New Pitboss Ruleset Proposal

[Jabah]

I think that forcing the attacker to declare with 1 hour left on the clock is an improvment over 10s left, but due to RL/timezone etc... it might well be the same.

I would suggested that the attacker might do it whenever it wants BUT he has to pause the game to let the defender react (at least for the 1st turn, following turns are to be discussed)

[Cyneheard]

I don't see any reason why a pause is needed if war's declared in the first half of the turn.

If war's declared in the second half, the options are:
Declarer pauses after war's declared, giving the defender a chance to respond

Declarer simply has to end turn, and the defender may or may not be available to respond.

Agreed, Swiss, that Rule 4 wasn't as clear as it should be; that's the way it should be written, unless there's a consensus to have a pause + response time.

[MJW (ya that one)]

I put some thought into this. The real problem is there is no reason to NOT let the timer out everytime. If you move late you can react to what other players are doing. Also, letting the timer run out means that other players can not get any information on what you are planning.

Dragging out the game is a good thing if you are motived. People tend to play weaker as time goes on because they get bored. There is a reason why common advice that correspondence chess masters (for example Chess for Tigers) give is to move as slow as possible.

There is some diplo fallout to letting the timer run out. But it is not enough to overcome the edge given. If you end your turn you are putting yourself at a disadvantage.

[Swiss Pauli]

Was just thinking about clock-running problems when I saw MJW's post.

A change to Cyneheard's rules I'd propose to discuss would be to hive off the last couple/few hours of the turn:

(i) declarer wants 1st half: the declarer has to declare and complete moves within 10/11 hours (assuming 24hr timer) and the defender's turn is de facto complete after 20/22 hours.

(ii) declarer wants 2nd half: the declarer has to declare and complete turn before 20/22 hours have elapsed (assuming 24hr timer).

By reducing the incentive to run the clock (for both attacking and defensive purposes), I'd hope the change would encourage teams to play their turns sooner rather than later. I realise that this won't necessarily make the turns run any faster, but I hope that it would solve the problem of running the clock to gain maximum advantage. Thoughts?

[MathNerd]

I think that a one hour window for defenders is too narrow. At least, it would be for me.

[Adlain]

True its narrow but you need to consider that it is, for all intent and purposes "Dead Time" and the last thing any game needs are hours going to waste for no reason. Also in most of the Pitboss games so far, there are more than 1 person playing each civ (ether 2 or more full team members or 1 player and 1 dedicated lurker) so when in war it should be posable to someone to be able to look at the game during the last hour of the clock

[Sullla]

That doesn't solve the problem at all. If you absolutely have to log into the game in the last hour, every single turn, for hundreds of turns on end, over a period of six to twelve months... well, that's a poor solution at best! (Also note that under that system, no one should ever end their turn at any point in time, slowing the game further.)

It does nothing to resolve the core problem of Pitboss, i.e. manipulating the timer lets the attacker "sucker punch" the defender, unless they also log into the game over and over again at very specific times. Ugh.

[Cyneheard]

Hm. What about the reaction window idea? A 12-hour delay per war declaration isn't ideal, but it's predictable and limited. And it means that there's no reason not to play your turn, because you can always use your reserves in case of an attack.

PB3's got a lot more teams, and yet has only had about 10 wars. Some of them more complicated than others (the 5-sided one would probably have 2 or 3 pauses with how it worked out, but would have been predictable), others (like killing random scouting units) would be over-and-done with immediately.

Rule 4, another try:
During the second half of the turn, the declarer may either:
A) Inform the defender that they are being declared on, and pause the game for 12 hours to allow the defender to respond. E-mail and IT thread notification is required. When the defender finishes and unpauses, the declarer can then move. The declarer will then have the second half of the turn.
B) Upon declaring war and finishing his turn, the declarer pauses the game for 12 hours to allow the defender to respond. E-mail and IT thread notification is required. If the defender moves in response, the defender will have the second half of the turn (by move, I mean "Things that are only legal during your half of the turn"). If the defender doesn't respond, then then the declarer gets the first half of the turn.

Note: In choice A), the pause lasts until both war parties have made their moves, not just the defender: Don't want the declarer to be at the mercy of the defender's speed in responding.

[Swiss Pauli]

I guess people didn't read my post properly

I was suggesting a window of 2-4 in game hours (3-6 in real time).