Thinking about retirement

[Hot Mustard]

100 turns is a decent stretch for a DG turnplayer, and I'm thinking about retiring and turning the reigns over to someone else.

Please post if you're interested in taking over.

[Arrian]

I'm sorry, but I'm not up for it. Regardless of what happens, 100 turns is a good run and I can't fault you for wanting to step down.

-Arrian

[Hot Mustard]

Thanks for responding, regardless. After three days I developed a mental picture of me speaking up in a room and everyone averting their eyes and pretending not to hear...

[Hot Mustard]

A little more information: my wife and I are expecting our first child in November. I have refrained from getting into any fantasy sports pools, let my DnD mates know that I'll be scarce, and told my WoW guild that I'll be suspending my account. This is all a case of hope for the best, plan for the worst. I don't know what my availability will be like, if we'll be blessed with a healthy baby who is a deep sleeper, and ultimately, how much of my spare time I'll want to spend on games rather than with our baby boy.

I think one and half months should be plenty of time for the team to come up with a turn-player or two and warm them up.

Baby isn't expected on Nov 1, but you never know, and I make no promises beyond that date.

[Arrian]

First off, huge congratulations about that!

Second... yikes. We need to find a replacement.

-Arrian

[Godel]

HM, what is the commitment for turn player?
24hours to play once the save arrives?
How often does the save come around on average?
How long does it take you to prepare screenshots, etc, each turn?

I would consider doing it until Christmas but can't start until October 2. If you are willing to help with the transition that would be a bonus.

Also, I have almost no MP experience (except for defeating Mudhut twice at his place ). Does that matter?

Godel

PS Thanks for doing it all this time.

[notyoueither]

Congrats on the future NHLer, HM.

[Hot Mustard]

The turn window is 24 hours, yes, with extensions of another 24 hours upon simply giving notice to the other teams that we'll be going over.

The pace varies, but if you check the save arrived thread, you can see that it's usually 4-6 days.

My turn process:
- save email arrives in inbox (I have my Thunderbird setup to pull down email from the GS account.)
- I post that the save has arrived
- I open the save and look for major events - and would then post about it in the turn thread
- -Major events being in-game diplomacy, wonders built, enemy units nearby, etc
- I check the figures in the turn thread against the save for any differences and correct them, editing the top post orders (e.g. hammers/food/beakers, turns, etc)
- I post in the turn thread decisions needed and bold the relevant parts of the orders
- I wait for responses
- If little or no input is given but is needed, and we get near the 24 hour window, I post in the turn discussion general forum that we'll be going over
- Once satisfied with orders/input, I play the save
- I always move through every tile, never using the goto command because I'm afraid I'll misclick and go where I shouldn't
- Double check the cities' WF/food/production/beakers
- Take screenshots (SHIFT-PRTSCN) of statistics/graphs - I normally name them like:
-- "400BC-G" (default graph)
-- "400BC-P" (power graph)
-- "400BC-D" (demographics)
- Take screenshot of our lands and each locale where we have units, overlapping where possible. I clear the interface for these shots (ALT-I) and turn on the grid lines.
- At this point I prepare three posts on 'Poly: the final turn orders; the next turn orders; the save passed on post in general forum
- The turn orders is first and I ALT-TAB back and forth between game and browser to read and insert any details
- Next I take a copy of the turn orders as a starting point for the next turn and revise figures wherever possible - bumping food/production figures, updating turn counts, etc
- Once I'm happy with both these posts-in-progress I am confident that I haven't overlooked anything, and I return to the game and finish the turn, creating the save. Then I open yet another tab (I use Firefox) for Gmail and create the email for the next team (Horde). Just press "S" in the To: field and "Save to the Horde" should come up. Press "C" in the subject and you'll see the format I've used to date for subject, which I also put into the body. Attach the save file and send.
- Return to forum post for save sent and post it
- Wait 30 seconds and then post the current turn orders
- Wait 30 seconds and then post the next turn orders - usually I enter appeals for input and bold some bits at this point, so not really waiting

Other stuff:
- since I'm hooked up to our email, I see any diplomacy first and post copies of it into the appropriate threads
- when I send the save on I usually also mark any emails in Gmail with the appropriate labels: Save, Diplomacy

I would guess the time spent each time to be 10-20 mins, but of course that's not including checking back on threads for input between turns and posting to make sure you understand the requests and to try to get consensus (if you're lucky enough to have multiple opinions offered). Or checking the general forum for postings - you can get a sense of the turn pace just by watching the save thread postings.

[Godel]

Thanks HM. I'm going away next week and will be back in October. I could probably get things set up October 1 (I don't think I have the mod installed for the demo game, and I should have a look at the team email etc to get a feel for the setup). If no one else steps up to the plate and the team is happy with me doing it, then I can take over early October. It would be great if you are around in October to help with the transition.

Btw, I don't think I can commit to 100 turns, but I can do it at least to the end of the year. Someone will have to cover me for a couple of weeks in Decemeber when I will be away.

[Godel]

@ HM: I have installed the mod and checked out the team email. I'm happy to take over as turn player whenever you need a break. (Would be useful if you keep an eye on things for a couple of turns until I get used to it).

[Hot Mustard]

A great start would be to re-establish communication with AC, especially with 'Nana now gone. Assuming you're interested in diplomacy, that is. (I wasn't - I know I'd piss people off. )

[Solomwi]

Congratulations, HM, and a job well done (on both fronts).

[Hot Mustard]

Snoopy has posted a .dll here that is needed to run the game/save w/o having BTS.

Oh, and thanks everyone for the congratulations. I'll let you know when the seed pops.