Space Empires V PBW game?

[brianeyci]

Has anybody noticed the distribution of rock oxygen planets is extremely low?

Here's my theory: a lot of people picked rock oxygen, so after homeworlds were counted what was left over was almost nothing. I don't see anything but small and tiny rock oxygens, and I've explored a lot of systems. Either that, or there's just a poor distribution of rock.

As for trading worlds to clearly define borders, I may be attempting that with Keevan. Let's say player A is rock oxygen and player B is gas giant methane. The sign of power gaming won't be, player A controlling a methane gas giant. It'll be player A controlling a oxygen gas giant, or player B controlling a methane rock planet (Covenant's cross colonization trick.)

EDIT: Or player A with non-domed rock methane, or player B with non-domed gas giant oxygen.

[Trogdor]

I've only just started exploring in earnest and I've already found a medium rock oxygen planet. I've also found a tiny rock oxygen, too. Maybe you're just in a crappy starting place.

[Covenant]

I've only just started exploring in earnest and I've already found a medium rock oxygen planet. I've also found a tiny rock oxygen, too. Maybe you're just in a crappy starting place.

I have more than my fair share of oxyrocks in my territory, but I'm not an oxyrock kind of guy, so it doesn't do me much good.

[brianeyci]

Hahaha well I got a lot of gas giant.

I guess I traded a shit territory for being alone. Keevan's my only neighbor so far, and put together we control a huge stretch of territory that's easily blocked off at a handful of points. Mostly barren territory, but oh well.

[darthkommandant]

Only one OxyRock planet that is medium in size and will be colonized next turn by me. Plenty of red planets though.

[Covenant]

Well, I'm not sure where we are on migration. I think that rounding up all your racial minorities and shipping them off in a colonizer would be difficult to RP as a 'good thing' in-game, and thus probably get you discriminated and your colony 'liberated'. Plus, it would take a long time to get enough to make it worthwhile. So long as people don't abuse Migration, I can't imagine it being gamebreaking.

At some level, you need to just go 'meh' and attack people who abuse it but not make it completely taboo to do things like sign a treaty.

If people want to be gamey, they can. Brian and I could make up a BS reason to go to war with each other just for the out-of-character purpose of letting each of us invade each other's planets for population and steal some colonizers from each other. People would either need to claim we were warring just to circumvent the rules, and attack us both, or they might not even notice and we'd get away with a dirty trick. There's so many nasty tactics. I think stopping the most obvious bunch are what's necessary, and saving our righteous indignation for good excuses (like the example I just gave) rather than spend a lot of time being annoyed at migration, which seems more like an RP benefit than anything else.

I personally don't like the idea of monolith racial groups. A little bit of cultural diffusion is cool. I'd even like it if nearby enemy races would sometimes migrate in. If only that also gave an intel bonus! ;p

[brianeyci]

I'm not too worried because we have so many people.

If it was a 1v1 competitive match, we'd have to have perfectly identical star systems with identical planet distribution to boot for a fair game.

With 13 players all bets are off. If migration is so powerful that one player gets twice as powerful as another, other people could gang up. Score is our "intel" so we can see right away.

Plus Tuxedo is right--migration is a part of the game.

I'm personally not going to micro migration. But if I see people with breathers of a non-native race on a native colony type, I'm going to make a big stink about it in the RP about it being a slave colony. If it's just trading planets to define borders, that's a little more tricky, but I don't see how that's broken given everybody's looking out for number one and if you trade a gas giant for a rock, it'll be a fair trade.

[InnocentBystander]

I think its totally luck based. First game I had 3 small/tiny green gas/oxy worlds and 1 huge green gas/oxy world, thats just pure luck right there. Of course we restarted so now my empire is even more separated and has far fewer nice planets.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

There doesn't appear to be a way to include movement and combat logs when I upload the turn, so those are available on request for anyone that needs them.

[brianeyci]

Damn, big problem with movement and combat logs.

There's got to be a better way, maybe some kind of hosting or you can post a link here Tuxedo. If you need ftp space let me know.

I thought about technology trading and actually figured out why it is really cheap: it brings out of game relationships into the fore. Technology trading might work for a game with total randoms: a pure PBW game. But this isn't PBW, this is SDN. Nephtys, Tuxedo, Covenant, Trogdor, IB, etc etc have all played games together. If there was technology trading -- guess who I would plan a double research tree with? That's right, someone I've played with before who I know. Then all our SDN games would become in-things. New players could never get in, cause they'd be outmaneuvered by long lasting metaknowledge. Like I know Tuxedo is good so if I found him I'd probably want to plan tech research with him. But some new guy? I wouldn't risk it. So fuck technology trading.

[Nephtys]

There doesn't appear to be a way to include movement and combat logs when I upload the turn, so those are available on request for anyone that needs them.

You can't zip em together then upload, like we used to do for SEIV?

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

There doesn't appear to be a way to include movement and combat logs when I upload the turn, so those are available on request for anyone that needs them.

You can't zip em together then upload, like we used to do for SEIV?

No, it rejects the file because it doesn't recognize the contents. It only recognizes SE IV movement and combat logs for what they are.

I suppose I could upload them to my webspace and then just put a standing link that will always link to the latest ones.

EDIT: Actually that's pretty obviously the way to go. Here are the links:

Current Combat Log.

Current Movement Log.

Links will be edited into this thread's first post, so don't ask for the URL, just look there.

[Alan Bolte]

First Blood!
Killing Spree!

[brianeyci]

"Spock, get the popcorn."

[ColonialAdmiral]

Bad news guys.

I will be out of town this saturday untill the next saturday.
I'd aprrtiate if you guys could hold, but other-wise...It's so early in the game...
If you guys don't want to stop, then I'll just set my ques to be really high, and start researching a big item, but I'd like if you wouldn't attack me while i'm gone...

Thanks, i'd apretiate a reply.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

I can see holding for a few days, but a whole week is a lot more than we've ever done before. What does everyone think?

[brianeyci]

To be blunt, depends on how often you travel CA.

I'll possibly have one hold for an entire year, exam time. And only for a few days.

If you travel every month... well it seems like it, since you've traveled twice. But if it's once a year or something I don't personally give a shit. I don't know about other people.

Can someone else run your turns? We have lots of people. I wouldn't even mind running your turns CA. But better you pick someone, like your main ally (you have one right? I've got my best friend )

Brian

[Alan Bolte]

I... honestly don't care.

[Nephtys]

I'd prefer if the game moved along a little. Maybe slowed if one wants, but preferrably still going.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Maybe if we switched to 72 hours for this next week?

[brianeyci]

To me it's all or nothing. Either we wait or we don't delay for him at all.

Best solution to me is find a replacement player for one week. The beginning of the game after all is mostly colonizer moving and research, and he can give the replacement player a rough outline of what he wants. Then if passwords become an issue, he can change it (looks like we can change them mid-turn now.)

Ideally, someone he's already closely allied with, or barring that someone from halfway across the galaxy.

EDIT: Also, it is very short notice. It's already Saturday. I am not trying to be an ass, but just saying what most people are thinking: most people don't want to wait if at all possible. What happened? If it was some planned long term thing, then sorry I think we need more notice. If it was like an emergency, then a lot more understandable. Still, replacement player is ideal. Out of 13 players one has to be free to take his place for one week.

EDIT: I would also like to say delays kill big games. Let's do the math. Let's say every single person takes 5 days off at one time or another. Then it's thirteen times five or two months worth of delay! A game that could last six months would last eight, or a year could last a year and a half. The ideal solution is replacement player, doubling up with no conflict of interest if possible. Also the game has been going 24 hour turns more or less for the past 8 turns. It's a real shame to slow down now. It could kill it. Not likely, but a possibility.

[Covenant]

Delays hurt. Redoing a turn as we've done, what, twice? Is annoying enough, and I apologize for that, but an entire week is really going to hurt people's motivation especially with 13 players.

What I think makes the most sense is getting a replacement player for the time being. When Brian needed to hand off his turns for a while, I took over and did quite a competant job at keeping things going for him, and I'd say I did it honestly. If he gives his empire over to someone on the exact opposite side of the galaxy to himself, and tells that player what he wants to have done (like explore some systems and colonize greens and large reds), and sets some long queues, then three turns will go by without any bump.

It's not like these first turns are going to be brilliant strategy. Give him a week of combat amnesty so the other person can manage him, and we're all good.

So, I vote for a Temp. I'd do it, I don't mind. If he has an ally, they could do it without much trouble. It's not like there will be funny business this early--nobody has enemies on the other side of the galaxy yet. But pausing for an entire week sucks, and as is, we're doing the turns manually. A 72 hour turn timer just means all of us finish within a day and we wait 2 more days before we force his idle empire to waste a turn. That's way less useful and fair to anyone than a temp.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Good points all around. So Colonial Admiral should nominate a temp for the week he's out of town, and the game's pace will continue normally.

[ColonialAdmiral]

So anybody want to replace me?

PM me, and I'll give you my pass.

P.S. It's still friday where I am...

[Covenant]

So anybody want to replace me?

PM me, and I'll give you my pass.

P.S. It's still friday where I am...

You'll want to choose someone who is at least a fair distance from you, so they can't use any info against you.