[SPOILERS] Dazedroyalty - Move along! Nothing to see here

[scooter]

You're going to whip the Monument at Integer when it finishes in 2 turns? Or do you just mean you generally plan to whip it frequently?

[scooter]

Crosspost.

So wait, 2 of your rivals already dislike each other and the third rival says he doesn't think he's that good and he's not that competitive AND he's freely giving you cool info?

Beautiful. Whichever of the 2 guys who don't like each other is strongest, isolate him diplomatically and keep doing your thing.

You're Imp and what else?

[dazedroyalty]

I finally found Sian!



Current State of the Empire overview:



Building two more workboats because I had nothing better to build at the time and I want to explore the seas. The NE one will eventually net the fish that Quadratic had in it's BFC. Integer will start an axe most likely after completing the WB.

One worker S of the capital heading to camp the elephants and the newly completing work will follow his lead.

[dazedroyalty]

Also, I noted that at 50% gold I make 11 income (9 science and 2 gold). If I raise or lower research it drops to 10 (rounding I presume--thanks Ichabod!) until I'm at 0 or 100. So, 50% we stay until I can afford to run 100% for a turn.

[dazedroyalty]

Sian,

Our proposed NAP till T45. This means that the NAP extends THROUGH T45 and will be voided automatically at the start of T46.

This NAP will cover all the following:

-No entering of each other's borders for any reason without consent
-No attacking units and/or cities
-No aid to enemies (sending resources, gifting units, sharing intel)
-No settling within 5 tiles of an existing city without notifying the other party

If you have proposed changes or amendments, feel free to let me know.

Dazed

I don't have any aggressive plans so i was happy to sign a NAP with Sian as a gesture of good faith even though I'm not really into NAPS. This one is ridiculously short (he suggested T45). It's so short I couldn't break it if I tried!

[dazedroyalty]

I had a nice update for you after talking with Krill, but the forum ate it. So.... yeah. Next time!

[dazedroyalty]

OK, I'm trying to think through the meta game. While I have never considered myself a top notch BTS player, I do think that I have a bit more experience and probably skill than the other players in this game. However, the skill gap isn't THAT crazy big that I can just presume that I'm going to win no matter what. Especially if the other players decide that they need to work together to take me out. Further, I am a firm believer in the importance of doing my best to win no matter what. Nothing pissed me off more as a kid than when my older brother or dad would purposely go easy on me in basketball. If I won it was hollow and if I lost it was even more embarrassing!

Therefore, in order to do my best to win this game, I'm trying to think through what meta strategy would be most effective. This I know so far about the diplo world/culture:

-Xenu is loving his roleplaying as Mao, doesn't want to sign NAPs this whole game and consistently talks about his poor skills and desire to have fun (authentic or part of the persona?)

-Sian is the most experienced of the three opponents. He told me that he made the "deal" with SlowWalk but basically gave up the Oracle which he was never planning to go for in exchange for other wonders (GLH, GL, Colossus). He immediately wanted a NAP even tho he had a warrior near my border and I only had a scout near his.

-SlowWalk think they made a great deal with Sian and are convinced that Sian was making a play for the Oracle (based on his founding Buddhism). They are toying with founding another religion after missing Buddhism. They also asked for a NAP.

So, 2 players wanted NAPs immediately and 1 player isn't planning on doing NAPs all game--at least according to the consensus of all the other players and his own stated plans.

If Sian really manages to land all the wonders that SlowWalk ceded to him, then he's going to be sitting pretty. Which means he's either a good person to work with since he'll be focused on wonders and not on military/expansion as much. OR he's the best person to try to take over because he'll come with a number of goodies. Given that Sian started w/o Mysticism and that he's IND it seems odd for him to make a play for Buddhism without the goal of the Oracle. He went for mysticism and we know he build Stonehenge. So he might have been thinking why not go for Buddhism for the religion. If so, it was a poor play. He has free culture in Stonehenge and he had lots of other options for what to research and can't be in desperate need of happiness yet. He's either a master diplo expert and played it off to me like he didn't care, or he over prioritized landing a religion.

Assuming Sian was honest with me, then SlowWalk got played pretty good. He guaranteed no competition for three wonders while "giving up" one that he didn't want at all. I *tend* to think this is correct because building Stonehenge and then immediately sinking hammers into Oracle would be a pretty tough hit on expansion. Regardless, Sian is sly since he played someone no matter which scenario is true. That will be important to note in future negotiations.

Xenu is a wildcard with his role playing persona and anti-NAP mindset. I'm anti-NAP in preference but have signed two in order to set the right tone. (Ultimately, I want peace so I can use my IMP to expand ASAP. To paraphrase Krill, expand till the economy crashes and cottage everything!)

My goal is to get one player squarely on "my side." That prevents a 3-1 dogpile and allows me to focus energy elsewhere. It won't be Xenu but I'm not sure if SlowWalk or Sian is a better ally. If I ever want a wonder, it's better to be able to negotiate with Sian than compete with him and his IND ability.

Another angle would be to play best friends with everyone while slowing a little mistrust between the other teams. This is the highest risk/reward option most likely. Risky if they talk to each other and figure it out but if they positive feels build towards me while doubt builds between others, that's good. For example, so far, I've been trying to reinforce the SlowWalk-Sian situation as much as posisble. Xenu thinks they have tension between each other. Sian thinks he took advantage of SlowWalk. SlowWalk think it'd be terrible for Sian to find out that they talked to me about their deal (not sure why, though). So, let's keep stirring that pot!

I'm not sure that I've really gotten anywhere clear, but it's been a good exercise to think about each one a little more. Short term plan is to just keep them all on as good a side as possible with me and expand, expand, expand!

[scooter]

Really good post there. I think you're analyzing it well. I'm basing my thoughts almost entirely on what you've written since I don't know these players hardly at all, but I'd guess the following:

-Xenu is probably the least experienced and the least of a threat to win. "love role-playing" and "I'm not very good, just wanna have fun!" is usually what you'd say if you realize you aren't good at the game yet but you've gotta learn somehow so give it a shot and have fun until you die. Also, if he's serious about role-playing Mao you probably shouldn't trust him . More seriously, if you want a long-term friend with whom you can divide and conquer (that'd be my approach), I don't think he's your guy. He may be a wildcard, but if he's as inexperienced as he sounds, you may not have to worry about him too much.

So really it's Sian or SlowWalk. It sounds like Sian is the sharper player, or at least diplomatically speaking he might be. It may depend on how good you think both of them might be. If one of them is clearly the better player, you may want to work to isolate him.

Otherwise, my hunch is that you want to try to befriend both Sian and SlowWalk to an extent - with your main goal of having them both like you more than they like each other. Sounds like you have enough to work with. Eventually you may want to pick a side, but the point is ideally once "side choosing" becomes a necessity, they'd both want you. That'll give you enough time to figure out how trustworthy they seem and also let you figure out how experienced they both are.

Anyways, that's my two cents. I can't comment much on stuff related to the map layout because I've read a couple of the threads in the veterans game, but I haven't seen any threads for this game so the diplo stuff I don't mind commenting on.

[dazedroyalty]

Well hello!

[dazedroyalty]

It took me 23 turns but I've caught up, in score anyways: