Should the Glory Of News go Non-Public?

[Beta]

I know it is a tough time in the game for some, but the public forum is the public forum. I, for one, would prefer if the Glory of News stayed public. I would like to hear from some others, and in particular some Legolanders, on this.

My point is that this is a demo game. The public forum, the discussion, the debate, and yes, even the emotion, are an integral part of the game. If we get to the point where absolute political correctness, and censorship rule the day, then we don't have a public forum. and we don't have a demo game. I am sure that this was not anyone's intent.

Emotions have run a bit high lately. I can relate. And MZ may be be over-reacting to Lego's reaction to recent editions. My recommendation is for the Glory of News to take the next edition and concentrate on cooking, the gossip column, sports, an article or two on duplicate bridge, and maybe some classified ads. Then on the next edition, they can get back to their regular soft-core war reporting.

But that is just one old Immortal's opinion. What's yours?

[Cort Haus]

Beta, thank-you for raising this question which has been burning in my political psyche all week.

GS team policy is to not post a single opinion on the public forum without team approval. This is to be sure to avoid the flare-ups of the past.

However, I have been trying to lead discussion on our forum along similar lines to the points Beta has made, but so far I have had no support from my team, so I will not register my comments at this stage.

Stormies - if Beta's comments stir feelings either way, please discuss it with me on our forum in the 'What to post about the war thread'. Thankyou.

[Master Zen]

I don't think I'm overreacting, I understand the last thing Lego wants is to read even humorous accounts of this war. I try to put myself in their shoes and feel that it very well could sound like it's poking fun out of something serious.

Given what happened in the last war, the last thing I want is to - even indirectly - generate some resentment or bad vibes between anyone. Ultimately this game is played to have fun, just like my writing of these articles is to add humor to it all. After 2 years however, this game has turned into something a bit more than "just for fun" for some of us, myself included. Therefore the complaints, even if coming from just one person, are entirely justified.

I do not want to stop writing the Glory of News and I won't. Nor do I want to change its focus to something other than that for which it was made for: war reporting. Had GoW and GS needed to retreat from Legoland with our tails between our legs you can bet I would written something funny about it. C'est la vie, c'est la guerre.

So, I leave it up to you people, I don't mind having to send the GoN by mail to those who want it or post it here in public, but rest assured that until the last bullet is spent in this conflict, my pen will still have ink.

[vondrack]

This is only my personal opinion/stance, nothing official...

The game is over for me (ZargonX has taken over as the primary player for Lego for the remaining few turns) and, honestly, I care little about it now. For reasons I am not going to elaborate on again, the whole thing feels very absurd to me... I'd prefer quietly forgetting of how easily, quickly, and unnecessarily hundreds and hundreds of hours spent playing PtWDG went down the drain.

No complaints, not blaming anyone (but myself), just expressing how I feel about it now.

So, I do not care about GoN being posted in public or not. I will probably just not read whatever gets posted, since what may sound funny and entertaining to others, only reminds me painfully of the whole affair.

P.S.: Thanks, MZ, appreciated. You are very much right that "just for fun" evolved into something more - if for nothing else, then simply because of the sheer amount of time spent on the game.

[Hot_Enamel]

Vondrack,

It truely saddens me to read your post.
Although I know exactly what you are saying.

However, you are wrong to blame yourself.
Blame the map generator. Nothing else.
It made Lego the target.
It doomed your civ from turn 1.
It would of taken a monumental effort to try and win a democracy game with that much allocated territory at the start. Especially when you are playing against entire teams who contain some of the most elite civ players .

I avoid PBEM's (demos & singles) due to your exact comments. Too much time is needed for a result that is probably decided before the game starts, by the map generator.

[Beta]

Originally posted by Master Zen
I don't think I'm overreacting, I understand the last thing Lego wants is to read even humorous accounts of this war. I try to put myself in their shoes and feel that it very well could sound like it's poking fun out of something serious.

Given what happened in the last war, the last thing I want is to - even indirectly - generate some resentment or bad vibes between anyone. Ultimately this game is played to have fun, just like my writing of these articles is to add humor to it all. After 2 years however, this game has turned into something a bit more than "just for fun" for some of us, myself included. Therefore the complaints, even if coming from just one person, are entirely justified.

I do not want to stop writing the Glory of News and I won't. Nor do I want to change its focus to something other than that for which it was made for: war reporting. Had GoW and GS needed to retreat from Legoland with our tails between our legs you can bet I would written something funny about it. C'est la vie, c'est la guerre.

MZ - well said - and you are right - my comment about you over-reacting was definitely an over-reaction.

It would also seem that folks are in favour of keeping the paper public.

But MZ, you have now raised another, and possibly more serious issue. An issue which really only applies to your team. In your refusal to deviate from war reporting... your reluctance to print even a single cooking or duplicate bridge article ... you have shown just how insecure your team is. Maybe it is the bearded-woman heritage (that would be enough to do it for me). I'm not sure what has caused it.

So, prove your teams masculinity is in tact. Have some quiche and a cup of herbal tea, and maybe watch an episode of 'Sex in the City'.

[vondrack]

Originally posted by Hot_Enamel
Vondrack,

It truely saddens me to read your post.
Although I know exactly what you are saying.

However, you are wrong to blame yourself.
Blame the map generator. Nothing else.
It made Lego the target.
It doomed your civ from turn 1.
It would of taken a monumental effort to try and win a democracy game with that much allocated territory at the start. Especially when you are playing against entire teams who contain some of the most elite civ players .

I avoid PBEM's (demos & singles) due to your exact comments. Too much time is needed for a result that is probably decided before the game starts, by the map generator.

Hi, H_E!

Just to make sure my previous post is not misunderstood... what I am blaming myself for is not losing this game or this war - even if we hadn't missed what cost us everything this turn, blocked Q.M. 4 with all ships available, and prevented GS/GoW from breaking out of the landing beaches, it was far from guaranteed we'd survive the combined attack. Definitely not in the long run.

What I, however, am holding against myself is that I foolishly put so much effort into a game so easy to lose - because of our memorable DoN game , I knew very well how difficult it was to fight combat settlers. I knew the first breach of our defense line equalled our end.

That's all I blame myself for... the time spent so unwisely on something this risky. Ironically, when we discussed this in our private forum, Tiberius made a comment that made my mood even more grim... he asked a simple question (it's not an exact quote, but the meaning is kept intact, I believe):

"And if we won... would it feel much different? Would the time look better spent?"



He was right...

I let the game get too deep under my skin. I need some time to let the emotions and feelings wear off.

[Master Zen]

Heya Von, I have to disagree in one big thing: it was not unnecessary. Off the bat you had a 1 out of 7 chance of winning this game, the fact that 2 years on Lego was only still alive but in first place is quite an oustanding feat.

To really answer yourself it it was unnesseray or not, think of this: was every minute that you spent playing felt as unnecessary at that moment? In retrospect we can all think that "yeah, we lost, it wasn't worth all that". But while there was a chance of victory or a chance of fun it must have felt worthwhile to spend time in it. And given that we aren't paid for playing, I'm sure dedicating all that time WAS at least mildly gratifying.

There are still 3 teams which have a chance of winning this game. From another perspective, this means each of us has a 2/3 chance of NOT winning. I know these odds are no less for my team but I'm glad I played this game, for better or for worse. Cheer up Vond, it WAS worth it.

[vmxa1]

That is what I see, it was worth the time. I found some entertainment and good times. The teams and the opposition all added to the value.

Reading the effort being put into the turns was very rewarding. Would it be the best use of my time, maybe not, but it is not suppose to be.

As most serious players, we want to win, but I often used to say I would rather have my best game and lose, than my worse game and win.

[Master Zen]

Btw, regardless of anything, I will try and put up a new GoN article with non-war-related stuff up. I mean, you all are dying to know what goes on in our decadent, dark, evil empire led by a drunken womanizing megalomanic madman like me

[Tiberius]

Continue as is with their regular, public, reporting, sit back and have a Banana and Jack Daniels.

[vondrack]

Originally posted by Master Zen
Heya Von, I have to disagree in one big thing: it was not unnecessary.

Oops, sorry, I did not express myself properly - I meant evitable, rather than unnecessary, speaking about our demise, about the very way we were killed. As in: leave those three dam' ships outside Q.M. and live to see another turn, live to fight on.

As for whether it was worth it or not... DeepO, MZ, and other turnplayers must know, but others may not have a good idea. There's a difference between what a turnplayer invests/spends on the game and what other team members invest/spend on it - not because they'd be lazy or sucked , but because you need someone to stitch all ideas together, drafting one coherent plan to follow. In peace times, for a totally average turn , it was like 3 hrs planning and at least 3 more hrs playing the turn and doing the reports (if you remember ISDG reports, Lego had those all the time, up until the last turn). Once the war started, though, it was like 24hr NET time to have the turn discussed, organized, played, and reported. Multiply that by 240+ turns, add few hundred more hours for turns that were not quite average... and you get to a totally insane amount of time.

The perspective is a wee bit different from the turnplayer PoV...

[UnOrthOdOx]

Aye.

It is a very different thing for a turn player, as anyone who has led a demogame can attest to.

I miss the days before our second child when I was capable of investing that time, though, and would gladly kick MZ out of his position if I had the time. That just flat isn't possible for me these days.

I'm lucky to see an hour on the home computer at all. Subtract PBEMs, you're down to 30 min. So now I just write stupid poems and tell people to go kill someone or another.

[Master Zen]

I miss the days when I was both Consul of the ISDG fighting with BigFree all the time, Emperor of GoW plotting our industralization and buildup, and Great Leader of the Latin Lovers spreading love around the world...

Oh and be in 10 PBEMs...

Now I can barely manage this one.

[Cort Haus]

a totally insane amount of time

Yes.

It's probably better to have spent it on a DG than watching trash TV though, which is what many people do with their time.

As an exercise in analysis, calculation, diplomacy, strategy, tactics, statistics, teamwork, sacrifice, commitment and human relations, not much can come close.