Cookbook University games discussion thread

Agree with 1 and 2.

As for 3, i had intended to wait until after the DC but no problem to start the discussion now. After having played 2 rounds until 1000 AD from my own save i really like to play on from this save. I have invested quite some time in it and while i of course follow the rules for this particular game (but may shadow my own save) i'm not fully happy about it.

ABigCivFan suggested this already before the DC started in the IMC. I was afraid that it might turn the whole thing too much into an open format kind of thing but as there'll be discussion about and voting for the best save anyway i think it's not too much of a problem. Together with your suggestion 3 this means a good coding system has to be followed. This is a controversial point so it would be nice if we get reactions from other participants in the DC

Alternatively if there's too much opposition to this i think the original cookbook rules should be followed, i find switching save now at 1000 AD a lot harder than i would have found it 1 AD. I realize now that long term plans can't be catched in 100, 200 or even more turns. For instance the direction Snaaty and i went is totally different than the direction ABigCivFan went, doesn't matter at which point you measure.

In other words while many others were enthousiastic about my idea to be allowed to play from your own save once i now think myself that it was a bad idea indeed.

Another point that should be raised is deadlines. It just often occurs that you have some specific goals that you know in 5 turns will be met. In the meantime this may not be so clear in your current save to others. For instance Snaaty continued his game to 50 AD to clarify some points about his save. While i think everyone should play from the save at the control point i wonder how much freedom we can grant to submit saves that lie some turns into the future. Not at all, 5 turns? Personally i think 5 turns would be ok but also the absolute max.

 

I wouldn't allow 5 turns extra, because everyone will take it "to clarify".
I think most of us are experienced enough to understand that being last in tech or last in land size doesn't mean a bad situation necessarily.

ANY save can be judged for winnability at any point. Any save has good and bad points, so I don't see a problem with shorter turn sets. I think we can trust the judgement of the players taking part in this cookbook.

I hope that if we pick a more difficult games the decisions would be more obvious.

 

Yes, you're probably right. Chaos will abound easily. This means i will be a bit more strict regarding "clarifying" saves in the future. Just as Carl is in the IMC, he clearly states that no rounds can be played /shadowed beyond the round in progress.