[PtBS] The Return Of Rhothaerill

[Rhothaerill]

This is a 5 player game. Standard BtS rules. Players as follows:

Rhothaerill - Gilgamesh of the Sumerians (creative, protective)
Beta - Suryavarman of the Khmer (creative, expansive)
Wittlich - Brennus of the Celts (charismatic, spiritual)
Snoopy369 - Isabella of the Spaniards (expansive, spiritual)
Geomodder - Joao II of the Portuguese (expansive, imperialistic)

I'll get all the traits posted as soon as I'm at a computer with civ

Snoop will be hosting once we have our parameters set up.

Map type: Standard size, snaky pangaea, 80% water, all other map parameters as normal
Turn timer: 36 hours
Parameters: No tech brokering, free religion, 12 hour minimum wait between turns during wartime, be careful of double moves in general, standard barbs

[Rhothaerill]

If we're going to choose our own civs I think I'd like to have the Incas. I've never played them in an MP game before, since in the older ones I always seemed to end up with Rome (thanks Beta )

[Wittlich]

Cool graphics Rhoth!

I have no option on a civ choice - I would just assume it be random.

[GeoModder]

Rhothaerill... weren't you the one I took the Roman civ over from in the Aegean pitboss game?

You're drawing the line at 5 participants?

[snoopy369]

Hi Welcome back, sir!

[proviisori]

I still don't have a proper copy of BtS.

So count me out.

I really really need to get my ass to the shop and buy one... some day

[Rhothaerill]

Hmm, sorry Provi I didn't know you didn't have BtS. Well, with Provi being out means there is a spot if you want it Geo. And yes I was the one that was playing the civ you took over in Aegean. I had a few...uhh, issues...with another player in a different game, and it soured me on Civ for a long time.

I wanted to keep my return small with a limited amount of people and a slowish (36-48 hour) turntimer.

Any discussion on Civ choices or changes to the game parameters?

[Beta]

Hey - welcome Geo. And provi - go get a copy soon and then you can play in this one.

I say we pick civs, on a first come first served basis. There are tons to choose from now anyway.

I still like my landmass choice.

Normal speed.

The only other option we might want to consider is no tech brokering. This is often used in larger games. Essentially it means you can only trade techs that you research.

It helps limit the early advantage that one civ may get over the others due to geographic location, and it slows the game down slightly, allowing units to remain 'modern' a bit longer. Not really hung up on it, but I like it. The downside is that it pushes everyone into picking financial civs.

The other possibility is to go with no tech brokering, and don't allow anyone to pick a financial civ. That would be my preference.

Ooo - ooo -- another idea. We pick civs for each other. The old 'misfits' game theme. What you end up doing is picking what you feel are the weakest civs for others to play. What I like about this is that you get away from the Incan-Mali-etc crowd, and play civs that are not that popular. Just a thought.

[GeoModder]

Well, since the Aegean game is slowly coming to an end, I'll definitely have time for a new game. 36-48 hours sounds just fine for me.

As on parameters, I'm pretty fond of the "No tech brokering" option too.
There are a few more like "free religion choice" and "peaceful cultural convertion after conquest" I prefer, but those are less important.

I wonder, how would you all feel about testing the "Anonymous" option under the multiplayer tab in the staging room?

But that would only be a good option if a gamemaster of sorts starts the game so none of us knows who's who to start with.

[Rhothaerill]

This is because I mentioned the Inca isn't it? I swear, I've never played them before in an MP game. In fact I've only ever played them once in an SP game.

I don't mind not having a financial civ if no one else does. We could do that and the no tech brokering thing. But I'm good either way.

Misfits could be fun. I don't really see any Civs that are significantly weaker than any others, depending on circumstances, though there are certainly those that are stronger than others. I could make a go of just about any Civ, but if we go with no financial for anyone it would be easier to stomach getting a non-MP-optimal Civ.

I just don't want Rome again.

[Rhothaerill]

Oh, one other thing. Part of the reason I left last time was because of a series of events that happened in a game. Part of it was a guy who went back on his word with regard to an alliance. I can't control that in any game other than trying to get a small group I trust to keep their word. The other event was gifting a city during war time. It was never explicitly talked about beforehand in that game, but it became an issue.

I wanted to make sure it didn't become an issue in this game too, as well as any other "exploits" that anyone has. If you know of one lets discuss it quick before we get going. I really don't want to have issues like last time.

[Rhothaerill]

Originally posted by GeoModder
There are a few more like "free religion choice" and "peaceful cultural convertion after conquest" I prefer, but those are less important.

What do these entail exactly?

I wonder, how would you all feel about testing the "Anonymous" option under the multiplayer tab in the staging room?

I've never done that. What does it do?

[GeoModder]

Well, enabling the "permanent alliance" option solves the first event for sure once such an alliance is signed. But it makes it crystal clear to the other players that there's a team outthere.

An issue that often comes up is the double move. I don't mean specifically during wartime, but more like settlers which take a good spot or scouts picking a hut with a similar unit from another player in plain view.

[GeoModder]

Originally posted by Rhothaerill
What do these entail exactly?

Free Religion gives the first player who researches a religion founder tech to choose which religion he takes. For instance if a player finishes first Polytheism, he normally gets Hinduism. Now he can choose between all 7 religions. The second to finish a founder tech can choose between the 6 remaining religions and so on.

As on peaceful conversion, it means that a city overwhelmed by another civs borders can switch allegiance to this civ without an automatic DoW. In practice this mostly happens with recently conquered cities with still a strong national presence of the original civ, and close borders from their former civ. So the player has no absolute control if he can keep the city or not. It depends partially on the inhabitants.

The anonymous option is supposed to show the civ's leaders name on the score display, not the players name. Thus you can converse in the diplobox with your worst RL enemy without realizing its him/her.

[proviisori]

Originally posted by Rhothaerill
Hmm, sorry Provi I didn't know you didn't have BtS.

I have BtS but it is the last test version that Firaxis was kind to give to us beta testers. It is not compatible with the "bought version" IIRC