(June 7th, 2013, 08:29)Ichabod Wrote: I can't understand all the hate towards Commodore...
I think a lot of it is morale. Anyone else declares war, they can persuade themselves they have a chance. Sure, maybe they have to be totally dedicated and that someone else has to make mistakes, but there's a chance.
Commodore, though, he's like a force of nature. He won't skimp on the commitment, won't make many mistakes, won't stop coming... Sure, it might not let him win, but they can be darn sure they're going to lose.
And even just in a game, when you see something you've built about to be destroyed, you can't help but be depressed/angry. And, hey, look, there's even a logical target for that anger!
I think once they get through the stages of grief for a lost empire, they'll be able to get along with him again.
I think its pretty clear that pindicator and scooter's enmity is restricted to the game. Noble's is another story, but he's not a relevant decision maker for them. Its pretty typical to hate on people you war with but I'd expect all of it to be water under the bridge once they're eliminated.
I've got some dirt on my shoulder, can you brush it off for me?
(June 7th, 2013, 06:52)Gaspar Wrote: Its pretty juvenile but one can understand the frustration and given the ways we've seen frustration play itself out in these games, "stick him with 100 trade windows" beats "gift all my crap to a 3rd party" by a long shot.
Commodore has a tendency to make riskier, more aggressive moves than most players - moves that many people would consider suboptimal due to their riskiness. When someone takes actions against you that you perceive as aggressive and suboptimal, it's an easy leap to taking it personally. And if the risks succeed on top of that, you feel frustrated because you think that shouldn't be happening to you - it's not fair in any way!
My take is that Commodore takes these risks because he believes they are necessary to win a game with many players, and because he enjoys it.
If I was in Commodore's place, I would have thought that the trade windows would be hilarious, not annoying. Then again, I don't play with a 10 month-old in my arms.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
(June 7th, 2013, 06:52)Gaspar Wrote: Its pretty juvenile but one can understand the frustration and given the ways we've seen frustration play itself out in these games, "stick him with 100 trade windows" beats "gift all my crap to a 3rd party" by a long shot.
.......Still mad about that?
I actually wasn't specifically thinking about you, it's a phenomenon that's occurred multiple times in games around here. I'm not mad about PBEM38, but I hold the general concept of 3rd party gifting in contempt. If we want to make it all about me though, I'll say that opening a turn to 4 billion trade windows is about .2 Gaspar's on the Gaspar Scale of Frustration, with 1.0 being seeing your opponent get gifted an entire army.
I've got some dirt on my shoulder, can you brush it off for me?
I don't think opening a turn to a bunch of trade windows registers on the frustration scale. I'd say it registers very mildly on the "concern about there being someone out there who genuinely hates me" scale.
(June 7th, 2013, 22:59)Gaspar Wrote: Well, 1.0 Gaspars is still only like .4 regoarrarrs, so .2 Gaspar's does indeed barely register.
The fact that this makes perfect sense to me is slightly frightening.
Merovech's Mapmaking Guidelines:
0. Player Requests: The player's requests take precedence, even if they contradict the following guidelines.
1. Balance: The map must be balanced, both in regards to land quality and availability and in regards to special civilization features. A map may be wonderfully unique and surprising, but, if it is unbalanced, the game will suffer and the player's enjoyment will not be as high as it could be.
2. Identity and Enjoyment: The map should be interesting to play at all levels, from city placement and management to the border-created interactions between civilizations, and should include varied terrain. Flavor should enhance the inherent pleasure resulting from the underlying tile arrangements. The map should not be exceedingly lush, but it is better to err on the lush side than on the poor side when placing terrain.
3. Feel (Avoiding Gimmicks): The map should not be overwhelmed or dominated by the mapmaker's flavor. Embellishment of the map through the use of special improvements, barbarian units, and abnormal terrain can enhance the identity and enjoyment of the map, but should take a backseat to the more normal aspects of the map. The game should usually not revolve around the flavor, but merely be accented by it.
4. Realism: Where possible, the terrain of the map should be realistic. Jungles on desert tiles, or even next to desert tiles, should therefore have a very specific reason for existing. Rivers should run downhill or across level ground into bodies of water. Irrigated terrain should have a higher grassland to plains ratio than dry terrain. Mountain chains should cast rain shadows. Islands, mountains, and peninsulas should follow logical plate tectonics.
