RBP2 Lurker Discussion Thread - No Players!

[scooter]

I have to say these games were more fun to lurk when more interaction between players + lurkers was allowed besides "hey good job" and "can we get a picture?" The original draw from the beginning of PB1 was that the players who put the time and effort into drawing out their plans/thoughts got the benefit of lurker input.

I understand that some take these games as a serious competition (in which case you wouldn't want lurker advice to dilute things), but I kind of miss the days where this was a little more laid back. If a player puts the effort into starting a tactical/strategic discussion with lurkers, then that's his benefit. Am I the only one who thinks that..?

[Adlain]

Not trying to sound hipercryital but i do agree with you scooter, i only have a problem with it in this game as its unfair to the other teams as the original rules stated that we as lurker were not not to do that here. (least thats how i took it anyways)

[SevenSpirits]

Could you cite that rule?

[Adlain]

Could you cite that rule?

theres a whole topic on lurker behaviour here http://realmsbeyond.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3854, but heres the top post

[SIZE="4"]To all lurkers in this forum, that read more than one spoiler thread. [/SIZE]

This thread is here to outline the expectations of how lurkers will behave in this forum, for this game. Ideally, Realms Beyond is a self policing community that is capable of governing itself by consensus, but there are some unbreakable rules that it is not acceptable to knowingly break; nor is ignorance of the community expectations an acceptable excuse.

This thread is posted so that newcomers to the community can quickly understand the community ideology, which is simple: No Spoilers.

Below is a basic list of what lurkers should and should not do. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and is written to illustrate basic ideas of idealised lurker behaviour. Failure to follow the rules may result in a warning via PM (mistakes happen). Repeated failure to follow accepted behaviour will result in the incident being referred to the site admins.

All posts in this forum are read by multiple posters, players and lurkers alike. If anything untoward is posted, it will be brought up, and commented on.

Ultimate administrative responsibility for RBPB2 resides with myself as game admin, i.e. I keep the game running and sort out out of game issues. If any spoiler issues arise, I am the one that deals with them. If you have any issues about something that you want to post, or that you think someone else has posted it, do 2 things: 1) quote it in the No players thread, and ask for other peoples opinion, or 2) Contact the original poster and myself, and we will take it from there.

As someone else has said, "And within PB2, Krill speaks ex cathedra: It's true because he said so. That's the way assigning him admin was set-up".

1) Lurkers may respond to civ4 mechanics questions (eg how many turns for a worker to chop a forest? Why didn't my cottage grow? How does the AP work?)

2) Lurkers may congratulate players on achieving a goal (eg Well done on getting that city spot)

2a) However, don't reveal unnecessary information on your comment (eg Well done on getting that city spot - I really thought that Greece was going to get it)

3) Lurkers may participate in option discussions but only after the player has articulated the options and only to the extent of pointing out additional strengths / weaknesses of options that the player might have missed.

3a) Lurkers should NOT suggest additional options that the play might have missed - do not give strategic or tactical advice that isn't known previously
3b) Lurkers should NOT express opinions about various options - ditto

4) Lurkers may express opinions on player agreed rules, but should also point out that rules agreed by the players should be discussed by the players

5) Lurkers may ask a team to explain their opinion about in game situations and developments, but must do this without writing leading questions, or implying information gained from other spoiler threads. It may be wiser to ask how to phrase such a question in the no players thread already, before posting it in a spoiler thread. Basically, be careful.

6) Lurkers may not ask sequence questions -

7) Lurkers may ask for screenshots.

Lurkers shall not contact players regarding RBPB2 outside this forum by any means.

the bit in bold is the bit im talking about and feel is relevent

[SevenSpirits]

Thanks. I never saw that because it actually wasn't the "original rules" and if it was posted in this thread or a player thread, the subscription system must have failed to present it to me. It seems quite likely to me that some of the players may not have seen it either.

I agree that the posts Krill quoted do not follow those rules, because they are suggesting tactical moves. By the way Krill, I saw those rules in a "proposed" state and I seem to remember they only applied to spoiled/multithread lurkers. Do you mean that to be the case?

[Krill]

Yeah, only to lurkers who have read two or more lurker threads, or this thread. A lurker who has read only one players thread is considered de facto to be a team member for the team whose thread they have read.

[MJW (ya that one)]

I think Spulla asks leading questions on purpose in order to get lurkers to comment... I think they do this because the GNP causing dogpill was obvious to everyone but them. They just want a second opinion--not to be spoiled.

(Them wanted to get spoiled makes no sense-- they would just read the other spoiler threads directly without going though the trouble of using tricks.)

[darrelljs]

Dear plako and Broker,

Since you guys are our best ally, we wanted to get your thoughts on how to divide things up in the post-Jowy landscape. The Greek military is pretty pathetic, mostly archers and phlanxes along with a half dozen catapults. We don't anticipate many issues cutting through them with our maces and horse archers/knights. After Jowy is gone, we'd like to offer your team the island northwest of Athens (directly southwest of Pusan). It looks to have room for about three or four strong cities, all of which would be coastal and have Great Lighthouse trade routes. This would give us a safe northern neighbor, and you a safe southern neighbor, so we both wouldn't have to worry about an attack by sea from that direction. We would happily promise not to settle anywhere on that island (and gift you the Jowy city located there if you want it) in exchange for letting us have the mainland Greek cities. How would that sound as a plan for moving forward?

If you have any spare galleys or triremes in the meantime for harassing Jowy's cities, we'd appreciate that too!

Sullla
The Killer Angels

Some diplo kudos for India :neenernee. They are offering what looks like something for nothing (it isn't like anyone else is taking Greek cities), but with the worldwrap being what it is, securing a strong ally on that island should be really important when they go after the Ottomans (and I have to think they won't wait, but will just continue after blowing through Greece and positioning their forces).

Darrell

[regoarrarr]

I think Spulla asks leading questions on purpose in order to get lurkers to comment... I think they do this because the GNP causing dogpill was obvious to everyone but them. They just want a second opinion--not to be spoiled.

(Them wanted to get spoiled makes no sense-- they would just read the other spoiler threads directly without going though the trouble of using tricks.)

I totally disagree - I think they just know what makes for a good thread. I would eat my hat if they listened to any lurker comments

[m4gill4]

I totally disagree - I think they just know what makes for a good thread. I would eat my hat if they listened to any lurker comments

lol! It's like at a Lakers game, when someone in the audience yells "Defense! Defense!" and Kobe Bryant is all like "oh yeah, defense! great idea, thanks fans!"