RBPB4 [SPOILERS] - De Gaulle of the Egyptians

[Yamps]

Thus, I concluded that they were almost certainly making an attempt for Stonehenge. As a result, I shifted around our build queue to put Stonehenge first and the Settler second. Rather annoying and inefficient (really wish we'd just gone for the quickest turn 27 plan now!), but better than the alternative of likely losing Stonehenge after all this planning.

Or, you could have finally ditched that in favor of quick expansion! :neenernee There were solid arguments against SH with all those juicy tiles around, another team going for that wonder makes the case even stronger. Hmm, you pretty much decided on SH before the game started...

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Well, what's done is done and it's your game after all. To move onto other issues, the mackoti/Ioan76 team might have some information regarding your wonder deals with Luddite. Perhaps they had a similar deal with him? This could also be a reason for a delayed response.

[Irgy]

I never recieved any reply to my message, despite sending multiple reminders in-game about the email which they can't possibly have missed. Thus, I concluded that they were almost certainly making an attempt for Stonehenge. As a result, I shifted around our build queue to put Stonehenge first and the Settler second. Rather annoying and inefficient (really wish we'd just gone for the quickest turn 27 plan now!), but better than the alternative of likely losing Stonehenge after all this planning.

Personally I think you're being paranoid here, there's a lot of reasons why they might not have replied, some people just don't send much diplo. Not a good strategy in my opinion but not an uncommon one either. I highly doubt they're trying to psyche you into slightly suboptimal play in any case. One bit of intel you could have gathered is how much activity there's been in their spoiler thread during that time. If it was particularly quiet, then they're probably just being lazy (or busy) and not replying. It's kind of metagaming though, feels a bit dirty.

Still, you could be right, and it's not the end of the world to push out SH faster if you're not anyway. We probably won't know until we read the other threads after the game.

Great diplo message by the way even if it didn't ever get a response.

[fluffyflyingpig]

Any speculation on the map, now that you've seen more of it?

[Irgy]

I have to say, so far it looks even more ridiculously complicated than some of my twisted inventions.

[Lord Parkin]

Or, you could have finally ditched that in favor of quick expansion! :neenernee There were solid arguments against SH with all those juicy tiles around, another team going for that wonder makes the case even stronger. Hmm, you pretty much decided on SH before the game started...

Not at all. It was just a spur-of-the-moment decision at a time when I only had 5 minutes a day to play. Arguably a silly decision, but it's done now. I was still open to other options until the Stonehenge build was underway.

Well, what's done is done and it's your game after all. To move onto other issues, the mackoti/Ioan76 team might have some information regarding your wonder deals with Luddite. Perhaps they had a similar deal with him? This could also be a reason for a delayed response.

On that note, we just got a message from mackoti, which I'll put in a separate post. Suffice it to say that it's rather revealing and amusing.

Personally I think you're being paranoid here, there's a lot of reasons why they might not have replied, some people just don't send much diplo. Not a good strategy in my opinion but not an uncommon one either. I highly doubt they're trying to psyche you into slightly suboptimal play in any case. One bit of intel you could have gathered is how much activity there's been in their spoiler thread during that time. If it was particularly quiet, then they're probably just being lazy (or busy) and not replying. It's kind of metagaming though, feels a bit dirty.

I don't really think it's that bad - it's obvious everyone else has been keeping tabs on our thread with the frequent prodding posts in the public server thread. Mackoti/Ioan76 do have the smallest spoiler thread in the game (with the exception of WarlordDR, who for some obscure reason still doesn't have one at all)... so I guess that could mean they're not usually too talkative. However, they've talked to luddite a few times, and as I'll show soon their first (long overdue) message to us is rather revealing.

Great diplo message by the way even if it didn't ever get a response.

Thanks!

Any speculation on the map, now that you've seen more of it?

I have to say, so far it looks even more ridiculously complicated than some of my twisted inventions.

I think my original "best shot" guess still seems plausible - some kind of snaky continents or lakes setup, perhaps with a bit of a maze theme thrown in there. At least that's what it seems like at present from what we can currently see.

[Lord Parkin]

We just completed Stonehenge this turn, and surprise surprise... we suddenly got our first contact from mackoti and Ioan76. Gee, what an amazing coincidence!

Greetings Lord Parkin,
Sorry i didn't replay to this, i asked Ioan to answer because i was away but seems he forget about that.Sorry again.About Nap lets make it until 1 ad because we have nothing to fight about at least until then.
We have litle intersest in Great lighouse, and oracle is to far away. About stonehenge, is not a priority for us.
Regards,
Mackoti

Of course they accepted the NAP. But it's amusing to see them claim that "Stonehenge is not a priority for us"... well, obviously not after it's just been built.

Seriously, you'd think after all this time they'd wait a little longer to send their long-overdue first diplomatic message to make it slightly less obvious that they were going for the wonder. With the timing of that message, I'd put the odds of them having tried for Stonehenge at about 95%. I actually kind of hope we beat them to it by just a turn or two - that would serve them right for being so sneaky in their diplomacy. :neenernee

[Lord Parkin]

Stonehenge is done! Settler underway. We could grow to size 5 in one turn by building something else, but it wouldn't speed up the Settler so we'll hold off on that for now. Our early farm gets us an extra commerce while building, which is nice. Mining comes in next turn, so we'll have our first mine in a couple of turns.



Joe continues to head south, uncovering spicy goodness:



James Cook works on uncovering the fog to the southwest:



Meanwhile Bob continues in his search for mackoti's borders.

[Bruindane]

By the way, a few hours ago we had a huge earthquake here, and are continuing to get multiple big aftershocks. Apparently most of the city is lacking power, and though for now we're one of the lucky ones that have it, that could change at any moment. If I disappear for a few days then that's why.

Stay safe. Aftershocks rattled me more than the major quakes.

[Lord Parkin]

Stay safe. Aftershocks rattled me more than the major quakes.

Yeah, every few minutes we hear another rumble and get ready to jump under the table again. So far a 6.3, 5.7 and 5.5, all very close to the city. Buses crushed, cathedral collapsed, other buildings down. Definitely a few fatalities this time around... middle of the day rather than middle of the night for the September quake.

[Gold Ergo Sum]

Take care and let me know if you need a pause. We got hit by a 7.2 here in San Diego last Easter, but luckily everything in SoCal is well prepared for that.