EitB PBEM XXXIX Setup and Tech Thread

[Northstar1989]

I recommend looking at the record of the Clan and Malakim in competitive PBEM games if you want proof.

Clan are a rusher civ for precisely the reasons you stated- their long term economic potential is weak, so they need to slam their opponents with a huge number of Axemen well before most players have Longbowmen or large numbers of Champions (what I would consider the true "mid-game"). It's not quite as early a rush strategy as, say, a Quecha-rush was in the base game, but it's still definitely a strategy that relies on hitting players before they can get established- and thus still qualifies as a rush.


Relax, though, Q. I'm not suggesting tons of handicaps- just pointing out that flavor start is actually more balanced than normal start. It ensures civs can start in terrain that they can thrive in, rather than getting screwed by the RNG (try starting with the Calabim or Ljosafar in a desert, for instance).


Anyways, if you don't want flavor start, we can certainly go together without that (I just think it would be preferable- for Lore reasons more than anything else). With an Advanced Start, start positions are a *little* less important than normal, as a low-commerce start won't stop you from developing Mining in good time to exploit abundant hills you start near, for instance...


Regards,
Northstar

[Qgqqqqq]

Okay, cool.

So that's probably Dreylin->me - could you guys post your GMT preffered playing times, please? Some people play at night, some in morning, so timezone isn't enough.

[Northstar1989]

So that's probably Dreylin->me

Dreylin? I don't think he said anything on this thread yet, other than that he was interested in playing and the times he was available. What are you asking/saying about him?

could you guys post your GMT preffered playing times, please? Some people play at night, some in morning, so timezone isn't enough.

I mostly play at night. 5:00 - 10:00 PM Central Time is probably best for me most days...


Regards,
Northstar

[Qgqqqqq]

20:00 to 23:00 US Central

which I /think/ is: 02:00 to 05:00 GMT

0200-0500 is before 0300-0900. That was all I was talking about.

[DaveV]

Guys - I rashly volunteered to do a map for this game, but there seems to be very little consensus on what you're looking for. It seems as though the only thing people agree on is Discovery era and four players.

Two options: either you do some voting on such things as leader pick method, lairs, barb settings, roominess of map, etc., or I'll just produce a map that I think will be fun and you can all curse me in your threads.

I also need a play window from Kragoth to determine the play order.

[Kragroth]

6 to 9 pm eastern us time. I can't convert that to utc at the moment.

Dave if you could make a simple list it would be helpful.

My votes are

No barbs lairs unique features acheron or orthus. Everyone picks their civ and leader with duplicates allowed. No Tsunami.

Pangea like map ( no civs starting on different continents.)

[Qgqqqqq]

As to the game, I presume we're all fine with standard settings - that is, no settings on save Blessings of Amatheon, no tech trading and No Acheron. I believe we had settled on a lightly balanced Erebus Continents Map, no? I'll hit someone up about that sometime tomorrow, and no bans?

No one really disagreed with this, and as I noted a touch further downthread, the object of this game is to experiment with a fairly normal setup with a discovery-era start.

Thus, I'll say that the map should be made along the roughly standard guidelines of '36/'37 (and other similar games that I can't think of) - that is, with a predominantly land-based setup with a decent amount of water/islands such that there is a place for Lanun/navy without either overpowering the game setup. Reasonably balanced starts without mirroring if possible. In general though, use your discretion - I was about a day away from posting saying we'll just use a random Torusland map, so I'll be happy with pretty well anything, and I trust your judgement.

[Qgqqqqq]

Use these settings:

Mod: EitB

Variant: None.

Human takeover allowed for Infernals / Basium: No

Compact Enforced:Off. .

Game Speed: Quick.

Difficulty: Map Maker's pick.

Barbarians: Normal.

Orthus: Off.

Acheron: Off.

Lairs: Mapmakers discretion.

Huts: Mapmakers discretion.

Start Era: Discovery.

Wildlands: Off.

Living World: On.

Vassals: Off.

Tech trading: Off.

Diplomacy: AI Diplomacy .

All Unique Features: Up to Map Maker

[Qgqqqqq]

Given the circular discussions of earlier, I'm going to use my fiat to say those are the settings.

[DaveV]

There's kind of a logjam of overlapping times for Kragoth, Northstar, and Dreylin, but I'm going to put the emphasis on the end of the window, which gives:

Kragoth -> Northstar -> Dreylin -> Q

The good side of the overlapping play times is that a blitz might be relatively easy to arrange.

I'll use this order and roll randomly for a first player unless anyone objects.