While we can obviously post things here and send pm's on the board, it is not suited for all purposes. As such i propse everyone at least get on msn(we could use an irc room as an alternative if most people rather want that), so we can do some real time communication for when that is needed. If you don't have msn you can get it http://get.live.com/messenger here. Since this is a private forum posting your email here should be of little problem.

niklas broberg gmail com

You figure out where to put the dots and the at. ;)

RenataK2@live.com

I may remove that after a while, because this forum goes public eventually, right?

Marcus_Hensing@hotmail.com

matthewrw AT mac.com

Suppose you can email me at [thanks Domination for your thread on old posts as I looked this up! My current email for stuff I check like CFC is now lostheterodyne@yahoo.com] I'm not sure if we really need live chat but I'd hop on board if everyone else does.

Suppose you can email me at richertcr@gmail.com. I'm not sure if we really need live chat but I'd hop on board if everyone else does.

I feel we (Me, Niklas, Oyzar, Renata) have had some interesting discussions on live, but it isn't necessary ofc.

Indeed, it's not needed, but it's fun. All relevant discussions will take place on the boards, so no one should feel pressured to participate on IM. But for those of us who already use IM as our primary communication channel, it's a natural thing to share the info. :)

Indeed, it's not needed, but it's fun. All relevant discussions will take place on the boards, so no one should feel pressured to participate on IM. But for those of us who already use IM as our primary communication channel, it's a natural thing to share the info. :)

I don't feel the same way as you. This game will have times of short timewindows(why the heck is it 24 hours per team instead of 120 hours for all?), in such situations it is way better to be able to decide things in real time. As such it would be best if everyone were accessible for real time discussion(at least if they want some sort of impact on the decissions taken then).

For now it isn't really needed, however synchrnous or nearsynchronous communication flows much more freely than asynchronous communication over these boards. Hence it is much easier to understand each other.

I don't feel the same way as you. This game will have times of short timewindows(why the heck is it 24 hours per team instead of 120 hours for all?), in such situations it is way better to be able to decide things in real time. As such it would be best if everyone were accessible for real time discussion(at least if they want some sort of impact on the decissions taken then).

For now it isn't really needed, however synchrnous or nearsynchronous communication flows much more freely than asynchronous communication over these boards. Hence it is much easier to understand each other.

I am completely with Niklas at this point. I am not sure I like your intention here. It has some taste of: Everybody, who isn't able (or willing) to participate in some life chat, is inevitably reduced to be a lurker. I exaggerated a little bit here, but I want to express how this feels for me.

My point exactly. This is a forum based game, and as such the forum should be our primary medium of communication, with IM forming a fun and useful side channel.

My email is geronimo20@live.fr

It is my MSN id also. Basically I agree with using MSN when I can (travelling sometimes). But I'd rather that most of the outcomes of the discussions be shared in the forum.

My Emial is

f.walterfang@gmx.de

I've got a couple of questions about live chatting, also an idea to share. Generally, around what time is everybody available/planning on communicating (I realize this will change over time as we get into the game). Also, don't know how feasible this is as I don't have experience with it, but don't we have irc chatrooms here on CFC? (at the very least, I've heard of #fiftychat) Perhaps we could set up something that would then be accessible to everyone here, just a thought.

Seems like most of us are online in the evening euro time. Setting up an irc chatroom is an idea as i mentioned in the first post but it seemed like most people perfered msn...

Thanks for the feedback; I think evening euro time is generally doable for me, maybe not every day but it won't need to be either. For myself, I'll say I prefer irc chat over msn; msn does seem like it's more ubiquitous than AIM or other servers here, though. But by all means, I know not everyone can be around all at once so I'm not worried at all by people communicating at whatver times/means work for them.

My msn is Stephen.Ewens@yahoo.com. I tend to agree with Oyzar on this one. I don't think he is aiming to minimize anyone's role or cut them out of the loop. Rather I think he is recognizing that many of us with little experience at this can gain quickly from the much faster back and forth offered through the chat programs and that having newbs like myself up to speed in terms of general knowledge will allow the forum discussions to move much quicker and with fewer tangents for educational benefit. I would also point out that no one should object to any of us chatting amongst ourselves even if the topic is this game. I mean, just because the timing would be inconvenient for full participation means that we shouldn't spend our free time as we wish? My wife is participating, I tend to think that I can talk to her about the game and formulate strategy as much as I want and that no one should feel excluded. She and I may be the only participants, but I doubt it would even be possible for just the two of us to make a decision for the group. So, ultimately even if half the team does the chat thing and gets kinda on the same page on an issue, the decision still has to be made here in the forums right?

My email and MSN is hoplosternum@hotmail.com

I am happy with forum based, eMail and MSN based communication. I don't mind signing up for other sorts of Instant Messenger if thats everyones preference. I am also on skype, but rarely sign in unless I have arranged to. I am not sure what an irc chatroom is though or where to get these other things so I would need some instructions....

I have even played a game where the team communicated via Google word processor & google spreadsheets. Quite good for long term planning. Although that was a team game of War in the Pacific rather than Civ and a lot of stats and move information was required for each turn.

rrraskolnikov@hotmail.fr
ferronjb@gmail.com

or pm...

kendi64x@yahoo.com or PM. I don't have any instant messenger programs that work at work because they don't allow them. Evenings are my only option to get involved with a chat room / program if they come up

MSN is: maddog . munro at live dot com

Hey all, I did set up an msn account, same as my email, I'll find you on there.

If there are major discussions on IM, could someone post an edited/summarized log of the chat so those of us who can't be on can see whats going on?

Certainly, if anything major comes out of a discussion then it will (and have) end up on the board. Much of what's been posted in the Starting Location thread went a loop thorough an IM discussion before (or in some cases after) being posted, for instance.

If there are major discussions on IM, could someone post an edited/summarized log of the chat so those of us who can't be on can see whats going on?

We are mostly posting summaries of all major decisions on the boards anyways... It is not like things are actually progressing that rapidly (yet) anyways...

How come you can't get msn though? It is free to download http://get.live.com/messenger/overview here or you can just use webmessenger without downloading anything http://webmessenger.msn.com/ , though that doesn't support group chat.

I have it, I'm just not able to be on the computer much when the chats are going on.

dust_em AT hotmail DOT com

One of these days I'll actually be awake during MSN chats. I've been around in theory for a bunch already. Sort of.

Ooh, we got Methos too? This is really getting promising!

@Methos: Welcome, please take a peek in the "Your first stop in Team 4!" thread aswell. Glad to have you here.

7777 AT talk21.com

Would anyone be interested in using Skype instead of msn. I just feel chatting on msn is often annoying. My Skype name is fokko.van.de.bult and I could be online mostly 6-10pm Pacific Time, i.e 2-6am GMT.

We are 15 people on msn so getting one to switch to msn instead of 15 to switch to skype would be easier don't you think?

Dear Oyzar, as I said Skype is better for me (I find typing is a lousy way of communicating; that is really much less good than real talking, moreover I have skype installed and setup anyway). I would not really mind installing msn, except that I read that people are online at times when I'm not, so unless we get a US crowd doing conversations as well I don't really see the point. And then, even if people in the US talk up, we don't have to use the same program used for the discussions in Europe, do we?

Not that I want to not talk to you or something, but I just don't see it happening (unless you have nightshifts that is).
So you may say there are 15 people on MSN, but I'm counting just 3 in the USA (and none other close in timezone to the US), and they are the ones talking about what to do when they can't participate in the talks.
Off course anyone can use any program they want, and I just figured in the thread "contact information" I could post information with which one can contact me ;-).

They do stay up late, sometimes 5-6 PM my time, sometimes longer (getting oyzar specific here). You could always catch them on the weekends, if you got nothing better to do in the early afternoon.

msn: unconquered sun

Voice chat is more efficient for direct communication yes, but text chat is much more efficient for casual communication, for several reasons. It allows people to leave the computer for shorter or longer periods, and come back and read up what has been said. It also makes parallel communication with and between many people a lot easier, 15 people in a voice chat would be outright chaotic. I've used skype for gaming sessions with up to 6 people without a problem, but when you start going above that it gets messy. You can also log the chats and read back on prominent parts of the discussion, which makes it easier to relate back to the board. Plus, the virtues of text chat aside, voice chat isn't work safe, nor family safe, since you're to some extent cutting yourself off from your surroundings. Voice chat is great when it's great, for instance I use Skype a lot for work to communicate with my supervisor in particular. But it's certainly not better than text in all cases.

Also like slaze says, a lot of us Europeans are night owls anyway. I seldom go to bed before 2 AM, which would be 5 PM in California.

For the record I have 6 different IM clients installed on this machine, so if anyone feels like using something else then I probably have it :p. Though MSN is my definite favorite.

Also like slaze says, a lot of us Europeans are night owls anyway. I seldom go to bed before 2 AM, which would be 5 PM in California.

Yeah, we seem to not sleep a lot in general... but anyway, I will also add that written format is easier for some people not totally fluent in english :mischief:
Still, i hope we can see each other on msn soon ;)

I prefer msn. I have a Skype though, mostly because I had to use it for guesting Polycast. I have no mike for it, so I am limited to texting over Skype aswell...

I prefer msn. I have a Skype though, mostly because I had to use it for guesting Polycast.

Same with me. I have Skype for Polycast, but that's about it. I don't even have it running anymore, just turn it on when I'm a guest co-host. Granted, since I turned it off, I haven't been getting the last minute (want to co-host) questions. :lol:

Well I caved it and installed MSN. Now you all have a moral obligation to be online at 6pm my time (i.e. 3am CET) ;-). Because, unless I don't have any plans in the weekend, I can't be online earlier.

The address is Celebithil@hotmail.com. I don't use this for email, so pm me instead.

I won't much on MSN since my laptop (where I usually am on most of the time) has caught a really grim virus (faking a svchost process that needs constant monitoring when the pc is running to avoid overheating the machine and shutting it down).