MP Noobs and Vets II: Days of Infamy. MA, BI. Game Over. Supplicants Triumph! - Page 49

Septimius Severus · #**481** May 22nd, 2010, 07:38 PM

Interesting battle I witnessed. C'tis vs. a number of indy heavy horse. Thought C'tis was going to lose their Prince of Death for a minute there.

Was down to some 30 odd hitpoints before the indies routed, largely due to the fear.

ano · #**482** May 22nd, 2010, 07:44 PM

That was a mistake of mine. I attacked a stack of 20 units, militias, knights and longbowmen. And there appeared to be 36 of them,mainly knights

Should have thought better before attacking but I was really lucky in the end, that's true

zegc-ben · #**483** May 22nd, 2010, 07:45 PM

About alliance of the the human players against the AI, I am planning on putting up a special offer for AI backstabbing which will basically be something like a very low price but I keep the land I take.

Wrana · #**484** May 22nd, 2010, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zegc-ben

About alliance of the the human players against the AI, I am planning on putting up a special offer for AI backstabbing which will basically be something like a very low price but I keep the land I take.

That's very interesting! We are waiting.

chrispedersen · #**485** May 22nd, 2010, 08:51 PM

uhuh.. so you want us to pay for what exactly?

zegc-ben · #**486** May 23rd, 2010, 08:11 AM

Basically you pay for me to attack the AI that fits you best instead of helping another team.

Septimius Severus · #**487** May 23rd, 2010, 10:28 AM

That is pretty much a given. No team is going to pay for an attack on the AI unless it benefits them (is in province they want to clear out or a province on their border to assist with expansion). Though under the rules, generally that province belongs/is the responsibility of the client to claim. Of course Zegc may be saying that any attack on an AI that is giving you problems is good, and there is some truth in that, though keeping the land is a bit different.

What is happening I suspect is that Atlantis is reaching their maximum expansion level under the rules (perhaps the motivation behind Zegc's offer). This was actually expected and planned. With 270 provinces we've got about 12-13 provinces per player. Zegc (actually doing suprisingly well) will probably top out at around 20 provinces (maybe more if Atlantis is willing to go into non-contigious areas to grab indies). At that point, the rules provide that Atlantis will be able to launch attacks to regain lost provinces thus maintaining a relatively stable number of provinces.

Keep in mind, Atlantis only needs enough provinces to give it a decent amount of gems and income to enable it to do it's job of serving the needs of the human teams. The mercs are not intended to be a major player in the game (in terms of grabbing up a large amount of provinces) and should have no ambitions towards winning. The Merc's don't align themselves with any specific team and have no alliegences except to gold.

The ability of Atlantis to survive in the long run (after the AI has been dealt with) will depend on the merc's ability to make itself useful enough to human players that they won't feel the need to wipe them off the face of the map for the VPs or territory they may control. Thus I don't want them to have a huge amount of territory or otherwise compete in a major way with the human teams.

Atlantis can gain some provinces above this threshold under the rules by retaining unclaimed provinces. I also suggested loansharking (defaulting on a loan in particular) as another possible method, but overall Atlantis is not meant to be an ubernation nor necessarily a permanent fixture of the game.

Numahr · #**488** May 23rd, 2010, 04:23 PM

Hum Septimus... I think of a lot of examples in history of powers that were not meant to be

... Give them some power, and they will look for ways to get more... that is almost a natural rule of human beings and human organizations.

So let's see what will happen with this one, almost an experiment in political sociology!

Septimius Severus · #**489** May 23rd, 2010, 07:58 PM

Could be that. Heh, also likely some teams might need some help vs. the AI and the merc sees the need and responds like any savvy business. The most useful military services will likely be:

Attack any Team for x number of turns options, which has Atlantis attacking any of the available provinces of a client's enemy (AI or human) within reach. If I were the merc I'd lower the prices on these, maybe offer a 1 turn contract option.

The targeted attack services on a specific province are much more risky and difficult for the merc, so I'd probably raise the price on those.

You can already give the merc the province taken in such attacks by simply not claiming it, but if Zegc wants to offer an option that lets him retain the provinces for a greatly reduced cost, temporarily or permanently, that's up to him. Maybe excess Atlantean provinces can be rented out or something for certain amount a year!

Septimius Severus · #**490** May 23rd, 2010, 08:08 PM

Speaking of the AI, I am posting a poll up on our forums on how you rate the difficulty of the AI, here are the choices:

1. Hah! The AI is a joke!

2. The AI is not difficult at all really.

3. This AI is formidable, but can be beaten.

4. I need help, the AI is too powerful!

5. I want my Mommy!