Epic 4 - Summary / Results

[mostly_harmless]

EDIT: yep, I felt this one would have a few people complain, after reading it myself again the day after posting it.
I wrote this in a rather good, light headed mood.

The descriptors are of course not fair, but should be taken with a healthy measure of humour. How to sum up a 60hours game in a few words anyway?

Sorry about that. I never intended to do any kind of ranking. It was indeed an unscored event.

Quick remark concerning the spoiler issue:
I assume that when people click on a thread called "Summary / Results" they would know that they will get to see how other players finished. I personally do not have the real time to read through 25 detailed reports and thought a little summary up front might help people pick the ones they want to read first.

[Kylearan]

Hi,

thanks for the overview, but I'd like to correct something...

Kylearan - loosing motivation in 1869AD

...losing motivation? Not at all! I just ran out of time, as I'm drowning in work right now (until this Friday). I was motivated to fight Qin and Gandhi, oh yes... I might have stopped after reaching a (real) winning position, though.

-Kylearan

[mostly_harmless]

ok, corrected that.

I just ran out of time, as I'm drowning in work right now

You have to have your priorities straight!

[Drugged_Unholy]

=mostly_harmless
Drugged_Unholy - unholy blood drips from a barb axe around 1070AD

More like real life got in the way and I was unable to finish. It was around 1350 ad but I was going down by then so would have only lasted another 50 years or so.

[Sirian]

thanks for the overview, but I'd like to correct something...

Indeed. The remark about me is... badly misinterpreted, to put it mildly. I don't think all of the other descriptors are fair, either. Perhaps this is one time in which a strict "scoring style" results list is not appropriate. Not all of our events are designed to elicit this kind of simple comparison and summary. Anybody who reads this before reading all of the reports will be poorly served by it, I think. It's like getting a spoiler list up front. That's a necessary evil for scored events, but I would prefer that it not show up for at least a week on unscored events -- and should wait until reporting closes in any case.


- Sirian

[mostly_harmless]

see first post

[Sirian]

Quick remark concerning the spoiler issue:
I assume that when people click on a thread called "Summary / Results" they would know that they will get to see how other players finished. I personally do not have the real time to read through 25 detailed reports and thought a little summary up front might help people pick the ones they want to read first.

Is this really a service? Deciding which games to read first based on how well a player performed strikes me as an unreliable way to gauge reports. In some cases, I find it to be similar to the "previews of next week's new episode" we see with television fiction. The sole purpose of those previews is to sell the next show, to pull in extra viewers. However, if you are a dedicated fan of a given show and will tune in anyway, then all you are doing by watching the preview is gathering in spoilers and lessening your own enjoyment. Many people do it anyway, out of sheer curiosity, but would be better served by avoiding the spoiler info, even small snippets.

Of course, I'm the player who never posts a summary up front. I'm sure it's inconsequential either way to many folks.

I do appreciate the effort that goes in to gathering results. That's work, and I don't mean to come off sounding ungrateful. However, I do think we would be better served by not rushing it. In the past, when Kylearan was handling all of the results tallies, they would not show up until the end of closing week at the earliest. This avoided all significant impact of mild spoilers and summary judgements. In some cases, timing is everything.


- Sirian

[T-hawk]

I'd like to note that there may be lurkers about, who maybe haven't been following the game or the community particularly closely, but who do find helpful such summaries, including the brief notes about the other civs' alignments and fates...

[Sirian]

I'd like to note that there may be lurkers about, who maybe haven't been following the game or the community particularly closely, but who do find helpful such summaries, including the brief notes about the other civs' alignments and fates...

Sure, but if they aren't following closely, then they won't suffer for waiting a week or so.

[pholkhero]

Many people do it anyway, out of sheer curiosity, but would be better served by avoiding the spoiler info, even small snippets.

i have to disagree on philsophoical grounds on this. Many would NOT be better served without.

Many people like to watch the TV spoilers, and then have a week's worth of anticipation about how "so-and-so couldn've done that horrible thing to what's-her-nose" ~ if i'm waiting for a much-anticipated book, i'll read reviews and sample chapters before the book comes out ~ w/warlords, every little bit of info that comes out is pounced upon by the community ~ in all these cases, enjoyment is heightened, rather than diminished by a peek at what lies ahead

I found the summary extremely helpful. Sure there are some reporters whom i will ALWAYS read, but i don't have time to read them all and so to know which players won in the 20th century was a boon, and i gravitated towards them first.

of course, it's not my call, and it seems cleear that you'd rather results threads wait a week or so, but I just thought i'd throw in my 2 cents FWIW (note: it's only worth 2 cents, not refundable in CA or WI)