Foreign Affairs - Volume 2

[Beta]

Had a long chat with Calc/NovaMonkey on mIRC. Here is the scoop. Oh man - Gotta go. Will post again in a bit.

[Wittlich]

You're such the tease Beta!!!

[Beta]

Sorry Witt. Dinner was going. My wife was getting restless - and we wanted to get the stir fry done before John Doe came on. You gotta see how it is.

Anyways, to Lux and my extra-curricular FA activities. Well, first off, he wanted confirmation about the deal. Which - at the time I couldn't give him - it was just Calc at this point - because Diss was still playing the turn. Later I could and it was smiles all round. Although when you look at it - it was pretty one-sided for us.

We talked a fair bit about our early game experiences. They are neighbours with New Demogyptica. I guess they got off to a rocky start - something about a settler and warrior in what they saw as their territory - and an agreement reached - and then Neu reneged, it wasn't very clear. What is clear is that they do not like them , do not consider them friends, and think they are way too slow and bureaucratic. That was one thing that impressed them about vox. We were quick and to the point.

They do not trade techs with them, Neu D., - or so they said.

They have minimal luxuries, similar to us. We know their techs. They are thinking about mathematics next.

I shared that we are neighbours with GS. And described our early game tensions. We talked a lot about team make up and dynamics. It seems Trip, Calc, and WarriorPoet are the folks running Lux. Trip clearly calls the shots.

They are very keen on their relationship with us. I chatted first with Calc, for about 45 minutes and then with Calc and Trip for about an hour. I got a similar feel from both conversations, so they are either sincere (which I believe is the case) or it was very well stage managed between two separate mIRC chats, one with Trip, and one without.

I explained our geography and that we felt reasonably secure. I did not give away our possible offensive operations in the future. They did not say much about their geography, or if they knew who, if anybody, is beyond Neu D. We are agreed on the no mini-map trading principle, and playing 'within the game'. They go a notch up in my books for that.

I explained our concentration on road building, at the expense of tile improvement and hence gold and hence research rate. I mentioned the 24 turn timeline for Mysticism. They understood.

I did however, broach the idea of helping each other out militarily. They sounded interested. And agreed that it had merit. They thoght that given the limited size of our continent, that GS would likely be pressuring us. This obviously has to wait until galleys.

We talked a lot about the game in general, how it differs from a SP game, the demo game, the intersite game, etc.

All in all, very friendly. I really got a sense of animosity between them and Neu - or it was a very good show. I also said I would be available for such chats in the future.

That's it. Any questions?

[Jon Miller]

if oyu feel that you can form a good bond with them that is up to you (I would not have felt at liberty to get so close to them, but than I am not the FA official)

it sounds as if we are going to make them allies, that would be good I think

Jon Miller

[Beta]

I was thinking that as the chat developed jon. But I got a good sense about it - so as they opened up (presumably honestly, and that was my guess) I reciprocated.

And yes - I clearly get the feeling that they want to solidify this relationship.

If they are in communication with GS - I did not give away anything that GS does not know - or which Lux would not know by our by our dealings. ie Iron working, or our contact with Lux. I clearly kept the possibility of offensive operations in the near future off the table. That we were strictly concerned about GS aggression. I did however, let them know that we had a source of iron.

[Wittlich]

I think you handled it rather well Beta. It is good to hear that they are not getting along with ND - which definately opens them up for a close relationship with us

Did you tell them that we have a source of iron or sources of iron?

[Dis]

juicy stuff, I love it.

Yes I think they are our best shot at a permanent ally (close but not too close). We could help each other out in wars hopefully.

[Dis]

Yes it sounds like it went well. You did not disclose future plans for GS which is good since we don't know for sure if they have any contact with them. Probably not in game, but maybe out of game.

I'll leave it up to you how honest you think Lux is with their dealings with ND. You are in the best position to judge that. They could have planned all this out ahead of time, but not too likely I suppose. Did you guys plan this meet or did they approach you?

At the moment I can't imagine a reason why they would lie to us about their tensions with ND.

In fact the tensions are very believable. These are problems that you run into with neighbors on the same continent. Because we are on seperate continents we should get along great. This is good fortune we could see them accross the way. And even better that we can use galleys to get back and forth without worrying about them sinking. Map making is a ways off, but much better than techs for better ships.

[Jon Miller]

Togas seemed very interested in our relations with GS

I said it looked like peace could be gotten, but that we were nervous arround them

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

he said that they traded mini maps some

and that they think that we and GS are alone on the island together

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

which means that GS either found huts, or RP is lying, or GS is really fast researchers

Jon Miller

[Jon Miller]

Spain has met ND

does that mean that they are on the same island with lux?

also spain knows that we have GS locked off

I think I am over my head here

Jon Miller

[Dis]

whoa slow down there

how do you know all this?

and who traded mini maps?

and what does Spain mean by locked off?

[Jon Miller]

I am talkign to them right now

Jon Miller

[Dis]

Togas is on Spain and RP right?

Using 3 different names confused me.

That all makes sense. Yes it is possible they are on the same continent as ND and Lux

If they traded mini maps that explains how they know stuff about our continent. They may have traded minis with Lux as well.