[SPOILERS] - scooter's thread

[scooter]

More I think about this - the more I think I may be able to use this as an opportunity to make a close ally here - by letting him live. Granted I'm starting to think he'll live even if I wanted to declare on him with a quick warrior build, but I can maybe spin a message a little bit so that it feels like I'm being generous. Or something like that... If I can make a solid ally very early on in the game like this, it could be very beneficial long-term.

Of course, I could just crank out like 3 more Quechas and go at him. I'd have to catch him off guard with that though - if I caught him with just one warrior he'd be toast. 2 and it's probably close... Any more than that and the gambit is a massive failure. Got to figure out what I want to do here. Might depend on the feel I get from him when he first sends me a message.

[scooter]

Okay this is something I've been wanting to try and figure out for awhile... Krill named the game "PBEM7 - Slight Return" and I've been trying to figure out what the "Slight Return" was and what the significance is. So I spent some time Googling, and the top result was a song by a UK band called The Bluetones. Here's the lyrics:

Where did you go
when things went wrong for you,
when the knives came out for you?
Where did you go?
All you needed was a friend.
You just have to ask and then.......

CHORUS
======
you don't have to have the solution,
you've got to understand the problem,
and don't go hoping for a miracle.
All this will fade away
so i'm coming home.

What did you learn,
locked away all on your own,
chance and your head all blown
What did you learn,
It was unfortunate,
you missed you chance to find out that

That didn't make much sense to me... Seemed like a big stretch to connect that to the game. So I kept looking, and next result was a Jimi Hendrix song called "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)" and here's how that one goes:

[color="red"]Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand[/color]
Well, I stand up next to a mountain
Chop it down with the edge of my hand
[COLOR="Red"]Well, I pick up all the pieces and make an island
Might even raise just a little sand[/COLOR]
'Cause I'm a voodoo child
Lord knows I'm a voodoo child


I didn't mean to take you up all your sweet time
I'll give it right back to you one of these days
I said, I didn't mean to take you up all your sweet time
I'll give it right back to you one of these days
And if I don't meet you no more in this world
Then I'll, I'll meet you in the next one
And don't be late, don't be late
'Cause I'm a voodoo child
Lord knows I'm a voodoo child
I'm a voodoo child

Ahhhh, NOW we're getting somewhere. I think this might be a little hint of some sort - that there's an island(s) out there. Possibly a correlation between "raising an island out of the water"? Makes me guess that the landmass across from me is an island and not another continent. Krill will you confirm/deny if I at least got the reference right here?

[scooter]

Edit: Removed a map layout that made sense, except for the little part about me seeing Dazed about 7 tiles north of me

[scooter]

(warning: mild thread spam)

Just a reminder that I'm still offering 10 points to anyone who can come up with a good naming theme that I use. I'm going to give out 3 points to everyone who suggests something as a little incentive - so Krill and Square Leg will get 3 apiece. I'm sort of leaning towards an idea Darrell suggested way back for PBEM3, naming them after rocks because I'm about as creative as a box of rocks.

I'm sort of thinking I won't go with turning all my cities into a song thing, though I think the suggestion was hilarious.

[Square Leg]

Name them after cheese. I like cheese. Why isn't there a smiley for cheese?

[scooter]

Name them after cheese. I like cheese. Why isn't there a smiley for cheese?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cheeses

I love Wikipedia.

[Krill]

The capital city must be named Cheddar! Mozzarella, Edam, Stilton, hmmm, cheese, Gromit!

And I won't comment on the Slight Return theory

[scooter]

No comment from Krill - I think that means I either got it or I came awfully close. Or my guess is completely ridiculous and I'm getting laughed at in the lurker thread now.

So there was a turn played, and I officially have contact with Dazedroyalty on Turn 4 of the game. Never thought there'd be contact that early that's for sure. I noticed something else that was..interesting when I was playing the turns. Check out the land to the south of Dazed's border, as well as the land to the south of mine:





It looks very...similar. There is one or two minor differences if you look closely (and one can be explained by natural forest growth), but overall it's pretty much identical. Couple things that I might conclude from this:

1. We have identical capitals and nearly identical surrounding land.
2. He may have an island just to his east as well..?

Also, a somewhat scary thought... What if there's something below me in the exact same way that Dazed is above me??? The land to my south looks identical to Dazed's south... Talk about a cramped start! I guess I'll find out eventually, but it makes me wonder... I'll probably have more thoughts later, and I'll send off a messaged to Dazed in a bit.

[scooter]

One More Thing -

I love the cheese thing so if you noticed, I went with it. I'll have to remember to rename my cultural adjectives next time around. +10 points to Square Leg and +3 for Krill. Points table in post 2 updated.

[scooter]

Also, a somewhat scary thought... What if there's something below me in the exact same way that Dazed is above me???

Just got a message from SleepingMoogle. Figures ... $10 says he landed on the same tile below me as I landed below Dazed. I'm in a rush but I'll fill in more details later.