PBEM Game Discussion, Tips and Introductions

[kiwitt]

I'm in 13 PBEMs and soon to be 14 ... WOW!!!

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

I don't even take count anymore.

 

[kiwitt]

Playing about 3-4 games a day now

 

[kiwitt]

Now that I have finished my Modern Earth 1.1, I am going to create a small scenario that is focused on Naval War. I'll give it some thought over the next few days.

I create a scenario on a small, with 4 Human and 4 AI teams. Everyone will start with Battleship-level tech and then using quick turn speed development will be fast. Each home island will have a capital in the centre which will have access to all strategic resources and 4 port cities where you can build ships. There will be only one Victory Type - Conquest. So you will need to actually invade a players Island to eliminate them.

Each player will have the same fleet:
Naval Forces
4 x Battleships
16 x Destroyers
8 x Submarines
4 x Transports
4 x Marines

Land Forces
2 x MGs for each Port City
4 x MGs for the Capital City
4 x Workers
4 x Infantry

Each Island will be similar in shape and size and I will place all starting Civs at Industrial tech level.

EDIT: That was quicker than I expected.

 

[Hercules90]

Definitely interested in Naval War game.

 

[Tigranes]

Me too. Civ 2 had Battle of Atlantic scenario with Naval and Air units only! It was so much fun!

My only problem is that I try to focus on historical scenarios, not just fight for sake of fighting but stand behind the certain historical cause and try to advance it. To this day the best BTS naval (ad land) scenario I ever found was Pacific War scenario. It almost makes you feel like an admiral when you carefully calculate every move for your transports carriers and battleships. Unfortunately playing Japan (playing smart that is) may require up to 2 hours per turn

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

Count me in!

 

[kiwitt]

Me too. Civ 2 had Battle of Atlantic scenario with Naval and Air units only! It was so much fun!

My only problem is that I try to focus on historical scenarios, not just fight for sake of fighting but stand behind the certain historical cause and try to advance it. To this day the best BTS naval (ad land) scenario I ever found was Pacific War scenario. It almost makes you feel like an admiral when you carefully calculate every move for your transports carriers and battleships. Unfortunately playing Japan (playing smart that is) may require up to 2 hours per turn

Well you know me I like historical scenarios too!

But sometimes it is great to just battle it out.

So we have four players ?!?!?

 

[kiwitt]

How do you remove games you are in on PBEM Tracker that are no longer playing.

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

I don't think there is automatic way to do it. I think that the only chance is to ask the Administrator to remove you "manually".

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

While we're at it I'm still in the old Naval War game.

 

[kiwitt]

Can't change it.

BTW: I have discovered "World of Tanks" and so will be playing PBEM a little slower from now on maybe once or twice per day. Working towards getting a Tiger Tank

 

[Eclipse4449]

While we're at it I'm still in the old Naval War game.

Can't change it.

Matt the Pbemtracker admin can and will delete the game.

BTW: I have discovered "World of Tanks" and so will be playing PBEM a little slower from now on maybe once or twice per day. Working towards getting a Tiger Tank

I have this too but can't find the time yet, its even had a major update since I first downloaded it

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

World of Tanks is overrated, I'd rather play World in Conflict again if the community still existed. Man, those were the days.

 

[Eclipse4449]

Emperor of the Fading Suns

 

[sinimusta]

Hi. Just recently started getting involved into pbem games. Since early game turns take way less time than managing a large empire I'm worried that I might join too many games and during mid/late-game find it too exhausting. So I'd like to ask from more experienced pbem-players, how many games do you usually have and how much time it approximately takes per week?

 

[Michkov]

I'm in 8 games currently, which take about 10 mins all together each day. Keep in mind that this is an average time. Some days I get 1 save others 3 or 4. So far I havn't found it overwhelming. Only time it may take longer is if you are at war and have to move lots of units around.

 

[Eclipse4449]

Hi. Just recently started getting involved into pbem games. Since early game turns take way less time than managing a large empire I'm worried that I might join too many games and during mid/late-game find it too exhausting. So I'd like to ask from more experienced pbem-players, how many games do you usually have and how much time it approximately takes per week?

There is 2 at least 2 important things here to consider
1) How much you love the game
2) Do you finish what you start

You can join as many games as you find interesting, I am currently in 14 games and some days can take 3 hours to play a random amount of turns received. Every game will be different, some the game itself not take long to play but negotiations and general Diplomacy could take a while.


I may be wrong here but here is my opinion. When you join a game you enable it to happen, you add a personality to it, that is if you add comments to the games' thread and communicate with players you've met in these games. If you do nothing but gamereceived and play and send (GPS) these turns you will eventually burn out or get bored of it and YOU disable the game, sure it is possible to find a replacement but will this player really enjoy this game or has he just re-enabled it. You see its not just about you, others want to play and are happy you do too.

What I do now and have been doing for years, is receive my turns and play them as I have time, some turns only take a few minutes and I play them right after the impatient game(s), these are games that when they were originally created a discussion occurred about its pace. Most games are not played impatiently, most players have R/L (real life) to deal with and maybe delayed themselves and are annoyed if pushed to hurry. So what if you take a trip for 3 days. (there is a thread you can post this kind of note) I think eventually you can ask a fellow player to sub for you if the duration of your absence is extended. Next I play turns that take a significant amount of time as I have time, be warned that you can spend a significant amount of time enjoying yourself here while your loved ones wait to enjoy you. Next or rather last I play the turn that involves a great deal of communication, I choose to do these last because you may require an answer that might take many hours if not days to receive and handle this largely via mobile email App.

If you are impatient or your life is largely chaotic or about to change I would limit myself to 2 or 3 games. Maybe you'll find yourself looking in your inbox for turns occasionally, if so, you might be looking for more..

pbem games can take 500 turns and with 8 players you might not see that turn again for a week or more, do the math yourself but don't post the results. Kow what you are getting into, if you have any questions about anything here feel free to ask me anytime.

 

[Nighthawk419]

I would agree with Eclipse and what he says generally. The time commitment for a game varies largely between war or peace status and the general complexity of the game and any diplomatic situations. Some games take me literally 3 minutes to play a turn (early game, small empire, no war or major movements needed) while some literally take over an hour (late game, war status, large empire, complex diplo). I'm in about 15 PBEMs right now, and at times find myself overwhelmed when a mass of turns comes in all at once and I have real life responsibilities, while at other times I'm all caught up and ready for more, but the timing is such that none are here. Unfortunately its hard enough to get a good steady rotation in a game going, let alone having multiple games have their turns come in on a good steady stream with no gaps.

But like Eclipse said, you can always find a replacement. I recently got too bogged down and found permanent replacements for myself in several games, then had life change and accepted invites to a couple new games. I try to keep between 10-15 games going myself, anymore and I get too busy to keep up with them all. I also like to try and stagger the types of games and/or their start times, ie. dont have a bunch of ancient era games because when they all get to modern times, thats going to be crazy. But that being said, join a few games until you are enjoying playing regularly, but still have some "open time" where you are waiting for turns. That open time is great to take a step back and think about the games, and do some diplomacy. Also, as they get bigger and more complex, it will allow you to take the time you need without feeling overwhelmed. And if the worst happens and you can't handle it all, just apologize profusely for your slowness or find a replacement. Eventually some will end and you will see new games pop up as players lose or have big games end...

 

[sinimusta]

Thanks for the replies. Currently I do love the game and have time to play it regularly. Earlier I've played online diplomacy which is played a lot like pbem, though the turns are simultanious and those games did take their time aswell, like half a year. Pbem civ games should take longer if not eliminated early though.

I agree that the diplomacy part makes pbem more interesting compared to sp.