DIPLO: Comments on Lux contact log

[DeepO]

I didn't see a comments thread for Lux yet, so I figured I started this one... Original contacts can be found here.

It's interesting to say that the situation is tense on the main continent, when tech trading goes so fast. They indeed plan on getting writing, it wouldn't surprise me if PRG is going to trade it to them, in exchange for mathematics.

We can't really comment on that, we could say that we will get writing ourselves soon, but mathematics... maybe we can ask for a deal on MM or literature, or see if they are interested in something like that.

Or, wrap the question in the same way as to RPG: do you have an eta yet on boats sailing on our coast, or would you be interested in acquiring it from us soon?

I think that going for MM and trading it away to civs when we sail to there has some advantages.... first of all, if 4 civs are closeby, I doubt that they will prioritise it themselves. If we wait for them, it could take a while... I also don't see them mounting any oversee invasion soon, as that will mean they need a fully replaceable army, apart from any defense they will need. If we want contacts, we better get it from Vox, or from our own boats if we don't want to lag behind.

DeepO

[DeepO]

BTW, this confirms the isolation of the legos, they are serious competition for the GL!! Let's hope they don't have the same growth capacity as us, or we will have to settle for the pyramids or lighthouse / collosus.

DeepO

[Dominae]

Thanks for opening this thread, DeepO. Seems like LI will be our second big diplo civ.

I just thought I would comment on BFG's reply, especially on the more surprising answers to my questions:

We have contacts with several civs on our island. In fact, it is rather crowded here. GoW, ND and RP are all neighbours of us.

I believe this is news. Four civs all on the same continent. Plus the statement that "it is rather crowded". This should help us out a great deal, as overcrowding leads to disputes. Also, contact with LI should guarantee contact with almost all other civs.

In the tech tree, we'll soon be acquiring Writing and Mathematics. Let me know if these techs are of interest to you and if you have anything to trade.

Contrary to what Vox said (5 or so turns ago now), LI does not have Writing yet. I assume we're not interested in trading for Math at this time, but I'll have to come up with a "bend the truth" excuse. I'm sure our "no lying" policy does not include "give away all pertinent information", like that fact we're going for the GL.

I cannot say anything about luxuries. Some are in lands between civs, and are not divided yet. Others are a national secret.

Nothing surprising here, although the last line is uncharacteristically ambiguous. Maybe they're sitting on all the Gems?

We'll let you know as soon we have anything to trade, though.

Good good. This statement is very revealing. It basically means that the rest of the world has not made clear plans (with or without Vox) concerning us. Thus, while Vox may be milking their contact superiority, they've got no major plans with the other civs as of yet. So a safe bet is that we can expect essentially neutral to good stances from all the civs on the main continent (just like from LI). This helps our short-term goals greatly.

Our military plans are to defend ourselves when we are attacked. Tension is high here, but we are well equipped. On defense, but also on offense if that may become necessary.

Clearly tensions are high on their continent. So while it may seem that we're being outmatched in tech and trading right now, peace will probably not last, which gives us a nice chance. Our long-term goal should be to engineer a 2 vs. 2 war on the mainland, since any other division creates partnerships we cannot match due to our seclusion.

We would very much be interested in a partnership. We will see if we can buy Contact with you from Vox (as soon as either party has Writing). Then we can open up trade relations!

Excellent! If we get Contact with LI for free, well, I've done my job as ambassador!

We have Barbarians here, too. Not for long, though.

This could either mean their killing off the currently visible camps, or that the fog of war is disappearing rapidly. If the second case is true, they're more cramped than we thought.


Dominae

[Shiber]

Regarding the last message we sent to Lux (to which they replied), shouldn't we have been more revealing and told them a little about our lands? Maybe not which luxuries we have, as these may turn out to be our bargaining chips, but a little about the geographical features perhaps.
IMHO, if we share information about ourselves with Lux, even information that is nearly useless to Lux, they will feel better about our relations.

Regarding crowdedness, note that it was Lux and another civ (was it RPG? I don't remember) that were the first two teams to meet.

[DeepO]

Re: information about our land, or more in general about our situation: What if we told our would be partners that we got hit by disease? They probably have figured out already that we've got fps nearby, but maybe it's good to simply tell them our 'weakness', or they think we're building more workers then we can place on tiles...

One thing to watch out for: Lux might not be completely truthful about the tension on the main continent. Sure, they say it is tense, but is it tenser than simply having to shuffle around with defenders to protect new cities? Would there be blockings going on, trespasses, scouting very close to the borders? Maybe they simply feel the tension as they don't expect to be rushed, but want to keep a minimum of defense in their new cities...

DeepO

[zeit]

Alot to work on as a diplomat here, that's good...

I hope Lux are serious regarding their plans on buying the contact from Vox, although we might think that it is better, for the sake of future relationships, that we buy contact from Vox ourselves (and perhaps being compensated by LI somehow...). All in all, this message inspires catious optimism, we have to keep the momentum, what do you say about the idea of us spliting the cost of buying the contact from Vox? (without Vox knowing this, obviously)

[DeepO]

Zeit, that's an excellent idea... what if whoever gets contact to the other, gets a gift of 10 gold or so... something small.

OTOH, If we get contact first, I would try to establish an embassy asap... excellent reconaisance Might make going for contact ourselves, possibly by an exchange for writing a good option...

DeepO

[Shiber]

How about asking to cover half the cost of buying our contact from Vox?

[Shiber]

Originally posted by DeepO
Re: information about our land, or more in general about our situation: What if we told our would be partners that we got hit by disease? They probably have figured out already that we've got fps nearby, but maybe it's good to simply tell them our 'weakness', or they think we're building more workers then we can place on tiles...

I wouldn't like this info to get to Vox. We still can't trust our new friends.

[DeepO]

I watched more carefully at our size, we are going from size 6 to size 2 in 3 turns, anybody who sees this will figure out we're hit by disease anyway...

DeepO

[Shiber]

Interesting thing that I dug out of the PTW forum:

Originally posted by Trip
Whatever Legoland is doing, it seems to be working. They're winning by quite a margin.

(he's referring to Legoland's high score)
So, Lux Invicta, or at least Trip, and possibly other teams, may be taking game scores seriously.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Shiber
Interesting thing that I dug out of the PTW forum:



(he's referring to Legoland's high score)
So, Lux Invicta, or at least Trip, and possibly other teams, may be taking game scores seriously.

I think he was just joking,its hard to imagine anyone taking those scores seriously at this point.

but still, it gives the legos an air of superiority and mystery. The more confusion about other teams, the better

[asleepathewheel]

I saw this message on the multisite demo forum from Trip:

Originally posted by Trip
3 tile spacing, starting from the capital, aiming at good city spots, ignoring potential borders.

Trust me, I've learned this from the PTW DG the hard way, and I wouldn't want Apolyton to make the same mistake.

I guess we shall soon se what he means by this. Perhaps this is why his team is one of the weakest?

[Shiber]

Good catch.

[Dominae]

I'm not sure what Trip means myself, or what you're implying by saying that his team is one of the weakest? Are they using wide spacing? This would mean that their score should be actually higher. Or are they using close spacing? This would mean their score is low (as it should be), but then they're tougher opponents.


Dominae