Looking for players who would be willing to play on the map I created. I realize that knowing the map takes some of the fun away of playing Civ, but I think (hope?) that the map makes up for it.
Even though I'd love to have 7 turn/week, I guess 3-4 is more realistic. But still, on turn a day would be nice.

Feel free to ask questions/ make suggestions, I'm sure there is something I forgot to mention.

Map with fair starts (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65113)

I'll give it a shot.

I think that 6 players is probably max to even hit 3-4 turns/week, and turn order is very important. I'm in MST, and can play a turn at 8-9am if I have it, and a play slot 2000-2400.

Hi markstar, I like the sound of this, but i think 6 should be the max as well. Maybe that is even to many. You can count me in.

I can play at least everyweek day 7:30am-4:30pm GMT. I'm not so reliable on weekends.

I will PM you my email

Alright, if you guys think so we can drop the number to 6 players, even though I do think that the map would be perfect for 8 players.
Now we have to think about what to do with the 2 redundant spots. I would suggest to fill them with AI. This means that players next to the AI should have an advantage, any suggestions how to make that up, maybe?

Do you really think there will be that much of a difference from 6 to 8 players when everybody is paying attention?

Well i have tried to start an 8 player game myself, we have played 35 turns since the start of June, we did get 3-4 turns in a week at the start but as people meet each other they need to negotiate deals and stuff and are reluctant to send the save on until they have sorted out there deals. We are lucky now if we get 1 turn a week.

I joined another 8 player game at the end of july and we have played 5 turns in that time

Look at the DDPP game as an example, it is 6 players all in the same time zone, Maybe that is the reason it is still going, but still they only manage 3-4 turns a week at best it seems. I think with 8 people playing scattered over the world, we have very little chance of getting anywhere.

My guess is that Communication between players is the success of a PBEM. All the DDPP players use MSN to communicate as far as i'm aware, so it is easy to get in contact with players and keep the game moving. Posting here and sending emails is fine, but the whole delay between replys leads people to loose interest real fast.

You can try for 8 people if you like, the more people the more fun, but to keep the game going will take a big effort on everybodys part.

digger760

I was thinking of the Instant messenger idea myself. I actually use ICQ, but since there are programs out there which can "do all", I think that shouldn't be such a problem nowadays.

Maybe if we can all get some kind of IM (ICQ can be run without any programs, afaik, so maybe that could be a solution for ppl who don't want to install something like that), we could all meet at some time during the day and then even play a couple of turns in a matter of minutes (like on weekends).

i am generally not availible on weekends :( usually i just download email,play and send on. Weekdays are OK i use ICQ, MSN or AIM

I believe Stagnate lives on the West Coast US or Canada or somewhere in the Rockys??? So that rules out power sessions.

Mmh, that's not good. I have the most time on weekends and I'd say that's where you could gain a lot of turns. Basically there are two kinds of players - those who play at work and those who play in their free time.

So maybe we should do two games then, but I'm positive that weekends make a huge difference... :(

well you dont have to include me if you dont want to..I have about 10PBEM's on the go at the moment. I should really wait for conquests to come out before taking on another game anyway:mutant:

digger760

That's true, Conquest is about to come out.
I'd really like to include you! Maybe when there are more people we can discuss what we can do about that.

Maybe just open two games or something.

Anyone still open to play. If not, how about a new PBEM game?

I only have 1 PBEM going right now. I would be interested.

So, we are up to 5 ppl now - great! :) Maybe we can even get it up to 6, that'd make 3 one each continent.

I just pm'ed stagnate if he is still in. How about we wait a little more (until Wednesday or so) and then get the show started.

Also, to get started I need the desired nickname, tribe and the timezone everybody is in (it'd be also nice to know when you think you can play (eg I can usually play between 8-10am and 3-11pm GMT, and ESPECIALLY on weekends)).
If you use an instant messenger like ICQ, MSN, etc, you can pm your contact to me and we can discuss everything in "real time". ;)
Even if we do play by email, an IM can greatly speed up things (like discussing trades/treaties or finding out where the savegame is stuck THIS time...:rolleyes: ).

I join if it's still open.
I can play 4pm-7pm in weekdays and anytime at weekend (10am-8pm) I'm in GMT+2. I'd like to play as Ottomans. Ville as name.
ville.pohjalainen@imnetti.fi

Wow, almost nobody seemed to be interested the past couple of weeks and now 3 players on one day - awesome!

Anyways, since this is going to be a 6p+ game, how about enforcing some kind of rule like giving a certain amount of warnings do players who don't play their turn without informing the rest (like when a turn is stuck with a player for a week and the player won't respond at all)?

Furthermore, does anybody know who would be so kind to be a backup player???

EDIT: That rule is fine for me

I'm in GMT-5 (Boston), I can play at night between 7-10PM
and more on weekends. I'd like Rome and that rule is fine.
libertytree76@yahoo.com

I'd like to join. GMT +2 and I can play from 7:00 to 18:00. That's 11 hours per day. Not in weekends.

Potluck civ for me. (random)
lkuningas@yahoo.co.uk

So I put the info you guys gave me so far in a little excel-sheet. :scan:

Right now I'd say we have a pretty tight schedule, but maybe we get 2 ppl more and then we can set up 2 groups, one normal for PBEM and another that also plays on weekends (maybe even realtime???).

Here we go, give me some more feedback on what you think about organizing this. ;)

Edit: Shaun from alt.games.civ3 told me via email that he'd be interested as well, so here is the updated timetable...
Edit2: Michael (also from the ng) is also in...
Edit3: Jim also joined - that's it, 11 ppl is enough.
Edit4: James in as well, but that's really it now. :) Groups are set now as well...

I have no idea how I should read that timetable;)
Could someone help, this is my 1st PBEM

Oh, that's my fault, I guess. I was just trying to "visualize" the times everybody can play, so it is easier to figure out the play order and maybe even decide how to split the groups.

For example, I usually have to go to university at 10am my time, but since I'm GMT+1, I coloured my column from 7am-9am GMT (since I get up at 8am my time). Black means ppl can play, grey that they might have some time on weekends.

Again, it would be sooo nice if everybody could write me a personal message or something with their instant messenger-contact (if they have one), I started using Trillian, so all IMs should work.

Yet another thing, we are 9 players now, so we definitly have to split the group (yes, it's kind of getting messy). Here is my idea:
- Two groups, one with players who can play on weekends, and one that doesn't.
- The "weekend group members" so far would be jtcat, ville, Shaun and Markstar. I think Michael as well, if not, he can just join the other group. There is still room for another player, I'd say, but again, that's open for discussion.
- The second group so far is Stagnate, Kuningas, Digger760 and Markstar. 4 is a good number for that map, I think, also the the timezone of those 4 is pretty much the same. If somebody else really wants to join that group as well, I guess we could talk about that, but we should keep it at an even number.

Now, PLEASE: Everybody post, mail or IM if he is o.k. with these groups or if he/she has any corrections, suggestions or something else to contribute asap (like should we postpone until C3C is out).
If we decide to have two parallel games going, I'll open up a new thread in the "Multiplayer Game Registry" for each group.

I think that's it. Since I'm not the most experience PBEMer, I'm sure there's stuff I neglected to consider, so please forgive me! :hammer:

I'm fine with those groups. Are we going to have AIs? And if, then which level?

Heres My Info

Leader: Dredd
Tribe: Vikings
ICQ#286247
Email: cputech@wi.rr.com
GMT: -6
Play Times: Anytime but 5p-3a
Weekends: Yes

I have a friend who wants to play also, is it too late? We're both GMT-5, 7-10PM weekdays, around 3-4 hours on weekends.
libertytree76@yahoo.com

If it's not too late, give James the Romans jmt576@hotmail.com

Switch me to Japan Mike libertytree76@yahoo.com

I'm not near your timezone, Markster/Kuni/et al - I'm 0600 now that the time changed here in the states (everying is +1 to GMT offset). Note that in your graph you got Kuni's time off, it is 1400-1700 (numbers are wrong above, but graph slot is correct).

I'm not interested in any weekend power sessions as such, I'm looking for players that can commit to play a turn in a 2-3 hour timeslot everyday, which should give us 1 day turnarounds.

I show 10 players right now, I expect some to drop, but the time spread is enough to hopefully keep things going at a reasonable pace. The most important thing is to make sure everyone plays their turn in a timely manner.

10 won't fit on your map, but I'd like to start this on Random Huge map (maybe with AI) and see how it goes, if everyone is interested.

I ran through all the times, and came up with the following list. All times shown are GMT. Time is based on your surroundings, so some people got squeezed a bit (jt and Mike A, for example).

Mike T: 0100 - 0400
Stag: 0400 - 0700
Mark: 0700 - 0900
Kuni: 0900 - 1200
Digg: 1200 - 1400
Ville: 1400 - 1600
Shaun: 1600 - 1900
Dredd: 1900 - 2100
JTcat: 2100 - 2300
Mike A: 2300 - 0100

If you can't play a game in that timeslot on a regular basis you will slow everything down immensly, so please speak up if that doesn't work.

What do you guys think?

So, it's done...

The weekend group now consists of 8 players (!), the weekday only group of 4.

I updated the timetable (as I have already done so many times during the last days) on page one, so take a good look at it!
If you don't want to be in an 8 player group, say it now and we can talk about the options. For one thing we can open up another PBEM as ville suggested (I'm in, btw, but you're going to have only 8 players here as well, since that is the maximum number of people that can play at a time!!!), or maybe even a 3rd group with this map.

Apparently there is no AI on the 8p game, on the other game I'd say it's either AI with Emperor or higher difficulty or none at all...

I'll open up new threads soon, so speak up if there is anything that bothers you!

Er ok.... if i understand this correctly, there are now 2 PBEM's using the same map. One with 8 players who are going to playing on the weekend and the second group of 4 to play weekdays at 1 turn per day.

I am in the 4 player group...ok that is fine with me. I can play Monarch or Emperor level. Random Civ is ok.

But if the other's dont want to do 4 players, then i am not bothered, i am probably in to many PBEM's at the moment anyway.

@Stagnate- you seem to be suggesting a 10 player game, put PBEM only allows for a max of 8 players.

Originally posted by Markstar
For one thing we can open up another PBEM as ville suggested
what? when? where? :confused:

Markstar.

During my play time I could play more than one turn per day. In work I can regularly check my mails.

Monarch or emperor level. Normal rules. (all victories possible, no cultural linked starting locations, no accelerated production...)

Ups, sorry ville! It was, of course, Stagnate who implied the thing about the 10-player-game (which is, again, impossible)!

@ Kuningas: I'm not sure about not having accelerated production. Even though I also prefer to play without it, it does speed things up and a PBEM games takes long enough even with it activated.

Originally posted by Markstar
@ Kuningas: I'm not sure about not having accelerated production. Even though I also prefer to play without it, it does speed things up and a PBEM games takes long enough even with it activated.

Ok. It can be switched on. I haven't played with it thus I don't know how much difference it occurs.

I would vote for Acel Prod to be off.

I sent out two emails (one for each group) with everybody's email-addresses. Also a little table so everybody can recheck their playing times (to make sure we really have the optimal play-order). Let's see how long it takes until I get that mail... :)

Argh, I just noticed that we have 9 players in the weekend-group!! Did nobody else see that??? :eek:

That means we have to drop one player, and I'm afraid that since James came in last and he's kinda new, it's going to be him unless we have a volunteer. Sorry!!! :wallbash:

BTW, any other opinions on the accelerated production?

Any chance of throwing James on the weekdayers?

Michael T. has offered to step down, but actually my error was somewhere different than I thought (I didn't count me for both groups, so things got messy).
So yes, James can play as planned!

Edit: I know the timetable in the email is a little crappy and you probably think something like "What the heck is that supposed to be?" I didn't know if everybody had excel, so that's why I did it like that. If you want to, I could send out an excel sheet so you can correct the times... :crazyeye:

To clarify this:
I sent the email(s) to ville (the 8 player game) and to Stagnate (4 player game) and they are supposed to forward it to the next player (and so on)... kind of a test run. ;)

Looks like it's working great so far since everybody is writing me to tell me that they didn't get an email so far... :nuke:

Forwarded;)

Ok, I got confused and thought the smaller group was planning weekend power sessions.

IF we do 4 players on that map I think we should all get on a single Island, and possibly 4 AI on the other island. The possibility of one player isolated with 3 AI and 3 players duking it out against 1 AI would be pretty lopsided.

I know that 10 players wouldn't work on this map, I said so in my message. I was just expressing an option, start with 10 and end up with 6 (given the normal dropouts I have seen).

I'll send an email out this evening about the 4 player game and how to proceed with it.

Actually jtcat told me that his friend dropped out, so that leaves 7 players in the weekend group - argh!!!

...maybe I should just email everybody and then see who answers. Those who do will play.

But I'll wait until Friday or Saturday, maybe the emails will make it through after all (which they should, how else would we play?).

I'm also wondering why not even the 4p game got through...

About the 4 players on one island - I was thinking about making it 2and2, since the starting positions are fixed anyways...

The 4 player email didn't get through because I replied to you with questions (I thought you had me in the wrong group).

I don't have the original, so if you can resend it that would be great.

Are we going to start this?

Well, the email directed at the 8 players apparently didn't get through, so I wrote everybody directly.

Would be interesting to know where the mail got stuck...I guess we're going to have to watch this one closely! :(

All games started, I hope everybody will enjoy themselves.

Good luck (actually, not too much :D )!!!

I totally forgot this was fair starts, when I loaded, I was like OMG this start rocks :lol: