RB PBEM #1 - Mehmed (SPOILERS!)

[Dreylin]

Losing those worker turns is very frustrating. Hopefully it'll end up being a small effect in the big picture though. Is there a chance you could post another overview map with all the recent developments in the near future? It's starting to get difficult to keep track of where everything is now.

Yep, and Yep. I keep meaning to do update the map, but then I put down another new city, or uncover just a bit more!

[Dreylin]

t67 - CS due in 1t, so I dial the research rate down to 30% to minimise overflow. Chop comes in at Edirne and I realise that I'm a couple of hammers short of completing the Settler. Hmmm, the missionary may be a turn later than I had told Ruff.

Marcia has Mined the Iron, so now moves into a Plains forest to Farm - spread irrigation to Ankara's Wheat. Brian and Tim start road connections to Samsun & Bursa respectively, while Twist heads back to where she should have been at the start of last turn.

A Barb warrior has shown up in the SE, but my Chariot returning from the North will be there in time to intercept.

Thngs you already knew: sooooo used his GE to build the Great Library, cementing him as my main rival, and Ruff founded Christianity - not in DV.

I have the most cities!

[Dreylin]

A letter to Ruff and a follow-up chat:

Hey Ruff,

I've been re-visiting my calculations, and it looks like the Missionary could be a turn later than I had originally thought - with the potential to spread Confucianism on t79. That will also depend on the road connection between DV & FF; if it is complete and there are no rivers in awkard places, it should be 1tile away from FF at the end of the previous turn, so there is some leeway in the route. Anyway, let me know if the additional turn would cause a problem (it is still within the window we discussed) and I'll see what I can do about it on my end.

What are you planning to research next? Sooooo came calling and mentioned that he was going for Construction next (as is athlete), so I think there's a window for me to make a run for Music to make certain he doesn't get the free Great Artist. I did mention to him that athlete was going for Construction as well though, so maybe he's
changed his mind....

Dreylin.

Ruff.Hi: hey - what is your ETA on CS?

me: 0t

Ruff.Hi: oh - you got it on the IBT?

me: Yep

Ruff.Hi: I have theology ready to trade - should I put the trade in-game next time I see it?
started to save $ so will send that over when I can
expect to have capital (finally) connected to trade network in 2 turns
one dye is connected and sharing its happiness with my cities (excluding the capital)
when I hover over the dye in the city is says '+1 happy, ruff has zero'

me: Huh?

Ruff.Hi: well - it counts how many I have in my capital

me: internet crapped out on me for a sec
You have Dyes?
nice

Ruff.Hi: sorry - meant the spice

me: Ah

Ruff.Hi: the one I will be sending your way when I am connected
but as it turns out - I also have dye

me: So connect it up so you can trade it to me!
Just sent you an email
thought it was better to cover the first point in e-mail rather than chat

Ruff.Hi: WHAT!
sure - should be ok

me:

Ruff.Hi: I am discussing construction trade with Athlete so bridges might not be an issue by that time

me: I'm not sure I won't have it the turn originally planed
Ah yes, do you have his ETA?

Ruff.Hi: I can see his research - don't need ETA

me: athlete's?

Ruff.Hi: yes

me: oh, so who else can you see?

Ruff.Hi: he is not spending EPs against me so it is cheap

me: ah, ok
so what' his ETA?

Ruff.Hi: sooooo (obviously) and that is it
3 or 4 turns ... might be 5

me: and sooooo's?

Ruff.Hi: 1 turn quicker as it turns out
I do remember that sooooo was looking to get their quicker
can you see any research yet?

me: no
still trying to catch up with your demogs


Ruff.Hi: oh - sorry about that - have started to EP against you to see your research

me: then it would make sense for me to target mh

Ruff.Hi: I'll swap away to mh and just learn to trust you

me: well it's also a factor of total ep spend
and you've spent a bart-load

Ruff.Hi: really - my bomb against soooo knocked out your demo
I didn't know that

me: yep
so what are you researching next?

Ruff.Hi: saving money
but thinking of feudalism

me: yeah, you owe me 100g

Ruff.Hi: due in 568 turns at my current rate
not yet I don't
and you after CS?
music for my Great Artist?

me: "your" Great Artist!?

Ruff.Hi: yes - don't you remember that you agreed to gift him to me (haha)

me: Oh yeah, right after you gift me that Prophet

Ruff.Hi: you'll get your own via oracle

me: slowly
plus I have 3religions to Shrine

Ruff.Hi: hope sooooo does go construction ... quite happy to have a reason to not trade him theology

me: Yeah, similarly for CS
It's not like he's going to be popping out GE after GS

Ruff.Hi: ??

me: Well, he's rocketing away with Great People

Ruff.Hi: yes
but he has specialised his cities
pure GE and pure GS cities

me: Makes sense

Ruff.Hi: and the ?? wonder would make 6 GE pts - which is huge

me: ?? - you mean Hagia Sofia?

Ruff.Hi: yes - can never remember that silly wonder's name

me: it is a Marble one though
and to-date he's only built the Stone-accelerated ones

Ruff.Hi: true - so, no doubling for him
not all of them (dance)

me: Well yeah
Did you get Stone as well?

Ruff.Hi: nope
I have it - not connected - way South surrounded by desert

me: Yeah, you've seen mine out West
He must have prioritised it for his first city

Ruff.Hi: yep

[Dreylin]

Letter from athlete confirming our deal:

Hey Dreylin,

I think construction is about 6 more turns, I'll log in and play my turn tonight and double check. I think I like that deal so if it's fine by you lets do that once construction is complete. As well MH and I get along so far. There's still room for me to settle and I believe he's got a decent amount to backfill so no need to take any rash actions in the immediate near term.

Athlete

Athlete,

OK; if you give me warning when you're about to discover it, I'll propose the deal on my turn.

Cheers,

Dreylin II

[Dreylin]

t68 - The popup tells me it's time to get Medieval!

Start Drama - due in 4t at -22g/t or 5t at 70% break-even. Set research to 0% to get some money. No trade suggestion from Ruff, so I line up the full deal: Theology +100g for Civil Service.

Istanbul completes Archer, starts Library (finally). Archer heads East to cover likely new city location. Bursa and Samsun are connected up to the trade network - sadly Konya is not.

Oh, and I also do this:



Oh, and I get some excellent news after ending turn - Hinduism spreads to Samsun!

[Dreylin]

A tremendous note from sooooo this morning:

Hi Dreylin,

How's it going? I added you to my messenger program but I never catch you online. There's a few things I'd like to talk about.

Firstly, a trade offer: Literature for monotheism + 50 gold. Interested?

sooooo

Hey sooooo,

Well I told you I was unreliable! Unfortunately, work doesn't allow external messanger programs and I don't get home until around midnight UK time. I'll try to be available sometime this weekend, but I don't know yet what plans we have. The alternative would be for you to get a gmail account - since work doesn't block gmail chat.

Regarding the trade; 50g seems a bit more than I'm willing to pay. I should probably offer 25g and then haggle it down, but I'd be willing to go as high as 35g.

Dreylin II.

Woohoo! If sooooo's willing to trade me Literature for the 35g I have in the bank (actually I have 39) this turn, then I can start straight on Music next turn and should beat him there with CS & an extra turn - since he'll not have finished Construction yet.

[kalin]

Oh, and I get some excellent news after ending turn - Hinduism spreads to Satsuma!

Satsuma? Toku in the game too? :wink2:

What do you plan to do with the great artist? Bomb Bursa? GA?

Otherwise things seem to be going very well for you. Is it worth considering a NAP in the west given that you still have several cities to found + lots of infrastructure to build...

K

[Dreylin]

Satsuma? Toku in the game too? :wink2:

Hmmmm, not sure what happened there ... editted to the correct city - Samsun.

What do you plan to do with the great artist? Bomb Bursa? GA?

I certainly won't be bombing Bursa, that would just be provocative in a way I'm not willing to be yet. I would probably sit on it in the short term, however with him in-hand I would probably be thinking of building the Mausoleum and going for a Golden Age.

Otherwise things seem to be going very well for you. Is it worth considering a NAP in the west given that you still have several cities to found + lots of infrastructure to build...

TBH, I don't think it's necessary; with one flank secured, I'm happy to keep my options open on the other flank. I will be maintaining a presence in Bursa, but don't intend to start any sort of military build-up (subject to watching Power graphs).

Note that the Janissary gets bonuses vs. pre-gunpowder units, so I've started to think about how best to put that to use. OTOH, I seem to have more and better land than the rest, so I may be able to sit back and play defense for the whole game...

[Dreylin]

sooooo's reply was a little bit disappointing:

Hi Dreylin,

OK, not a problem with the messenger. Nothing urgent anyway.

I offered what I thought was a fair trade, 50 gold is a good value for 71 beakers IMO. Going to 35 gold is too low, it makes it that 1 gold = 2 beakers, clearly not true. Gold is better than beakers because we have libraries, but that's only +25%. Plus literature is a monopoly tech and a pre-req for music - pretty valuable.

So my offer still stands but I'm not going to be haggled down. Let me know if you want to trade.

sooooo

sooooo,

No haggling!? Now you're taking the fun out of it! 9-)

Couple of comments; your exchange rate is probably fair when talking about a cottage economy, however you're running a Representation-fueled Specialist economy, right? In that case gold is generally more difficult to accumulate than beakers and therefore could be considered to have correspondingly more value.

Also, Literature's value as a pre-req for Music diminishes significantly if the Great Artist has already been claimed; are you implying that you do not intend on making a run for that prize?

Dreylin II.

We'll see what he says; he brought up the value of Lit as a Music pre-req, so I don't see any problem with asking him about his intentions. Anyway, if he's going to insist on 50g, I won't have the funds for a turn anyway, so I don't gain anything by rushing.

[Dreylin]

OK, now we're getting somewhere ... or are we:

Well, maybe I am, maybe I'm not . Do I understand from your tone that you are going for it? Maybe in that case I should increase my offer? I kid, I kid.

Anyway, the trade of offer is there, and will be there for a handful of turns, so let me know what you decide.

sooooo,

Clearly the value of Literature to me is highly dependant on whether the Music Artist is a reachable option; the GLib is already gone - congrats btw - the Heroic Epic out of reach, and the National Epic an expensive luxury at this stage of the game.

So if I don't think there's a chance of me reaching the Artist, Literature is not necessary to me at this time.

If I think I'm in a race for the Artist, then Literature is probably worth a maximum of 39g to me. That is my current reserve, and I'd want the trade to go through so I could start Music before you could (iirc, you have another turn left on Construction and I have to assume that we research at about the same rate).

If I knew that I alone was pursuing Music, Literature could be worth more than 50g to me.

May as well lay the cards out; if he really wants the money, it will be clear from his response. Drama is still a useful option - the second pre-req of Philosophy - so I'd have no problem refusing his offer, researching Drama and then discovering that he had gone for Music.