Not declaring probe actions against human opponents in multiplay

[Sarxis]

Hey, if you don't properly defend yourself against an opponent's probe actions (counter espionage units, good probe rating) then you don't need to know you've been probed!


[You didn't hear this; I was never here.]

[Blake]

In LAN games you get a different bug, if one of your probes is sent by long distance move, and decides to go through one of your pactbros bases (and the move algorithim loves to do this!) you don't have the option of NOT doing a probe action! (if you chose not to then it automatically chooses one!, usually tech steal, I think).

Your pact brother is informed, but the description is not accurate (atleast the guy I probed swore I stole SST, but I didn't have it after the probe action) Unfortunately the other two players in the game hated probes with a vengeance and considered the use of them an atrocity, and because they didn't use probes I havn't seen the bug from the recieving end.

[Sarxis]

I try to always move my units by hand. This can be tedious, but it really allows me to keep track of what I am doing with every unit that doesn't have the hold order. It also bypasses oddities like you just described. But thanx for that info; I will be wary of this fact!

[Blake]

quote: I try to always move my units by hand. This can be tedious, but it really allows me to keep track of what I am doing with every unit that doesn't have the hold order.

Unfortunately this bug happens in multiplayer - when other players are waiting for you to finish your turn as quickly as possible. Auto move especially for ships and aircraft saves a lot of time, in the end I comprimised and auto-moved my probe foils to my pact bros territory, then manually moved them around his sea cities and used auto move to there final destination.

Unfortunately if one of the possible shortest routes to the destination is through a friendly city the auto-move always seems to choose that route, so even after dodging my pact bros sea cities and auto-moving the foil again it went diagonally to enter one of my pact bros coastal cities, and auto-probed him again! (Once is forgivable, but twice?)

Another thing you can't do in MP games is frame another player for your probe actions against human players. Which kinda makes sense seeing the probe action would appear in the wrong players turn. (Didn't stop me probing then claiming Roze AI framed me, don't know if the other guy was stupid enough to believe me)

[MariOne]

I'm not sure about the Apolyton Tournament rules (the only common set of rules you have here afaik), but in every pbem I took part in, it was agreed in advance that the prober (and not the probed one) receiving the "stern rebuke" message with the option of whether declaring vendetta or not, was just a downside of implementing the sequential turns in a pbem without having the other players online when you play your one.
It was ruled that unless a player gives explicit permission, vendetta must always be chosen by the prober as the default reaction of the probed human faction. It made it in the ACOL Rules Page too.
As just infiltrating datalinks doesn't cause degradation of diplomatic status, you actually never get to know you've been infiltrated in a pbem.

[Googlie]

many of us are incorporating this rule into our "pick-up" PBEMs, (either on set-up or by agreement during the game)

It is not a feature of the ACT or AXT series of tourney games, but I think in individual games the players are discussing adopting it during the game (I know I am).

Same with the Council Elections (see separate thread)

G.