Gerakken

Reply to Metaverse Reset Anyone? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

I have always been a strong supporter of a standardized score system, but instead we got a continual cycle of score inflation. First, my thinking of several months ago was that maybe the older games could be converted into the newer standards with some kind of script, since the raw data is kept. That is not going to likely happen. My thoughts now are a limited Metaverse reset wiping out all games before whenever the last major score overhaul was (or is if it is still going on). In Ye Olde Days,

Reply to Difficulty Levels Revealed in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

As most of you empiring types know from the Empires forum chatter, there is a player run competition set for the month of March called the Clone Wars. Teams of up to three empires each are temporarily allying (but not merging) to combine their raw game scores in several categories in an epic contest. The normal twice monthly timing of the Difficulty Report will be changed to suit that event. The special Clone Wars Difficulty Report schedule (with a plus or minus one day margin): Feb. 29

Reply to Evil Empire's infernal thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]For example, just look at what happened to GROSS.[/quote] [quote]Yeah that was a while ago but they at least made it to top dog position. [/quote] And why do you think we pirates were the original empire of evil deeds in the Meta? Because we are tough SOB's who were willing to get there by hook or crook and still don't know the meaning of the word quit even after a couple of major Meta shake-ups. So get back out there and make us proud to be associated with evil. Yes, it may

Reply to Battleship vs. Death Knight in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Some people are willing to pay a lot for a slight qualitative edge. Not a bad choice in a combat system where a three point difference between attack power and the defender's strength could mean a near total walkover for the higher side. (If hit points are similar, of course.) In a high military resource/tech bonus game with no imminent emergencies requiring lots of ships fast, a Deathknight is worth it. In a low bonus game, or one where you are really outnumbered and need ships fast, the faster

Reply to Really enjoying this game! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Both the game and the Galciv community have only gotten better over time. I am sure you will find your stay enjoyable, but be warned: many of us old timers are doomed, I say, doomed to roam these halls! There is no escape, but we don't mind. :)

Reply to Cultural victory question in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Culture victory has a couple of catches to it. One, you must not be at war with any major race. Two, you have to be so many years into the game to win this way. I forget the exact minimum year. It has been a little while.

Reply to Some major empire alignments revealed! in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The reports have been through a lot of changes over the many months. Although each is only a snapshot out of a moment in Metaverse time, they show how much things have changed and remained the same. Nine of the profiled empires are still in the top 10. That is the stayed the same part. But the changes within some of those same profiled empires have been radical. The Republic totally changed form into the Jedi Republic and empires like GROSS and ANZAC underwent major internal reforms due to vario

Reply to G.R.O.S.S. communication thread. in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The Book of GROSS, page 147: Verily, the faithful still come. The old ways die hard, and the pirates' love for the Queen of Beasts is still strong. The Sea of Stars is always a harsh place, but so long as there is alcohol to loot and aliens to cook there will always be a place for Threadzilla.

Reply to Difficulty Levels Revealed in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Gerakken calls his two loyal Yor espionage droids to his side. "Fog, Shadow, I know that huge backlogs of old empire data and the Euro security system nearly drove you batty and ate up a lot of processor time, but I am not even caught up with half the empires I need to be! Who knows what the unspied ones are plotting. This is a dangerous situation! OK, we go back to the basics. We have recent files on the 100 most dangerous overlords. Track them and they will lead us to their associates. Then we

Reply to Mars . . . when? why? how? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Robots have a lot of potential, I have to agree. Their requirements are a lot less than what we fragile humans need. The robot only needs power and instructions inside of a forgiving set of engineering parameters in regard to temperature, gravity, and weather conditions, where we need to be provided with all sorts of things both physical and psychological in nature. The problem is that there are some things a robot cannot simply do yet. Humans have a lot of needs, but also a wide variet

Reply to Mid-West Confederation communication & recruiting thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The corn fields are littered with spam and irreverant people. At least I try to sneak around here in a low-impact manner (most of the time, that is) and respect the hallowed ground of the MWC. Now the constant tractor pull competitions bring hordes of tourists who totally trash the place with noise and litter. Oh, the travesty of it all! Where, o where can the old MWC be? The empire with the older colonization date than my very own beloved empire? (Gerakken sneaks back into the shadows to steal

Reply to European Empire Update in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Unfortunately, Fog and Shadow both agreed they would rather be reprogrammed as food processors than to break complex ciphers. (Those Yor always were lazy!) This left me in a bind, as the Spymaster specializes in low tech, human-intensive methods and the best manual codebreaking he can do is multiple substitution codes involving a standard 26 letter Engligh character set. So it looks like the Euros more sensitive documents are still safe for the moment. Unless I get a lucky moment of inebriated c

Reply to European Empire Update in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Gerakken summons one of his trusty Yor espionage droids to his side. "Fog, I am having a difficult time penetrating the Euro comm network to catch up after my long trip." "Sorry, Spymaster. They are using a simple but effective countermeasures technique: their system is jammed with form data. Millions upon millions of forms. Long, intricate forms, many of which are nearly identical, but each having to go through a separate channel to get processed and then the processed forms are passed

Reply to T h e - C a r i E l f - f a n c l u b in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Just when I finally come here to catch up on things at the Temple, it moves! Bad enough infidel hackers dared disturb the deities recently, now all life on Skowbo changes! Chaos, pandemonium, the End Times are here! (Gerakken runs in panic mode, straight to the other forum.)

Reply to Drag race anyone in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Speed is one UP issue I never disagree with. Makes resource hijacking safer and easier when some poor alien loses a resource. And there are other uses for speedy constructors as well. Throw in Eyes of the Universe with a decent UP speed boost, and it can become a ship faster than a scout to lead the enemy on a merry chase while getting all that sector data. Fast enough to stay alive to thread its way through hostile space later to fulfill its primary mission and build bases deep behind enemy lin

Reply to Mid-West Confederation communication & recruiting thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

What is this? I come to tread the fields after a long leave and find that not only is our entire board a changin', but Jedi have hijacked the tractors. Back in the day, the mighty MWC could well hold its own verses marauding pirates and wily spellcasters. Now the clone wars have hit the corn fields, looting and raiding seemingly at will! I think too many in the MWC are sleepin' off the corn whiskey and not guarding the barns. And farmers should always check their fields in winter, fallow or not.

Reply to Ummm...Cari? in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

What? Someone dares defile the board itself? Holy ground has been violated, and not only the Knights of Skowbo but the Temple deities themselves must go forth and defend the Meta. To do this requires help from the masses, and it truly must be a divine plan to make us all equal in rank. To think, no more having to worry about being a Veteran or have any pretentious thoughts of that ever elusive Diplomat rank. We are all soldiers for now! For however good or bad that may turn out to be... [Me

Reply to Difficulty Levels Revealed in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

The Spymaster has heard the Summons and has returned to the know sectors of Meta space. I have been away for a long time for some messy reasons (explained elsewhere), and am basically still trying to grasp the changes that have occured during my leave. One thing I have been noticing right off the bat is that we now all wear shields at the end of our medals. Wear them proud, no matter what level they be. Those shield remind me that I still have a job to do, and Gerakken's job is to spy o

Reply to G.R.O.S.S. communication thread. in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Gerakken is now back to prowling the shadows of known Meta space. Just don't expect much right now. I return to see many changes not only in empires, but the very structure of the Meta itself. Catching up on all of this could take some time. So, I come first to the Galciv thread I always return to, Threadzilla, despite changes on the board that might alter the mighty Beast of Threads herself. As for myself, a lot has happened and I have been away so long that I believe I owe some sort o

Reply to Difficulty Levels Revealed in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

It was the week before Christmas And the Spymaster is still gone. Travelling, visiting, reflecting, Nearly oblivious to what else is going on. The Meta is surely a busy place while Gerakken is away. But he will not return until soon after New Year's Day.

Reply to G.R.O.S.S. communication thread. in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

*In the middle of going underground to accomplish his holiday missions, Gerakken decides to peek in on Pirate Central.* I wonder how Santa is going to treat us pirates. We can't say we have been good this year, that is for sure. But maybe the brandy fudge and fine whiskey we leave out in the observation lounge will score us more points than cookies and milk. And maybe if turn the table and left him some presents as well. Hmmm. I wonder how GROSS porn videos would go over with the elves

Reply to Mid-West Confederation communication & recruiting thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

[quote]Alcohol?????????? Sheeeeshhhhhhhhhhhhhh you are spoiling the children that come to this place [/quote] Of course. It is better to corrupt them early. This way they can either become real hellions sooner and hopefully then mellow out earlier in adulthood than they normally would or else get scared straight from the start. So sayeth Gerakken, who is luckily NOT a child psychologist. :D

Reply to European Empire Update in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Don't fall for those Jedi mind tricks, and start being wary if the forms change too much. Those Jedi administrative droids could start playing dirty and jam the Euro communication network with fake forms. Also, there is no GROSS-Jedi plot. The actions of one notorious renegade agent who happens to show special favor to the pirates makes for no imperial plot. GROSS pirates are still ruthlessly plundering both the Euros and Jedi ships. At least the ones they can catch these days... :)

Reply to Jedi Republic Communication Thread in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Emperor G-Force looked upon the might of the Colonial Defense fleet. The Jedi had bigger classes of ships and strange technology unknown to the traditional Euro military mind, but the Euros had numbers and experience. That would have to carry the day. Sad to say, there have been problems with the initial Euro counter-offensive. The blockade of Tatooine was most impressive, as any military observer would agree. It was ruthless and efficient. Nothing got in or out. Unfortunately, Euro commanders s

Reply to G.R.O.S.S. communication thread. in Galactic Civilizations I Stardock Forums

Gerakken has been lying low in his safe house more than usual. This end of year madness with work, family, travel, and Christmas hijinks is all adding up. So I will be kind of scarce in the Meta until sanity returns roughly January 5th.