[spoilers] Superdeath's 69th Risque' thread.

[Amicalola]

As far as the above, a more empathetic version of what Krill is trying to say (albeit in a pretty nasty way; perhaps the tone is being misread due to text) is just that  simming is required to be competitive in this era of civ4 MP, so you should join games with that in mind. Echoing others, if you're fine with being uncompetitive (and if you're having fun, which I would also echo being ambiguous in your threads), I can't see why you'd need to Sim. If I joined another game here I'd likely not Sim and expect a loss. When I did Sim and aim to be competitive, I often stopped having fun, so I think there's a genuine argument to be made against it.

Regarding your actual question (reporting), I think the two things that I want to see is more decision-making discussions (why are you doing x/y), really just more text in general. And to be honest, the second thing is just a happier tone. I've been very guilty of this in the past, so this is highly hypocritical, but I don't find reports that are constantly grumbling or unhappy very fun to read. But then there's always the argument for being genuine, so it's hard to say. I hope that's constructive.

I don't think anyone would call your gameplay "boring." 

[scooter]

As far as the above, a more empathetic version of what Krill is trying to say (albeit in a pretty nasty way; perhaps the tone is being misread due to text) is just that  simming is required to be competitive in this era of civ4 MP, so you should join games with that in mind. Echoing others, if you're fine with being uncompetitive (and if you're having fun, which I would also echo being ambiguous in your threads), I can't see why you'd need to Sim. If I joined another game here I'd likely not Sim and expect a loss. When I did Sim and aim to be competitive, I often stopped having fun, so I think there's a genuine argument to be made against it.

Regarding your actual question (reporting), I think the two things that I want to see is more decision-making discussions (why are you doing x/y), really just more text in general. And to be honest, the second thing is just a happier tone. I've been very guilty of this in the past, so this is highly hypocritical, but I don't find reports that are constantly grumbling or unhappy very fun to read. But then there's always the argument for being genuine, so it's hard to say. I hope that's constructive.

I don't think anyone would call your gameplay "boring." 

Superdeath, this is a good post, but I would push back a little and say that I don't think simming is required to be competitive at all. I think what is required is never autopiloting as you put it, and it also requires strong fundamentals, which is what Krill was pointing towards. You don't have to sim to work out that 10 turns working a plains hill mine produces 40 hammers, while 10 turns working cottages and then 2-pop whipping produces 60 hammers while also giving you the cottage commerce, so that's a really good trade. But you do have to stop and think about that trade-off.

But like this post says, you definitely don't have to do that either if you don't want to. One idea though related to your reporting question to make that early game more interesting - report it in detail. Explain why you chose X turn to start your first settler, what your tech path is, what order you improved your tiles, etc. This is genuinely interesting to read, but for you, it 1) will make you better because when you're forced to write it down, you think about it more, and 2) you'll get much more actionable feedback post-game or even in your thread once the opening is over if you explicitly ask for it. In my first game here I improved a Gems tile before my Food with my first worker . But I reported it very clearly so people commented on the mistake, and I eventually learned.

[Commodore]

I think the essential question is this:

[...]you do have to stop and think about that trade-off.

[...]Explain why you chose X [...] you think about it more

[...] and I eventually learned.

Do you want this to be you? Learning? Growing? Phrased kindly or not, that's the essence of what everyone is picking on. You're proud of being in, what, thirtysomething pitbosses? Merely repeating the same story over and over again, always looking to blame someone else, or the map, or the RNG, won't ever see you improve your game.

Again, if you don't want to learn, nobody will force you. But it's a fun part of any hobby to grow in skill and learn more. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Mjmd]

Better phrased kindly than not.

I'll also point out again there are all types of gamers. Not everyone has to play $500 sphinx rev control decks. Some people have fun beating them down with 25 cent rares and whatever else they have. Some truly disgusting people like commander.

I do think reporting early boring stuff can be important. I still remember my greens game when I was trying for an academy in my capital, but working specialist in my capital instead of cottages needed for said academy, which Sulla pointed out wasn't very efficient.

[superdeath]

Some truly disgusting people like commander.

[Magic Science]

Superdeath, Commodore and Krill are correct.
Your land is not the reason you lost this game. Your land was fine by the standards of this map. It was actually very green and had sufficient food and happiness. Nice lakes. The extreme flatness is a weird feature, but everyone had weird features, and you could have worked around yours.
And big picture: How can you seriously blame your land for your defeat almost every game? Are you just the unluckiest person on the forum, who was screwed by the map like 10+ times?

If you really are having fun, then go ahead and ignore us and play how you want. I'm not even offended by your (often despair-induced) crazy attacks like some people are, not that you did one this game anyway. But it really seems like you aren't having fun, based on the frustration you often express in your rare reports. I remember that you used to report more often...
And if you aren't having fun, Krill's suggestion that you play less games and find a buddy player to learn from who is skilled at just developing a civilization in different conditions is a sensible suggestion.

Most of my map complaints/land ect are just to potentially drum up response in my thread. This game, without any non-forest production outside of whipping.. i was lost. It sucked ass to play. With anyone else's start, they could have done their opening in at least 2 different directions if not more (from what i saw).

The start REQUIRED more than autopiloting for the first 30t. Random maps are probably not something ill play often in the future.

I used to report more often when i was happy in general, also when i got more lurker feedback so my threads arent 900 posts, with 2 being lurkers. If my quality of posts are the issue, id LOVE to hear viable feedback. Is my gameplay just super boring and not worth posting about? Well, then i just wont post.. thats kinda the feedback loop i think ive been dealt by not being non-auto pilot until 30t+ in. (check out pb48 or pb70 for how i do when the first half of the game is done by someone that really likes/is good at the early game)

Generally i like Big maps, because i at least think i can catch up a bit in the mid-late game vs games that end before rifles really become "common".

About lurker interaction: I don't know about you, but my original expectations about the amount of lurking were formed by reading the archives of the old games (PB8, PB13, PB18, PB27, etc.), and those expectations have just not been met over the past 5 years.
I think we just don't have as many people anymore, and we are more cautious about spoiler influence, and maybe there is less raging controversy to stir up activity. There just isn't that much lurker activity anymore. I don't know. 
This game seemed pretty good, though. 37 pages in the lurker thread is a good sign. I was happy enough with lurker posts in my thread when I was still reporting properly.


About reporting: I think that the art of reporting is essentially the art of thinking deeply about the game and then expressing those thoughts in your thread for spectators. There isn't any way around the thinking. If you think when you just observe the situation, then you will notice more little details and the situation you report will be more complete and more interesting. If you think when you respond to the situation, then your actions and plans will be more interesting too.
Gameplay rarely has to be boring. Losing positions can be great fun to read about. You can squeeze blood from a stone. You just have to keep thinking and trying and planning up until the bitter end. Thinking about the situation can turn it into an interesting situation. Within limits, of course. Eventually you might not have enough power to do anything interesting. I reported my downfall in PB66 extensively, but eventually, quite late though, there just wasn't anything else to say.
I think your problem is your reports are so basic. And at this point you have played in so many pitbosses that they are repetitive too. Tech to X to slam into Y in about Z turns. In about so many words.


If you have a preference for certain kinds of game, you just have to be more selective about what games you play. Not all of them. It doesn't even mean you have to play less Civ, since you can spend more time per game instead.
If there are none to your liking, just propose one. The last one your proposed failed but that one was a weird variant. An "ultra-standard" game would probably find some people, though maybe not right now. Worst case scenario is you find a mapmaker to roll Torusworld and do some normalization of strategic resources and neighbor numbers.
And if you want a buddy, and I notice you often ask for one, then it would be better to volunteer to be a teammate of someone who has joined already, rather than joining and then asking for one.


That's all I have. I really hope you find something useful from all this.
Good luck. And just so you know, I only burned your 2nd city this game, not your 3rd, so Old Hong Kong has still not been avenged. .

[pindicator]

Adding on to Magic Science's post, there were so many times when I caught something i had missed out changed my mind on some build solely because I was talking about it in my report for that turn. Especially builds. I would Reardon out what I might need in 5-10 turns and that would make me change a build or tile arrangement, or move some units to threaten a city differently.