Going down with the ship?

[MariOne]

See, there are many single players much better than me!

In the sense that if I enjoy for instance cycling, this does not mean that I should find fun in riding a bike using one leg, facing backwards and steering with my ears!!!
Of course, there is a huge number of youngsters who elected bike acrobatics as lifestyle, like with the skate/snowboard and halfpipe... They even featured at Atlanta '96 closing cerimony....

I only erratically gave a fain try at those challenges, I had a bit of a hard time with the OCC and quit when my position was no better than promising, never went anywhere with the nomad challenge...

What I mean, is that there are sure some esoteric skill and techniques to hone, or metaphysic preception and understanding of the game to grab, to excel at all the weird challenges that have been invented here.
Kudos to those who got there, I'm not at that level.

But if you talk about classic play, I'm pretty solid.
And this allows me to beat the AI 99.99% of the time in standard games, and to sit in the top 15% slice of human players skill distribution (pbem-wise, wild self-indulgent estimate ).

Maybe to break in the top 3% you'd really need to recur to those skills honed in the exoteric challenges...

[BustaMike]

Metaphysic perception and understanding of the game.... lol, MariOne. It's a game (I get what you're saying but metaphysics, ) That would be some other kind of game.

I thought about the question more and I think there's only one time I've ever played until the game was completely over and lost. It was a MP game with a couple of my friends. We accidentally left co-op victory on. Well only one of us remembered and he managed to pact with everyone by about turn 45 or so. Instant game over. I have never and will never play with co-op victory on again. It's ridiculous.

[CEO Aaron]

The computer seems very reluctant to follow up any military advantages, especially if you're willing to kowtow to him in the form of cash payments or tech. The only game I've _lost_ per se is the first time I launched a flurry of PBs in the mid-late game, without having lifted the charter first. The sanctions didn't hurt me so much as the massive ecodamage from an indignant planet. I wasn't prepared, and complete and total worm-rape ensued. I have to admit, I was impressed, such that I've never been even remotely tempted to build PBs without lifting the UN Charter first.

[Chowlett]

Yes, the jury's still out on why Planet seems to respect the lifting of the charter...

[CEO Aaron]

Frankly, I'm glad you can get Planet to respect the lifting of the UN Charter, I _love_ PBs, they're the reason I keep playing the game. Shaves as close as a blade or your money back!!!

[Blake]

About the only game I've lost was as Uni, the Spartans rolled up with an Ogre MK1 and some rovers and took Uni Base and another base... and well that left me with one base so I admitted defeat....

I've won worst, Morgan trapped on a sliver of land between a big wet thing (the ocean) and a big hard thing (the caretakers). Fought my way out too, fleeing to offshore islands is for wusses

[big_canuk]

ROTFLOL!

One offshore flight that I remember doing was in response to a Spartan orge rush.

bc

[Anodyne]

I'll finish a losing game if it looks interesting / funny to defend your losing nation. But if the game's just too clear, it gets boring and I quit before losing.

[Spacecow]

So does anyone know if it's even possible to become an AI's submissive pactmate? Or do they just kill you off?

And then the next obvious question... if you can become submissive, can you defy your new "master"? (or maybe only if you're Miriam... :P )

[CEO Aaron]

I certainly have never seen it as an option, and I doubt I would take it if it was offered. I'm the sort of player who won't give up until I've been burned out of my last bunker. The enemy is at liberty to oppress my corpse.

[Flubber]

I doubt if a human could ever become a submissive in the way the AI does since all that " submissive" means is that the AI follows a programmed pattern of behavior. No human could be forced into that.

Now it would be possible to stay alive by following a very meek and accomodating pattern of behavior. When faced with a spartan or alien rush in the early game, I would be totally submissive, knowing that in a few years, when I built up, they would be in my torture chambers

[Cybergod]

I was once playing as PK, using thin expansion, with virtually no military techs o offencive units becuase I had a gut feeling that I was alone on my patch of land, but no Uni had to land a Colony Pod via Tansport foil and manufacture Impact Rovers. He wasn't interested in anything except my destruction (I received the message - "Take a good look at what is left of your pathetic empire - there will be little of it left, next time we meet"). and I watched the punishment sphere video.


Another time, I selected Believers, landed on a tiny 5 * 5 patch of land, saw I'll no get far, I destroyed all my units and obliterated New Jerusalem... no offence to fans of Miriam I received a message: "The Believers were eradicated" without saying who eradicated them. Amazingly I still had 10 years of sanctions...