Diplomacy Thread

[Arnelos]

Although I wouldn't trust GoW as far as I could throw them (and their warriors are particularly large, meaning it would be very hard to throw them), this agreement sounds very good (if they'll honor it...).

In conjunction with our techsharing deal with Legoland, this is very good.

[Nuclear Winter]

Here i wat betahound, exterior minister of the one voice sent to me after a request for diplomatic contacts

Greetings form Vox Controli
Greetings form Vox Controli
Dear Nuclearis Winterius II , esteemed representative of the fine people of the Mighty Kingdom of Spain - splendid roleplayers all.

I, BetaHound, have been chosen to speak to you on behalf of the Controller and the citizens of Vox Controli. In this correspondence, I am not only introducing myself, but more importantly, the nation of the One Voice - Vox Controli.

As a form of introduction, and to allow you a better insight into our civilization, I have chosen to read to you today, selected readings from The One Book, and more specifically, Jon's letter to the Controllians.

"Controllians 6, Verses 1 to 5.

1. In the beginning, there were many voices. And it was chaos. And it was not good.

2. And 'The Voice' called to jon miller, and he went onto the great mountain, the One Peak. And there 'The Voice' spoke to jon.

3. He spent 18 days and 15 nights on the One Peak (ed Scholars are still debating to this day what jon did for the other 3 nights) and returned with the law of our people on one stone, drawn up as the One Commandment:

4. Thou shalt speak with One Voice.

5. And then there was one controller, chosen by the people, and there was One Voice, and One Voice only. And there was order. And it was good."

Thus ends the readings.

This should help to clarify who we are. We are not a fascist state. We are not a dictatorship. We are a small, but well ordered civilization. We are democratic. But we acknowledge, and accept as our law, the need to speak with One Voice.

We look forward to cordial and productive relations with you, your leaders, and your people. We approach you in friendship, but stand ready to defend our rights, our citizens, and our land.

We speak forthrightly, and expect the same of you. We have long memories.

I know we share the same goal of improving our respective and cherished homelands. Together, we can achieve more.

You have asked for our understanding of where we are in the world, in order to facilitate contact as soon as possible. We expect similar information in return.

The Civilization of Vox Controli sits in the Northern Hemisphere, and from our initial understanding of the world, to the East. (As you appreciate my dear sir, perspective is everything.) There is much ocean to be seen, however we reside on a landmass of, as yet, undetermined proportions. It is a fine land, with much promise.

I look forward to further discussions with you. So, once again, our salutations to you, our honored guest, and to your nation.

Till next we meet, I remain, sincerely yours,

BetaHound
Voice of Foreign Affairs (VFA)
Vox Controli

I´m gonna purpose him trade, and i need an urgent answer for trading directives on map affairs, so if anyone is on now go to irc!

[Togas]

Give him a long and friendly response. Speak in great detail about our culture and beliefs, but make sure not to make it too cheesy. We want to convey a sense of our Spanish honor in addition to our good sense of humor.

Give him a general description of where we are located. Tell him that we would like to meet with his people soon ... perhaps somewhere in the middle. Ask if his people have met other civilizations and, if so, what he thinks of them.

Propose to trade IF we can find a way to meet up.

Let him know that we also speak with one voice, The Voice of our Great Despot Togas. He welcomes contact with Vox and looks forward to one day meeting and discussing things in person.

--Togas

[Nuclear Winter]

[QUOTE]
My friend BetaHound:
We the Spaniards, glorious sons of the sea spirits, merged with the land and forest spirits, envy of the world, would be eagerly looking to meet your people... our explorers can meet yours at the middle(a little to the east) of the world localization, just near the squidda minor constelation. We could enlight your nice people with the secrets of the spirits, and of how to deal with the dead(it is no proper manner to throw them to rot anywere...) and we can teach you the most valuable knowledge of how to carve drawings into stone and give them a meaning... of course, we would like to exachange those for secret knowledge you may have, so if you could please tell about what kind of secrets your wise-men know, we might teach you ours if you teach yours, and of course depending on the valuability of the knowledge we may give or ask for a little gold in adittion to the secret.
Also we would like to know if you have already met some other tribe... fort the land spirits have only revealed to us barbarians so far... no settled tribes as us. Anyway, if the spirits guide our wanderers toward other nations we may come to share knowledge with them. In case you have already met any other tribe, please contact us and maybe we could find a manner to introduce our representants to them.
Also our Lord Togas has expressed great desire of one day contacting your Leader personally, to discuss important matters so that you can also make contact with the mighty voice of El tyranno, Lord Togas (Our One Voice).

May our nations grow prosper and rich, and with the blesses of the spirits!
Nuclear Winter the II
[QUOTE]
This was what I sent to Vox controli´s foreign affairs minister, as requested by our lord.

[Togas]

I received the following message from Nimitz of Legoland:

(quoted text in body of letter)

Honourable Togas,
The Ruler of España,
The Master Of All Squids,

Legoland greets you officially for the first time! Currrently, as we are sure you are also, we are attempting to gain a clearer image of our surroundings. Thus the only indication we can give regarding where we are is a hemispherical one. We would be happy to trade this information for the same from yourselves.

As for technology, we are happy to report that we are - no surprise - currently researching Bronze Working. While we are all in agreement that ourselves and the RP team are good friends and are happy to cooperate we feel that until it can be ascertained where we are in relation to each other, and how long it may take to achieve an ingame contact we should regretfully decline to work out a common research policy. We may be far apart from each other and joint research might result in both our civs missing key techs until we make contact which could cause problems if either of us met a hostile civ before we met each other. We hope you understand.

Let your squids never die from bad water.

With the Sincerest Regards,
Legos the Wise, The Builder
(end quoted text)

I'm also sorry to tell you that we already got CB so that deal won't work.

I wrote Nimitz back and gave him a little grief about how we're TRYING to be their friends and partners and wondering why they don't want to give us their location to meet. Frankly, their letter bothers me to some degree. I'll let the rest of you read it and give your insight, but one thing is clear: They've met Neu Dem. Neu Dem is the only nation out there with Ceremonial Burial and it's already spreading, as is Alphabet, I'm sure. Neu Dem is going to do VERY well in the early game if they keep this first contact stuff up.

I forwarded a copy of the letter to Thud. Thud -- please see what you can do to soften up the Legos a bit and see what we can find out about their reluctance.

--Togas

[jdjdjd]

I have not heard back from Admiral PJ for Lux, yet. Once I do, I will discuss possible trade of start techs plus something extra for us, as you describe.

[ruby_maser]

Originally posted by Togas
...one thing is clear: They've met Neu Dem. Neu Dem is the only nation out there with Ceremonial Burial and it's already spreading, as is Alphabet, I'm sure. Neu Dem is going to do VERY well in the early game if they keep this first contact stuff up.

actually, Lord Togas, there is a possibility that they have met Egypt (Gathering Storm) as they also have Ceremonial Burial.

If it the trade was made with Egypt, then Egypt would likely now have Alphabet (as that is the only unshared tech that Legoland could offer in exchange for Ceremonial Burial).

If it was Neu Dem, then there is a possibility that Alphabet may have gotten as far as to Lux Invictus (assuming Lux and Neu really did meet) and Legoland could have traded for both Ceremonial Burial and Pottery (because Alphabet is definitely worth the pair). Perhaps we should hit them up along those lines to see if they would be willing to trade that to feel them out about who they have met.

[Togas]

That's right ... I've focused on Neu Dem (Arabs) too much with their alleged meeting with Lux (Ottomans). A meeting with Storm (Egypt) is also possible. Hopefully, Legoland will tell us what techs they have for sale and that will tip us off to who's met who.

--Togas

[Hot Mustard]

Originally posted by Togas
I'll let the rest of you read it and give your insight, but one thing is clear: They've met Neu Dem. Neu Dem is the only nation out there with Ceremonial Burial and it's already spreading, as is Alphabet, I'm sure. Neu Dem is going to do VERY well in the early game if they keep this first contact stuff up.

Um, this doesn't seem so clear to me. Maybe they got a tech goodie hut.

[jdjdjd]

Sorry I did not see this the first time:

Nimitz says that the only location indication they can give us is a hemispherical one.

That is what we want to trade, is it not, the little map?

Now, the little map can tell us at least if Legos have seen any other cities of other civs, we'll have to blow it up to clarify the color of the little dots, but we should make that trade.

Then, maybe one of you graphics guys, can somehow superimpose our own little map on theirs to help see where we are in relation to each other, that would be a cool graphic.

[jdjdjd]

Oh, and dejon is right, Ceremonial Burial could be a goodie hut hit.

[adaMada]

[ooc -- Wrote the post and then realized this is a rp thread, sorry ]

Very sorry for not following this thread as closely as I should have -- I've been actively negotating with GoW via PMs, and have been planning to begin making public reports, but as I've said on the C3DG-SP forum, this is exam week in school, so time's a bit less flexible than I'd like .

First thing first, Togas' e-mail from Ghengis actually reveils a fact or two I didn't even know. I had no idea they've met/found other Civs until now, though I think it's very good for us they have.

They seem to be very intent on a mini-map trade -- I've recieved at least two PMs from Panzer on that topic alone. Any thoughts? Personally, I'd like to work it in as part of a larger deal including tech trades and perhaps even a nonagression pact, but I'd like to hear the opinion of the populance first. Arnelos has brought up one very good point, however -- an alliance with GoW could lead us into a conflict with Legoland. Having said that, I've discussed the issue with Togas a bit, and I don't believe it's an issue we should worry about now -- GoW could be too valuable an ally, in my opinion, to let it pass. Though it is not my department, I'm also disturbed by Legoland's refusal to trade mini-maps with us. If anything, however, it seems most likely they've met something else, and are unable to do so for that reason.

I'll be following this thread very closely now, will do everything possible to be at the teamchat, and will be posting more information on our options shortly. Meanwhile, I'd like to know what people think about:
* Moving towards a good relationship, alliance, official neutrality, or any other relationship with GoW.
* Giving them our minimap.
* Trying to aquire the information

One last note, Togas -- do you know if Ghengis' information was officially handed to us? I'd like to talk to Panzer about who they've met (and how we can aquire information from them, perhaps cheeper than aquiring from the original civ -- if their contract doesn't forbid it, that is), but if the information isn't supposed to be public, I obviously don't want to get anyone in trouble/tip our hand.

-- adaMada

[adaMada]

[ooc]

Originally posted by jdjdjd
[snip]
Then, maybe one of you graphics guys, can somehow superimpose our own little map on theirs to help see where we are in relation to each other, that would be a cool graphic.

I probably can -- I'm not good with graphics in general, but have been learning how to use Photoshop elements, and think I've got a good enough feel for it to do that (assuming I have a screenshot of our map at the same size to work with).

-- adaMada

[Togas]

Originally posted by adaMada
Togas -- do you know if Ghengis' information was officially handed to us? I'd like to talk to Panzer about who they've met but if the information isn't supposed to be public, I obviously don't want to get anyone in trouble/tip our hand.

The email was clearly a communication from his team to ours. It wasn't a personal email. It's OK to discuss it with Panzer.

--Togas

[adaMada]

Togas -- Thanks . Next time I send a message to him, I'll discuss it .

I'm going to write a longish post on our diplomatic relationship, what they have, what we have, and what diplomatic options are open to us and them. I hope to have it done by tonight, though I can't promise -- depends on how quickly I can type it up.

-- adaMada