Gathering Storm

[alva]

Originally posted by DeepO



Do you know what incident nye is referring to, alva?
* snip *

I think nye was just being polite here mate, 'cause I can think of several to be honest.

[Master Zen]

Se habla español

[DeepO]

Originally posted by notyoueither
DeepO is a Belgian, and will talk your ear off. Not that Belgians are particularlly bad, outside of that one incident...

Do you know what incident nye is referring to, alva?

As for language challenges: about half our team aren't native English speakers. Don't let it be a reason to stop posting... without practice you'll never improve.

DeepO

[Theseus]

Originally posted by UnOrthOdOx
We said we're for sale. Didn't say it neccessarily had to be to the one with the most money...

Nor what the Mercs goals might be... Sforza in Milan and Walker in Nicaragua come to mind.

[UnOrthOdOx]

If we had agreed to team A's proposal prior to hearing from team B, yes, we would complete team A's contract. We will not be 'bought off' to NOT do a job or change targets once we agree to do it. We would have 0 credibility if we were to engage in such.

If not agreed to, we would need to determine which was the most valuable contract for us, and reserve the right to use whatever criteria we deem fit at the time. Neither team would be informed of the other's offer in an attempt to sweeten the deal, however.

If possible, yes we would fulfill both, but we would never use troops on contract to A to fulfill B's contract. It would need to be 2 seperate stacks, or A's contract over and done first, and our troops withdrawn before re-entering on the new contract.

edit: For instance, just because team B is offering more money, perhaps it requires more troop investment at a lower chance of success and higher risk of casualties, we may deem it less valuable. We would evaluate each case as it comes.

[NicodaMax]

What if team A hires you to conquer a specific city from team B for price X, and team B says we'll give you Y (more than X) if you conquer or kill something from team A?

You give team A your services just because they were first?

Edit: Assuming team B didnt know what team A was asking of you (I know, this coincidence may be unlikely)

Would you fulfill both contracts if they're not talking about the same city or place?

[UnOrthOdOx]

We don't intend to 'bid', per se, but provide a service for a specified price.

Thus, we ensure we treat all teams equally, and don't favor the "one with the most money" so much as the one that contacts us first.

Call on us early, often, and pay your bill on time, and you'll have no better friend.

edit: In fact, bidding wars would be totally incompatible. We will never tell anyone you contacted us to negotiate a contract. (we will tell them we completed a contract for you, however, unless paid to keep quiet) Thus, your 'competition' would not even know they needed to oubid you.

[NicodaMax]

And one minor correction. We said we're for sale. Didn't say it neccessarily had to be to the one with the most money...

Careful there
I think that the Merc team's future depends heavily on their ability to remain impartial and true to the mechanics of the market, as long as that doesn't violate their prior directive...survival. Specially if contratcts are public, Mercs should always go to the highest bidder, IMHO.

UnO, discounts can be discussed in private, of course

[UnOrthOdOx]

Originally posted by Mudhut
Another apoltoner I really think is a master is Unorthodox.

If he was in GS, then it would be perfect. I did think about the Merc team, but (and I know this will attract flames) selling your army to whoever has the most $$ is just, well, a bit dishonourable. Not that other teams' actions will necessary be honourable all the time either, but I think starting out with that particular role-playing attitude is a bit unappealing.

-Mudhut.

To each their own. Glad you found a team.

And one minor correction. We said we're for sale. Didn't say it neccessarily had to be to the one with the most money...

[Metaliturtle]

::Metaliturtle gets excited that someone new considers him to be a 'good' player::

Umm, Honor is determined by those who write the history books, and the people who do that always win... BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

but yeah, I'm sure we gonna pal up with the merc team sooner or later.

[alva]

I thought none of the GS members were ever to even think about the 'H' word, let alone mention it.

[notyoueither]

Good points, but the mercs will claim they they are acting honourably. They will make deals and most likely try to keep them. It isn't clear that they do not intend to leverage their gold towards winning the game, all that is clear is that they feel that gold should be able to buy their fleeting loyalty.

Honour is a funny thing when subjected to the midnight sun of projects such as these, and you are right that it is wise not to adopt too rigid a position at so early a stage.

[Mudhut]

But isn't "prejudging" exactly what the Mercs have done? Before they have seen the map, their neighbours or anything, they have said: "we will act in this particular way, for money". Nothing wrong with selling your troops in the right circumstances, but it has to be the right circumstances, and not *any* circumstances.

If I may draw a relatively long bow, I think it's a bit like TV reality show Survivor. Occasionally you get someone who comes out and says "I will sell my vote to whichever faction offers the best deal." They never end up winning - because though they may be useful for a particular situation, nobody trusts them, because they are inherently dishonourable, . Every time, within a round or two, they will be voted off.

Obviously, I have no idea what it is really like in a demogame. But one idea in my head (and please hear me say that I am an absolute newbie with demogames, and so readily accept that I could be completely wrong) is that the biggest factor in success will be whether or not two (or three or four) factions gang up against any one team. And a dishonourable team, who nobody trusts, will not be on the winning side of these mulitple-teams-versus-one equations in the long term.

[....Mudhut thinks maybe he should go back to lurking, before he starts getting flamed....]

[notyoueither]

Oh wait. Let me turn over so you can butter up the other side.

I'm not sure what I did to deserve such plaudits, but I'm purring.

Snoopy is the public face of the admin 'team'. Aeson is the quiet half.

On the topic of mercs, it is best not to prejudge too much. These games are long, hard slogs. Many teams will find themselves doing things they never thought possible when they started out. Maybe the mercs will play to win. You never know.

[Mudhut]

Hmmmm.

Aeson - I see. I thought Snoopy was running things? - I noticed he was in all the teams. Is it just the two of them?

Vel, Dom - RL. Sigh. If only it didn't intrude into the truly important things like Civ. Still, demogame will run for a while and I am sure they will be back to help out down the track.

And GS still has the tiger, after all. I stand by my statement: IMHO GS have the best players.

Another apoltoner I really think is a master is Unorthodox. If he was in GS, then it would be perfect. I did think about the Merc team, but (and I know this will attract flames) selling your army to whoever has the most $$ is just, well, a bit dishonourable. Not that other teams' actions will necessary be honourable all the time either, but I think starting out with that particular role-playing attitude is a bit unappealing.

-Mudhut.