Sent the quick fishing-for-info email to Trolls. I'll try to draft something up to Menagerie in the near future, but I'm not in a huge rush given how slow they've been with us.
Hey guys - I took a liberty with Menagerie diplo. Yossarian pointed out that they are up now, so in hopes they will receive our message before seeing our roads I went ahead and sent this:
Gillette Wrote:Menagerie,
No problem on the missed connection - not a huge deal. We owe you guys a great deal on helping us pinpoint the TEAM scout, you have our sincere gratitude on that front. Many virtual high-fives were exchanged in our team's forum.
We agree with your idea about the mountain range, and we think it's wise to keep each other in the loop. We'll offer info first in the interest of showing we're serious. We are actually planning on settling close to that mountain range first, but the city is definitely going to be on our side of the range so as not to threaten you guys. We don't intend it to be aggressive at all, it just happens to be our best location due to our need for 1st-ring resources since we aren't about to finish Stonehenge like you guys are . Don't worry though, we will definitely be settling in other directions much further away from you after that site, and we understand the land on the other side of those peaks to be rightfully yours.
Thanks,
Gillette
Sorry for not putting this up for review, but I do believe it'll be valuable if they see this before the road network. If they see the network first, that's just a minor suspicion they get, and any explanation from us looks like justification... However, if they get the message first, it will hopefully bother them a lot less.
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
Tropical Trolls on Sept. 12 (Whoops!) Wrote:They haven't gotten a unit yet, I think their goal is to mess up our sandbox and maybe pillage a tile. Its annoying but we kind of expected it based on what happened to you. FYI, I will be in the alps for a little over a week. If we are not timely in our replies that's why (like we've been timely when I'm on the net :-)).
Darrell
Tropical Trolls
Menagerie trois Wrote:Gillette,
We are pleased that we were able to reach an agreement on the border.
If we understand you well, you are going to plant a city SW of the Gold, between Gold, Deer and Cow. Although, the second ring of the city will exceed the set border, but in the name of friendship we won't be fussy about small details. We trust you'll grant us the same courtesy sometime in the future
Once again, congratulation on the successful TEAMâs scout hunting.
Menagerie Trois
Success! Good job Scooter and the Diplo team for keeping Menagerie on good terms . As has been mentioned, we really can't afford war with our neighbors right now!
Thanks so much for being flexible on the city location. We will certainly return the favor for you guys. Are you interested in a NAP? It's T35 now, and it would be nice if we could sign a nice 30-40T NAP so that both of us can get our first ring of cities down in peace. The NAP would be contingent of course on not settling aggressive cities. Any interest in that?
. As has been mentioned, we really can't afford war with our neighbors right now!
. Don't worry though, we will definitely be settling in other directions much further away from you after that site, and we understand the land on the other side of those peaks to be rightfully yours. 
