denyd: I also like the idea of a GOTQ! I submitted an idea for GOTQ back in Mar of 2002 in
this thread , but the response was ... less than enthusiastic. Perhaps now is a better time to suggest the idea. More on this later.
One issue is that of the player who barely has time to finish the month's game. I reviewed the submission list site for GOTM for the last few months, and it appears that as much as 20% of the submittals happen on the last day of the month. And another 10%, or so, are submitted on the 2nd to last day of the month. I have to believe that just as many players either do not submit or do not participate because of the month end limitation. And (being a player who routinely submits on the last day) the quality of that late submitted game degrades rapidly as the deadline approaches because the player is trying everything just to finish. It would be greatly appreciated to get some relief in this area. Several suggestions to extend the submission deadline have been made, any of which would be great IMO, and I'd suggest a GOTQ would provide another avenue for these late submitting players to participate in a less stressed manner, and it would provide an additional game opportunity for the quick player who submits in the first week of the month.
Another issue is that of mods. I've enjoyed them greatly, and I feel that my game experience has been more rich because of them. I understand the issue of the new player being turned off, and of other players having to 'relearn' basic out-of-the-box civ3 to play other games. I wanted to point out that part of the reason all these mods were introduced was to goad players (especially NEW players) into learning to use the Civilapedia, which is a great learning tool that many players overlook and fail to use. This was in line with the desire to make GOTM an educational experience for new players as well as a competition for all. I think GOTM should be a unique gaming experience, and the mods are an integral part of this. After all, anyone can play out-of-the-box, and any group of players can share an unmodded game and compare results; GOTM should be a step or two beyond that. If this is a significant issue, the GOTQ (if adopted) could be the highly prepared for, moderately modded game, the GOTM could be a slightly modded (including map) game and the MedalSeries only games could be the unmodded, random map game. Players would have their choice of which to participate in.
So ... back to GOTQ. This could be a way to prepare a highly modded, seasonal game, allow for Larger Maps with more Rivals, and provide an avenue for time-crunched players to participate more fully (including current-moderators ex-GOTMer's
).
MedalPlay vs GOTM? I liked the defined victory condition. The fact that a large number of players submitted games of the same victory type allowed for a large base of comparison, and it lead some players to pursue victory types they had never done before. (Part of the 'educational' side of GOTM.) I also understand the turnoff. Perhaps the victories can be grouped into 3 types: the Conquest/Domination type (focusing on combat), the Spaceship/Diplomacy type (focusing on research), and the Cultural 20K/100k. Rather than say a player has to submit a certain victory type for each game (3 best count), say that the player has to submit at least 1 game from each Victory type, and the best submittal from each Victory type counts towards a final score. This would give full freedom to each player to play for the victory they feel will give the best score in a given game, and still support a wide range of victory types being submitted. And this would still allow the GOTM's to do double-duty as MedalSeries games without requiring a specific victory condition for each month's game.
Scoring: Jason is a vast improvement, but it still greatly rewards players who play a certain way, especially as the game year get's later. I also believe that gaining the Pyramids (for many games) is crucial to scoring high; if so, than this also forces players who play for score to do things a certain way, and introduces the placement of the Pyramids as a critical element of the final game score. I know that a player who launches a spaceship and controls 66.5% of the landmass and 99.99% of the population has done more and maybe deserves to be called a 'better' player than one who simply launches their spaceship; I'm just concerned about being forced to consider playing that way if I want to play for a high score.
QSC: a crucial element of the educational value of GOTM, and a great way to increase the competition. I hope it can be retained.
There's a bit more, but this is already a long post. I apoligize in advance for rambling.
May be the Game of the Year too?
