"Don't Cry for me Argentina!"

[Civ'ed]

limited time with 5 was coo cause it was like 3.

didnt work for me. was a common problem at steam release. might check it now. titles shouldn't be broken on release tho.

Unless they're paradox or bethesda games. Then it's perfectly fine for them to be broken beyond repair.

 

[Angst]

You know, maybe we should have an IOT game of Heroes 3 or 5 one day. You know...because...uh...I don't know, my burning hatred for humanity?

I <3 heroes 3. 4 sucked tho.

Oh I love Heroes 3 but I can't stand nonHotseat multiplayer without cumulative turns. Takes forever where you can't do anything :/ I'd also love to play Battle for Wesnoth at some point - it's Fire Emblem-ish and has an OK multiplayer component. But, again, non-cumulative turns...

If Heroes 3 had cumulative turns that'd be the game I'd be harassing you guys over all the time.
besides AoE2 every once in a while.

Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and 4 are grand games.

3 for the scope. It expanded from the 6 to be quite grand and the factions all had a charm to it (even the OP elemental in the expansion, though I did wish they kept to the original idea of bringing in the Might and Magic sci fi elements). Special fondness for the strange creatures of the Dungeons, the reptiles of the Fortress (special mention to the COW OF DOOM!) and the mystical exotic aspects of the snowy Tower. Also: Sandro.

4 for the innovation. The new faction system regarding units allowed for diverse strategies even with when two of the same faction fought each other and the stories in the vanilla campaigns were very intriguing, especially the Order and Death campaigns.

I was very disappointed in 5; not just for the writing in the campaign and story (along with the fact the campaigns took a ridicule difficult curve that was a case of poor design), the regression of mechanics (caravans in 4 helped reduce micromanagement; yes 5 got it in the end by expansion but like map editor it should have been in vanilla) and the... lost of charms (WHAT DID YOU DO TO THE DUNGEONS?!) It tried too hard to copy 3 without heeding what was charming about 3.

Personally I find Conflux to be the worst faction actually. I love Fortress though. They're cool Aztecs and almost all of their units are really useful.

I don't like 4 that much but I think it has a little to do with the graphics. 3's models still hold up quite a bit, I remember 4 being slower and awkward. Only played it once though. Adding combat to the heroes was a good idea though. I found it a natural development of the series.

 

[Angst]

OK guys another thing I thought about.

Community AoE2 game!
... Come on, read on. I won't bite.

While AoE2 is currently at full price, if it at some point goes down, I'm considering buying a few copies for a few users I'm creating for this purpose. Then I can play with those of you that don't have the game on Steam!. I still think a huge 8 player free for all would be really fun. I'd love to hear who of you have the game btw. (and whether you want to be Steam friends.)

Of course, the question is what could be done to handicap the more routined players, as some of you have expressed concern with the game not being fun for new guys. (Routined players probably being Omega and myself. Don't know how good the rest of you are.) Now, first, I don't think any of us will rushlol either of you because that's really not what a community game is supposed to be. I much prefer to roleplay and do cool things and have fun with that[*]. I have actually thought about that and figured out a few handicaps we can pick and choose from:
~

1 Free for all means that every can ally, trade and backstab at will. But routined players will not be allowed to ally with anyone, being in perpetual war with everyone.

2 Routined players aren't allowed to go up in age until at least X other players have reached that age.

3 Routined players aren't allowed to go beyond the Castle Age. (ouch)

4 Routined players must resign if they lose a Town Center.

5 Routined players are not allowed to build one military building of their choice. (Choices are Archery Range, Stable, or Siege Workshop. American civs can't choose the Stable of course...)

6 Routined players are not allowed to go above X Villagers.

7 Routined players may only control 1 Town Center at any time.

8 Routined players may only control 1 Castle at any time.

[*] & 9 Personally I have this idea of allowing players to agree to "vassalizing" to their opponents which requires some roleplaying.
- The vassal must ally its overlord and must have the same diplomatic relations as its overlord.
- The vassal isn't allowed to build wonders or take all the relics.
- The vassal fields at least 25 soldiers that adheres the overlord (fighting the enemies the overlord is currently fighting)
- The vassal can revolt against its overlord at any time.
- The overlord can't cancel the vassalage (declare war on his vassal) until all the alliance's enemies are wiped out. Declaring war this way cancels all vassalages.
This way, players can stay in the game longer and have the potential to make comebacks
Of course, I think the first game we play should be simpler than that stuff for as little complications as possible for the new players.

EDIT 10 Routined players must play random or bad civs.


...
I think some number of the above could easen it up for those that are afraid to try it out due to skill differences... I'm not sure it's necessary of course, because I plan to not be an ass you know. I plan to make cool armies, not effecient ones... And I hate rushing. Hate it hate it hate it. I want to build cool cities too.

EDIT And of course the game will be recorded and uploaded for all to see.

___________________________________

... And if not, we could always comp stomp. I love comp stomping.

I can't host atm tho.

___________________________________

EDIT: Person on NovaIOT didn't get it so:

I'm considering creating a few Steam users that only have Age of Empires 2 on them - then people can borrow them for the community game.

It requires the game to go down in price though.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

I <3 heroes 3. 4 sucked tho.

The tragedy is that a few months before I got 4, I picked up a community mod for 3 called In the Wake of the Gods that drastically expands the game's capabilities. The first thing I noticed about 4 was that it was almost assuredly inspired by this mod... but that they dumbed down the rest of the game because lol?

 

[gay_Aleks]

Wait, is WoG that old? Jesus.

 

[NinjaCow64]

Speaking as one of the most experienced AOE2 players on the subforum (I think), option one would probably be the least infuriating. I'd play as a random civilization to balance things even more.

 

[Masada]

if you want to impose some balance just ban good players from playing good civs. random still gives a good player a 1/3 chance of landing on something competitive. forcing good people to play say saracens or koreans at least in 1v1 when bad peeps can play huns, aztecs or mayans will do a lot more to level outcomes. it gets a bit dicier in larger maps w more peeps but in those alliances/diplo counts for a lot more.

 

[gay_Aleks]

This is where productivity goes TO DIE!

 

[Civ'ed]

ew AoE
Ew metas
We should do a massive 256-player tac team naples in EUIV

 

[Angst]

Speaking as one of the most experienced AOE2 players on the subforum (I think), option one would probably be the least infuriating. I'd play as a random civilization to balance things even more.

Good idea. I'll add that to the list.

if you want to impose some balance just ban good players from playing good civs. random still gives a good player a 1/3 chance of landing on something competitive. forcing good people to play say saracens or koreans at least in 1v1 when bad peeps can play huns, aztecs or mayans will do a lot more to level outcomes. it gets a bit dicier in larger maps w more peeps but in those alliances/diplo counts for a lot more.

I actually always play random because I find it more interesting. I won't mind playing a civ people choose for me either. And due to the way handicap 1 works (if we use that) Turks is also a terribly awful pick. EDIT But have to say, while I appreciate the suggestion, as long as the good players have trash units available, they have the potential to severely outdo those players that have never played the game and therefore have a much worse economy. I'm not sure just limiting the civ options for the good players is enough - new players don't know how to optimize the good civs to truly outdo the better ones. So I'm unsure the leveling of the playing field is enough that way.

 

[Double A]

I don't need stone, right?

 

[Angst]

It's always good to mine stone. Not just because of basic defenses, but because Castles are very powerful buildings that can serve defensively but also provides very powerful upgrades, trains good units (if your UU isn't worth it, the Trebuchet usually is), and allows you to upgrade to the Imperial Age faster. And lastly, if you can manage the construction speed and temporary defense of it, building a castle aggressively close to your opponent serves as a very good attack point, since a) it limits enemy villager and soldier movement, b) your units are relatively safe nearby it, and c) you can build military buildings in its shade, creating a serious threat that your opponent has to deal with. This is btw one of the areas you might want some form of cavalry because otherwise your opponents can freely build trebuchets close to their defenses and destroy your aggressive castle easily.

But yeah, stone is a potent resource. It's not as important as the others, but mining out a few thousand is a good idea.

You also need stone to build Town Centers, which is a very good idea.

And if everything else fails, it sells for a lot in your Market.

 

[Civ'ed]

Spoiler :

Tragedy series is always good.
If tragic.

 

[Double A]

if anyone's wondering what I've been up to and why I've dropped off in my activity

then the answer is chemistry

 

[Omega124]

if anyone's wondering what I've been up to and why I've dropped off in my activity

then the answer is chemistry

Link to video.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Split the profits or we'll spill the beans.

 

[Thorvald of Lym]

They're minerals! Jesus, Tolni!

 

[gay_Aleks]

Hey, man, you just have no idea how profitable pure lanthanum is right now.

Mechaerik, 2016.

 

[ork75]

Hey IOT!

I just started up a Cradle NES in the NES Forum. It's not really traditional IOT style but you might be interested, who knows.

Check it out here!

 

[Robert Can't]

Just to let everyone know, I'm going to be busy for the next couple of weeks and thus unable to post as actively