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Man... I was just about to go to bed and respond to the next post in the morning when you posted 
Being me, however, I can't do much but respond immediately rather than wait for morning
I really wish we had some people in here other than the two of us to comment on this... (HINT to anyone still bothering to read this far 
)
I knew you had to get to this at some point, was sorta wondering why you hadn't yet
Let me explain the reason why I have taken such exception to your method of running for office here... the reason is that I've used exactly the same tactic before because it normally works extremely well, especially against poorly prepared opponents.
The tactic (which you are using) goes something like this:
- You are running for an office for which you have more time to expend than the limited responsibilities of the office require.
- So, in an effort both to bolster your own popularity and the formidability of your candidacy, you start adding to the responsibilities of the office specific things you feel you would be good at doing while implying that these are absolutely necessary parts of the job despite their absense from the job description.
- This helps you to gain both popularity for your willingness to perform "extra sacrifices" for the job (sacrifices which, in reality, have little to do with the job description) and intimidate opponent(s) because they are sacrifices which you have selected.
- Once you are elected, you implement these extra items and imply in any later election that they are necessary parts of the job... this makes it almost impossible for anyone to run against you because you work over the course of your term to taylor such things to your own talents... thus meaning anyone who challenges you must promise to do everything you do as well as you do it... all above and beyond the job description of the office... this is precisely why Reddawg, in particular, is currently unbeatable.
Your opponent typically feels trapped into taking one of three unfortunate courses of action:
1. Saying they can match what you have promised, which inevitably allows you to say that they're without any fresh ideas and just copying your own.
2. Trying to "one-up" you by promising their own list of things they'd add to the job description and implying that they are necessary to the job. This inevitably leads to campaign that is little more than an irresponsible bidding war over "who is willing to sacrifice more" when the real question should be why the two candidates are ever less realistic portrayals of the actual job and straying dangerously toward the territory of writing an impossible job description which ultimately dooms the winner of the election to disapoint the unrealistic expectations they set up in the campaign with all of their myriad promises (U.S. Presidential elections do this a hell of a lot...)
3. Fearing the suddenly increased magnitude of the job, they simply drop out of the race.
The fundamental flaw with this campaign tactic, one I've used before myself quite successfully more than once because the vast majority of candidates fall for it every time, is that it moves the focus of the campaign away from the relevant issues and job responsibilities (ones which the candidate using hte tactic typically knows don't shed enough favorable contrast between themselves and their opponent) into a battle over areas that do shed contrast between the candidates, but have little or nothing to do with the job description.
The best counter to the tactic if you want to avoid the insane one-upsmanship which all-too-often leads to a completely rediculous race to see who wants to promise more and more sacrifices and become the better martyr and get completely off-track from the most important issues is to simply refuse to play that game. Whenever your opponent strays from the course, knock them back onto it.
The voters are not voting on whether I or you are willing to sacrifice more of our time, offer more ideas, or work on more projects on behalf of Apolytonia. I have my own lengthy list of projects I'd love to do here and I plan on doing several of them in the coming term and I might end up sharing many of them by the end of this campaign - the difference is that I seem to realize that those things are not what this campaign is about.
This said, whenever you bring up issues which relate to the actual job description, whether explicitly in the CoL or generally accepted as being underneath the job, including by the current holder of the office or at least reasonably within the bounds of things people might expect specifically of the Vice President and not simply of any concerned citizen, then I will respond and offer my own thoughts on such things. Of the many many things you have attempted to tack onto the job description of Vice President which are not part of that job, exceedingly few meet this standard.
I think you're a fabulous citizen of Apolytonia and I know you think similar of myself. We are both extremely active and have a lot of ideas, but the vast majority of the ideas we have about next term are entirely seperate issues from the one which is most important to the voter: which of these two candidates would best meet the following job description and what can be reasonably extended from it:
"The right hand of the President; he may assist the president in any way currently needed (holding polls, consulting ministers, distributing the save files, etc). In the event the President is unable to play his turn, the Vice-president shall play the turn instead."
You have stated repeatedly that "IF elected VP, I will...." and followed such a statement with promise after promise after promise of things not in the job description. My continued response has been why you must state IF in such statements when your capability to perform them is not dependent on being Vice President. I have a lot of things I plan to do next term, but the vast majority of them I refuse to preface with the line "IF elected Vice President...", even if such a statement were to help me be elected. That's a very key difference between your argument and my own. Being Vice President will allow me to provide support to the President and any ministers when requested or when it seems needed, it will allow me to have a more active role in creating official polls when allowed by the President, will allow me to take on a more direct/official role in any turnchat or with any cabinet communication, and may even allow me to run turnchats, but it is not the event or non-event upon which is hinging whether I will bother to help Apolytonia in various other ways.
This is not about what either of us would do next term as an Apolytonian, it is about what we would do (narrowly considered) as Vice President.
As such, I'm going to attempt to strike at that specific set of the issues of the highest relevance (though you have successfully managed to get off track from the last time I actually spoke on them):
FIRST: TURNCHATS
1. TURNCHAT ATTENDANCE: I am a current attendee at most turnchats despite not being a member of the cabinet. It is a reasonable expectation that I would continue this habit in the future as Vice President, though increasing my commitment by being present at all turn chats at which I can be reasonably expected to attend (baring RL concerns).
2. TURNCHAT PROTOCOL: I'd like to talk to whomever becomes President about implementing something of added protocol during the turnchat itself and in the form of a variation on the old system of having all orders officially submitted by the ministers in the ministers room and having the public discussion in the main room. My personal proposal is that the ministers' room would be used solely for transmitted orders from ministers (or their designated representatives) where orders need revision or the President or VP requests the clarification of orders, etc. The ministers room would not be used for a seperate discussion there, ministers can private message each other in IRC if they need a request from a specific minister, but general discussions should be held in the main channel with everyone who is there present to comment. The main IRC channel would be used for general discussion and for the executive conducting the turnchat (whether the President or the Vice President) to post results and conduct quick polls (I really like OPD's tendency of using these frequently in unforseen situations, btw... ). I am extremely flexible on this and understand that it will be the President, not myself, who runs the majority, if not even all, of the turnchats or turnthreads during the term. As stated at the top, this is simply where I would start in what would be a discussion between myself and the President about how to conduct turnchats.
3. TURNTHREAD PROTOCOL: As with turnchat protocol, I would start the discussion with the President by suggesting that one thread be decided solely for ministers to provide orders clarifications, modified or new orders, and answer questions posed to them (specifically) by the acting executive (whether the President or the VP). Another or other threads would be established for turnthread discussion. I admittedly have no experience with turnthreads, so I'd obviously defer to the President's judgement if either Ninot or WhiteBandit were elected on what best to do from their knowledge of turnthreads and their own preferences, but this would certainly not stop me from offering suggestions based upon my own knowledge of observing turnchats and being a poster on the boards.
4. TURN CHAT/THREAD OBSERVATION AND SUGGESTIONS: One thing I would certainly watch out for and could help with as Vice President is to keep an eye on the smoothness of turnthreads and/or turnchats while they are taking place and confer with the President after each turnthread and/or turnchat to suggest various changes from what I noticed. I could also, in a similar regard, collect feedback from people present for turnthreads and/or turnchats for this purpose. This is an area where I believe the VP could be useful in "supporting the President" and is a reasonable extention of that part of the VP's established job description.
SECOND: POLLS
CONVERSING WITH THE PRESIDENT AND MINISTERS: I would do my utmost to ensure that I have confered with the President and deferred to the President on the issue of starting official polls or pre-poll discussion for official polls. I will constantly (as whenever I am on Apolyton, which is a whole lot!) be on the lookout for issues that could have polls. I think people will find that I am the type to be more likely than most to post items of interest to the populace as official polls (following a lengthy pre-poll discussion, of course) upon which they can comment. I will have to reign myself in at the discretion of the President, of course, something which I am fully prepared to do. However, the President (whichover one of the current candidates he turns out to be) will likely find that I suggest issues for pre-poll discussions and polls probably more often than the typically government minister or Vice President. It is my firm belief that open and lengthy discussion by many of the extremely bright Civ3 players we have here, on just about any issue (though I will have to be selective to an extent so that each issue can actually be handled), is advantageous to us. I will have to confer with any minister(s) whom the poll results affect as well.
PRE-POLL DISCUSSION: I will start pre-poll discussions with a non-partial post and a listing (using the best of my analytical ability) of what all of the potential and reasonable options seem to be off the top of my head as merely a spring-board. As the discussion continues, I will attempt to guide it toward the point where there are 2 or more solid options that people have coalesced around. This statement makes this process sound easy, something which it is certainly not. I realize this because I've been a moderator before. Though I've played the role of an active moderator and a passive moderator before, I definately think the role of a slightly more active moderator is called for in this case (one who states their own opinion as well as attempting to help the group identifity the key and viable options which would be placed in a poll). Once I believe that point is reached, I believe it something of a courtesy (unless we are especially pressed for time) to then post in the thread to ask if everyone who has been actively posting in the thread is satisfied with the chosen poll options... if not, alteration can be done... if so, it goes to a poll...
THE POLLS THEMSELVES: I have a background in survey research, so polls are really cool to me (yeah, I'm a social science geek ). It also happens to mean that I have something of an understanding of how the wording of surveys and polls and the order of choices on surveys and polls can affect how people respond to them. I will obviously keep that in mind as I write polls and attempt to make them as non-partisan as my lack of sleep at the time I'm posting the poll will reasonably allow . I've attempted to do this on occassion when I've written unofficial polls (though not all of them ). As I've also been doing with my unofficial polls, I will refrain from voting until at least 5-6 people have voted to prevent people from realizing how I might have voted (not that I'm especially influential and people may be already aware of my views, but it's just a good habit if you're the one posting the poll).
THIRD: SUPPORTING MINISTERS
STANDING IN: Although most of the ministers now have vice-ministers who can take over for them in the event they have something come up, I would also be available to support them by representing them at the turnchats and turnthreads I would already be attending.
COMMUNICATION ISSUES: I would see as a reasonable extention of my role in this regard that I could watch out for examples of faltering communication between various ministers and tactfully ( ) alert them to it when it occurs and offer suggestions or help if it is requested. Otherwise, I would be available in the event ministers needed to discuss this issue or others related.
PROJECTS: Obviously, there are many projects a minister might ask of me which I would be able and willing to do if I was Vice President or not... this is not what I'm getting at here as it is not pertinent to me running for Vice President. Rather, my point here is that I would be open to ministers making specific requests for projects that would fall within what is mentioned above, especially where regarding pre-poll discussions and official polls or other job-related projects as suggested by them.
FOURTH: PLAYING FOR THE PRESIDENT
TIMES I WOULD HOLD TURNCHATS: Should I be called upon to stand in for the President on a temporary or permanent basis, I will be fully ready to do so. I am free during most of the day on all weekends. The only times on weekends I am not free is typically between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern Time (currently 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT, will become 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. GMT). I would prefer to hold weekend chats starting on Saturday or Sunday afternoons starting around 3 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. GMT, later 8 p.m. GMT). As for weekday chats, Wednesday evenings right now work well for me, though I'd expect that they would need to be later in the evening (probably starting around 5 p.m. Eastern time, which is currently 9 p.m. GMT and will become 10 p.m. GMT).
WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR ME TO PERMANENTLY REPLACE THE PRESIDENT: If I have need to be completely honest about this (and I strongly believe that I do) it might mean a reduced level of posting activity on the boards, though I would certainly attempt to keep up the following:
1. Pre-poll discussions and polls
2. Collecting suggestions about turnchats/turnthreads
3. Some of my outside projects such as the World Factbook entries and other things I add. However, these would admittedly be the first to go if I really had a time problem - I would find another, if possible, to pick them up, as there are plenty of extraordinarly bright people around here who might likely find ways of innovating with what I do and improve it
----------------
Ok, I'm starting to get rather tired and it's already past 1 a.m. here now. So I'm going to head to sleep and check to see if there's anything new in the morning.
Assuming people actually slosh through reading all of the above (I certainly hope so... it's the most on-topic part of this entire thread, IMNSHO), then perhaps they will have thoughts that I can learn about and allow to affect my thinking in the morning. That's another thing about me that is extremely important and which I've demonstrated repeatedly on the boards... I will always remain open to being convinced and changing my mind, I don't really even care if it makes me look fickle because I'm suddenly agreeing with my opponent... if someone presents a convincing argument that I find I can agree with, I'm not just going to stick to my guns for the sake of my ego. My ego's not worth as much as being right
Being me, however, I can't do much but respond immediately rather than wait for morning
Originally posted by UnOrthOdOx
What people say about the order being Compiled.....
What people say about the order being Compiled.....
)
You seem to wish to harp on why I will not do these things if not elected. My time is important. I believe it is the VP's job to improve the forum, not because it is written in the CoL, hell, I may as well have been VP last term as I was certainly doing the VP's job acording to the CoL, I kept up on the current events, I started polls, byall rights i COULD have played trns if neded... We all know that CoL is garbage. It is being thrown out, and the Con Con created. I believe that every VP should go BEYOND what is simply stated within the CoL. I ask, why are you not willing to accept any new responsibility simply because it is not written for you to do so?
Let me explain the reason why I have taken such exception to your method of running for office here... the reason is that I've used exactly the same tactic before because it normally works extremely well, especially against poorly prepared opponents.
The tactic (which you are using) goes something like this:
- You are running for an office for which you have more time to expend than the limited responsibilities of the office require.
- So, in an effort both to bolster your own popularity and the formidability of your candidacy, you start adding to the responsibilities of the office specific things you feel you would be good at doing while implying that these are absolutely necessary parts of the job despite their absense from the job description.
- This helps you to gain both popularity for your willingness to perform "extra sacrifices" for the job (sacrifices which, in reality, have little to do with the job description) and intimidate opponent(s) because they are sacrifices which you have selected.
- Once you are elected, you implement these extra items and imply in any later election that they are necessary parts of the job... this makes it almost impossible for anyone to run against you because you work over the course of your term to taylor such things to your own talents... thus meaning anyone who challenges you must promise to do everything you do as well as you do it... all above and beyond the job description of the office... this is precisely why Reddawg, in particular, is currently unbeatable.
Your opponent typically feels trapped into taking one of three unfortunate courses of action:
1. Saying they can match what you have promised, which inevitably allows you to say that they're without any fresh ideas and just copying your own.
2. Trying to "one-up" you by promising their own list of things they'd add to the job description and implying that they are necessary to the job. This inevitably leads to campaign that is little more than an irresponsible bidding war over "who is willing to sacrifice more" when the real question should be why the two candidates are ever less realistic portrayals of the actual job and straying dangerously toward the territory of writing an impossible job description which ultimately dooms the winner of the election to disapoint the unrealistic expectations they set up in the campaign with all of their myriad promises (U.S. Presidential elections do this a hell of a lot...)
3. Fearing the suddenly increased magnitude of the job, they simply drop out of the race.
The fundamental flaw with this campaign tactic, one I've used before myself quite successfully more than once because the vast majority of candidates fall for it every time, is that it moves the focus of the campaign away from the relevant issues and job responsibilities (ones which the candidate using hte tactic typically knows don't shed enough favorable contrast between themselves and their opponent) into a battle over areas that do shed contrast between the candidates, but have little or nothing to do with the job description.
The best counter to the tactic if you want to avoid the insane one-upsmanship which all-too-often leads to a completely rediculous race to see who wants to promise more and more sacrifices and become the better martyr and get completely off-track from the most important issues is to simply refuse to play that game. Whenever your opponent strays from the course, knock them back onto it.
The voters are not voting on whether I or you are willing to sacrifice more of our time, offer more ideas, or work on more projects on behalf of Apolytonia. I have my own lengthy list of projects I'd love to do here and I plan on doing several of them in the coming term and I might end up sharing many of them by the end of this campaign - the difference is that I seem to realize that those things are not what this campaign is about.
This said, whenever you bring up issues which relate to the actual job description, whether explicitly in the CoL or generally accepted as being underneath the job, including by the current holder of the office or at least reasonably within the bounds of things people might expect specifically of the Vice President and not simply of any concerned citizen, then I will respond and offer my own thoughts on such things. Of the many many things you have attempted to tack onto the job description of Vice President which are not part of that job, exceedingly few meet this standard.
I think you're a fabulous citizen of Apolytonia and I know you think similar of myself. We are both extremely active and have a lot of ideas, but the vast majority of the ideas we have about next term are entirely seperate issues from the one which is most important to the voter: which of these two candidates would best meet the following job description and what can be reasonably extended from it:
"The right hand of the President; he may assist the president in any way currently needed (holding polls, consulting ministers, distributing the save files, etc). In the event the President is unable to play his turn, the Vice-president shall play the turn instead."
You have stated repeatedly that "IF elected VP, I will...." and followed such a statement with promise after promise after promise of things not in the job description. My continued response has been why you must state IF in such statements when your capability to perform them is not dependent on being Vice President. I have a lot of things I plan to do next term, but the vast majority of them I refuse to preface with the line "IF elected Vice President...", even if such a statement were to help me be elected. That's a very key difference between your argument and my own. Being Vice President will allow me to provide support to the President and any ministers when requested or when it seems needed, it will allow me to have a more active role in creating official polls when allowed by the President, will allow me to take on a more direct/official role in any turnchat or with any cabinet communication, and may even allow me to run turnchats, but it is not the event or non-event upon which is hinging whether I will bother to help Apolytonia in various other ways.
This is not about what either of us would do next term as an Apolytonian, it is about what we would do (narrowly considered) as Vice President.
As such, I'm going to attempt to strike at that specific set of the issues of the highest relevance (though you have successfully managed to get off track from the last time I actually spoke on them):
FIRST: TURNCHATS
1. TURNCHAT ATTENDANCE: I am a current attendee at most turnchats despite not being a member of the cabinet. It is a reasonable expectation that I would continue this habit in the future as Vice President, though increasing my commitment by being present at all turn chats at which I can be reasonably expected to attend (baring RL concerns).
2. TURNCHAT PROTOCOL: I'd like to talk to whomever becomes President about implementing something of added protocol during the turnchat itself and in the form of a variation on the old system of having all orders officially submitted by the ministers in the ministers room and having the public discussion in the main room. My personal proposal is that the ministers' room would be used solely for transmitted orders from ministers (or their designated representatives) where orders need revision or the President or VP requests the clarification of orders, etc. The ministers room would not be used for a seperate discussion there, ministers can private message each other in IRC if they need a request from a specific minister, but general discussions should be held in the main channel with everyone who is there present to comment. The main IRC channel would be used for general discussion and for the executive conducting the turnchat (whether the President or the Vice President) to post results and conduct quick polls (I really like OPD's tendency of using these frequently in unforseen situations, btw... ). I am extremely flexible on this and understand that it will be the President, not myself, who runs the majority, if not even all, of the turnchats or turnthreads during the term. As stated at the top, this is simply where I would start in what would be a discussion between myself and the President about how to conduct turnchats.
3. TURNTHREAD PROTOCOL: As with turnchat protocol, I would start the discussion with the President by suggesting that one thread be decided solely for ministers to provide orders clarifications, modified or new orders, and answer questions posed to them (specifically) by the acting executive (whether the President or the VP). Another or other threads would be established for turnthread discussion. I admittedly have no experience with turnthreads, so I'd obviously defer to the President's judgement if either Ninot or WhiteBandit were elected on what best to do from their knowledge of turnthreads and their own preferences, but this would certainly not stop me from offering suggestions based upon my own knowledge of observing turnchats and being a poster on the boards.
4. TURN CHAT/THREAD OBSERVATION AND SUGGESTIONS: One thing I would certainly watch out for and could help with as Vice President is to keep an eye on the smoothness of turnthreads and/or turnchats while they are taking place and confer with the President after each turnthread and/or turnchat to suggest various changes from what I noticed. I could also, in a similar regard, collect feedback from people present for turnthreads and/or turnchats for this purpose. This is an area where I believe the VP could be useful in "supporting the President" and is a reasonable extention of that part of the VP's established job description.
SECOND: POLLS
CONVERSING WITH THE PRESIDENT AND MINISTERS: I would do my utmost to ensure that I have confered with the President and deferred to the President on the issue of starting official polls or pre-poll discussion for official polls. I will constantly (as whenever I am on Apolyton, which is a whole lot!) be on the lookout for issues that could have polls. I think people will find that I am the type to be more likely than most to post items of interest to the populace as official polls (following a lengthy pre-poll discussion, of course) upon which they can comment. I will have to reign myself in at the discretion of the President, of course, something which I am fully prepared to do. However, the President (whichover one of the current candidates he turns out to be) will likely find that I suggest issues for pre-poll discussions and polls probably more often than the typically government minister or Vice President. It is my firm belief that open and lengthy discussion by many of the extremely bright Civ3 players we have here, on just about any issue (though I will have to be selective to an extent so that each issue can actually be handled), is advantageous to us. I will have to confer with any minister(s) whom the poll results affect as well.
PRE-POLL DISCUSSION: I will start pre-poll discussions with a non-partial post and a listing (using the best of my analytical ability) of what all of the potential and reasonable options seem to be off the top of my head as merely a spring-board. As the discussion continues, I will attempt to guide it toward the point where there are 2 or more solid options that people have coalesced around. This statement makes this process sound easy, something which it is certainly not. I realize this because I've been a moderator before. Though I've played the role of an active moderator and a passive moderator before, I definately think the role of a slightly more active moderator is called for in this case (one who states their own opinion as well as attempting to help the group identifity the key and viable options which would be placed in a poll). Once I believe that point is reached, I believe it something of a courtesy (unless we are especially pressed for time) to then post in the thread to ask if everyone who has been actively posting in the thread is satisfied with the chosen poll options... if not, alteration can be done... if so, it goes to a poll...
THE POLLS THEMSELVES: I have a background in survey research, so polls are really cool to me (yeah, I'm a social science geek
). It also happens to mean that I have something of an understanding of how the wording of surveys and polls and the order of choices on surveys and polls can affect how people respond to them. I will obviously keep that in mind as I write polls and attempt to make them as non-partisan as my lack of sleep at the time I'm posting the poll will reasonably allow . I've attempted to do this on occassion when I've written unofficial polls (though not all of them ). As I've also been doing with my unofficial polls, I will refrain from voting until at least 5-6 people have voted to prevent people from realizing how I might have voted (not that I'm especially influential and people may be already aware of my views, but it's just a good habit if you're the one posting the poll).THIRD: SUPPORTING MINISTERS
STANDING IN: Although most of the ministers now have vice-ministers who can take over for them in the event they have something come up, I would also be available to support them by representing them at the turnchats and turnthreads I would already be attending.
COMMUNICATION ISSUES: I would see as a reasonable extention of my role in this regard that I could watch out for examples of faltering communication between various ministers and tactfully (
) alert them to it when it occurs and offer suggestions or help if it is requested. Otherwise, I would be available in the event ministers needed to discuss this issue or others related.PROJECTS: Obviously, there are many projects a minister might ask of me which I would be able and willing to do if I was Vice President or not... this is not what I'm getting at here as it is not pertinent to me running for Vice President. Rather, my point here is that I would be open to ministers making specific requests for projects that would fall within what is mentioned above, especially where regarding pre-poll discussions and official polls or other job-related projects as suggested by them.
FOURTH: PLAYING FOR THE PRESIDENT
TIMES I WOULD HOLD TURNCHATS: Should I be called upon to stand in for the President on a temporary or permanent basis, I will be fully ready to do so. I am free during most of the day on all weekends. The only times on weekends I am not free is typically between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern Time (currently 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT, will become 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. GMT). I would prefer to hold weekend chats starting on Saturday or Sunday afternoons starting around 3 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. GMT, later 8 p.m. GMT). As for weekday chats, Wednesday evenings right now work well for me, though I'd expect that they would need to be later in the evening (probably starting around 5 p.m. Eastern time, which is currently 9 p.m. GMT and will become 10 p.m. GMT).
WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR ME TO PERMANENTLY REPLACE THE PRESIDENT: If I have need to be completely honest about this (and I strongly believe that I do) it might mean a reduced level of posting activity on the boards, though I would certainly attempt to keep up the following:
1. Pre-poll discussions and polls
2. Collecting suggestions about turnchats/turnthreads
3. Some of my outside projects such as the World Factbook entries and other things I add. However, these would admittedly be the first to go if I really had a time problem - I would find another, if possible, to pick them up, as there are plenty of extraordinarly bright people around here who might likely find ways of innovating with what I do and improve it
----------------
Ok, I'm starting to get rather tired and it's already past 1 a.m. here now. So I'm going to head to sleep and check to see if there's anything new in the morning.
Assuming people actually slosh through reading all of the above (I certainly hope so... it's the most on-topic part of this entire thread, IMNSHO), then perhaps they will have thoughts that I can learn about and allow to affect my thinking in the morning.
That's another thing about me that is extremely important and which I've demonstrated repeatedly on the boards... I will always remain open to being convinced and changing my mind, I don't really even care if it makes me look fickle because I'm suddenly agreeing with my opponent... if someone presents a convincing argument that I find I can agree with, I'm not just going to stick to my guns for the sake of my ego. My ego's not worth as much as being right
.
@ GhengisFarb
). I haven't played a single-player computer game in over a week... so I think (when I get back tonight) I'm going to sit myself in front of a game of Civ3 on chieftan level just so I can have some amazingly easy fun with the AI this evening
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