Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to get all my thoughts out, and I promise not to post again on this thread. Ok, did I hear a collective sigh of relief?
I'm sure I don't understand the issues in this thread. Some of my concerns may have already been taken care of. It seems like you got a good way to adjust the scores with some kind of phantom game. Good work on that!
I am still confused about the new modifiers or lack of them. For instance, map size. It seems to make sense on the HOF where the size of the map is already taken into account by the table. But to have a high scoring Small game (not mentioning Tiny, just in case that size is no longer valid) score the same or better than a high scoring Standard or larger map size game on the eQM seems wierd. It seems to bring back cheezyness to the eQM, something we were trying to avoid. Again, if there is another factor that makes my worries incorrect, sorry.
As far as Barbarians. I guess you all know my preference, but let me try to explain it a bit more. Yes, most games in the current HOF are without barbs. But I've seen many people post that they perfer to play with barbarians, and even play with them for HOF or QM entries even though they know they won't score as good as those that play with no barbarians. I have a feeling that there are two kinds of players.
1. Those that work hard at achieving the best time in a catagory, removing barbs allows them to win quicker so thats what they do.
2. Those that feel removing barbs removes something from the game and prefer to play with them.
The HOF is definately for those in catagory 1. It seems we should have something for those in catgory 2, and the eQM seems like a nice place for it. By requiring barbs, we may actually bring more people into the HOF, those that would never get into an HOF table, but would like to see their efforts of playing a "standard" civ game rewarded. Sometimes I get the response, sorry, playing no barbs has gone on too long now, it may have been a mistake but we got to live with it. No we don't, the eQM can be a fresh start without affecting the HOF or the normal Gauntlet. As far as the scores on the eQM being lower because they would be compared to games played with no barbarians? So what? eQM scores would be compared to other eQM scores, everyone suffers the same penalty. If the best eQM score is a 50, then that's what it is, the best eQM score, and a score to be proud of.
eQM is also supposed to be elite. So make the games harder, require barbs, require standard size maps, require anything else you can think of. Perhaps, no permanent alliances? Only normal or epic speeds? Just a few thoughts.
Where do I fall? Probably in both catagories. I like working hard to maximize my game and get an HOF entry, even if only on Settler mode. But I also like to play a "standard" game of Civ from time to time and would like to see good games of this type rewarded. You removed all Duel games from the eQM without making any adjustments, I don't see why removing all "no barbs" games would require any big adjustments (except for all the people who would have to play new games to complete the eQM).
If we made all these changes, it would be a long time before anyone completed the eQM at any level (although I'm continually surprised by how fast some can churn out games). If only a few people made the list just as Civ 5 was being released, wouldn't that make it elite? Just completing the Map Quest or the Rock of Ages would be accomplishments to be proud of.
As far as the Inca's. I would like to see them back in the LoN. Is there some way of including them in the LoN but having Inca games count ONLY towards the LoN? Same idea with the maps that are currently banned because they give too much of an advantage, the wooded map (Boreal, Aboreal? I forget which one is banned), the fantasy map, all the maps except those intended for multiplayer. Games on these maps would only count towards Map Quest. I for one would like to be able to see good games with the Inca, or on these maps without them unfairly affecting other games.
Ok, that's my last rant. I know I'll enjoy whatever is the final product. I'm still working on the Gauntlet, and have a LONG ways to go to finish the eQM, even with its current rules. If you adopted all my suggestions, I'm not sure I would ever get it finished, but then maybe I'm not elite
But I would have a bit more fun trying.