HAK (and Mindy): Alex (AGG/PHI) of Maya.
Where to start. HAK has played in a fair few PB games recently, playing in PB18, currently playing in PB25, and played in PB20 (a ToW mod game where he died at some point to either mack or Seven, so as expected). He recently teamed up with Mindy in PB25, and again here, so I’m going to assess both of them. Mindy is basically a professional ded lurker, never plays, but always writes copious amounts of mind numbing posts about strategy that even I can’t bring myself to read. Mindy never plays, barely even logs in, but has so much control over strategy s/he is an important part of the team. Perhaps it’s fairest to say that Mindy is the player that needs the assessment most of all.
HAK has struck me as a generic civ player that is gradually coming to terms with how to play MP. He can work out a dot map, knows how to micro workers. He’s the human equivalent of a filler AI in a large game by himself. Perhaps some people will take offense at that, but not everyone wins games. Some people just sit there and play civ until someone more clinical comes along and removes them from the game. HAK has flaws like anyone else, but when he gets frustrated he will throw his game. He also can't understand hte extent of his actions that well: if he attacks someone he expects to get so many cities, but even if he is right about that he never consideres what third parties do, and leaves himself open to get trashed by smarter opponents.
Mindy though, Mindy is a whole different type of player. So much more dangerous. Mindy does think much more about cause and effect. Mindy will use dot maps for specific aims, work on tech beelines. That's all well and good. The dangerous thing is that Mindy will decide to attack someone and it is just the wrong time to attack. And s/he will press onwards, through hell and high water, and lose. And make other players lose. S/he may be deserving of the leadboots award for all the wrong reasons.
Mindy is the more dangerous of the two players by far, and may be the most dangerous player to start next to. Mindy also has the frankly annoying fixation on putting some people on a pedestal, and that warps the opinion of them from what a person can do with the specific game state, and into Mindy's worst nightmare.
You can never be quite sure what is going through Mindys head, and for that I rank them as a tier 3 player threat, but I'd raise that to a 2 if he bordes me.
The leader and civ combination leaves a lot to be desired IMO. PHI is good, perhaps the only trait that can get a Culture Victory. Bulb and GA to a mid game lead in the Ren era. AGG for the hodge podge of advantages. Slow as everything else and PHI tends to slow it some more until an early academy or bulb can give a tech lead that snowballs back into other economic advantages. The civ is...not bad, works with AGG for unchokable holkans that start with C1, but the Ball Court, well...3 happy now for 80 hammers and +1 happy from incense. It's a decent building, but doesn't fit the traits. So lots of things spread around, it'll take a while to pull it together. I'm not concerned at all about this combination, by only concern is if they neighbour me. If they are on the other side of one of my niehgbours, then this may in fact be something to take advantage of.
Where to start. HAK has played in a fair few PB games recently, playing in PB18, currently playing in PB25, and played in PB20 (a ToW mod game where he died at some point to either mack or Seven, so as expected). He recently teamed up with Mindy in PB25, and again here, so I’m going to assess both of them. Mindy is basically a professional ded lurker, never plays, but always writes copious amounts of mind numbing posts about strategy that even I can’t bring myself to read. Mindy never plays, barely even logs in, but has so much control over strategy s/he is an important part of the team. Perhaps it’s fairest to say that Mindy is the player that needs the assessment most of all.
HAK has struck me as a generic civ player that is gradually coming to terms with how to play MP. He can work out a dot map, knows how to micro workers. He’s the human equivalent of a filler AI in a large game by himself. Perhaps some people will take offense at that, but not everyone wins games. Some people just sit there and play civ until someone more clinical comes along and removes them from the game. HAK has flaws like anyone else, but when he gets frustrated he will throw his game. He also can't understand hte extent of his actions that well: if he attacks someone he expects to get so many cities, but even if he is right about that he never consideres what third parties do, and leaves himself open to get trashed by smarter opponents.
Mindy though, Mindy is a whole different type of player. So much more dangerous. Mindy does think much more about cause and effect. Mindy will use dot maps for specific aims, work on tech beelines. That's all well and good. The dangerous thing is that Mindy will decide to attack someone and it is just the wrong time to attack. And s/he will press onwards, through hell and high water, and lose. And make other players lose. S/he may be deserving of the leadboots award for all the wrong reasons.
Mindy is the more dangerous of the two players by far, and may be the most dangerous player to start next to. Mindy also has the frankly annoying fixation on putting some people on a pedestal, and that warps the opinion of them from what a person can do with the specific game state, and into Mindy's worst nightmare.
You can never be quite sure what is going through Mindys head, and for that I rank them as a tier 3 player threat, but I'd raise that to a 2 if he bordes me.
The leader and civ combination leaves a lot to be desired IMO. PHI is good, perhaps the only trait that can get a Culture Victory. Bulb and GA to a mid game lead in the Ren era. AGG for the hodge podge of advantages. Slow as everything else and PHI tends to slow it some more until an early academy or bulb can give a tech lead that snowballs back into other economic advantages. The civ is...not bad, works with AGG for unchokable holkans that start with C1, but the Ball Court, well...3 happy now for 80 hammers and +1 happy from incense. It's a decent building, but doesn't fit the traits. So lots of things spread around, it'll take a while to pull it together. I'm not concerned at all about this combination, by only concern is if they neighbour me. If they are on the other side of one of my niehgbours, then this may in fact be something to take advantage of.