Neptune's Pride

[FunkMonk]

I just see a big scary maroon blob lurch toward me and I'm grasping at straws here. 

I'll post a map up soon. Galaxy has changed much since the last screenshot.

[Berkut]

Well, to be honest, I was going after laCroix planets whether he quit or not.

And my objection, such as it was, was based solely on the idea of one player simply giving planets away to another because he thought he had lost. If you guys made some kind of deal, I have no problem with that. Desperate times and all that. This does happen in MP games, and I think it is a crappy thing to do, no matter what position I happen to be in at the moment.

It is pretty crappy to bail out of games as well, and I wouldn't be inclined to playing another MP game with lacroix either for that reason, even if I did benefit from it.

And Toni is putting up a pretty spirited defense himself - I've only managed to really take 2 decent planets from him, and they were both very exposed and not defensible by him. Otherwise I've just managed to be a nuisance snatching low value planets he has not defended. It is kind of fun to just snatch a planet, then split when the counter-invasion fleet appears to land on some other crappy planet.

[Berkut]

Yes, I've taken six planets from Toni because he gave them to me. And all of a sudden I'm the bad guy?

That's three times as many planets as I have managed to take from him. I suspect he, at least, has failed at evaluating who the "bad guy" is

[grumbler]

How, and in what way, is that unrealistic?  To me that's a fundamental element of games of this stripe, which is why I don't play them that much.

It is unrealistic because this isn't how the organization you are supposed to be simulating would operate.

[grumbler]

Yes, I've taken six planets from Toni because he gave them to me. And all of a sudden I'm the bad guy?

Not you, no.  Toni giving away planets out of spite would have made him the bad guy.

[frunk]

Except having a single person control massive star spanning empires down to economic, technological and military growth for 10s and 100s of years is unrealistic anyway.  I'd expect what they choose to do with that power would be quite unrealistic compared to an actual multi-generational multi-person organization.

[Agelastus]

OK, fair enough. Nothing wrong with that at all, as long as there was some kind of deal involved.

The attack on you has shown how much the game favors the defense - it is surprising how hard it is to really apply a large tech and number advantage decisively if the defender is willing to just sit back and defend.

Ulmont and Szmik have developed an understanding of that, I feel...

It won't last much longer though. I think I'll hold my core for another 48 hours, but no longer than that, I think. I'd say they've finally massed the numbers and tech advantage to launch a decisive thrust.

In fact, I'm expecting to be the first player knocked completely out of the game (LaCroix doesn't really count), which I find to be very beneficial for my ego...

[grumbler]

Except having a single person control massive star spanning empires down to economic, technological and military growth for 10s and 100s of years is unrealistic anyway.  I'd expect what they choose to do with that power would be quite unrealistic compared to an actual multi-generational multi-person organization.

Having interstellar travel is "unrealistic."  That doesn't mean that, within the game's conventions, there are not "realistic" elements that are completely negated by one player allowing  another to take him over out of spite for a third player.

[Jaron]

Fuck grumbler, can you post in any thread without making it a debate?

[FunkMonk]

Yes, I've taken six planets from Toni because he gave them to me. And all of a sudden I'm the bad guy?

Not you, no.  Toni giving away planets out of spite would have made him the bad guy.

Realized that a minute after posting. 

[FunkMonk]

Yes, I've taken six planets from Toni because he gave them to me. And all of a sudden I'm the bad guy?

That's three times as many planets as I have managed to take from him. I suspect he, at least, has failed at evaluating who the "bad guy" is

We must both be evil. 

[Agelastus]

Except having a single person control massive star spanning empires down to economic, technological and military growth for 10s and 100s of years is unrealistic anyway.  I'd expect what they choose to do with that power would be quite unrealistic compared to an actual multi-generational multi-person organization.

Having interstellar travel is "unrealistic."  That doesn't mean that, within the game's conventions, there are not "realistic" elements that are completely negated by one player allowing  another to take him over out of spite for a third player.

To which I would add that the overall scenario of the game is very much a "total war" scenario rather than a "limited war" scenario (such as EUIII.) When you sign on to play the game you know you are not going to get a second chance, so you should bite the bullet and play it out.

[Agelastus]

By the way, has anyone else noticed that we are not getting our income on an exactly 24 hour basis in the game?

This is a list of the timestamps for the automatically generated e-mails we receive when the production phase comes around.

Game started - 23:42
Production 2 - 0:04
Production 3 - 0:13
Production 4 - 0:23
Production 5 - 0:34
Production 6 - 0:46
Production 7 - 0:58
Production 8 - 1:09
Production 9 - 1:17
Production 10 - 1:26

And, of course, production 11 will no doubt be 9 or 10 minutes later than the last time above. I'm almost glad I am being knocked out of the game. I already stay up late/early enough as it is!

[ulmont]

By the way, has anyone else noticed that we are not getting our income on an exactly 24 hour basis in the game?

Yeah, I noticed it was drifting later and later.

EDIT:  Not real impressed with the game, tbh, as it seems to drift straight into that usual "who-has-the-best-backstab-timing" sort of thing.

[Agelastus]

By the way, has anyone else noticed that we are not getting our income on an exactly 24 hour basis in the game?

Yeah, I noticed it was drifting later and later.

EDIT:  Not real impressed with the game, tbh, as it seems to drift straight into that usual "who-has-the-best-backstab-timing" sort of thing.

Apart from all the other things that need further development, I think they need to cut back on the amount of information a player automatically receives about his rivals.