I just got in!

[gmaharriet]

I don't know what is the proper way to say I'm here. I just received approval to post here. I haven't done this before or played any SGs. I'm going to start reading through all the threads to catch up.

I usually play at Regent level, but I guess I can't do too much damage (I hope) in a format of this sort.

If there's anything else I need to do, please let me know. I'm glad to be here.

 

[Tubby Rower]

Just read, post, & play. That's really all there is to do here.

The team has a gmail account @ gmail.com Check in the Department of Turnplay Sticky thread for details about how to play it. Since we have our team organized as an anarchy, almost anyone can grab the game from the gmail account play and pass it on to the next team via email (again directions are in the Dept. of Turnplay).

Please read the Ruleset in the Main Multi-Team Demo Game forum for rules of behaviour and play. Some of the rules have a stiff penalty so please don't spoil the fun for the rest of the team .

Other than that read have fun and welcome to the team!!

 

[Whomp]

OK get to work! There will be a test on all the threads at 7am PST on Monday morning. Study up!

Really, welcome aboard gmaharriet! Most of the important thread are stickied and a few non-stickied are for our mental amusement (city names, a little bio of people etc).

 

[gmaharriet]

I skimmed the ruleset very late last night. I don't think I even know how to do most of the banned actions.

What jumped out at me was not being able to use Mapstat. Yikes!!! No crutch!!!

I read the discussion on moves. I guess I'm not used to worrying about wasted shields when building something. I also read the part about accessing the email and saves and forwarding them, but haven't tried checking the email yet.

It seems best if I just finish reading everything and lurking until I get a feel for things. Where is the best place to ask silly general questions? I may have lots of them.

 

[Whomp]

Anywhere it's appropriate or here for that matter.

 

[Tubby Rower]

What jumped out at me was not being able to use Mapstat. Yikes!!! No crutch!!!

It's not that bad. With only one turn to play it should be fairly easy. At the end of the turn (if you're playing obviously), just hit f1 (I think) and check all of the cities' happiness. Early in the game I'd go to every city individually and check. The turns take all of 10 minutes at most right now and MM is less tedious because you only have to do one turn per day basically.

 

[Crakie]

Welcome aboard, gmaharriet!

 

[gmaharriet]

Questions...

I just checked our gmail account to see what it looked like, but it appeared empty. Can only the person who is going to play the turn look at whatever is/was in there? If I go there, see an email and open it, does that mean I have to play the turn or can I just look? Is there any type of history of what's been there previously?

I've read so many threads in the past day or so, I'm forgetting what I saw where. It seems like I saw something in the main Team Game forum about there being a stickied thread in each Team's forum for posting your own email address if you want to see the saves, but I don't see one in our forum...am I missing something? This is not a complaint, nor is it urgent. I'm still just finding my way around.

 

[Tubby Rower]

In reference to the email account.....I'm archiving the emails with the saves in them. I've assigned labels to the incoming saves called "Received Saves". I've also done the same with the ones that we have sent on ("Sent Saves" label"). You can access old turns by clicking on the appropriate tag under the Labels section shown below.

I started doing this to alleviate confusion about which one to play when someone goes to check for the next turn. Once its played I'll archive (not delete) it. Everything is available all in one place if you click the "All Mail" category.


EDIT::: about the email addresses, it's in the Dept. of Turnlog thread post #1. Our team has an email address and the email of the next team in line (Doughnut) is in there too. Along with the two admins on the game (Ginger_Ale & RegentMan). That's the only ones that we need. When sending a turn after playing. Click on the "Contacts" link in our email account and all of them are in there too so you don't have to type a thing. Just remember to attach the save from after our turn.

 

[gmaharriet]

Thanks, TR! It looks quite different from my own email account, and I appreciate your explanation.

 

[IroquoisPlisken]

Welcome to the team, gmaharriet! (yes, I know I'm a day or two late...)

Remember everyone, with G-mail, you'll never have to delete another e-mail again! </g-mail advertising>

 

[Daghdha]

I don't think I even know how to do most of the banned actions

Thing in here is that there is all sorts of players, from newbies to world class. Some top players know the programming of the game inside out and all of them knows every twitch in the game mechanics (I'm certainly not one of them). As a rule, I always ask a better gamer for advice if in doubt about rules/exploits.

 

[gmaharriet]

As a rule, I always ask a better gamer for advice if in doubt about rules/exploits.

That sounds like excellent advice, Daghdha. I'm very cautious and conservative even in my solo games. I've never had a broken rep in any game I've played...not sure if that's smart or just being a chicken. I'd be sure to ask before trying anything I don't understand without the full approval of the team, and I'm just full of questions.

 

[Rik Meleet]

lurker's comment: Loosing your reputation in a game where there is AI has an in-game penalty as the other AI won't trust you anymore and trading and diplomacy will be harder. There is no AI in this game; just 4 human teams. I wouldn't worry about reputation from that angle.
As an addition to that; most exploits are considered exploits because the AI can't defend against them or doesn't handle it very well. Again, no AI here so the basis of that reasoning is gone.
Humble suggestion: start a "What exploits are allowed ?" thread to discuss it with the other teams.

1 tip though: if you do dilpomacy and trading with other teams, be sure to also discuss the amount of turns till the deals end. It is not unusual in PBEM to agree to not fight eachother till (let's say) turn 100 or till you both reach the middle ages or till the discovery of Gunpowder or <fill in any game event>. Diplomacy is very different when done with humans.

 

[gmaharriet]

lurker's comment: Loosing your reputation in a game where there is AI has an in-game penalty as the other AI won't trust you anymore and trading and diplomacy will be harder. There is no AI in this game; just 4 human teams. I wouldn't worry about reputation from that angle.
As an addition to that; most exploits are considered exploits because the AI can't defend against them or doesn't handle it very well. Again, no AI here so the basis of that reasoning is gone.
Humble suggestion: start a "What exploits are allowed ?" thread to discuss it with the other teams.

1 tip though: if you do dilpomacy and trading with other teams, be sure to also discuss the amount of turns till the deals end. It is not unusual in PBEM to agree to not fight eachother till (let's say) turn 100 or till you both reach the middle ages or till the discovery of Gunpowder or <fill in any game event>. Diplomacy is very different when done with humans.

Some good suggestions, Rik. I knew the reasoning would be quite different, but hadn't thought about agreements being other than for 20 turns.

I hope one of my team mates will start that thread about exploits, as I wouldn't know quite how to phrase it. It's kind of hard to ask how others feel about doing things I don't know how to do myself.

 

[Tubby Rower]

The problem with suggesting what exploits are allowed is that the other teams will infer that we are intending on using tactics that might be questionable and would therefore deal with us more cautiously. At least that is the way I would interpret such a thread...

 

[Daghdha]

Rik's comment about the difference btw playing AI or humans are important. I have only played vs. AI WITH humans/idiots before so I also have a lot to learn. In this game I guess it would be allright to say that evereything that is not explicitly forbidden is in fact allowed. Also, every team has players experienced enough to see most "exploits" coming for miles.