TEAM GAME ANYONE? Signup here.

johndmuller · June 3, 2002, 18:26

I'm looking to start one or more informal team games with three teams of two factions each or possibly two teams of two or three factions each, whatever people want. I will be happy to sort out players and teams and get some games started.

I am imagining a large map with more or less standard PBEM settings and rules with either meet-in-the-game before you can trade, or not as preferred by the players. Naturally, those specs and the other stuff also are negotiable, but hopefully without too much time spent discussing the setup.

Please indicate whether or not you prefer SMAC or SMAX, what your faction preferences are and whether or not you would be OK with random faction assignment.

Either pre-formed teams or unteamed welcome.

Volunteer(s) for CMN also would be appreciated.

Chaunk · June 3, 2002, 23:23

Myself and Krysia's Krusader would like to sign up as one team. This means the game has to be SMAC as KK has no SMAX.

My faction preferences are: Uni, Gaia, PK. I guess KK will come along later and scribe his down.

Random factions would be ok I guess, but, if random is chosen, it would be nice if each team had one builder and one momentum faction. and each team decides who plays which faction.

[edit: Submitted before I was finished... Doh!]

KrysiasKrusader · June 4, 2002, 00:14

Chaunk, if you want to play the UoP, it's not a good idea to look dumb in your posting !

SMAC only.

I would prefer 3 teams of 2 factions.

Random factions, either/or is fine.

Unlike my partner ,Chaunk, I don't mind builder/builder or other combos !

Googlie · June 4, 2002, 02:04

I'd be willing to CMN

G.

Chaunk · June 4, 2002, 08:38

Quote:

Chaunk, if you want to play the UoP, it's not a good idea to look dumb in your posting !

It was 4:30 in the morning, I think I'm allowed to make some mistakes

Darsnan · June 4, 2002, 13:20

OK, I'm taking Gaians before someone else does, and I'm pretty sure I've already got a partner! This is going to be a lot of fun!

Qantaga · June 4, 2002, 15:44

Nice idea, johndmuller. It looks like there may be enough interest for a few games.

shadowlord3 and I would like to be a team. We can play either SMAC or SMAC/X.

We don't care which factions we get as long as they are assigned in a fair manner. Perhaps, once we get the lineup of each game a faction "draft" can be held or we could leave it up to the CMN to assign factions.

I know that we are all in very good hands with Googlie volunteering to CMN for us.

My e-mail is: Qantaga@aol.com

johndmuller · June 4, 2002, 18:49

Assuming that everyone so far is willing to play SMAC, we have enough to get started. I am the partner that Darsnan alluded to, so the teams would be:
1) Chaunk and KrysiasKrusader;
2) Qantaga and Shadowlord3; and
3) Darsnan and JohnDMuller.

Random faction assignment is OK with me, but on the off chance that we can just pick them and all be happy, I'm going to suggest that we give that a try first, to save us figuring out how to randomize the assignments. If anyone is unhappy with this process or results, we will go with the random.

So far we have - Chaunk wants Uni; Darsnan wants Gaia.
Given that, I'd be willing to take either Yang or Santi.
That leaves KK, Qantaga and Shadowlord3 with Lal, Morgan, Miriam and (Yang or Santi); seems like some possibilities there, so it might work OK.

So if KK, Qantaga and Shadowlord3 would be kind enough to chime in, we can see whether or not the 4 of us can work it out.

Regarding email addresses, I have the following ones; please check your's out to see if it is OK and/or send one in.
1) I have Chaunk #1 & Chaunk #2;
2) I have one for KrysiasKrusader;
3) I have one for Qantaga;
4) I have Shadowlord #1 & Shadowlord #2;
5) I have one for Darsnan;
6) Mine is John's email address.

I'd vote for having to meet your partner (and anyone else of course) in the game before establishing relations or trading anything in-game although I would allow email coordination [including faction location info] between partners. Naturally, these are open to discussion.

Qantaga · June 4, 2002, 19:15

Here's my suggestion.

shadowlord3 and I would like Yang. Then, we will let KK choose between Lal, Morgan and Miriam. We will make our choice between the two that are left over.

That would mean:

Darsnan/johndmuller: Gaia and Sparta
Chaunk/KK: Uni and Lal/Morgan/Miriam (first dibs)
shadowlord3/Qantaga: Yang and Lal/Morgan/Miriam (second choice)

---------
Edited to say that I would be more than happy to let Googlie assign factions for us if even one of us feels they are getting a faction they don't want.

Chaunk · June 4, 2002, 19:17

My email address. I'm absolutly fine with either random or selected factions. Having to meet each other sounds ok too.

Qantaga · June 4, 2002, 19:25

Oh, and my two cents on the communications issue.

There are really three ways to go:

1. Open commlink communication between teammates from the start. Teams would begin coordinating tech from the very beginning.

2. As johndmuller suggested, teammates could not communicate until they meet in-game. In this scenario, the CMN would most likely place the teammate's factions in close proximity on the map. However, with e-mail communication allowed, this would soon turn into a race to "meet you at square (x,y)". The Spartan team would have an early edge in this situation.

3. The CMN could scatter the teams across the map, so that there were opposing factions between the teammates. That would make eventual commlink communication perilous and some teams may never even get to talk at all before one of their factions is eradicated.

Personally, I prefer open communication between teammates from year 1. To me, this embodies the spirit of a team game.

However, it is only my preference and I am more than happy to go along with the majority.

Chaunk · June 4, 2002, 19:54

To my mind, I would prefer 1 or 2. What would be the point in a team game where you may not get to contact your team mate?

Qantaga · June 4, 2002, 20:01

Chaunk, I agree with you, I just wanted to point out one possible consequence of not having immediate contact with your teammate.

shadowlord3 · June 4, 2002, 20:16

My e-mail addresses are dmshadowlord3@yahoo.com and shadowlords@columbus.rr.com. I use both and which ever one is working the best at the time.

I dont care what faction I play or if we choose or go random. My vote would be to choose factions so everyone is happy.

If this is a team game I vote for open communication from the beginning with your partner. This makes it fair for all teams.

SL3

johndmuller · June 4, 2002, 20:31

I'm OK with the faction selection so far; much as I like the Chairman, the Colonel will be a welcome change. So the ball is now in KK's court.

As to the commlink/pacting question, I'm willing to let it come out however it comes out, but I do like the notion of trading commlinks as a valuable commodity; it would be interesting to see how much they were worth to someone (that would seem to favor choice 3). Since I seem to be headed for Sparta (and my partner the Gaians), it would behoove me not to pick option 1

. The main drawback I see in the search for the commlinks is that one team could get very lucky or unlucky relative to the rest and it would greatly influence the outcome. A possible solution to that would be to have a prearranged date (say 2140) after which everyone would be deemed to have the commlinks. I'm currently playing a game where 3 players have 2 teams each and the AI player (a beefed up Yang) got the links and called an election well before then, making this somewhat of a moot point. It looks like a consensus is building for Option 1, however, so unless there is a late groundswell for the others, I guess we will end up going that way.

Speaking of beefing up, if Googli wanted to do it, it would be fine with me.

Chaunk · June 4, 2002, 20:35

Are we planning on leaving the lone AI in then or eliminating them?

Darsnan · June 4, 2002, 20:39

I prefer open comm link with your team mate from the start, as this then can lead to some different/ concerted strategies by pactmates ( I know I want to tell my pactmate immediately how I plan on playing the first 50 turns of the game, and what I plan on driving for techwise), as well as some real double entente's by our enigmatic CMN! Imagine trading world maps with your pactmate, realizing that physically "linking up" is a viable option. You and your pactmate start striving towards this goal, and lo and behold the Nexus/ Ruins/ Unity lies right between you! Happy Days! But wait, all of a sudden two other factions stumble into the Nexus/ Ruins/ Unity just about the same time as you do, trying to link up as well! And thats just one scenario of an absolute knockdown/ dragout fight that I was able to come up with: imagine what Googlie will have in store for us!

Personally speaking (I played in a Googlie game "Renegades" over at CGN where it was two teams of two against each other, and we had communications with our pactmates right from the start) I imagine that even with the advantage of initial communication with your pactmate, that Googlie will easily be able to negate this advantage, as well as set traps for the unwary!
The other side of the coin is that by having the comm freq's right from the start, then nobody has reason to be concerned/ suspicious of other teams either sharing info in game, or talking offline. This is a game: lets have fun!

D

Darsnan · June 4, 2002, 20:49

Quote:

Originally posted by Chaunk
Are we planning on leaving the lone AI in then or eliminating them?

If its anything like the AI Googlie put into "Teddy Bears Picnic", then I'd say yes, leave it in! The AI's power graph lead in that game is intimidating, to say the least: all 4 humans in that game are pancakes compared to the AI, and we have been "walking on eggs", so to speak, in our explorations of that Planet so far! FYI.

D

KrysiasKrusader · June 4, 2002, 21:45

Wow what a discussion !

So what's my choice for faction again ?

If the Gains are still available, I'll take them.

Darsnan · June 4, 2002, 21:50

Quote:

Originally posted by KrysiasKrusader
If the Gains are still available, I'll take them.

Gaians!!!! G-a-i-a-n-s !!!!!

Anyways, I called Gaians earlier today. FYI.

D

KrysiasKrusader · June 4, 2002, 21:59

What !?? You always take the Gaings !

Okay, okay... I'll talk with my partner.

Back in a few minutes...

KrysiasKrusader · June 4, 2002, 22:15

Allright, I think I've got it sorted out.

I'm gonna be representing the Planetary Government as the Peace Keepers.

Right ?

Googlie · June 4, 2002, 23:02

So, If i have read correctly, the teams are:

Darsnan (Gaians) & johndmuller (Sparta)
Chaunk (UoP) & KK (Peacekeepers)
shadowlord3 (Hive) & Qantaga (Morgan)

It'll be a challenge to make the Believers a decent faction as I have done with TBP's Morgan, so there may or may not be an AI as the playtest dictates

Large map, average everything, spoils on, random off, all winning conditions on, team commlinks from the start.

How about monoliths? Recently, for skill games, I've been disabling techs and AA's - make you research, trade or steal the techs, and not be a random luck factor. same with AA's. They tend to favor the Gaians and Cult with their 3-tile mindworms' movement, and the Pirates and Spartans to a lesser extent with their increased mobility.

G.

Qantaga · June 4, 2002, 23:21

Googlie, I do like the idea of you disabling techs and AAs from pods.

It would not bother me at all if you eliminated Miriam, but I trust your game judgement implicitly.

As for our factions, there is a chance that shadowlord3 and I might switch the Hive and Morgan, but I will let you know by tomorrow morning at the latest. Hopefully, that won't slow things down.

Qantaga · June 5, 2002, 00:15

Googlie, please switch our factions around. shadowlord3 will play Morgan and I will play the Hive.

Thanks.

johndmuller · June 5, 2002, 01:54

I like monoliths, I'm 50/50 on the AA's (I like to use them to help build SP's) and it wouldn't bother me if you got rid of the techs from pods. I likewise am willing to leave the question of Miriam up to Googlie - who seems to have the specs figured out OK as far as I can tell. Thanks, Googlie

.

I edited my earlier post to include the email addresses I didn't know before, so they should all be good (assuming I didn't make any mistakes or use outdated info).

Googlie · June 5, 2002, 08:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Googlie
How about monoliths? Recently, for skill games, I've been disabling techs and AA's - make you research, trade or steal the techs, and not be a random luck factor. same with AA's. They tend to favor the Gaians and Cult with their 3-tile mindworms' movement, and the Pirates and Spartans to a lesser extent with their increased mobility.

oops - I didn't mean monoliths, I meant Unity Seed Pods

Usually I give the start position a monolith to hjelp kickstart the HQ, and often I'll plop a monolith close to a resource tile in likely base #2 and base #3 positions

And, of course, if techs and AA's are disabled from seed pods, the likelihood of popping a monolith increases as well

G.

johndmuller · June 5, 2002, 15:11

So I guess everyone is happy with this. so Googlie, you can take it away (if you already haven't, that is

). Thanks again.

smhfan86 · June 5, 2002, 18:08

oh, oh, could i play miriam. yeah, i'll get my butt whooped, but it might be fun as, i'm sure i can cause some damage.

Googlie · June 6, 2002, 13:04

smhfan86:

1 is a very lonely number - not sure how it would work out with 3 teams of 2 plus a spoiler.

I can do things to beef up the AI that in a human's hands would be overpowering (eg I can create for the AI a preformed energy park, give it, say 20 crawlers, as "lurkers" for, say 50 years but mark them as scenario objectives for 150 year term (so that the AI doesn't just use them as exploring scouts, which it is wont to do absent any instructions to the contrary). Thus after 50 years the AI gets at least 40 extra energy, if Environ econ hasn't been discovered, and up to 200 extra if it has. Quite a mid-game boost for the AI.

A human would just override these limitations and use the crawlers to instabuild the forst 3 SP's.

I'm sure this Team-based game will spawn others, so you'll be first on the list for TEAM #2

(What do the others think?)

G.