[PBEM] Warlords: Fiat Lux (tracker thread)

[sabrewolf]

by your defeat the game switched to hotseat by which i lost my movement points of the other units. now i'm toast too

[Harovan]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
may i ask why?
barbarians too?

5 Archers. First one, next turn 2 (killed 1 warrior), next turn again 2 (killed the other). In case they wouldn't succeed, the 6th was already stepping over my border.

[sabrewolf]

ouch!!! nasty!

so would you want to restart a game? maybe one where we already have decent enough barbarian-fighting units?
the pace was certainly nice...

[Harovan]

I have to admit, I didn't enjoy this game much. The game speed was too low (Epic is not for PBEM). The AI difficulty was too high (a PBEM should be primarily human vs human, you should not have to play catch up with AIs). In Civ3 I outright denied to play with AIs. Finally, I underestimated the Raging Barbarians setting, mainly because I never used it.

And frankly, while the speed was nice, it was a bit too much for me. Multiturn sessions are good, but maybe only once a week. If I would be into playing the same game for the whole evening, I would play online MP. I can't blame anyone except myself for this, let's say I had to make the experience first. But if there's a new turn every 15-20 minutes, you can't play anything else, and "play 2 minutes, wait 15 minutes, rinse, repeat" is certainly not how I want to provide most of my evenings.

I would be into another game, but I will watch, that the settings are more to my liking. What about that 4 player game where both of us agreed to participate? The setup thread is still alive, I believe.

[sabrewolf]

ah, sorry in that case for all! here my reply to your points:

- game speed: after all the quick speed PBEM games i was looking forward to a game where techs actually meant something. in another game i'm getting a tech every 2-4 turns. that means your units will be outdated before they reach the enemy border. all the ones i have won/dominated so far i had to really exploit certain key points such as cavalry. after this experience i see that epic is certainly not good. "normal" may be more appropriate, though.

- multiturn-sessions: was perfect for me because i only play civ4 so i can keep it running in the background. during the idle time i can surf, email, post, read, play other turns, etc. but ofcourse for you NWN woulnd't go. sorry... (on the other hand, nobody forced you to play that fast )

- monarch AI: it's true that they are tough, but it's necessary to level the field. noble level AI are no challenge at all - maybe the one in between would have been more appropriate? i don't quite see why you despise AI in PBEMs... they add another focus to the game (typically they are early strong and later weak - unlike the human player who starts off weak and overtakes later on).

- raging barbarians: i had forgotten that they were set on. they basically force you to go for archery first. i would have been toast just 2-3 turns after you (didn't have any copper). this is cool at quick games because you usually are at iron working or so before the first archers appear.

[sabrewolf]

as for another game with 4 players: i actually dislike multi-player games. it's never fair for the one who's on the receiving end of an alliance. and when you're on the giving end, it just ain't "your" victory.

in duels it's the quality of the player's game that counts, not the quality of his negotiation skills.

also, with 4 or more the chances of one person being away at any time is quite high. not many of my 4-player games have ended so far

but yeah, i'd be in if you organise a game

[Harovan]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
ah, sorry in that case for all! here my reply to your points:

- game speed: after all the quick speed PBEM games i was looking forward to a game where techs actually meant something. in another game i'm getting a tech every 2-4 turns. that means your units will be outdated before they reach the enemy border. all the ones i have won/dominated so far i had to really exploit certain key points such as cavalry. after this experience i see that epic is certainly not good. "normal" may be more appropriate, though.

true

- multiturn-sessions: was perfect for me because i only play civ4 so i can keep it running in the background. during the idle time i can surf, email, post, read, play other turns, etc. but ofcourse for you NWN woulnd't go. sorry...

I'm playing a lot of games. NWN (modules and persistent worlds), Settlers II TNG, a MMORPG (not WoW), HOI2 with and without Doomsday, a few nostalgy trips in Ultima VII and Ultima IX and others. Civ4 takes at most 10% of my spare time, likely less. Since it came out, I played only 2 full games, and none in Warlords.

(on the other hand, nobody forced you to play that fast )

That's why I said, I can't blame anyone except myself.

- monarch AI: it's true that they are tough, but it's necessary to level the field. noble level AI are no challenge at all - maybe the one in between would have been more appropriate? i don't quite see why you despise AI in PBEMs... they add another focus to the game (typically they are early strong and later weak - unlike the human player who starts off weak and overtakes later on).

I want to play humans in PBEMs. If I want to play catch-up, I play SP.

- raging barbarians: i had forgotten that they were set on. they basically force you to go for archery first. i would have been toast just 2-3 turns after you (didn't have any copper). this is cool at quick games because you usually are at iron working or so before the first archers appear.

I had copper hooked up, but at epic it takes an age to build units (while barbarians in numbers are created out of thin air). My first axeman was only half ready, and I didn't even run max food.

as for another game with 4 players: i actually dislike multi-player games. it's never fair for the one who's on the receiving end of an alliance. and when you're on the giving end, it just ain't "your" victory.

in duels it's the quality of the player's game that counts, not the quality of his negotiation skills.

"This adds just another focus", I might reply here. I don't see how you can preach AI diplomacy a few lines above, but dislike human diplomacy.

also, with 4 or more the chances of one person being away at any time is quite high. not many of my 4-player games have ended so far

but yeah, i'd be in if you organise a game

That is a good point, I have also games that died before they really started. I keep a list of unreliable players, that's all I can do.

I'm in another game with Claus, rumpo kid and SebP, which is progressing nicely, with an average of 2-3 turns per day. Record were 8 so far, which is great for a 4 player game.