Theoden - good to see you, too! I always thought you would be a Combat Transport kinda guy - what else would a warrior horseman be? LOL Good luck with that maso! What's this about lightening a pirate's pocket?! Bwhahahaha! OK, just for the laugh...I'll send ya over a dozen cold bottles of Fosters...cheers!

Good Morning all,

I agree with the point of not making too many changes in the way you win. I am just now trying to win my first normal Gigatic game via combat transports. It is sure taking a LONG TIME as I used the tight custlers and there is a long way to travel between strong holds.

The idea that you have to win just by brute force would change the falver of this game. I like the idea of staying out of fights and winning by technology. If that needs to be a little harder, no Problem. Just still make it possible so that the game does not get old.

Theoden - Pirates are just too easy. They are always found sleeping in their last pint in the common room LOL . They always tell you they had a better time than they did because they have no money left when they wake up LOL . Of course it does keep one from starving.



See you all tomorrow

Did you feel Civ3 actually had many workable strategies? I didn't play it all that much, but simple military conquest always seemed like the only way to go at higher difficulties. Galciv is much more flexible than Civ3 in that regard, in my opinion.

Well, at least the Ringfolk did not move too far away this time. The last time I had to travel across the realm to find them when they were still a bunch of mad mages holed up in some tower studying the Dark Arts of the Metaverse. I'll just sneak on in and make myself at home, especially if the drinks are on the house and the doors are still unlocked.

You should be welcome, Gerakken...you're an honorary member! LOL

Theoden. Good luck on the huge/maso.

Vincible. I just finished a large/maso pacifist game. I did not allow myself warships including transports/combat transports so no invading the minors or any military rushes. It was fun but it was harder since I couldn't take out the minors with alpha strikes to gain a foothold for culture bombing. My point is that we can make it harder/more challenging for ourselves right now if we wish, without Stardock taking a risk of getting anything wrong (like they did IMO when they nerfed subcrippling scores comparing 1.10 to 1.05).

If you don't think using 1 IP is legit, then you are welcome to play the game without using IP. It's that simple and there is no reason 3 weeks after 1.10 is out to make it harder for the vast majority of sub-maso players who want to give the current 1.10A version of maso a try.

If someone thinks diplomacy or populists are too good of picks, then don't pick them and try to win without diplomacy boosts (good luck). We just need to keep it fun so we keep playing. I don't feel strongly about this (as long as Stardock doesn't totally nerf diplomacy) but I still remember when I thought I would NEVER ever be able to play maso. I would prefer we see more folks playing maso before we lobby Stardock to make it harder. If everyone played as well as the top 25 in the masoverse, I would feel differently.

PS The personal profile score goes up when submitting a game today but the metaverse score remains unchanged. Did this just start today?

PPS Looks like Cotal took the masoverse lead as per the personal profile. Ray, you are always number one in my book. Hope you are enjoying neverwinter nights.

Rick,

Some weird things have happened to the Metaverse since they changed servers. Try logging off and then back on and refreshing all the pages. I had to do that to fix what I was seeing.

I think Stardock is working on it on there end as well.

Good job on the pacifist Maso!! That's incredible!

Thanks Theoden. I logged off and on and refreshed but the metaverse listing is still paralyzed and won't acknowledge that I gave it a 70th game. The personal profile and the overlord scores in empire listings update ok. Ohers have this problem too (there is a thread) so I guess it is not just at my end and Stardock will probably fix it soon. That was really smart of you to save that anomalous game. Hope it submits OK on 1.11.

Saw a really great movie last night, "Hurricane" a biography of Rubin, "Hurricane" Carter, an American prize-fighter. Right now there is time to start a new Gal Civ game, play some spades (cards) online, and watch the 'making of' and director's commentary of Hurricane: Special Edition tonight. Talk to everyone tomorrow.

Rick,
Congrats on the game. I think you're back up to #3 by player score. Hopefully Stardock will update those servers soon and you'll have your bronze back!

About the IP gifts. I do see this as a bug, because you get something for nothing. Imagine if you could hit control-I and improve relations with all the AIs, without penalty to his civilization or to his score. If some player found that such a cheat code was active, it would universally be considered a bug. Gifting single influence points is completely equivalent to this--there is absolutely no difference from a gameplay standpoint, not that I can see anyway.

The people who want a way to ease into maso can do so anyway. There are the official cheat codes--that's what they're there for.

Now granted, it is a single player game, and I don't have to do anything I don't want to, but as long as Stardock is maintaining a Metaverse they ought to make some effort to eliminate the most easily exploitable bugs.

vincible - re Civ3: admittedly, I never scaled the heights of the most difficult levels so my opinion there was based on lower level play. I dont recall any obvious scoring bias in the paths for victory, though, and I think that was the point I was alluding to above. I guess it really only applies to the likes of us, who are 'hardcore' Metaverse players seeking to advance our board score. A 'non-Meta' player can play on Painful or Crippling for tech victory and enjoy themselves forever. It's the relatively small group of hardcore Meta players who are having their choices reduced, in a sense.

The influence issue is also a matter of degree. I am a devout influence player, and I think it is perfectly reasonable that I can ingratiate myself with the AIs...until I am ready to OWN them . Greasing the palms of your opponents to keep them onside while you insidiously white-ant their social structure and turn them to your way of thinking is just plain fun...and a time-honoured strategy in world politics - just ask the CIA It's the cost of such manipulation that is the issue - and ONE influence point is too low a price to buy a state change (eg Neutral to Warm) in reality. Having said that, I'm not sure what the 'right' price is - 100 pts, or 500 pts - but I just dont think this process should be closed down completely, because it DOES represent a valid strategy. Excessive nerfing of diplomacy/influence removes it, and reduces choices in the game.

Mmm... what I meant was that in Civ3 the cultural route was horrifically boring on low levels and impossible on the high ones. Maybe others disagree, I didn't play the game all that much before moving on. I don't remember anything about scoring in Civ3, because since there was no Metaverse there was no reason to care.

I do like influence in Galciv a lot--it's a big part of what makes this game different from (and better than!) other 4X games.

Well, I lost my Maso game. Everything was going perfectly until the stupid Fundamentalists popped in and wiped out the Arceans and severely reduced the Altarians, and Drengin. The Yor were basically weak anyway, but they had just gone through an "alignment change" event and were good, so they lost nothing. The Torians made out like bandits though. I had everybody at war with everybody else and the Torians didn't lose anything to the Fundies. Well, the Torians cut through the Altarians and Drengin like a hot knife through butter and suddenly they controlled about 80% of the galaxy. With their newfound power, they immediately went to war with me and wiped me out. All this happened in the space of about 15 turns. (:(

With the disappointment and frustration fresh in my mind, I decided to start a Huge/Crippling and pay the Torians back. For some reason, I changed to Abundant so the colonization phase is just ending. So far, I seem to be competitive. I'm just hoping the stupid Fundamentalists don't ruin this game like they did my Maso.

Oh, yeah...good morning everybody! LOL

Welcome to the Fellowship, Diplomatic Translator.

I'm currently serving my country now for about 2 1/2 weeks.
It's part of our obligation as male Singaporean citizens to serve in the military a couple of weeks a year for at least 13 years after our 2 1/2 year full-time military service.

Obviously won't be able to visit the forum as often as before but I'll still pop in when I'm able to.

~SDC~

Go do your duty, Ray. We'll hold down the fort here!

Theoden: wipe them out...all of them (oops wrong thread). Anyway - kick them back to where they belong. vincible - yep; GalCiv still provides the most playable and workable modelling of influence and diplomacy in a game you can finish in an evening, definately one reason I'm still playing.

Do they call you Ambassador, too, Ray?

Welcome to the Fellowship, Diplomatic Translator! I've added you to our Roster page on our website. http://www.angelfire.com/rings/fellowshipgalciv/roster.htm

Wombie, yeah. I'm going to be roasting aliens over the burning remains of their starships.

Ray- Good Luck with you time. I would like to know what you do. I was in the USAF as a computer technician and then got some college and went into the USA as an Infantry office. Thats where the CAPT comes from.

We will make sure that the Fellowshuip is keep safe in your time awsay.

Theoden - Sorry to here about the lost maso. I just completed my first normal and it took forever. I am going to try small maps for awhile to get up to the next level. Once I have something figured out then I will try a large map before moving up more.

I keep reading and learning what to expect at the higher levels. Hopefully I can get up there quicker from learning what does and does not work.

Theoden, sorry to hear that. Sometimes a bad event happens and there's just nothing you can do about it :/

Welcome, Diplomatic Translator!

Yeah, the Fundamentalist event can make or break a game. I've had the Fundies make a game too easy before, too. Honestly, I don't think I would've enjoyed that Maso game if the Torians would've got slaughtered along with the Drengin and Altarians. Of course, losing isn't very enjoyable either! LOL

Oh, well. That's what makes this game so great is it's unpredictablity. You never know when an empire is going to start whooping your butt...

I'm going to go get some mods to spice up the game. Anyone have any favorites they'd like to suggest?

Anything by me or Nand1.

Only problem is, the main one of mine I'd recommend hasn't gotten approved yet, since Cari looked at them while she was compiling but the compiler finished before she got done looking at it

Celeborne,

I'm a Lieutenant in an Air Defense Battalion. We operate the Mistral (French) system - a passive infra-red seeking missie.

Spent a large part of yesterday in drills to recognise aircraft in our region. Basically it involves recognising aircraft at about 1km shown on slides every 4 secs.

~SDC~

Ray,

Congrats on that shiny silver medal...er...

You're a staggeringly important part of this Forum and the Metaverse, and we look forward to any contributions that you have the time to work in. Good luck.

Theoden:



Despite the fact that your game came crashing down around your ears, the thought of the Fundies going after the Altarians has to be worth a laugh. EBZ would be proud.

Look at my 'Weather Control Pack', and then tell me what you think of it(in the Mod forum, of course).

Ray, I admire anyone who is serving their country. It matters not which service or how important the job. I pray that your duty is not creating too much of a hardship upon your lifestyle.