Who gives an EyesOfNight about PBEM?

[Eyes_Of_Night]

Seriously, PBEM isn't even really MP.

[rah]

Yes, the lack of interaction during your turn and the things that you have to do to tweak it, really makes it something completely different. I personally have no interest. But different strokes for different strokes.

RAH
And seeing the plathora of responses that he's had, lead me to believe that it might have done better in the strategy forum.

[SlowwHand]

I don't play PBEM, but it's MP.
And the sun doesn't rise and set on what you like, Eyes.
Take a chill pill.

[Smash]

Not everyone has the time for real time play and long term games are almost non existant.
PBEM is a nice alternative to boring old solo play and very condusive to games going to an actual finish.Also,you can play many scenarios this way which would be a nightmare trying to play real time.Nobody wants to sit while Joe moves 300+ units in ZWK for example.

Just another way to enjoy the greatest game ever made...so far

[atawa]

I missed the 'Eyes shut the **** up you stupid *****' option

[Hydey]

If that option was available none of the others would get a vote

[SlowwHand]

No lie. That's about as standard as "Banana", and makes as much sense.

[DrFell]

I tried PBEM for scenarios, because the longer turns make them unplayable in real MP. But everyone takes so long to actually do their turns, I mean you'd think everyone would have maybe 20 mins in a 3 day period to spare on a game. But no, people disappear for over a week with no notification, and need tons of PMs just to play their turn. Other players drop out all the time too, so it's just too much of a pain in the arse generally. I tried getting into 6 different games, only one is still running.

[DrSpike]

I played a PBEM SMAC game once. It was hell, an experience never to be repeated. But many enjoy PBEM..............let's be a little tolerant of real factors that may lead some to play their MP by PBEM. At least they aren't stuck playing the AI. I vote for atawa's option.

[Flatlander Fox]

Only thing I play PBEM is Diplomacy, only because you can't RELOAD that particular game.

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by DrSpike
I vote for atawa's option.

So do I - which makes 5. I wonder if a write-in has ever won a poll before.

If not Eyes will be making history again.

[SlowThinker]

(SlowThinker, walking around timorously)

[Scouse Gits]

Originally posted by SlowThinker
(SlowThinker, walking around timorously)

Why the h*ll should you?!
The atawa option

PBEM is MP - the only sort I can play - it has its faults, but is a lot more conducive to RL - unfortunately when you pass the teens there is a lot of RL around!!!

SG[1]

[SlowThinker]

SG, you don't know my perverted "humor"?

I have voted, unfortunately in the moment when I noticed a lot of "atawa votes" and started to feel for Eyes.
Go back to your tomb, SlowThinker!

[Straybow]

PBEM isn't that different from a succession game, in terms of interaction, etc. Never tried; I guess you handle diplomacy via email during your turn?

Anyway, I'd vote for atawa's write-in.

[SlowThinker]

Straybow,
I am getting some useful information how the PBEM works here:
PBEM questions (Ctrl-N, SP mode, confidence...)
PBEM policies

[Chris 62]

I play both, PBEM is MP, better in a lot of ways, it's impossible to play many scenarios in real time (as mentioned), in fact, I'm playing a real time MP as I post this, yet I'm also in three PBEM games that have lasted over a year also.
I rarely have time for MP these days, but a turn every few days in several games is managable.

The trick is finding reliable opponents.

I see that SG (1) now enjoys this, you have to try the better scenarios, the one that come with fantastic words and conflicts are rather primitive and poorly balenced.

[SlowThinker]

I consider scenarios that are usually played as very laborious with my perfectionist style of playing: there is too much of cities. I don't like to micromanage 20 or more cities.

[Straybow]

Twenty or more cities… I'm trying to remember a game where I didn't build way more than 20 cities. Of course, I don't MP (yet).

[Eyes_Of_Night]

Have you guys ever seen Slowthinker play? There is a damn good reason his name is slowthinker!! He's just plain ****ing stupid and he posts the way he does because he makes a failed attempt at sounding intelligent!!! I got through about 3 turns with him before I quit. 3 turns took 10 minutes!! Now what can anyone do in the first 3 turns? Seriously. Does it really take that long to move your unit 1 square? Is it really that difficult to hit the B button? Then he sits there and talks about his algorithms and how the game of civ is ruled by them and all this other bullshit in a desperate attempt to prove that he really does have some glimmer of intelligence. I pity anyone that watches him "micro" his 3 cities for 20min each turn.

[Straybow]

1. Construct an eight sided die for use in chosing movement direction. Carving one from a discarded scrap of wood will do, but ancient traditions used bone. Certain animals were preferred, and specific bones were considered more potent for augury purposes. Coal, rock salt, and even peat are acceptable as well. Stone is contraindicated because of excessive effort required. Soap carving is more of a curiosity, but if no other raw materials are available soap is likely found in the home, office, library, or most other locations one is likely to be playing Civilization in one of its incarnations.
   ***Consult appropriate articles in Encyclopædia Britannica for more detailed information about traditional dice as tools for augury and carving in various materials. Some practice may be required. A careful craftsman can make an irregular die that favors diagonal movement or orthogonal movement, if a priori weighting is desireable.
2. If using a numbered die you must decide what coordinate system is to be used for determining direction. Most frequently either North is chosen as the Datum and direction is considered as incremental steps away from North (with "8" coming around full circle to the Datum) or North is chosen as the ordinal origin (direction "1"). Also, a standard positive rotation must be decided upon, with Clockwise being by far the favorite.
   ***Alternately, you might have labeled your die faces with symbols for the cardinal points and first order subcardinal points of the compass. While this limits the usefulness of the die in other situations, at least it removes one aspect of confusion when randomizing movement on the game map.
3. Roll the die from step 1, reading the side facing upwards as the die result.
4. A coin toss, or another roll of the die from step 1 using an even-odd, or high-low, etc., decision basis, can determine which of the two Settlers units to move. Remember to keep the "top" unit and "bottom" unit straight in your mind, as they will be indistinguishable as "top" or "bottom" once moved.
5. Move the selected Settler in the direction indicated. If the Settlers unit has not exhausted its movement allowance (eg, the unit is on a river and has moved along the river) another roll of the directional decision die may be taken, or the unit may be moved until its movement allowance is exhausted.
   ***While it may sound silly to instruct the player to move the unit(s), by this time some events in the player's environment may have distracted the player from the purpose at hand.
6. Repeat the process of steps 3 and 5 for the second Settlers unit.

While some situations may lend to another decision process (eg, choosing a city location or the "tipping" of a "hut," qqv), it is left to the player to devise some means winnowing the alternatives down to a manageable size (ie, a number of choices that corresponds to the number of faces on a die type which the player can produce or has produced already).

[Cyrion]

Straybow

Exactly the way I play...

[SlowThinker]

Eyes, I will explain you something:

There may arise situations in the life of a man when he don't understand another man at all. The reason is that their intelligences are far apart. The problem is that the man can never find out who is that more intelligent and who is less intelligent. Both situations always appear identically. Unfortunately.
People interpret these situations in different ways. Some individuals tends to rate others as stupid for example.

It may be surprising that people with lower IQ tends to keep their self-image higher than people with higher IQ. But this is natural: they need to help their self-confidence.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by EyesOfNight
Have you guys ever seen Slowthinker play? There is a damn good reason his name is slowthinker!! He's just plain ****ing stupid and he posts the way he does because he makes a failed attempt at sounding intelligent!!! I got through about 3 turns with him before I quit. 3 turns took 10 minutes!! Now what can anyone do in the first 3 turns? Seriously. Does it really take that long to move your unit 1 square? Is it really that difficult to hit the B button? Then he sits there and talks about his algorithms and how the game of civ is ruled by them and all this other bullshit in a desperate attempt to prove that he really does have some glimmer of intelligence. I pity anyone that watches him "micro" his 3 cities for 20min each turn.

[DrSpike]

@ Straybow, Slowthinker & Slow. Wow, a busy morning I see.

[rah]

As much as I think Eyes rants just for the love of Rants, in general his complaint is valid. (I am not validating any personal complaints here)

I too have to wonder what the F someone is doing when their first few turns take multiple minutes. Granted, which direction to move is important, but it's not rocket science. I saw one person that had already placed their two cities, and hadn't gotten a unit yet (detectable through demos) and their turn still took over a minutes. WHAT WAS HE DOING?

Sometimes it's so bad that I just think the person must be saving the map and loading it on another machine to peek, since any other possible explanation isn't credible.

RAH

[SlowwHand]

Don't get me wrong, I've complained about, oh let's use Strat as an example, of players moving at the speed of an iceberg.
It's just that Eyes can be, well, you know.

[SlowThinker]

I too have to wonder what the F someone is doing when their first few turns take multiple minutes.

Now I will complain about you are complaining.

Simply agree with the opponents about the game speed or set the time limit. Or don't play with slow people. It is easy.

Granted, which direction to move is important, but it's not rocket science.

For me the starting position is very interesting and in the SP I am prepared to think one hour about it. Seriously.

(And be sure I warned Eyes before our game.)

[Eyes_Of_Night]

In other words he's so dumb that he thinks he's being intelligent by analyzing simple things but fails to see that this only portrays him as a complete idiot. He's one of those people that will try to master most minute thing so he can say he is good at the game even though he really truly sucks. It's kind of like AOK he told me about how he knew all the tech costs and how nobody else knew them like he does and how he was so proud of it. Like anyone gives a **** about how much the paladin upgrade costs? You're an idiot, you suck at computer games, deal with it and move on with your life.

[Ming]

Hey eyes... it's ok to question a playing style... call strategies stupid... but let's lay low on the personal attacks...

Anybody that claims they might need an hour to figure out which way to move their first settler has said all that is needed