Tweet
Yesterday I played my first online game (RoN Press Beta #2) against a webmaster, and I didn’t lose.
This is significant. I’m a misplaced TBS-type who enjoys RTS games despite my limited dexterity with a mouse.
My opponent chose Russia while I let the computer pick my nation, which turned out to be Egypt. We played on a Mediterranean-style map from Ancient to Industrial (and not to Information so to limit the duration of the game). At the 55-minute mark we were both in Industrial; I had taken one on his cities on the left side of the map and he was poised to take one of mine on the right. I had about twice as many points, due to my interest in keeping up research, and he had one Wonder which put him slightly ahead in that category. Russia had to resign because of real-world time constraints.
Post-game discussion revealed my opponent had a large army in Medieval (RoN’s third age) and he should have attacked then. He probably would have won had he done so, especially as I’m usually tardy in building military forces. As it was, I was able to repel his Gunpowder/Enlightenment offensive on my left due to my basic army, attrition, and a well-developed city (adding structures to a city apparently increases its hit points, making it harder to capture).
The Point: A reflex-challenged gamer did not expire in the first portion of a game of RoN while facing a more youthful, faster opponent. I won’t delude myself into thinking I’m a better player; he could have won, but RoN’s mechanics evened the odds at least a bit in my favor. I could never have done so well in other RTS games against similar opponents.
This is significant. I’m a misplaced TBS-type who enjoys RTS games despite my limited dexterity with a mouse.
My opponent chose Russia while I let the computer pick my nation, which turned out to be Egypt. We played on a Mediterranean-style map from Ancient to Industrial (and not to Information so to limit the duration of the game). At the 55-minute mark we were both in Industrial; I had taken one on his cities on the left side of the map and he was poised to take one of mine on the right. I had about twice as many points, due to my interest in keeping up research, and he had one Wonder which put him slightly ahead in that category. Russia had to resign because of real-world time constraints.
Post-game discussion revealed my opponent had a large army in Medieval (RoN’s third age) and he should have attacked then. He probably would have won had he done so, especially as I’m usually tardy in building military forces. As it was, I was able to repel his Gunpowder/Enlightenment offensive on my left due to my basic army, attrition, and a well-developed city (adding structures to a city apparently increases its hit points, making it harder to capture).
The Point: A reflex-challenged gamer did not expire in the first portion of a game of RoN while facing a more youthful, faster opponent. I won’t delude myself into thinking I’m a better player; he could have won, but RoN’s mechanics evened the odds at least a bit in my favor. I could never have done so well in other RTS games against similar opponents.
Comment