GOTM21 Results and Congratulations

[Jove]

also congrats to sikander, for the lowest score I recall seeing...

 

[Sikander]

Thanks Jove, I'm awful proud of my humiliating defeat. And just so everyone knows, I was honestly trying to win that game. I started out well enough, and launched quick raids to steal some slaves. I figured two hoplites early on would be sufficient to stop the occassional warrior/archer who would stumble my way. Of course, one single archer ended up slaughtering my two hoplites and two cities. The capital and fourth city fell shortly therafter, thanks to my many slaves' diligent efforts at building roads everywhere. At least I'm winning in GOTM22.

 

[Smirk]

Originally posted by Ronald
The early tech pace was higher at predator level, but ... I would contribute the earlier finishes more to the quality of the players and not to predator/open differences.

You would be wrong. An easy test of this is to go and play a SS game on diety and then on chieftain and compare, why does it take so much longer on chieftain? Assuming your skill level hasn't changed between the two games.

Once the QSC is finished and we have the timelines to look at, it should become clear what the differences in what the AI civs were able to contribute.

The biggest assumption error with that line of reasoning is to ignore that predator/open/conquest are self selected groups.

 

[Txurce]

Originally posted by Smirk
The biggest assumption error with that line of reasoning is to ignore that predator/open/conquest are self selected groups.

Smirk, I agree completely with your main point, but what do you mean by the above? More specifically, how does it apply to the issue at hand?

 

[samildanach]

Smirk, I agree completely with your main point, but what do you mean by the above? More specifically, how does it apply to the issue at hand?

I think what he is saying is that if you should CHOOSE to play predator you are not necessarily an elite player anymore than if you should decide to play open. I think that the chosen victory condition for this tournament game and the AI settler bonus (with its percieved benefits) was a bigger factor in the decision of many elite players to go predator rather than the usual explanation of desiring a more significant challenge. I don't know though-we will only really get a handle on what motivates most players after more GoTMs have been analysed.

 

[Sailorstick]

Also the point he was trying to make (without actually saying it ) is that with the AI bonuses in building and research they can speed up the tech pace which the human player can take advantage of. I'm not taking anything away from the predator players though, I highly doubt I could survive a predator game.

 

[hotrod0823]

IMHO - The predator game had a much faster tech pace for a few reasons.

More starting units: Faster expansion, better worker development and earlier contacts. This also leads to a more conservative approach to battle. You gain more from trading and brokering than warring against a stronger rival. I may be wrong but I don't think the predator player could war early either. You need a stronger military than a standard Monarch game to overcome the bonuses. Unit upkeep also has a factor as more gold can be spent on research and tech trading.

Trading was not adjusted but I think this exercise shows that the size of the empire and the rapid early growth rates of the AI have as much an effect on the trading as the AI-AI trading factors.

Playing predator just caused a change of focus on priorities.

 

[Boyd]

Too much! I am not worthy! Congrats to the top players.

My submission must be lost in the ether (Sapce win in 1826 for firaxis 4084)... hopefully it will make it into the list.

ciao