Banned Exploits - Discussion

glory, I have absolutely no intention to start another round. It's your problem that out of the whole issue you only take 1 line to base your case on. There is a huge variety of games outside deity/standard/standard/fast finish setup. Keep ignoring everything else. And if you want to dispute that:

A) Money is given to AI and supposed to make it more competitive essentially given to a player instead which makes him or her more competitive (especially on immortal/deity);
B) Playing with free cash is easier than playing without it (especially on immortal/deity);

go ahead. But you'll have to find other opponent.

As for Ribannah, I'd suggest to look for her posts. I don't remember where exactly, but she put it very well.
 
glory, I have absolutely no intention to start another round. It's your problem that out of the whole issue you only take 1 line to base your case on. There is a huge variety of games outside deity/standard/standard/fast finish setup. Keep ignoring everything else. And if you want to dispute that:

A) Money is given to AI and supposed to make it more competitive essentially given to a player instead which makes him or her more competitive (especially on immortal/deity);
B) Playing with free cash is easier than playing without it (especially on immortal/deity);

go ahead. But you'll have to find other opponent.

As for Ribannah, I'd suggest to look for her posts. I don't remember where exactly, but she put it very well.

It is your problem that you try to include other irrelevant topics to a discussion where there is one clear starting issue. Remember that I did not start this thread here - you brought this up by saying "prime example". And for the original thread, it was another player who refuted me with only one point.

Regarding A and B stuff, how many times do I need to write about this? have I ever said that either A or B is wrong? I emphasized that it is not free cash at deity as you screw your game afterwards.

I do agree that B are true if there is no or negligible consequence afterwards. For example, if you use some kind of cheat code to increase your gold by certain amount, keep other things constant.

Indeed, for emperor and below, I think B is true even with tommynt style, as I stated at the very beginning.

But at deity level, it comes with the heavy price - there is a much more important factor C, and it kicks in immediately, if you try to achieve A and B via so-called tommynt style. And effect from the factor C is a lot more critical than effects from "free cash" at the beginning.

C: For small lump sum gold at the beginning, if you do "Deal and DoW" multiple times at deity, you screw up your diplomacy forever and you cannot continue to get gold from AIs since they won't give you good peace deal (or not even white peace), unlike in emperor or below. Moreover, as AIs will believe you as a warmonger they pay only small amount for your lux/resources.

You cannot get gold from peace deals, you cannot make money by selling stuff, and you have to make lots of units (and lose some in many cases) to defend multiple AIs. And "free cash" you got at the beginning is like 1000 gold at most. Is it worth it?

And if you don't understand how C works or why C happens, or unless you cannot provide concrete examples to prove that the C effect does not exist or negligible (not mere hypothetical guess, please), I have to assume that you are not a deity player (as other player that I quoted already mentioned) and I would not waste my time discussing deity strategies with you. If you still blindly ignore this critical issue C and keep talking about "getting free cash is good, isn't it?" then it's not constructive for both of us.

No offense, as you said there are many types of games and it's a player's right to enjoy any type/any setting, and like you said, "I couldn't care less" about what you do in your game, unless you present a great strategy that others (including myself) might learn and improve. But it is not proper to present an argument about deity level if you don't know how deity level game works.

I already quoted another player's statement regarding this issue, but let me do it again, as it seems that you haven't seen it before.

First of all the whole story of early war declarations, then reselling, then accepting favourable peace does not work at deity, Mesix. Your opinion on this matter only tells us you don't play deity. This goes to Peets too. Obviously, the difference between duel deity and standard deity (not to mention large deity) is more like difference between emperor standard size maps and deity standard size maps.

Any amount of cash you'll be able to squeeze out of deity AI in so called exploitative manner at early stages will be a drop in the ocean and will spoil your relationships forever. That means you'll need 4 times the military to fight AI hordes and you will never get good prices on your trades if you go down this road. Oh, yeah, no one will be begging you for peace with your little 8 CBs. You'll have to fight AI's allied CS too. So, where is the AI advantage being jeopardised?

If, on the other hand you play nice at opening stages of the game you'll gain access to lots of cash through trades, powerful RAs, etc, meaning: you will probably win faster without what you call 'exploits' on deity.

Indeed at later stages of the game you can take Genghis's 5k and DoW him, take his capital city and settle for another 5k within HoF rules. Which is not considered an exploit, btw, but instantly wins you a deity game.

For Ribannah, I haven't seen any of her submitted games and haven't found any of her posts yet. I assumed that you would remember her arguments/counter-arguments by others, or at least where they are, if you use strong words like "big-mouthed" to other players without any answer to the question itself.
 
Ok, I'll try one last time.
This thread, that thread and all other threads are not about deity/standard/standard/fastest finish. They are about all games, 99% of which don't match this setup. However, you've chosen to focus on single statement, attacking it's literal interpretation and the person who made the statement while ignoring its real meaning. At first you narrowed the discussion to the only thing you could pick on and now you're saying I'm trying to include irrelevant topics. You see, I didn't bring this up to revive the argument about whether your approach works on deity but as an example to a certain attitude many players siding with that approach happen to share. The way you expect (or should I say demand) us to defend our right to have an opinion on the matter, is another example. The way some of you are looking down and criticizing those who refuse to use your approach is one more, which Ribannah was referring to.

And just because I know you won't drop the subject - I do play on deity and I win without using most of the exploits. So hopefully I'm qualified enough, by your definition, to express my PoV. You don't have to deal and DoW repeatedly vs. multiple opponents to abuse them. It's enough to do it only coupe of times or even once or against the same AI. You still get free cash you don't deserve, AI loses the cash it does deserve and as a result your life is easier than it is supposed to be.
 
Ok, I'll try one last time.
This thread, that thread and all other threads are not about deity/standard/standard/fastest finish. They are about all games, 99% of which don't match this setup. However, you've chosen to focus on single statement, attacking it's literal interpretation and the person who made the statement while ignoring its real meaning. At first you narrowed the discussion to the only thing you could pick on and now you're saying I'm trying to include irrelevant topics.

since you haven't provided any evidence/counter-argument regarding whether tommynt style works at deity or not, I assume you have nothing to prove your claim.

For the topic itself - did I say it is only about deity at first? I was merely responding to other player's counter-argument about deity. I think you are really good at distorting. Let me just quote where this started.

It does, especially at higher difficulty levels.
If I abuse I can easily win Deity. If not, I have a very hard time. I only managed to win one deity game so far with the HoF rules.

So this post clearly only discusses about deity level. And since this was a complete reply (I mean whole, not part of) to my post and this post was the one I did respond, so I limited the discussion to the deity level.

There were several more posts after this and he told me that he should have written "I could win deity", and for his point of view deity did mean duel/tiny maps. I took it as a valid excuse and we stopped the discussion.

You see, I didn't bring this up to revive the argument about whether your approach works on deity but as an example to a certain attitude many players siding with that approach happen to share. The way you expect (or should I say demand) us to defend our right to have an opinion on the matter, is another example. The way some of you are looking down and criticizing those who refuse to use your approach is one more, which Ribannah was referring to.

Did I look down on someone? did I criticize those you refuse to use my approach? I only asked for evidences/examples if you would like to make an counter-argument to mine. I have not used any offensive language and I provided concrete examples to support my argument.

On the other hand, you said "parrots" and "loyal followers" to players with different style, which was the very reason for my first reply in this thread. And when asked, you said there are "logical fallacies" in other players' claim - that I asked later for clarification, but you could not provide any.

Moreover, you said

It's just an example to why trying to find a common ground with 'new school' players is sometimes extremely frustrating.

I have no idea where this "new school" definition comes from or why it is needed, but one thing is certain: you label players with different opinion as "new school."

According to posts at this thread, I believe that you are the one who criticizes other players if they have different opinions and look down on them (again, parrots?)

Lastly, I really don't understand why you continuously try to include other players by saying something like "many players sliding with that approach" and "some of you". This is a discussion (or argument) between you and me, and I never say anything about other people as they are irrelevant for the discussion unless they join and make their claims. You try to put me into a certain group that you divide players into and make a vague statement about the "group", instead of making logical argumetns.

For the issue, It was you who specifically brought it up here again:

But the aggressive stance, on a verge of bullying, many of those players take each time the issue arises. Your recent argument with Peets in one of the threads is a prime example.

and you also said:

The only point is that this abuse reduces the difficulty significantly on any level. An indisputable fact which you completely ignore. Sorry, I distort nothing.

and I did state again the same thing: tommynt style (that you call "abuse") does not work at deity. I did not include other topics since they are irrelevant for this discussion. And you kept distorting the meanings and finally even twisted my arguments into your A and B terms, which I did not even talk about, and completely ignored C, perma-screwed up diplomacy and no favorable peace deals at deity if you "abuse".

And just because I know you won't drop the subject - I do play on deity and I win without using most of the exploits. So hopefully I'm qualified enough, by your definition, to express my PoV. You don't have to deal and DoW repeatedly vs. multiple opponents to abuse them. It's enough to do it only coupe of times or even once or against the same AI. You still get free cash you don't deserve, AI loses the cash it does deserve and as a result your life is easier than it is supposed to be.

First, this discussion was about so-called tommynt style that plays very aggresively at the beginning (Deal and DoW most AIs, no intention of "real" battle before peace treaties, and get favorable peace deals and continue if necessary). I assume that you knew the definition of the term we've talked about. We are talking about "exploits" (or "abuse") - we are not talking about going on a real war (as current HoF rules even permit this) and not about Deal and DoW (and make peace without real fight) once (which is allowed in the current HoF rules - I recently learned this from Maxym). Legal practices, Deal and DoW once or only when you are going on a real war is not an issue we were discussing in this thread. And I said it many times : I believe that using "exploits" (or tommynt-style) does not work at deity and play by HoF rules is a better approach, in my point of view, as costs of early DoWs outweigh benefit of small lump sum gold at the beginning.

While I understand that this type of discussion might not be proper for this thread, but keep in mind that it was you who started this. Furthermore, since HoF games include all difficulty levels, in particular deity level, I believe that whether certain "abuse", or "exploits" work at deity level or not is also an interest of this thread and deserves attention.

To other players who read this thread:
If players want me to stop this discussion, I will. I also feel that this is counter-productive at this point, unless the other participant brings logical explanation or examples.
 
Well, you're very good at calling everything you're not willing to discuss irrelevant and narrowing down the argument to a single point you feel you have a sufficient basis to pick on. So you're right, it's counter productive.
I didn't try to make it personal. When I said 'players' I meant plural, not you specifically. Although you showed what applies to you and what not by yourself.
 
well, you two could still (and should have a while back) take this to pm to continue the conversation. i often forget that pm exists when i should use it more.

but the topic seems to have played itself out as far as my interests in it goes. im unsubbing mostly because im not a HoF player so neither of you should take that as some personal slight, if that even matters or not.
 
Here is some evidence.

I checked your save file and it seems that you indeed provided a good evidence. I admit that I have not played marathon speed seriously since I could kill everyone with CB/Xbows easily when I tried before and it did not matter at all which strategy I was using (even only honor policy worked well...)

However, it is my fault that I did not clarify the speed (I implicitely assumed standard speed) and you clearly showed that you could win deity marathon with tommynt style. I appreciate your effort and time.

After seeing this, I am more curious about whether someone can pull this off at the standard speed, as it is a general understanding that marathon speed is easier than epic speed and epic speed is easier than standard. Moreover, standard speed is most common (if not all) for gotm or DC, which shows that the standard speed is usually used among most players, so it would be really nice if someone can prove (and suggest how to do it) at deity level with standard speed.
 
Well, you're very good at calling everything you're not willing to discuss irrelevant and narrowing down the argument to a single point you feel you have a sufficient basis to pick on. So you're right, it's counter productive.
I didn't try to make it personal. When I said 'players' I meant plural, not you specifically. Although you showed what applies to you and what not by yourself.

You are very good at 1. making vague statements without any reasons, 2. looking down on other players only because they have different opinions (parrots, big-mouthed, etc), 3. trying to include irrelevant issues to a discussion that has a clear starting point.

I believe that none of them is desirable for a constructive discussion and hence I will ignore your post from now on, unless you come back with logical statements with evidence.
 
well, you two could still (and should have a while back) take this to pm to continue the conversation. i often forget that pm exists when i should use it more.
Not really. In all honesty I didn't try to make the discussion personal. A bit naive of me, but I learned my lesson.

I believe that none of them is desirable for a constructive discussion and hence I will ignore your post from now on, unless you come back with logical statements with evidence.
I respect every opinion as long as it is expressed in a civil manner. It's a certain attitude I don't respect. So please, feel free to ignore all my posts.
 
I'm curious. If abuse of the lump sum sold mechanic to steal from the AI has little or no impact on the outcome of the game (as seems to be stated by those who wish the rule changed), then why should it matter if it continues to be labeled as an exploit in HOF rules? Why are a few people petitioning so hard to change the rule of what is considered an exploit?
 
Not really. In all honesty I didn't try to make the discussion personal. A bit naive of me, but I learned my lesson.


I respect every opinion as long as it is expressed in a civil manner. It's a certain attitude I don't respect. So please, feel free to ignore all my posts.

I'm not sure how you make yourself believe you are acting respectful. Because frankly, at least in this thread, you are not. It's the subtle smileys that show arrogance, not the bolded words.
 
I'm curious. If abuse of the lump sum sold mechanic to steal from the AI has little or no impact on the outcome of the game (as seems to be stated by those who wish the rule changed), then why should it matter if it continues to be labeled as an exploit in HOF rules? Why are a few people petitioning so hard to change the rule of what is considered an exploit?

It is considered (by HOF staff) both exploit and not exploit, which seems a little strange from certain perspective.

Systematically making and breaking agreements

Which means that if you don't over - exploit that "exploit" (sorry), then it's not an exploit. :) Hence the problem of clarity.
 
I'm curious. If abuse of the lump sum sold mechanic to steal from the AI has little or no impact on the outcome of the game (as seems to be stated by those who wish the rule changed), then why should it matter if it continues to be labeled as an exploit in HOF rules? Why are a few people petitioning so hard to change the rule of what is considered an exploit?

The Civ V developers are obviously aware of this so-called "exploit" and did not patch it, so why should the HoF consider it so exploitative that it needs to be banned?

As I have mentioned before, ban only those "exploits" that essentially give the player a win (with no effort on his part). Do not ban "exploits" that merely give the player an incremental adavantage over the AI, like the get lump-sum Wealth and DoW tactic provides.

The deciding factor on when to ban an "exploit" is whether or not a machine check can detect a violation of the rule 100% of the time. This is motivated by making game checking by HoF staff as easy as possible as well as leveling the playing field for all players and making the rules as simple as possible. It is critical to satisfy all three of these "requirements". Rules that ensure less than three of these three "requirements" are genuinely inferior.

Sun Tzu Wu
 
After seeing this, I am more curious about whether someone can pull this off at the standard speed, as it is a general understanding that marathon speed is easier than epic speed and epic speed is easier than standard. Moreover, standard speed is most common (if not all) for gotm or DC, which shows that the standard speed is usually used among most players, so it would be really nice if someone can prove (and suggest how to do it) at deity level with standard speed.

Sure, can be done. I don't think there will be huge finish turn time variance between two approaches, by the way. Finish time will depend largely on terrain, sea level, political situation, runaways and such. Your own method is secondary. Regarding stand./stand. Deity, i always tend to be very cautious before accumulating critical mass, like, 8 Xbows, few artilleries later, etc. After that i expand heavily, which means lots of freebies (yes! the ones i don't deserve, but AI does). Which is fine, as it is all along the HOF rules. Sometimes i kill couple of neighbours early, while robbing them of their cash. But that doesn't mean i'll finish faster, it just means i'm more secure in the short run. Why? Because i can't afford to reinvest my loot in science directly, i have to buy army with that money. That slows down scientific snowballing in the short run, but accelerates it in later stages, so, in my own experience, both methods (kill/rob early vs. kill/rob late) will result in almost identical finish times.

If i was to play completely redneck style, like you talk about, i don't know.. If there is enough domestic happiness, free CS alliances and all that, i can probably match the speed of HOF play with this redneck play, if not, and this is more likely, i'll be stuck with negative happiness in critical time periods (like turn 100) and multiple war fronts for god knows how many turns. Eventually, by, say, turn 285, i'll dig my way out of the maze and win.

By the way, after reading some of Ribannah's game reports in the past i still am unsure as to which method is superior in terms of finish time. (yes, even on emperor) They both (R & tommy) finished on par usually with 2-3 turn difference. Sure, one can say that a new player can fall into temptation to play aggressively, but some GOTM games suggest that HOF play may be superior in terms of quality, so some players may be fooling themselves that aggressive style is always king. For this reason i think branding 'new school' guys as cheaters/exploiters would be premature, as the game balances out the difference between them.
 
I'm not sure how you make yourself believe you are acting respectful. Because frankly, at least in this thread, you are not. It's the subtle smileys that show arrogance, not the bolded words.
You really don't need to work extra hours looking for a subtle meaning behind smileys. Bolded words would be enough for most people. :)
 
As I have mentioned before, ban only those "exploits" that essentially give the player a win (with no effort on his part). Do not ban "exploits" that merely give the player an incremental adavantage over the AI, like the get lump-sum Wealth and DoW tactic provides.
That's a very very vague classification. There are plenty of players who won't win with reloads on difficulty levels above their skill. Should these be allowed too because they don't give the player a win?
We can't settle on what should be called an advantage. How will we ever be able to quantify it?

The deciding factor on when to ban an "exploit" is whether or not a machine check can detect a violation of the rule 100% of the time. This is motivated by making game checking by HoF staff as easy as possible as well as leveling the playing field for all players and making the rules as simple as possible. It is critical to satisfy all three of these "requirements". Rules that ensure less than three of these three "requirements" are genuinely inferior.
No rules at all and no lump sums at all both qualify. Anything else - less so. Just sayin'...
 
My philosphy regarding exploits is allow all of them except those that would literally give the player the win. I don't believe that is as vague as some players might suggest. I know many players that will go through great pains to voluntarily avoid exploits they believe the developers did not intend us to use and use exploits that they believe the developers intended us to use. In my opinion, intent is extremely hard to prove. I prefer to play the game as implemented with the minor exception of game breaking exploits that litetally give the player the win (provides such an advantage that a player at Deity level could not possibly lose the game unless he tries to lose it).

The game allows lump-sum Wealth deals by design and implementation. I don't believe that banning lump-sum Wealth deals is in the spirit of the developer's intention with respect to this game mechanic. Their intention regarding lump-sum Wealth deals is quite clear; they went to the trouble of implementing them, so it is clear that they intented players to use. This is one of the few cases where intent is clear due to a clear implemention. Not agreeing with this intent is something else entirely.

Except for the few game breaking exploits, the game should be played as implemented. Adding unecessary rules is really redefining the game to be something it isn't. CFC is an organization of Civ game enthusists; we are not game designers and implementers; let the professionals in that field do that. Us players have better things to do than design game rules that most of us can't even understand.

Sun Tzu Wu
 
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