Why no Save game Feature

[Newthought]

At top, that's exactly what the Catholic mantra is. We don't take the Bible literally, we take it in parables, otherwise people can get really wierd.
At FUMA (A Baptist Military School), we were taught "Intelligent Design" in Geometry.

If I can try to articulate what your saying, I think what your saying is great...albiet let's not go crazy over the charging, (they may be small, but not the souless entity of X-box Live)

I'd love to have a GM that would manage Multiplayer games, but I don't know what kind of responsibility he would have that couldn't be solved through Voting but what would I know.

To further the Oracle Idea, I bring a page from THE AZTECS by Richard F. Townsend. It's long but I'm cutting sentenaces

"Divination, the art of forseeing future even to discovering Hidden knowledge through Supernatural means (interesting), was a standard feature of...ancient civilizations All people seek to know the Uknowable, to control the uncontrollabe, or to make confident choice about a difficult devision. Like the Greeks, Romans, and the Chinese, the Aztecs believed in the portentous meaning of omenss and auguries in the Natural World. The pattern of diverse phenomena which appear to coincide were percieved as high meaningful- auguring good or evil, succes or failure for a propsed endeavour. In Greece, no king or commander would dare take a major course of action without consulting one of the many famous oracles. Roman Genereals similiarly sacraficed Bullocks in order to read...the triumph or defeat of a paticular campaign...." They would read the livers.

"...The I Ching, a book of wisdom already old when Confucious wrote it, is where coins and thrown and as they land it is interepeted by the book" But it's a bit more conserative.

"The Aztec Tonalpohuallis (The 365 day calender), is presented by a traditional form of Calendrical divionation still used in Shirnes practiced in Guatemala...candles are lit and copla incence is burned as an offering. Using Coral Seeds and crystals, the day keeper will make arrangements in lots of four, counting out the days of the 260 day calendar. One day is assigned each lot, starting from the current day, or the day where the client's problem began. This is the beginning complex process of Interpretation, though which the daykepper's client will recieve counsel on the course of action revealed by the time-count the pattern of seeds and crytsals..." I Ching Style....

Not like I'm trying to campaign it or what not, but like when good Badger asked for an idea, I just used what was in my head to meet him in this interesting circumstance.

Personally, I also feel like there needs to be a New Dominion that should be a Mod.

A Good (Representing Holy Priests and Noble Warriors) And the Evil Spectrem (Representing a Realm of Fear with Undead Hordes and Sadistic Blood Magic Practices).

I don't feel comfortable in starting a New Thread and Saying "DO THIS", I just want to share it.
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Keeping Gameplay in mind, it would look like this,

Good 3- Divine Magic +2, Morale +2 In ability to cast Death and Blood Magic Primary Spells, -50% income off of Death and Blood Gems.
Good 2- Divine Magic +2, Morale +1, Greater Penalty to Death and Blood Magic
Good 1- Divine Magic +1, Morale +1 Penalty to Death and Blood Magic
Neutral- None
Evil 1- Divine Magic -1, Morale -1, Bonus to Death and Blood Magic.
Evil 2- Divine Magic -1, Morale -2, Bigger Bonus to Death and Blood Magic.
Evil 3- Divine Magic -2, Morale -2, Slightly Greater bonus then above to Death and Blood Magic, Generate Death Gems and more Blood Maidens.

Again the Numbers are just relative, the +'s in Divine reprsent bonuses to Divine Spells, not their casting levels. (No lowly priest will be able to Smite, but even he will cast sermons of Courage with envogration.)

A Pure Good God gets powerful noble troops off for a cause that would bring them to brink of matyrism, even the Humble Troops fight to the end. Good Gods bring the rightoues word that enligthens powerful Priests that within the flick of a hand causes the hordes of dead to be banished within the realm by the True Word. But Good Gods rarely, if never, result in using Death and Blood Magic which profits off the blood and souls of thier victims. They are matrys, never murderers. (Imagine if you fought for JC, you'd be so Fantaical in nature that you die for others rather then to live for yourself.)

Pure Evil Gods think little to nothing of Divine Magic, hence their is no implication of a greater cause other then their own self-gluttony. The Troops of evil Gods no matter their size and strength, have weak and soft hearts knowing that the only thing that brings them to fight is chains. It is as if there own shadows seek to bring them down. (Imagine if you fought for Loki, the Arcane Trickster whose own spies cause your demise)

However, the Evil God's power within the Darkness and the Blood invoke their ability to summon hordes and hordes of Undead that march through the cornfields and bring wretched pain to villages. Their blood magic is so profond that the blood of the innocents flows through their body as if it was sweat. Their exotic charm invokes the innocent into their own demise.

But even more vile is that Evil Gods, if pursuing an Evil stragety, have the advantage of more expertise and greater power and control to invoke greater forms of War. (hence, they get points for adopting their own "evil" stragety)

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Anyway, I have no disagreement in any shape or form with Badger's idea of activating and deactivating it. None. Make an On switch and I'm good for me.

[Gandalf Parker]

HoneyBadger said:
I am not really against giving the Hosts of (especially, large) MP games the ability to save games. This could in the right hands be an important tool for role-playing, kind of like giving the Host DM/GM powers. It could also ease the upset that can be caused by real-world events-if someone dynamically involved in the game is forced to leave, why not restart the game at an earlier point before that person left suddenly in order to smooth things over?

If there is anyone soing a multiplyer game and not doing gamesaves then please refer them to me. The game might not be setup to make it easy for players to do gamesaves but its definetly in there for hosts. Thats one of the things I pride myself for getting into the game. It was one of the main reasons for getting pre-exec and post-exec added.

[HoneyBadger]

Newthought, now that I've got you using your head instead of your mouth (or finger, since we're typing...and isn't that appropriate?) you're really on a roll. I like the idea of good/evil scales. Unfortunately, from what I've read, the Devs are against dividing the game into good and evil. But...perhaps if we shift the terminology a little.

I have one suggestion for the terms to use, Orthodox/Heretical (Please note that I'm using these words for effect more than for purposes of precise meaning.)

In Orthodox dominions, populations are devout, strong in the Pretender's faith as it was originally spoken and interpreted, and fanatical in their commitment to the word of their God. Witches and heretics are burned at the stake, and sinners are often stoned to death for even-from the perspective of outsiders-minor infractions. There is no separation of church and state. Prayer-calls are heard throughout the cities, laws and rulers derive their power from sacred teachings, and the most powerful position in all the land under God is that of High Priest or Priestess.

Orth 1: temples are 25% less expensive to build due to tithings and missionaries (300g for most nations, 150 for Pan and Man), Bless grants an additional +1 to Morale, +0.1 to Growth due to large families of believers being held in high esteem. Income 3% less (-3%) Resources 5% less (-5%) due to more land being held by the Church, more resources going to support the priesthood (none of whom have day-jobs), and more money going to support monasteries.

Orth 2: as Orth 1 but +0.2 to Growth and +3% chance event is good, as prayers to the Pretender for good fortune are granted (that and they burn those old hags that keep cursing my troops). Income -6%. Resources -10%

Orth 3: as Orth 1, 2, except temples are 50% less expensive to build, Bless now grants +2 to Morale (for a total of +4), +0.3 to Growth and 6% chance event is good.
Income -12% Resources -15%.

Heretical: In Heretical Dominions, the people still worship the Pretender, and many are extremely devout, but the population is divided into many different schools of thought, each convinced that their way is the "right" way to worship. All are welcome into these lands, and all are welcome to leave. The laws and power in these lands are upheld by secular authorities. Their is not one Church, but many, and the Churches pay taxes just like everybody else. They are also fully responsible to the law, just as any civilian body or business. The Churches takes advantage of this as well, requiring priests to not only spread the Word but to serve the church in productive, even menial, ways. Although direct violence by the Church against so-called "unbelievers" is much more rare-or even unheard-of, still this is a volatile, violent place where all manner of sects compete against each other, both with their words and in bloody street-brawls.

Heret 1: Temples are 25% more expensive to build due to followers expecting to be paid for their labor (500g for most nations, 250g for Pangaea and Man). -1 Bless effect to Morale due to soldiers being less willing to give up their lives in the name of their Faith. Growth is unaffected but Research is -1 due to conflicting views about the nature and appropriateness of magic, and the lack of organized religious schools. +5% chance for a random event due to increased religious turmoil (chance it's good or bad is unaffected). Income +3% Resources +5% due to harder currency (the church doesn't hoard all the silver and gold in the form of religious icons), banking (usurage), and the ready disposal of goods and lands.

Heret +2: as Heret +1 but 10% chance for a random event, Income +6% Resources +10%.

Heret +3: as Heret +2 but Temples are 50% more expensive to build, -2 Bless effect to Morale (Bless grants no Morale bonus under Heret +3) Research -2, 15% chance of random event, Income +12%, Resources +15%.

I think such a scale would be very appropriate for Dom3, especially with the impending introduction of Gath-which should be dealing with the Nephilim, according to my information.

[Teraswaerto]

It would seem to me that heresy would give a bonus to research, not a penalty. Organized religion clings to whatever idea has been been established, it is anathema to progress and discovery.

[HoneyBadger]

In our modern times, maybe, when schools are government-funded, but not in midieval times when the Church was the major protector and provider of knowledge. Look through a few history books-many of the greatest thinkers of all time came out of or were connected to, the Church.

[HoneyBadger]

The Church was also a great patron of the arts, and even the sciences, and not just Christianity either-science and art flourished under Muslim rule for a very long time, and Iraq-believe it or not-was at one time the book-capital of the world. The Jews also have a long history of scolasticism and certainly were and are proponents of religious schools, as are Catholics-there's a Catholic school in my home town, for instance.

[Teraswaerto]

Islam was relatively tolerant of the sciences in medieval times, much more so than Christianity. Galileo was threatened with torture, Bruno Giordano was burned at the stake, etc.

There is also no count of how many people were condemned as witches and such.

[HoneyBadger]

So you've got both sides of the same coin. On one hand Orthodox dominions are burning people at the stake, while on the other hand, they're promoting education-alongside religious indoctrination, ofcourse.

The Heretics on the other hand have so many different philosophies and are so disorganized and fueled by misinformation (look at the history of alchemy, for instance) that yes, they have a better economy that will eventually-in a few hundred or thousand years-turn out a fine public education system like we had in the 19th century, but right now is just confusing and deluding people.

[Gandalf Parker]

Interestingly Im not sure which side of the coin you are calling heretics.
(and Id advise not clarifying it for the sake of the thread)
Lets keep the tone light, and the subject gaming please.

[NTJedi]

Gandalf Parker said:
Interestingly Im not sure which side of the coin you are calling heretics.
(and Id advise not clarifying it for the sake of the thread)

So anyone wanting to stop the beating of this dead horse should clarify.