Are you tough enough to be the "King of the Hill"?

[BBegemott]

Originally posted by asmala:

Any comments? Are there still players who want to play KOTH (in addition to me)?

I am staying. I think if a player doesn't report about withdrawal, he/she is staying by default.

[Slynky]

Slynky –vs- Dreico: Turn 54

Up until now, the only probing we’ve done against each other has been to see if a particular warp hole has been mined. The loss of a ship here and there. Our borders are clearly defined with me owning the bigger share of the systems. In fact, we only share one system (I have 1 planet and he has 3).

In all the little skirmishes, I had never seen a PD weapon. So, while watching him build up a small fleet in the system we share, I thought I’d expend a few fighters to see if he started mounting them on his destroyers yet. I launched 14 from the planet and attacked a fleet of 8 destroyers. Killed 3, damaged 2 others severely, and damaged 1 lightly (and lost my 14 fighters).

So, for a awhile, I can feel real safe about my borders. Unless, of course, those were just some old designs he was using as a decoy.

[Asmala]

Originally posted by BBegemott:
I think if a player doesn't report about withdrawal, he/she is staying by default.

OK, so only Pablo and tesco samoa are going to quit (when their current games are finished).

[Stone Mill]

King Title Defense Update: Turn 37

As noted earlier, the Pootopians are next-door neighbors, making each move uneasy and a bit more critical.

Aggressive by nature, the Poo staged 2 invasions into the Mercator home system. The first was spent (just barely) on mines and satellites... allowing a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the Mercators methodically worked on the answer, while gambling heavily (largely leaving the warp point undefended). So, the first expeditionary force sat tight and trained, hoping there was enough time...

In the west, the Poo successfully harassed progress and eliminated two frontier Posts. Their leverage produced a sizable amount of ships which the Mercator could only somewhat check. Complaints poured in that our new positions were
in jeopardy, and leadership was not doing enough.
But high command realized that western clashes may very soon become irrelevant.

Back at the home front, the hungry Pootopians barrelled through en masse again... but... their arrival was just barley anticipated. The Mercator fleet had just received the latest combat techs, and were banking on demonstrating many months of training. They were in position to strike the invaders, and Mercator commander Elvis rushed headlong into the climax- a clash of two equally sized fleets.

Newspapers across the Mercator systems celebrated a complete rout of the enemy, with our forces barely dented. Our boarding ships captured many Poo assets, and the lessons at the Honky Tonk Academy proved vital.

Orders demanded Elvis press the advantage and strike the enemy's heart. In the next 5 turns, two Poo homeworlds fell silent and cool; the Last homeworld has been targeted and engaged.

1FSTCAT had beaten me earlier in KOTH, so I remember the harsh lessons he taught me, and how good he is. I have to play a strainfully calculated game against opponents of his caliber... I feel I can breathe a little now.

[ April 30, 2003, 13:13: Message edited by: Stone Mill ]

[Slynky]

Does that mean the game is over, Stone? (kinda seems like it but you didn't really say so).

[geoschmo]

Sounds like he is saying he thinks it's about over, but 1FSTCAT hasn't conceeded yet.

[BBegemott]

If I recall correctly, there 3 contenders now (one hidden [Kazarp ?]). I think it is getting quite hard to remove the stack of contenders even for allmighty king

It was suggested to add one more level (above the top) to the hill. But the counterargument was that the king might have to wait for the opponent for a long time.

I would like to propose 'The Collapsing Hill' idea. Its point is to upgrade the current KOTH format adding these rules:
1. If the winner moves to the level just beneath the king+contender and the contender slot is occupied, then the new level is automatically formed. New levels can be formed only immediately beneath king+contender.
2. If after finished game the level is emptied, it is deleted, and the hill collapses.

E.g. see the current KOTH standings. If 'The Collapsing Hill' idea were applied, then standings looked like this:

K+C: 1 game (Stone Mill-1FSTCAT)
New1: 1 game (RexTorres-Kazarp)
Top: 1 game (Cheeze-Asmala)
Middle: 4.5 games
Bottom: 7 games

If Stone Mill-1FSTCAT game is finished first, the winner plays the first winner from New1.

If RexTorres-Kazarp game is finished first, the winner moves to the level New2. But as the New1 level is emptied at the same time, the winner moves back to New1. The winner plays the first winner from Top, or the winner of Stone Mill-1FSTCAT.

If Cheeze-Asmala game is finished first (and nobody wins from the middle), the winner moves to the New1. But as the Top level is emptied at the same time, it collapses, and the players in the New1 level (winner of Asmala-Cheeze, RexTorres, Kazarp) find themselves in the Top.

Advantage:
This system allows only one contender at a time, and one player waiting for the opponent in each level. In total, the number of players waiting for the opponents should decrease.
Dissadvantage:
Some players have to play more games than others to reach the K+C level. (because of collapses)
However I am not sure if it is a dissadvantage

[tesco samoa]

No I said when there are two systems up and running that i will only have time to play in one. I like Koth but I would rather play in a ladder system.

I am not out of koth yet... I would like to get to the 3rd level before I leave...

[Asmala]

Originally posted by tesco samoa:
No I said when there are two systems up and running that i will only have time to play in one. I like Koth but I would rather play in a ladder system.

I am not out of koth yet... I would like to get to the 3rd level before I leave...

OK, so Pablo is the only one quiting

[Asmala]

I think that's a nice idea BBegemott. However there is one problem: I have a useful program which generates KOTH page, but it doesn't support that new format. I haven't done it myself so I have to ask if there can be done some changes to it if we decide to move to that new format.

I'd like to hear more opinions about this new format, especially from the current 2nd and 3rd contenders (RexTorres and Kazarp).