Secrets of the Deep: Northstar (Lanun) vs. Mardoc (Svartalfar)

[Northstar1989]

I'm playing as Hannah the Irin of the Lanun against Mardoc of the Svartalfar...

Here's the start:



Mardoc is going to have a FIELD DAY with this!


That's not all, though. He managed to secure my agreement to a Wildlands map (in exchange for a map with plenty of water). Of course, the start location is *nowhere near* the coast (and all the resources are inland), and the map will now soon be crawling with wild critters he can tame...



This is at least supposed to be a map with "Snaky Continents"- but of course, I have no way of confirming that...

Luckily, as Hannah the Irin, I at least have the Insane trait- which means after some random amount of time I'll lose my two starting traits, and gain THREE random new traits!

I am understanding this right, correct? At least Mardoc assured me that was how it worked...


Anyways, this is where I settled:



Not a bad start, but the Svartalfar start with Agriculture, which is INSANELY overpowered for this starting location (there are simply LOADS of Agriculture, Calendar, and Animal Husbandry resources nearby- and I'm left playing catch-up to gain these techs while the Svartalfar start a tech ahead...)

It looks from the Demographics like Mardoc settled near the Remnants of Patria as well- that's the only reasonable explanation for how he's already producing 5 hammers...




This should be !FUN! I'm increasingly learning, nobody wants to play fair in this tournament. Whether it's insisting on settings that drastically benefit some civilization they have in mind, or possibly even re-genning maps until they get a start that favors them (Mardoc has admitted he had to re-gen a few times because some of the starts were "broken"- but how do I know I can take his word for it?) it seems everybody wants an advantage in this tournament...

Oh well, I guess that will just make it more fun in the games I win in this tournament!


Regards,
Northstar

[Qgqqqqq]

Luckily, as Hannah the Irin, I at least have the Insane trait- which means after some random amount of time I'll lose my two starting traits, and gain THREE random new traits!

Yes.

This should be !FUN! I'm increasingly learning, nobody wants to play fair in this tournament. Whether it's insisting on settings that drastically benefit some civilization they have in mind, or possibly even re-genning maps until they get a start that favors them (Mardoc has admitted he had to re-gen a few times because some of the starts were "broken"- but how do I know I can take his word for it?) it seems everybody wants an advantage in this tournament...

The community is built on trust. The advantage he could gain from re-genning this map is eclipsed by the advantages he could gain from opening your spoiler thread, or using various (relatively easy) methods to crack your saves or ensure he gained success in any number of areas (combat, lair, and so on).

Regenerating maps to advantage oneself is, in the opinion of this community, on the same level as that. So if you are prepared to assume or consider that your opponents are doing that, you need to be prepared to consider the logical extensions. Unless you have any proof or substantive reasoning for that, I would encourage you to assume innocence on the part of your opponents, as it simply creates a more positive attitude and approach.

Thus far I haven't seen anything - slight spoilers - that shows your opponents have been pushing for advantages in this. Indeed, I would say that you seem to be taking this game more seriously than them. Which is by no means a criticism - I think it's great that you're so enthusiastic about the game - but rather an illustration of why I would advise assuming the best of people.

[Northstar1989]

The community is built on trust. The advantage he could gain from re-genning this map is eclipsed by the advantages he could gain from opening your spoiler thread, or using various (relatively easy) methods to crack your saves or ensure he gained success in any number of areas (combat, lair, and so on).

Regenerating maps to advantage oneself is, in the opinion of this community, on the same level as that. So if you are prepared to assume or consider that your opponents are doing that, you need to be prepared to consider the logical extensions. Unless you have any proof or substantive reasoning for that, I would encourage you to assume innocence on the part of your opponents, as it simply creates a more positive attitude and approach.

You're probably right. And you can't see my other thread where I posted this (in EitB39) as you're one of my opponents there, so I've re-posted a little explanation I made on this before, edited to remove SPOILERS:


OK, so first of all, I just had something important to say...

Lately, I've noticed my competitiveness at this game has taken on a slightly ugly tint. As in, I've been whining about bad luck on my part and the advantages other players have had, and their choosing game settings that favored them, while gloating over any good luck I have.

I just wanted to apologize for that to anyone who might be reading this- because I need to be OK with the result, however these games turn out- even if that means my losing. It necessarily follows that there can only be one official "winner" from each game- but we're all winners if we play well and fairly, and enjoy the journey. On the other hand, if we all get angry every time it seems like we might not win, and whine and complain like I've been doing in some of my games, then we're ALL losers in the end...

So, I hope you guys can forgive my bad game spirit, and look ahead to my playing this game as well as I know how to- whether that means winning or losing! And, of course, I'd appreciate any strategies or pointers on how to play (generally speaking) along the way!

Thus far I haven't seen anything - slight spoilers - that shows your opponents have been pushing for advantages in this. Indeed, I would say that you seem to be taking this game more seriously than them.

To be fair, though, that's probably because I'm new and very much an unknown to most players here- and due to my inexperience most of my rivals probably figure (accurately or not) that beating me will be easy- that is, they don't take me very seriously as an opponent...

There's probably some validity to that assumption- simply because of the value of experience and knowledge of common strategies. Which is, of course, why I've been so active in my lurker threads- and would appreciate any advice or insights I can get into good gameplay strategies (generally speaking) here, or thing I may not know about how the game works (like that partial-improvement thing from before!)


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

Arghh!

First of all, work on my Worker continues:



When he's done, I'll want to get straight to work improving the Rice. Followed straight away by one of the floodplains to the north (so the tile can also be shared by my 2nd city)- I want to grow fast, and get to the coasts (wherin all my advantages except having faster Workers than the Elves lie) as soon as possible!




And, Mardoc's Demographics haven't changed much- not that it tells me much of anything...


Regards,
Northstar

[Tasunke]

SPOILER for end of game (lanun game)

I'd definitely settle 1 NW of Standing stones, and possibly 1S of the gold. The stones one can get 2 coves, clam, cow, and a few mines. Pretty good lanun city. Better than the one currently tagged at least. The one 1S of gold would allow prudent tile sharing, and allow you to always have at least one city working the gold/cotton/cotton

[Northstar1989]

SPOILER for end of game (lanun game)

I'd definitely settle 1 NW of Standing stones, and possibly 1S of the gold. The stones one can get 2 coves, clam, cow, and a few mines. Pretty good lanun city. Better than the one currently tagged at least. The one 1S of gold would allow prudent tile sharing, and allow you to always have at least one city working the gold/cotton/cotton

Ack, what's with these spoilers matey?! From looking at other threads, most of them just seem to be things like different ideas about optimal build-order that probably didn't need to be spoilers anyways!


Well, here's the next turn. Not much going on except exploring with my Scout:



Oh, and I got a border-pop:



Alas, hopefully soon it'll get interesting. Maybe me and Mardoc can knock out a string of turns soon...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so here's a zoomed-out view of my exploration so far:



And here's something a bit closer-up:



The only things that really occurred of note lately were that I discovered another Deer to the north, and my Warrior finally made it to my capital-city (where he will begin fortifying immediately).


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

My Scout continues to explore to the North- revealing nothing but Ice and Tundra tiles...



Hopefully something interesting will happen soon...


Regards,
Northstar

[Northstar1989]

OK, so at least my Scout found something useful up to the north...



MANA!

Eh, it won't be usable for a good while- but at least it's nice to know it's there.


Regards,
Northstar

[Aurorarcher]

North, first of all, sorry for the offtopic, but I'm going to post here since it looks like you're not responding to my private messages.

Care to start our duel one day?