FFH PBEM XIV Organizing/Tech Thread

[darrelljs]

it's hard to see a day where I log on to RB and I don't find an extremely clever idea posted by darrelljs.

Somebody's looking to get Flauros .

Darrell

[sunrise089]

You should just let me assign leaders based on how much I like, or dislike you. Even better, how much you pay me.

Darrell

The free marketer in me loves this suggestion! (The policy guy in me is obligated to boringly point out markets don't normally lead to such fun yet corrupt outcomes.)

Somebody's looking to get Flauros .

Darrell

Complete with his history of stunning FFH game victories!

[Ichabod]

Somebody's looking to get Flauros .

Darrell

:neenernee

Well, first thing we have to decide is the players.

We currently have 7 people interested, if I'm not making any mistake:

DaveV
Ilios
Ichabod
Amelia
Tasunke
Serdoa
Tholal

I think 7 people is a bit too much for a PBEM game. Maybe it can work in a CTON setting, but it's risky. Of course, the risk is the turns taking too much time to come back, making everyone lose interest in the game. So, I'd prefer a 6 player game.

We could try to make a team with two players. If no one is willing to do that, I don't mind stepping out of the game. There's always another game and I'd like to give a chance for the new guys to play. If that's the case, I'd just lurk the game (not team up or ded-lurk), because I'm running out of games to lurk and the settings for this game are very nice!

After that, there are some things to decide (I'm guessing CTON is the only sure thing until now):

* Game speed?

* Starting era?

* Orthus:

* Acheron:

* Human take-over allowed for Basium and/or Hyborem?

* Difficulty level?

* Barb activity level?

* Wildlands?

* Last Days?

* Living World?

* Lairs?

* All Unique Features?

* Map type?

[DaveV]

If you don't have a mapmaker in mind ... I can draw one for you.

Definitely interested.

I think 7 people is a bit too much for a PBEM game. Maybe it can work in a CTON setting, but it's risky. Of course, the risk is the turns taking too much time to come back, making everyone lose interest in the game. So, I'd prefer a 6 player game.

Agreed. Serdoa only sounded somewhat interested ("I would be interested if you need another player"), but I may be misreading him. If he wants to play, though, he's in ahead of Tholal, which seems like the only fair way to do it. I'd say the best answer is either for Tholal to ded-lurk someone, or for one of the other players to switch to ded-lurker for Tholal.

Since Tasunke posted elsewhere that he's got a baby on the way, maybe he'd consider having a teammate? Sleep deprivation is a scary thing...


* Game speed? Quick

* Starting era? Ancient

* Orthus: No

* Acheron: No

* Human take-over allowed for Basium and/or Hyborem? No (same argument as above, too many cooks spoil the broth)

* Difficulty level? Emperor/Immortal

* Barb activity level? Normal, raging would be OK

* Wildlands? No - nerfs barbs

* Last Days? No

* Living World? No

* Lairs? No

* All Unique Features? No unique features

* Map type? Mostly land - highlands, pangea, lakes, inland sea, Tectonics lakes. Pretty much any map with separate islands makes OO the only right answer. Small-standard size (15-20 tiles between capitals).

Extra stuff Ichabod didn't put on his list:

* Huts? No

* Tech trading? No

* City gifting/trading? No

* Restricted leaders? Yes

* Impersonate leader? No

Note that turning off lairs means no skeletons, lizardmen, or poison goblins. Warriors and poison-free goblins will spawn in the fog, and the usual animals will lurk in the wilderness.

[Tholal]

I'm fine with pretty much any settings.

[Thoth]

I disagree. I've been following FFH XI, and I think it's been an interesting and exciting game, even without several pages of chat dumps . If the player keeps us updated on his thoughts and plans, I think the thread can still be entertaining. There will be plenty of opportunities for interaction using the diplo screen; it's not a pure AW game.

And if it does turn out to be essentially an SP game against a (much) more competent AI, I'd be happy with that experience.

Glad you're enjoying XI, though I do note a certain lack of contribution towards my Lurker Threadspam.

Agreed on the entertainment value. So long as players keep their threads updated, the Lurkers can stay interested.

Not signing up...


Speaking as a player in FFH XI, playing with no diplo doesn't feel at all like a SP game. Although I do miss being able to chat with other players about the map, how our civs are handling, strategies etc., I have absolutely no love lost for spending hours in chats and writing emails, and having to deal with the consequences of carrying on a constant diplomacy with everyone else. It's not that I think that I'm necessarily bad at diplo or that I hate talking to people- but playing a CTON does feel more like a true test of FFH skills. Plus I figure I can talk about the game with all of the other players once it's finished =)

Again, agreed. XI has been a lot of fun so far, even though it would have been much different with diplo on.

My problem with Orthus is that he usually ends up dying and giving his axe to a civ at the cost of a few warriors. +1 Fire and blitz is a big deal.

Agreed 100%. I've voted against Orthus being active in both III and XI for good reasons. It's rather ironic that in both games the RNG has handed me the Axe in time to rush someone.

Some of the FfH mechanics are intimately tied to events, and I don't think there's any way to turn events off. I'd just as soon leave Living World turned off, though.

I'd disagree with this. Living World tends to even out the really good/really bad events.


/NOT a signup.

[Lewwyn]

Dang it! Why did you split the thread and not add me to the list when I said in the other thread I wanted a CTON? I went to bed and then Wake up in the morning and the game is overflowing!? WITHOUT ME?

I wanted to play.

[Serdoa]

As you have enough players, I'll withdraw from this game.

[DaveV]

Dang it! Why did you split the thread and not add me to the list when I said in the other thread I wanted a CTON? I went to bed and then Wake up in the morning and the game is overflowing!? WITHOUT ME?

I wanted to play.

Sorry, Lewwyn, sheer incompetence on my part. Added you to the list; now we are at seven again and hoping for two players to team up.

[Ilios]

Hmm, I seem to recall an Amelia post, where he says he's out because huts and Lairs are off. You still interested Amelia? If yes, then I'll drop out to allow Lewwyn to play.

I would have proposed the balance mod for this game, but that would rule out the Clan, since the Warrens doesn't double Settler/Worker in build 006.

I agree to everything DaveV mentions in the post, except for Raging Barbs - no thanks!

I still like the idea of a group of Lurkers picking our Leader/Civ.