Test of Time (Event proposal to Firaxis)

[Grishnash]

Test of Times

This is just an Idea that came to me, I decided to post it here, hope no one minds! (Right thread?)

Hello, and greetings ladies and gentlemen, to the Test of Times(remember that Civ2 expansion?)! Where Civilizations around the whole will compete to see who could stand through the ages and pass the Test of Time.
Test of Time is an event proposal to Firaxis games. But I’ll post it here for comment by the Civilization community (And I didn’t know where else to post it, ) ; I hope you all agree that this is an idea worth pursuing, however, constructive criticism is also welcomed.

Test of Times is a tournament of Civilization between a set numbers of players. The tournament takes place in a selected location, and as played on gaming PCs. Each player is in their own cubicle, cut off from the other players. The players select their civilizations and then play them out till the end of the game, which will start only when all player slots have been filled (players will be called to their stations if they are away)
Once the game starts there is no pausing, the game will continue until there is a victor. You may leave at anytime, however there is a penalty fee for leaving before defeat.
The game may go on to for more then a day, so players may have a partner to help them out, however, you cannot switch partners after the game has started.
Your partner will be much needed, so that you can sleep, eat, or leave your post without forfeiting.
Spectators can watch the game in the Observation where a big screen will show the whole game, personal observation is also allowed for an extra fee, personal observation allows you to watch a single player closer, instead of viewing the whole game.
The victory conditions are that of the in-game settings, i.e. conquest, space race, etc.
The purpose of this tournament is simple, to advertise Civilization, Firaxis and their products, have extreme fun with a multitude of people from around the world, and, of course, to make money!
Small tournaments will always take place during the main event, these tournaments have much lesser prizes but are still fun. The small tournaments are:
A normal Civilization game between 12? Players.
Other Firaxis multiplayer games.

Fees:
Entry fees * (entering the building)
Participation fee* (Main event)
Participation fee* (Secondary events)
Rations fee* (No outside food or drink allowed)
Personal Observation fee* (Observing a single player via a computer set up for thus purpose)
Forfeiting fee* (Both player and partner leaving the game before defeat)
Miscellaneous fees* (Miscellaneous activities)

* = Amount decided on by Firaxis

The game is played on the World History Mod for Civilization IV – Beyond the Sword.
The amount of player slots is that of every playable civilization within the mod, which, at the time, is 147. So it’s bound to be a game of epic proportions.

Requirements:
Partner: Unless you can stay up throughout the whole tournament and won’t mind leaving your empire idle while you are a way.
Time set aside for the tournament, however long that may be.
An understanding boss.
An understanding spouse.
No life.


Vassals States: Becoming a Vassal State is allowed in tournament, however, you cannot win as a vassal state no matter what.
Permanent Alliances: Permanent Alliances are NOT allowed in the tournament. Teams may be made but they can also be broken.
Technology Trading: Technology Trading is allowed in the tournament.


Rules:
No set teams. Teams are to be made only during game play.
No communication between players, except via in game chat.
No forfeiting. (Fee penalty for violators)
No entering opponents cubicle.
No outside food or drink.

The prizes have yet to be determined but are sure to be worth it.

Well, that’s all for now, I’m no event coordinator so it might be a little.. I don’t, unreasonable

Anyways, there it is, my idea for a Civilization event. I said the World History mod, because it has a considerable amount of Civilizations and I think that it will be very cool when it’s done.
Just an idea, hope you like (Don’t really care though )

 

[Crowqueen]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Seriously, I can think of only one thing more boring than watching someone else play Civilization, and that is watching someone else play cricket.

Sorry, it sounds a good idea but in practice I think that kind of thing lends itself better to games like Magic The Gathering where you can finish a game in ten minutes rather than Civ which often takes four or five hours to play out if done properly. The player would get immersed in the game, true, but it's hardly a spectator sport.

Mind you, cricket does exist and is played competitively and people do come to see games that last five days, so possibly you might be on to something. But I'm not sure that people who enjoy computer gaming have the patience to enjoy a Civ spectator sport tournament in the same way.

 

[Kazbar]

I like watching people play Civ IV. Not as much as playing it myself, mind you, but I'd watch something like this if more than one was being held at one time.

It's a cool idea, though it would take a lot of organization to pull off.

 

[Crowqueen]

I like watching people play Civ IV. Not as much as playing it myself, mind you, but I'd watch something like this if more than one was being held at one time.

It's a cool idea, though it would take a lot of organization to pull off.

I enjoy reading the game accounts in the Strategy/Stories forums, but I'm not sure how much mass appeal such a tournament would have though because sitting through anything lasting four or five hours like a game of Civ tends to put me to sleep. The game is too long - temporarily, obviously, quite exciting, but with long periods where nothing much is happening - to really capture the imaginations of the numbers of people needed to make this viable.

But it's a fair idea nonetheless. If there were people interested I'm sure it would be fun to organise, but the company might feel that without a sizeable audience it lost some of its appeal. If there were side events and other non-tournament competitions or games, fine, but since the excitement in some of my games comes really only at one particular point and watching a courthouse be built in Thebes is really not a great way to pass an afternoon...it really wouldn't be well attended and thus I doubt you'd get it off the ground.

 

[r_rolo1]

People watch chess tournaments, so there would probably some people that would pay to see a good civ player to play ( not sure if I would ).

I thik it could work if it had a strong MP area as well ( Civ IV LAN party ), but as usual the problem is the transportation and time avaliability .... Having people from oposite corners of the world ( say, for a example, me and InvisibleStalke ( that is directly in the other side of the world of me ) ) in the same place and getting a day where we could put a good bunch of Civ minds in the same spot in the world... tricky

 

[elgado]

I can see myself watching a group of friends play Civ, if only for a few hours. Other people? No. That's just me, though.


I've a good feeling your Test of Time idea would be a success if held at a large game tournament/event [though I admit I don't know much about these things]. Spectators, having paid at the front door, would be free to watch the Test of Time event unfold at their leisure. If they get bored after half an hour, they can walk to another part of the convention then come back to check up on the Civ games. I'm just not too sure it'd be that much of a success as a stand-alone event.


Then again... as the post above mentioned, people do watch chess tournaments. And, while going down that road, if NASCAR can do it, so can Civ =D

 

[Crowqueen]

As part of a larger event, yes, better idea than as a standalone. But I still reckon that we overestimate the excitement that the game itself actually generates for a mass audience.

Chess doesn't entail having to build the pawns first though. A lot of tournament games provide their players with all the pieces they need straight off or at least have them draw cards predetermined beforehand. Civ I think doesn't lend itself really to tournaments where the attention span is lower than people who watch cricket or chess, and even those games are based on constant activity or simple formulae. I agree Civ can be exciting, but the set-up times of your average empire are such that for short bursts of activity such as a small war the in-between stages take far more stamina to sit through than chess or cricket or whatever. Chess may be seen as the interesting bits of Civ with all the empire establishment taken out, but it's the in-between stuff which would lessen its appeal. And what if one person was isolated on an island for much of the game? You don't have to research Astronomy to go Pawn to Queen's Knight 4 and take their Rook, or whatever.

But it might get a following as part of a larger event. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

 

[Grishnash]

Yeah, I agree it would be boring to some people, the empire building up and research, but that all works up to the excitement later on. And their would be side events and other non-tournament competitions and games to keep the people with a lasser attention span busy. And, plus, on a epic scale with 147+ players on a huge map, there's always something going on. An epic war between two city states over the marriage of two of their nobles. And you'd be able to bata test new Firaxis games (If any).
I mean, watching Civilization can't be that bad, I mean, watching the empires grow to become powerful nations and fight epic world wars, it's got to draw the attention of enough people.
Plus, like said above, if people watch Cricket and enjoy themselves, then Civilization Test of Times should be a big hit.

And the thing with it not being a stand alone is that there would be a lot more organization to get done, and other blocks that might get in the way, and it would also take the spotlight off Firaxis Games.

However, yes, transportation and time avaliability would be something, a problem that would keep the better players from joining, a way to help avoid that is by advertising it way before it's start time, but T&T can never really be over come, I mean, even if you live just two cities away from where the tournament is, your car might break down, a important meeting might be on that date, or you kid might get hit by a car. So, yeah, T&T may be a problem. But that will just leave from for the lasser pros to play, or for walk-ins, drawing more people trying to jump into the player slot And for players across the world, will, fly over, you might win the prize and make back that money