say demeaning things, yet another being picked up on it when they return fire. and that is not my imagination. maybe dom forums aren't for me. i think ill just stick to playing.

come to think of it, that's a really good idea. see you all in game.

[parone]

and edi on my way out(and yes, i can hear you saying, dont let the door hit you in the a** on the way):

the self respect thing from you and fanto is absolute rubish. i play dominion about 10 minutes a day. unfortunately(and this is my error) ive spent that much time trying to clarify my position in forums lately too.

i have often poked fun at myself due to ingame errors. i think they are humorous and instructive. but other people feel i am self flagellating. I AM NOT . if i make a mistake, i laught it off and try not to repeat it. somehow people that take this game MUCH more seriously than me have interpreted that as "self hate"(actual quote).

folks, i just don't take it that serious. i really like the game. but i derive no self worth from success, and my self image suffers nothing from defeat.

and while i am all about everyone having their own ideas and being allowed that, i really do feel having that detatchemnt is healthy. and not having it, i must assume, is not.

ok, good luck all.