Embassy to CDZ Land

[Provolution]

Gentlemen

The appointed ambassador to the Mavericks per earlier designation is:


Their capital, likely to be right east is

T41

SPAMALOT, Pop 5 (90 000).
14 % of world population (we got 17,65 %)
1 % of land area (we got 2,69 %)

This suggests they got only one city, but most likely they got out a lot of workers, likely chopping a wonder right now.

Their UB is already into play, Trading Post, giving all their navies an added Navigation 1 bonus of 1 added move.
Berserker, their UU, will come around the time of Civil Service, and these can in tandem with their galleys or caravel land fast on top of us with 3 moves per turn movements.

In order to counter this threat, we need asap metal casting (and iron working for that matter) as well as machinery, which enables us to be safe with swordsmen/axemen/spearmen for the short term, and we need clearly crossbowmen to counter their berserkers.

CDZ is a specialist in naval invasions, and is one of their core talents I have witnessed both in Civ3 and Civ4 demogames.

I think finding CDZland, redefines our need to the lower tech-tree by a huge margin.

A movement three invasion force, granted the border we saw is their capital Spamalot, would reach Continuum in 7 turns, and even faster for the city we were planning at the southern end of the peninsula. I think we should also redirect our city build plans in order to make sure we settle the mainland before we settle whats on our island. Maybe complete the warriors (1 turn) and build 2 more settler turns until sailing is complete, then jump to build the galley, and back to settler to ship them over for scouting and establish better city sites as we get IW (Resonance?), and then go heavy in for settling all we can.

 

[Provolution]

We can see their demographics in 8-9 turns. as we need 29 EP to see their demographics and we got 4 EP per turn by default.

 

[Earthling]

Well, the espionage number goes up if they build up points on us now too. Usually I find it's around 60 or 70 that if both teams are even demographics appear. And if we make contact with others we'll have to see who we put espionage on.

But other, more important stuff - I think it bears repeating, that they can't invade Continuum/the homeland of the Q before Astronomy. No team will be able to any other I'd be pretty confident in saying, because everyone is surrounded by ocean - the only way to do so would be if an enemy city got really close and won ocean tiles through culture. However, I do know they could still be a threat, they will have one of the stronger navies all game, and if they dominate the main continent area militarily that could be just as bad.

Lastly, know there is some duplication here, but I think we should send a short PM, to their turnplayer, with our contact info if nobody has done so yet, and also be ready to work on an official (email through our embassy) message. Also, again, not sure anyone was stepping up to diplomat with CDZ specifically. I can do that, I know others are waiting for certain teams perhaps, and we'll probably meet another team or two in not the longest time so others like Bowsling could be ready for that I guess.

 

[cav scout]

Earthling you should be our diplomat to the vikings. Please send BCLG100 a friendly but succint pm with our team email and asking for theirs. We need to get this going asap.

 

[Earthling]

Yeah, that sounds doable, and I agree it's certainly time we get things going. Again, if this really is Vikings (their city being right there too, not India's) that means it's really seeming to me like some other teams off in the distance, Merlot/Mavericks/whomever are probably already in contact and working together - enough time has passed for anyone to make contact.

Edit: I'll post the intended message here shortly for approval. Are they actually calling themselves "CDZland" in game - like is that what the mouseover on their unit says. Or should we just call them CDZ?

All right, message to BCLG100 of CDZ:

Greetings, people of CDZ. Explorers from our great civilization Quatronia have made contact on this momentous occasion, with the ships under command of captain BCLG100, and it is a time that will be remembered for ages hence. There is much I am sure we would like to talk about. Please feel welcome to reach our embassy at quatronia10@gmail.com and we'd love to hear from your diplomats and their contact information shortly.

Thanks,
Earthling, of the Q

 

[cav scout]

I think they are just CDZ, short for civ duel zone. Omit the land part. And no need to get approval for a quick pm. Just say something like:

Greetings Team CDZ, it's good to meet you guys! We would love to get a conversation going with you, our team email is {insert email address}. Could you send us yours? Thanks. Earthing, Team Quatronia

I'm sure many other teams have been talking for days now. So getting caught up diplo-wise this weekend is important.

 

[Earthling]

Well, yeah, about the same, I'll send it now then if that's all right. Then we can work on something more substantial through our team email.

 

[cav scout]

Great. Now that we have the initial pm sent we can start crafting our first letter. Here is a sample "first contact" diplo mail from the last MTDG.

My take on CDZ is that they are a tight-knit and fun group of mp players. They have their own internal jokes and team culture which seems to be laid back. Some of their running themes seem to be that they are lazy and like to spam. But behind the jokes and camraderie I see a highly skilled no-nonsense team.

I think it would be a mistake to approach these guys with role playing or excessive formality. That would just annoy them. And since they are playing the vikings we don't want to be the team that they decide to drop the hammer on!

Personalities play a bigger role in these games than people like to admit. So even if we turn out to be ideal allies for them on paper, if we rub them the wrong way they will come after us. As I stated elsewhere, these guys will probably be the first team to DoW in the game (they are going to want to use their beserkers before they get obsolete).

What we want to do is position ourselves as:

a.) a team they can get along with
b.) a team they can trust and don't feel threatened by
c.) the team they benefit the most from trade and cooperation wise
d.) a team they would like to take to the later stage of the game with them

 

[Earthling]

I think that all sounds pretty good and I agree. I'm guessing they are going to be a competitive force overall - but even not worrying about a team's level of skill, the Vikings are dangerous in the mid-game. Having them as allies and attacking some third team is about as well as things can play out. I wouldn't mind outsettling them/leaving them behind in economy, except the problem is they would likely turn on us as a war target.

Still, if we make contact with a couple more teams, we'll have to see who our allies could ultimately end up being. There's little chance we come out ahead in the long run being directly antagonistic against them, unless we get the other team on the very next side of the star working against the Vikings, and that would be hard to pull off. Fortunately we should have a bit of economic and cultural lead, such that we can safely settle our side of the Viking continent. If getting on the good side militarily with the Vikings involves splitting that petal 50/50 I think we could live with it.

Unfortunately not heard back from BCLG but I'll check my PMs later today, hopefully he's been back by then too. An email from our team embassy could be a nice start. On top of typical formalities we could probably announce ourselves as the architects of the world's first great wonder and enlightened by Buddhism etc... - the things we would share anyway, and they will also know in-game too.

 

[RegentMan]

Good analysis cav. I think it's spot on.

An email from our team embassy could be a nice start. On top of typical formalities we could probably announce ourselves as the architects of the world's first great wonder and enlightened by Buddhism etc... - the things we would share anyway, and they will also know in-game too.

Sounds good to me.

 

[Earthling]

Received this- BCLG said they'd already sent an email message, and then copied via pm. They apparently sent a message to the wrong email account, mentioned again we are using quatronia10@gmail.com

Theirs should be:

team.cdz@gmail.com

They don't have an official diplomat yet, contacting Robi D or BCLG should be fine, but I'd go with their team email next. Guess we can work on an introductory message/response, and perhaps mention Stonehenge at this point for instance if we want to.

Hey,

So not the e-mail in the game tracking thread? I sent this there earlier;

Hello from Team CDZ, very nice to meet you etc!

We don't have an appointed diplomat right now, nor an appointed turnplayer really. However, if you wish to get in contact with us then feel free to use this email or PM Robi d or BCLG100 on cfc. Have you been searching for people for long?

Anyway, pleasure to meet you guys

Best,
BCLG

Best,
BC

 

[Provolution]

Good thing, Earthling, please prepare a mail, present it here, and contact them, and we are game.

 

[Earthling]

Working on a full email soon, I'll edit it into this post by later today if we have approval/any revisions whoever wants can send it from the team email account. If someone else has something ready to go they could put it up to, I'd be happy to sign my name to it representing our general diplomatic embassy anyway.

Ideas - we mention SH and buddhism, briefly but just because they would ask anyway. Might joke about it being funny that the Vikings ended up in the "South" part of the world. They'll know that anyway from what they've seen of the map. I'd go with typical lines about future cooperation, but I don't intend to reveal much, just get another message sent off, should have it written up a little later if you all are waiting on me.

 

[Earthling]

Know it's a double post but a mostly prepared mail. Not trying to reveal too much info, we can cut back if we want. Or say more straightforward, for that matter, like add parenthetical statements saying "We founded Buddhism" or whatever.

Greeings, people of CDZ and the fair city Spamalot. We know our explorers aboard the Rio Grande would love to regale you with tales of their homeland, though they also will be moving on. You perhaps may pay our lands a visit sometime likewise, though it is a bit of a journey. However, our diplomats will forevermore be in contact with your leaders and are eager to begin important business.

It is maybe a coincidence, to have discovered you Vikings on the warm Southern seas of this world but it is better than being far away from us perhaps in the distant north. We now may surely profit from trade and travel between our peoples. We believe we might have espied the borders of your city, Camelot, just south of this current location, but only from such a distance that the land itself couldn't be made out - perhaps better spotted as the culture of your people extends further outward. Our capital's greatest construction so far is already a treasure wonder of the world and like yourselves we look out on a realm across the waves. The Q are a people strong in faith as much as in worldly manners. We would delight in future cooperation as our empires expand and our scientists and merchants seek to make progress.

For now, feel free to contact our embassy anytime, we are sure there is much more to discuss.

Team Quatronia

Earthling, Ambassador

 

[Provolution]

Very good, send it!

 

[cav scout]

My first impressions:

Beautiful prose but i'm worried it is the wrong approach with CDZ. These guys are going to want plain language and a little bit of substance right away.

Southern seas is a potential giveaway, they may still be speculating on the map. I'm fine with clueing them in but we could gain points by offering it to them

Proposed rewrite:

Greetings, people of CDZ. We are glad to meet you guys and hope we can get some good relations going that will lead to profitable cooperation and a lasting friendship.

You asked about how long we have been searching. The answer is our whole life baby

But seriously, we were wondering the same for you guys. Would you like to exchange when our boats set out turn wise? We think sharing info would be a good way to get the ball going between our two teams. First 3 techs would also be a good info exchange.

A few things we will volunteer in good faith to start off with:

*We centered the map with Stonehenge and can tell you that our workboats are kicking it in the south on the map right now.

*Our starting location is an island with wheat, spices and silver that we can trade to you.

*If you proceed to the south and then west with your boat you will reach our lands. We were wondering where our wb should go to make contact with your borders?

Anways, this should get us started for now. Our take on this game is that alliances are going to be huge. So we are looking for solid friends they we can move forward with.

Feel free to contact our embassy anytime, we are sure there is much more to discuss.

Team Quatronia

Earthling, Ambassador

 

[Provolution]

I would much prefer Earthlings version, I see little need to give away our coordinates now, as they will plan around this. I would not give away the 2nd workboat either. We should signal we can trade them wheat and silver, we leave out spices for now.

 

[cav scout]

By "our workboats" i meant the rio grande and the viking boat. Does it not read that way to a CDZ audience? If anything I think my email makes it sound like we only have one boat out.

And they know our workboat came from the south so its not really giving away our coordinates. What it does do is make it look like we are open and friendly by volunteering info (that they will soon find out anyways).

And at the very least we need to acknowledge their question about how long we have been searching. That is a test from them and ignoring it would give a bad impression.

 

[Earthling]

Didn't send it yet because this is just the type of team input we need, but anyway I guess we could be ready to send soon.

I actually agree that particular question of theirs could be addressed more directly. However, all indications seem to me that they will not have as much map info to offer as we do. I wouldn't tell them how long the workboat has been out exactly nor the location of our capital, as well as the overall "layout" of the map. We could say it's been a long search or that we have yet to meet others yet though - and that's also true.

I know in the future they may want more direct information. How about something like this - but again, I'll go with any message that's generally ok by the team, it doesn't have to be too complicated.

Greeings, people of CDZ and the fair city Spamalot. We know our explorers aboard the Rio Grande would love to regale you with tales of their homeland, though they also will be moving on. You ask how long we have been searching - the answer is our whole lives baby, the sailors have been rather lonely

But seriously, we are wondering the same - the world is large and many lands distant yet to be discovered. We have met no other sufficiently civilized peoples besides yourselves, only glimpses of savages or animals. You perhaps may pay our lands a visit sometime likewise, though it is a bit of a journey. However, our diplomats will forevermore be in contact with your leaders and are eager to begin important business.

It is maybe a coincidence, to have discovered you Vikings on the warm Southern seas of this world but it is better than being far away from us perhaps in the distant north. We now may surely profit from trade and travel between our peoples. We believe we might have espied the borders of your city, Spamalot, just south of this current location, but only from such a distance that the land itself couldn't be made out - perhaps better spotted as the culture of your people extends further outward. Our capital's greatest construction so far is already a treasure wonder of the world and like yourselves we look out on a realm across the waves. (Note we have map centering from SH, by the way.)

The Q are a people strong in our spreading Buddhist faith as much as in worldly manners. Our farmers cultivate the finest grains and we have productive mines of the most exquisite argentum, though we are sure you have similar riches as well. (We have wheat, spices to be accessed someday, and silver). We would delight in future cooperation as our empires expand and our scientists and merchants seek to make progress.

Anyway, our diplomats would love to hear what else can get us started for now. Our take on the future is that alliances are going to be huge. So we are looking for steadfast friends that we can move forward with.

For now, feel free to contact our embassy anytime, we are sure there is much more to discuss.

Team Quatronia

Earthling, Ambassador

 

[RegentMan]

I agree with cav scout's take on the message-composition. Look at what they sent us:

Hello from Team CDZ, very nice to meet you etc!

We don't have an appointed diplomat right now, nor an appointed turnplayer really. However, if you wish to get in contact with us then feel free to use this email or PM Robi d or BCLG100 on cfc. Have you been searching for people for long?

Anyway, pleasure to meet you guys

Best,
BCLG

"very nice to meet you etc." Nothing else story-wise. They don't want an RPGy interaction that most of the other teams will warrant.

I say we save your version, Earthling, and use it when we meet the next team. CDZ will prefer straight to the point types of communication.