September 9th, 2014, 20:15
Bobchillingworth
Unregistered
He's totally ready for Mardoc tho!
I think these "who do I defend against" scenarios often aren't as clear-cut as people make them out to be. Moving troops means they lose fortification bonuses, and trying to defend everywhere at once against overwhelming forces rarely works out well. That said, Mardoc isn't even at war with Azza, is he? Hardly defending at all against an actively hostile player so that you're prepared for theoretical hostilities with another is pretty awful.
September 9th, 2014, 20:56
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Peace vs. at war makes it simple...
September 13th, 2014, 11:01
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(September 9th, 2014, 20:15)Bobchillingworth Wrote: That said, Mardoc isn't even at war with Azza, is he? Now he is! 
September 15th, 2014, 16:57
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I begin to really really feel bad for Pindicator, at this point. Thanks to the lurkers playing, he had to spend forever to take out a single awful city. While actual players are attacking *away* from their invaders for spite or playing 8 second turns...
This isn't really unexpected, but I feel vindicated in making a map that looks cool and feels real-world. Xenu's neighbor set vs. Finarry's or BGN's? 
September 15th, 2014, 19:10
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Yeah, im behind you on the not-perfectly-balanced map, Commodore. I agree with Jowy's feeling about being unfairly singled out for his preferences, but in general xenu's neighborhood roster impacted his chances more than BGN's starting land.
September 15th, 2014, 19:37
Bobchillingworth
Unregistered
Heh. Perhaps it's time for the BTS / Krill Mod community to seriously consider dropping the taboo on abandoning to AI? I tried to do that for Barry and got bitched at. The BTS AI is no match for a dedicated human player, etc. etc. but it's certainly at least an improvement over someone who plays their turns in under half-a-minute. It was obvious from the start that there was no way everyone involved in this game would have time to see their civ through to the end. Surely having the AI take over at least until a sub could be found wouldn't make the game any more of a "farce".
September 16th, 2014, 09:26
(This post was last modified: September 16th, 2014, 09:26 by T-hawk.)
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I've been beating the drum on retiring to AI for a while too but I always get shouted down too. Barry's plight was the absolute perfect situation where retiring to AI would have been warranted. One city with no chance to win or make any impact, but with enough defense that it wasn't profitable for an attacker to take it quickly. So the civ is stuck forced to continue playing for no payoff whatsoever. The AI can't even go very far wrong there, it'll put up some token defense with whatever units just the same as a human would.
But apparently folks don't care to think deeply enough into such a situation, and the kneejerk bitching about somebody getting an incompetent neighbor takes precedence. Hell, the bitching about who gets incompetent neighbors in these games rages even when we're talking about humans...
September 16th, 2014, 09:39
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(September 16th, 2014, 09:26)T-hawk Wrote: Barry's plight was the absolute perfect situation where retiring to AI would have been warranted. One city with no chance to win or make any impact, but with enough defense that it wasn't profitable for an attacker to take it quickly. So the civ is stuck forced to continue playing for no payoff whatsoever.
Surely login - end turn - logout is not that much of a plight.
OTOH a player who does make an impact (Azza) gets yelled at too.
September 16th, 2014, 09:48
(This post was last modified: September 16th, 2014, 11:14 by Jowy.)
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I was watching some Civ5 MP and they have a nice system for it. When someone is behind a lot he can ask to hold a vote on whether he is "irrelevant" to the game. If the vote passes, then he can quit and be converted to AI. If "gamespy players" can be civil enough to work it out then we should be too.
It does affect gameplay a bit in that it's slightly easier to conquer someone (AI is never as good as a player, even when the Civ is irrelevant), but if everyone knows this from the beginning, then it's not really unfair to anyone.
September 16th, 2014, 11:35
Bobchillingworth
Unregistered
Rowain Wrote:Surely login - end turn - logout is not that much of a plight.
Having to:
A. Check the tech thread multiple times every day in case there is a reload or other issue.
B. Log into the Pitboss game daily (and only before or after certain players).
C. Instal ever-increasing modifications as the aging Civ IV Pitboss engine continues to break down.
Can get burdensome when absolutely nothing you do as a player actually matters.
But that's only part of my point. I think people here also don't give the AI nearly the credit it deserves. In no way is the BTS AI worse at empire management than someone with a 9-city empire who plays their turns in under ten seconds. I know Sulla has rigorously documented how the AI is no match for a skilled human player, but it's not like it deliberately tries to lose. I also understand that people join this games to play against other humans, but you aren't really getting the "human element" fighting someone who only logs in for as long as it takes them to click through prompts and hit the "end turn" button. At least the AI will leave civs in reasonable shape for a sub to eventually take over.
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