MP: Noobs & Vets: Rise of the AI Menace. EA, BI. Game Over. Team ACGHHS wins!

[Septimius Severus]

Originally Posted by chrispedersen

why not just have two teams plus an ai team?

Or three teams and one AI team (5x5x5x5) since we already have 3 captains.

Can be done. Will require some rearranging and rethinking of start locations.

I'll look into it and see what I can come up with.

That it should be necessary due to the inability to find a single player really ticks me off though.

[Hoplosternum]

Hi Sept,

Unfortunately there are far less Vets than there are Intermediates (or Noobs, or at least most Noobs would be interested while only some Vets would be that which comes to the same thing).

Plus it is potentially a lot of work for a Vet. I am not sure how the teams will work in practice. But some Vets may fear that they will need to spend a lot of time advising teammates on each turn. Or even worse giving lots of advice only to have it completely ignored!

As there are a lot of potential Intermediates you might want to have the fourth team have all Intermediates (as the Noobs are meant to be learning from Vets)? Or let there be two or three Intermediates and the rest Noobs but let the intermediates both choose their powers before the list system.

Also the AIs may have put some people off, especially the potential Vet players. And the AIs are not really central to the theme of this game.

Anyway Sept I hope you can get this one going.

[Illuminated One]

Well, I can be an alternate.
I can't play before the 7th though.

[AlgaeNymph]

I'm curious, what exactly are the responsibilities of a team captain?

[Septimius Severus]

Hoplo, thematically, it was actually the threat of these AIs (or unfeeling ones) that made noobs and vets (and intermediates) unite together into the mixed teams they now comprise. The combination of the BI mod, dastardly AI builds with deadly suprises courtesy of Gandalf, and 4 extra starting locations should at least make expansion a bit more difficult for the experienced players (rather than steamrolling weak indies like they are used to), while the corner AI starts will give the noobs a good chance to gain some AI/SP experience, which again is the reason I consider them important. Sorry if I come off as whiny, but really all we need is a single intermediate, with a semblance of guts, to fill a slot, and save me extra work having to come up with a new set of starting locations. My point is simply that, if you've got the time and dedication to participate in 5 or more FFA games, or spend larges amounts of time chatting it up on IRC, you should have the time and dedication for a single team game.

Algae, being a captain is nothing really. You get first nation choice and you become moderater of the team forum, not a big deal. You draw up the ranked list based on your teams preferences. You PM it to me. You work with your other teammates to defeat your enemies. Come now. I think people are so focused on winning, getting the RIGHT nations and other details, they forget about having fun. Throw your team together and lets mix it up. I promise I won't slap anyone in the face if their team loses. :

No one should use the AI element as an excuse not to participate. Compstomping can be great fun, and in this game it is only the preliminary. And now I will get down from my noob soapbox.

Welcome back Illuminated, good to have you. I'm putting you on the Deva's, unless you've another preference.

[AlgaeNymph]

Originally Posted by Septimius Severus

Algae, being a captain is nothing really.

I'll take your your word for it, I'll be captain then. If nothing else, it'll give me something to put in my "Leadership" section of my eFolio.

I'll pick Vanhiem. Now what order are we going to make the rest of our picks in?

[Hoplosternum]

Originally Posted by AlgaeNymph

I'll take your your word for it, I'll be captain then. If nothing else, it'll give me something to put in my "Leadership" section of my eFolio.

I'll pick Vanhiem. Now what order are we going to make the rest of our picks in?

Great

And PS to Sept didn't mean to come off as criticising. I think it's a great idea of yours. Simply suggesting some reasons why not everyone might not like it....

[Septimius Severus]

Originally Posted by Hoplosternum

Great

And PS to Sept didn't mean to come off as criticising. I think it's a great idea of yours. Simply suggesting some reasons why not everyone might not like it....

No, your not coming off as criticising. I am aware of all of these objections to my idea. And the objections to team games in general (too much trouble coordinating, dealing with others, lots of back and forth and debates, depending on other people, etc.) add to this the fact that the game mechanism doesn't really support the concept well. Some may see the presence of the AIs as unnecessary regardless of my stated purpose.

I am hoping the presence of the AIs will at least slow down, what would otherwise be a very rapid expansion phase and make things a bit more interesting, as opposed to just turning up indy strength which might cause problems for noobs.

On the other hand, it might bog the game down and make things unfun. Especially if the noobs can't make any headway against them. This is where tips from the captains may come in handy.

We won't know till we play, what is going to happen.

[Septimius Severus]

Originally Posted by AlgaeNymph

I'll take your your word for it, I'll be captain then. If nothing else, it'll give me something to put in my "Leadership" section of my eFolio.

I'll pick Vanhiem. Now what order are we going to make the rest of our picks in?

Algae, I'm glad that you have decided to take up the mantle of leadership. I was getting ready to redefine the start locations to accommodate 3 human+1 AI team (probably 1 team in each corner). But this announcement saves me the time and trouble.

We now need to switch in one of the alternates. Some of whom may have privy information they need to "forget". To fill the empty slot on your team that would normally be filled by an intermediate level player. I'll need to hear from either Immaculate, Illuminated One, PsiSoldier, or Shard, whoever is ready to go. Either that or wait for another player. I'll PM them to see. Whoever responds affirmatively first will take the spot.

We can now finish our 12 nation ranked lists (this should be enough to complete the process with 4 teams).

I will resolve using the two methods I described earlier and post the results. Whichever method is satisfactory to the majority of the team captains will prevail.

If team captains want, they may decide whether they are A, B, C, or D for the purposes of assignment from the lists as opposed to the rand method, but anything more complex is unnecessary fuss. If this be the case, then the Deva's have already claimed D, and chris has indicated C. This leaves A or B for yourself and Executor.

So lets get this on and start to have some fun then.

[Agema]

Hi, I got one of the requests for assistance. I'll fill in a spot if required.

I've got about 10 MP games under my belt, and I'd say I'm a pretty handy player, around the upper regions of intermediate to lower reaches of veteran.