The Laptop Game turn tracking thread

[Net Warrior]

2208 to Gaians

[Chip_Buckner]

I sent it off to Yoda this morning.

[jtsisyoda]

Rubin gets 2208, while I get my derrierre handed to me.

[Rubin]

2208 to Net Warrior.

---

Global News Broadcast, M.Y. 2208:

Rubinic scientific staff has been completely taken by surprise. While wars may rage across the planet surface genocide is not tolerated. And genocide may well be what we are facing if we do not act now. The reason: Drastic Global Warming!

Geologists have found the first certain evidence that the polar caps are melting. Sea levels are predicted to rise at least 150 meters and much of the known land is soon submerged unless terraforming engineers start raising the endangered zones.

The Rubinites have hereby announced this global event. It seems clear that the Rubinites were not the first to discover the truth and CEO Rubin has expressed concern about the inhuman secrecy of our former friends and allies. It is uncertain when we shall experience the first dramatic flood.

[jtsisyoda]

Sorry, I forgot to mention the message I received this turn:

Global Warming will cause sea levels to rise 200 meters over the next 20 years.

[Net Warrior]

Turn to Gaians

[Chip_Buckner]

I really should post here right after I play the turn. Once again, it went off to Yoda this morning.

[jtsisyoda]

2209 to Rubin.

My atrocities that have brought on 662 years of sanctions may cause more global warming soon.

I may have to obliterate my last base next turn. It's been fun and a great learning experience. Thanks for being so fast with the turns. When do I get my revenge with Laptop II?

[Rubin]

2209 to Net Warrior.

Regarding Laptop II: Playing with the three of you is very rewarding. The 'close to 1 turn/day pace' gives the game a good flow and my interest in the game has remained very high since the game start in January. Your commitment has been outstanding and it is a pleasure participating in this game.

I would be delighted to start Laptop II whenever you find the time to start again.

[Chip_Buckner]

Because my other PBEM appears to be ready to fold, I can pick up another game. There will, however, be several week-long periods in June and July in which I will not be able to play. (A college reunion, taking kids to scout camp, etc.) If you can put up with those scheduled disappearances, I'd love to participate.

My sense is that our turn order has been pretty efficient. Do we want to play the same factions or switch to something with which we are less familiar? I'll do either.

[jtsisyoda]

Here are some ideas I'd be open to. I'm not super-attached to any of them, though, so we could do whatever.

Rotate the same four factions. I especially wouldn't mind PK's. Maybe Morgan, although I'm on the Morgan team in the new ACDG, and I'm finishing up another PBEM as Morgan, too.

Play as a team game from the start. Maybe Chip and I could team up, since our factions had a little feud early on. Also, we're not in any of the same PBEM's together (I'm in other games with Rubin and NW).

I've never tried a 100% land, 0% sea game before.

Or we could do a game with many, many small islands. The islands can be close together, so there is still a lot of land. It might be a fun land-grab situation.

[Net Warrior]

2210 to Gaians

All good ideas Yoda. I just took over a faction recently in BE2 and there the CMN set up the 3 AI factions into a 3 way pact. Another idea would be to ban the 4 factions from Laptop 1 to human players, just to get us away from our favorites. Teams would be interesting too. Let's hammer out the land/sea ratio 1st thing and take it from there.

[jtsisyoda]

Rubin, Chip, and myself could start LT2 any time, it appears. What about you, NW? Room for another PBEM yet?

Rubin and Chip, what do you say about land/sea/islands, teams or not, etc.?

To build on what NW said, maybe we could go in this order:
Decide on map characteristics.
Decide teams or no teams.
Decide on rules.
Pick factions.
Pick AI factions and decide how "buffed" they'll be.

[Rubin]

Laptop II:
I have some rather strong preferences. These are: Large map, 50-70% ocean coverage, weak erosion, average cloud cover. Native life may be abundant if no human player controls the Gaians or Cult; otherwise average.

I fear playing on a huge map will take too long and momentum factions are seemingly penalized. I find standard maps a little too small--but I may comply if large map is problematic.

I find the map very important. Exploring the map is fun and I consider it a vital part of the game. (Of course, No Unity Survey should be enabled). A blend of larger landmasses, smaller islands, inland seas, etc. makes the game interesting to me.

I am a little reluctant to accepting pre-defined teams. In the early game there is less incentive to explore the map and technologies lose some of their value among other things. Overall, this reduces the options present. However, I have considered teams for a while. My conclusion is that the opposite, no cooperative victory, seems more appealing to me.

Random events should definitely be turned OFF! And I dislike the exploit of the stockpile energy bug. Spoils of war should be turned OFF too. No OBJECTIVE bases or other CMN tweaks as well.

The AI should have the Probe Cruiser available. Otherwise, I tend to leave the AIs as they are.

Regarding factions: Rotating factions is possible and I've been thinking of this for a while. However, choosing new factions is interesting too. The original seven factions present my preferred setup. In this case, the Hive or the Peacekeepers have my interest (and of course the Morganites). If Alien Crossfire factions are included I think only the Free Drones and the Cybernetic Consciousnees are viable for me. Based on the experiences of Laptop I I believe the Cybernetic Consciousness would suit me very well!

Is there anything we need to change in the current House Rules?

[Chip_Buckner]

Turn to Yoda.

As for Laptop2, I'm willing to experiment with almost anything. I know very little about the new seven factions and will take a shot at anybody.

I wouldn't mind having Darsnan (or whoever) assign factions to the AI and to each of us ... so that I don't know who I am going to encounter until I do so. Cloud cover, native life, ocean surface ... use the default plus or minus 1 setting ... and you don't have to tell me in advance. I'll react to whatever I'm given.

Having said that, I have a mild preference for a standard-sized map. The larger maps tend to hurt the naturally aggressive factions. Of course, if you make me a passive faction, the larger the map, the better!

I agree with Rubin that we ought to let alliances happen as they may. I'll admit that, having thrown a hissy-fit at Yoda early on, I'm looking for an opportunity to work with him, but Laptop II may or may not be the time in which that works.

Rubin has shamed me out of using the stockpile energy bug. (I'm not even using it in my other PBEM.) When playing against the AI, I use blind research just to increase the challenge level. I could take it or leave it against you guys.

You figure out what you want ... and I'll play it.