Publicity Stunt

[conmcb25]

Originally posted by Aqualung71
Perhaps we could try to devise a more formal series of courses, designed to develop the important parts of the game for students. This could be a progressive course, tailored to each level and emphasising various aspects of the game, getting more complex as course difficulty increases.

The downside is, the success of this idea would depend largely on the availability and commitment of some AU regulars. There would need to be a fair amount of time spent to set it up and run it.

I like this idea. Although I do agree with the downside.

I for one already play AU courses for fun. Sometimes when Im pressed for time, I dont even post, like with AU502. But I still check the DAR's and have learned a lot from doing so. I have regularly restarted courses, trying some of the strategies posted and then said to myself, "hey thats cool, why didn't I think of that?"

I think posting news stories via Apolyton would be a big help. We should probably start with a short one about what the AU is, why we do it, and what we are doing right now.

We can all go back and post in the different CIV forums what is going on. For example Rhoth and Arnelos have posted notices in the various ISDG closed forums, spreading the news.

Then we get people who post regularly on other sites, to go ahead and get the news peice posted there.

Not exactly a stunt, but it may get the word out.

I think

[Krill]

Perhaps we could try to devise a more formal series of courses, designed to develop the important parts of the game for students. This could be a progressive course, tailored to each level and emphasising various aspects of the game, getting more complex as course difficulty increases.

The downside is, the success of this idea would depend largely on the availability and commitment of some AU regulars. There would need to be a fair amount of time spent to set it up and run it.

I like this idea as well, but one way to minimise that downside is to have only one teacher for each "subject".

IE: Dominae (if only he had not left) on micro-management

Theseus for warmongering,

nBarcley for REXing.

alexman for how to beat beat corruption/anything unorthodox.

vmxa1 could do anything, such as entry level regent basics. (He seems perfectly suited for this: I've followed some of his 1on1 tutorials, and they sounded well explained, with good reasoning etc)

If only they had the time. I'd help where possible, but since I have no skills whatsoever...

[Tassadar500]

This is actually exactly what I meant to do. By all means I did not mean a stunt, but rather something to boost publicity. I say we brainstorm a bit more and than I'll post a poll about it.

[sabrewolf]

i think one problem of the AU is that it seems for outsiders a bit like something difficult.

the mod makes even monarch level AI very challenging for people who usually are evenly matched with demigod.

the courses are often somewhat "abstract". topics like "eternal war", the huge "gargantua".. these don't really seem like making one's playing style better, but more like a new challenge for the topshots around here.

now the "pillage and plunder" course. i don't want to give away any spoilers... but the lack of something certain (who played it, knows what i mean) and the difficulty to actually achieve the idea of the topic could make this more frustrating than motivating for newcomers.

i've started several AU courses, but never actually got very far due to various reasons...

the success of GotM at CFC is (besides the competition and a staff team that spends weeks compiling lists and checking saves) that it's farily easy to get in to. and the difficulty level is similar to the one of regular games.

maybe there should be 2 types of AU courses. one like it's now, which requires high adaptation and one random one which isn't predefined by neither topic nor aim (OCC, 5CC, eternal war, no GA) for the sake of pure comparison...

[sabrewolf]

another idea would be courses with specific topics which can be used in any game... like REXing.

have a map where ralphing, zenning, farbing, etc is possible. enough space to expand and a starting location which allows a perfect settler pump. there newbs will see the advantage of these pumps.

another possibility would be showing the concept of (temporary) camps, when you've got little space, need early units but still need a good infrastructure early on.

[sabrewolf]

the value of rushing is another topic that most beginners don't grasp (me neither, btw).

have a course with the germans and make it so, that only those who rush early will prevail

[sabrewolf]

ok, i'm continuing my brainstorming... sorry about the many posts... but it's nothing in comparison with some other forums (fora? sp?)...

having websites for the various grand master's DARs would be great. something in the style of aeson's "so cold (of the map generator)", sirpleb's "going for sid HOF" which are threads going for one specific game of one specific person (quality over quantity)... to me, they are the most fascinating and interesting threads to read!

maybe someone (me?) could write a script that extracts people's posts from the different DAR-threads and puts them into one... but we'd need access to the DB and i doubt that's going to be possible...

[Krill]

(fora? sp?)...

the latin would be "Fora". (2nd declension, neuter). I should be studying this now, since I have an exam on it tomorrow


what about a PBEM with 4 of the panelists? and DARs released to the public after 40 turns etc?

[sabrewolf]

Originally posted by Krill

(fora? sp?)...

the latin would be "Fori".

i just looked it up: forums and fora are both correct for plura

what about a PBEM with 4 of the panelists? and DARs released to the public after 40 turns etc?

that sounds very interesting. maybe a DAR which lags 20 turns behind... so everyone know who's where, but a lot can chance in 20 turns

[Solomwi]

Originally posted by Krill

(fora? sp?)...

the latin would be "Fora". (2nd declension, neuter). I should be studying this now, since I have an exam on it tomorrow

LOL, I was about to answer that "fori" would be correct if the singular were "forus", but when I hit quote, you had already corrected it.

On the topic at hand, has anybody offered the AU Mod for a CFC GOTM? I know the thread is about increasing exposure of AU as a whole, but the mod is the most immediately tangible defining aspect to those not involved in it, and seems to me a natural tool for introducing new players to AU, and the vast knowledge and expertise that comes with it.

[ducki]

Originally posted by sabrewolf
another idea would be courses with specific topics which can be used in any game... like REXing.

have a map where ralphing, zenning, farbing, etc is possible. enough space to expand and a starting location which allows a perfect settler pump. there newbs will see the advantage of these pumps.

another possibility would be showing the concept of (temporary) camps, when you've got little space, need early units but still need a good infrastructure early on.

AU 501 was actually an excellent example for both of these. Not promoted as such, and Theseus ended up not disbanding his super-tightly-spaced home island, but if there was ever an example of tight-spacing-done-extreme, that's it.

Add in the excellent use of a worker pump by DrSpike to continuously add 10-food workers to towns that needed 20+ food to grow, and the pump is shown to be even more valuable.


Come to think of it, maybe we don't need new games, but a new way of analyzing and showcasing what we've already got, which is some of the best strategic play I've seen. Some very esoteric, some so obvious that many don't think of it.

What we need is a Post-Game Wrap-up Show. Someone to comb through the DARs and glean the "good" stuff. Then, with links, compile a Highlights Reel with commentary of the high-points and low-points of the most recent game.

Publish this as a News Story on 'poly and publicize it. It would be news-y and pull some "late" players as well as interest folks in "what's next". It would be fun if the commentary was done in a theme, like a sportscaster or the excellent zoological storytelling seen in 501. And, it would have a very subtle draw to players that want to have some level of competition but not really the GOTM-level or HoF type of game play - folks LOVE to see their name in writing or hear it on the news or on TV. It would be subtle, but it would subconsciously say "Wouldn't you like to be featured in the next AU Post-game Wrap-up? Unless you play, you don't even have a shot, so come on, join in the fun!"


What do you guys think of that?

[ducki]

maybe someone (me?) could write a script that extracts people's posts from the different DAR-threads and puts them into one... but we'd need access to the DB and i doubt that's going to be possible...

A screenscraper probably wouldn't be that hard to do if I had the time. Maybe someone already has one that we could modify.

[sabrewolf]

Originally posted by ducki

A screenscraper probably wouldn't be that hard to do if I had the time. Maybe someone already has one that we could modify.

ideally something server-side which is faster and more reliable. vBulletin is a common product, probably something like this does already exist

[Krill]

Add in the excellent use of a worker pump by I-forget-who to continuously add 10-food workers to towns that needed 20+ food to grow, and the pump is shown to be even more valuable.

That was Dr spike.

EDIT: Deleted irrelevent info

[Tassadar500]

What article do you guys want me to post about?