Things I've learned while reading the PtW Demo Game forum

badams52 · August 1, 2003, 20:45

* People love to watch fights, esp. trash talking threads and flame fests.

* Flame fests increase post count proportionally to the amount of people you can inflame.

* A good plan isn't half as important as good diplomacy.

* When two nations have goals that conflict, war is inevitable.

* War isn't won by armies, but propaganda and trash talking.

* If you need good propaganda, contact Beta.

* Posting any kind of manifesto is guaranteed to ruffle feathers.

* Don't mess with GS's chickens.

* The ally of my enemy is my enemy.

add your own...

ZargonX · August 1, 2003, 20:50

Quote:

* The ally of my enemy is my enemy.

You needed the PTW forum to tell you that?

Beta · August 1, 2003, 21:03

Quote:

Originally posted by badams52

* War isn't won by armies, but propaganda and trash talking.

* If you need good propaganda, contact Beta.

I'm touched. (That should spark a response.)

But I do need to add:

* Winning the propaganda war feels good but you may still lose the main event.

And, given recent events:

* Perspective is everything.

And from history:

* If you go to war against GS, leave the swords at home. Bring chicken bovril and a big skillet.

alva · August 1, 2003, 21:27

* don't forget to throw RL out of the window

* join Demo-games if have nothing worth throwing out in the first place

GodKing · August 1, 2003, 21:45

* demo games take lots of time if you are involved, and can cause girlfriends to go away unexpectidly and perminantly....

GhengisFarb™ · August 1, 2003, 21:48

Quote:

Originally posted by GodKing
* demo games take lots of time if you are involved, and can cause girlfriends to go away unexpectidly and perminantly....

And cause you to have horrible spelling.

But, I love you for your little faults, and little they are.

Jon Shafer · August 1, 2003, 22:01

Razing cities - whatever side they belong to - is always satisfying.

GhengisFarb™ · August 2, 2003, 00:26

Quote:

Originally posted by Trip
Razing cities - whatever side they belong to - is always satisfying.

OliverFA · August 2, 2003, 08:17

Quote:

Originally posted by GodKing
* demo games take lots of time if you are involved, and can cause girlfriends to go away unexpectidly and perminantly....

That's terrible! Thanks for the warning!

We could say that the PTWDG civ and the girlfriend civ have a conflict of interests

Hot Mustard · August 2, 2003, 09:14

To put what some have already said another way:

* The pen is, indeed, mightier than the sword.

DaveMcW · August 2, 2003, 12:39

Quote:

* War isn't won by armies, but propaganda and trash talking.

I agree.

And when given the chance to do it all over, the players of PTWDG2 chose to emphasize this even more.

FrustratedPoet · August 2, 2003, 13:26

I'm not so sure the point of PTWDG2 is "propaganda and trash talking" so much as it is "joking around and roleplaying". Those two things aren't the same IMHO, but YMMV.

Master Zen · August 5, 2003, 20:26

Quote:

Originally posted by dejon
* The pen is, indeed, mightier than the sword.

* It's good to arm your mounted troops with giant stabbing pens.

Dominae · August 8, 2003, 16:05

Quote:

Originally posted by badams52
* People love to watch fights, esp. trash talking threads and flame fests.

Actually, I hate doing this, which is why I rarely peruse this forum. I hate Jerry Springer, I hate watching politicians bicker, etc. I hate over half the content of this forum.

Quote:

* Flame fests increase post count proportionally to the amount of people you can inflame.

Exponentially, because those you inflame have friends who will come to their defense, regardless of whether they were inflamed in the first place.

Quote:

* A good plan isn't half as important as good diplomacy.

A good plan invariably involves good diplomacy.

Quote:

* When two nations have goals that conflict, war is inevitable.

Yes (duh?

)

Quote:

* War isn't won by armies, but propaganda and trash talking.

False. So far in this game I've yet to see a conflict resolved purely via diplomacy. The propagand and trash talking in this game, regardless of the effort put into it, has been nothing more than hot air. I would like to hear someone disprove this claim with a specific example.

Quote:

* Posting any kind of manifesto is guaranteed to ruffle feathers.

'Manifesto' is a dirty word.

Quote:

* The ally of my enemy is my enemy.

Oh yes (duh?

)

---

Sorry for being so negative in this post, but the one thing I've learned in this democracy game is that competition brings out the worst in people.

Dominae

Tiberius · August 8, 2003, 16:38

Quote:

Originally posted by Dominae
Sorry for being so negative in this post, but the one thing I've learned in this democracy game is that competition brings out the worst in people.

Oh yes? Then I must be really-really good, if this is the worst me

I just think that some people are taking things way too seriously (I couldn't possibly imagine a situation when I would make a phonecall to announce an ingame event !!! (which I know is the case for some). This is a game, for christsake, don't take it so seriously.

Of course, OTOH others are taking (actually giving) flames too easily, ignoring the fact that they may cause real unpleasent emotions (there must be a better expression for this) to the receiving real person . I can shoot someone in an online game, so flaming him shouldn't be a big deal. Right? Wrong! Some online characters do actually live

There may be also people who realize that they are talking with real persons but being cowards in RL they become online bullies. I don't think there are many such people around, if any (at least I hope so). Maybe in the off topic forum

Let's keep some balance, folks.

Theseus · August 8, 2003, 18:17

The 4am phone call, and that period of the game (the initial Vox invasion), were some of my favorite points this far.

GhengisFarb™ · August 8, 2003, 18:35

Someone actually phoned somebody?!?

Theseus · August 8, 2003, 18:53

Yeah... when Vox surprised us, and we didn't have quite enough bananas ready, Sir Ralph called me in the middle of the night (Germany to NYC!) so we could formulate a response.

I was a little, uh, fuzzy at first, but we rallied.

Master Zen · August 8, 2003, 19:14

Quote:

Originally posted by Dominae
Sorry for being so negative in this post, but the one thing I've learned in this democracy game is that competition brings out the worst in people.

Dominae

I'd say competition brings out the passion in people. And passion is both a combination of the best and the worst in everyone. Guess that's human nature... same thing can be said on practically any other competitive event. All I can say is that a psychologist would probably have a field day with this forum and this game.

Hot Mustard · August 8, 2003, 21:42

Quote:

Originally posted by Theseus
Yeah... when Vox surprised us, and we didn't have quite enough bananas ready, Sir Ralph called me in the middle of the night (Germany to NYC!) so we could formulate a response.

I was a little, uh, fuzzy at first, but we rallied.

That's amazing!

Beta · August 8, 2003, 22:36

Quote:

Originally posted by Master Zen
All I can say is that a psychologist would probably have a field day with this forum and this game.

That's an 'affirm'.

Darekill · August 9, 2003, 00:15

Boy oh boy.
Getting called at 4 am just to find out that we surprisingly would be in war with ... let's say Legoland, would lead to a mayor RL conflict beteen me and the one who's calling me thats for sure.
After all it's just a game and I need some sleep.

OPD · August 9, 2003, 07:59

Quote:

Originally posted by Master Zen
All I can say is that a psychologist would probably have a field day with this forum and this game.

I am a psychologist which is probably why I love this so much

notyoueither · August 9, 2003, 17:34

Quote:

Originally posted by Darekill
Boy oh boy.
Getting called at 4 am just to find out that we surprisingly would be in war with ... let's say Legoland, would lead to a mayor RL conflict beteen me and the one who's calling me thats for sure.
After all it's just a game and I need some sleep.

Well... Theseus gave us his number and said that if something important came up that we should call him, no matter what time it was...

Well, the opportunity came up... hehe. We decided it would be better if the voice on the other end of the phone carried some Teutonic weight, if you know what I mean...

I must say, Theseus' significant other responded like a trooper. I think she said something like, 'just kill Vox already' at some point.

Panzer32 · August 9, 2003, 17:42

GhengisFarb™ · August 9, 2003, 18:35

Quote:

Originally posted by notyoueither
Well... Theseus gave us his number and said that if something important came up that we should call him, no matter what time it was...

If someone was dumb enough to give me their number and instructions like that I would called them too. Course I would've called them for lots of other things just to annoy them..........

Theseus · August 9, 2003, 21:18

Actually, Ghengis, it was an absolute blast, and I still have all of my contact info posted for the team.

My close friends and family know about it, and obviously about my obsession / passion for Civ3, Apolyton, and the DGs, and it's all a subject of much fun (and intellectual pondering and discourse... a new arena, as the psychologists have commented).

And my 'significant other' is still not sure about the Voxodus... she is from Alabama originally, and Southerners are known to hold a grudge. (j/k) So remember that, all who choose to battle with GS: besides banana smearing and War Chickens, you've got a Southern Belle mad at you... BACK OFF!!

Beta · August 9, 2003, 22:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Theseus
Actually, Ghengis, it was an absolute blast, and I still have all of my contact info posted for the team.

My close friends and family know about it, and obviously about my obsession / passion for Civ3, Apolyton, and the DGs, and it's all a subject of much fun (and intellectual pondering and discourse... a new arena, as the psychologists have commented).

And my 'significant other' is still not sure about the Voxodus... she is from Alabama originally, and Southerners are known to hold a grudge. (j/k) So remember that, all who choose to battle with GS: besides banana smearing and War Chickens, you've got a Southern Belle mad at you... BACK OFF!!

Well speaking of significant others .... mine was completely opposed to to the attack on GS. She thought it was backhanded, and treacherous, and un-noble. Of course, she was right.

(maybe we should have listened to her...)

Arnelos · August 10, 2003, 03:56

Quote:

Originally posted by Beta
Well speaking of significant others .... mine was completely opposed to to the attack on GS. She thought it was backhanded, and treacherous, and un-noble. Of course, she was right.

(maybe we should have listened to her...)

Nah...

This just goes to show one of the rules for the play of the game Diplomacy (which should apparently apply to Civ3 as well):

Never play Diplomacy with anyone you are either in or wish to be in a romantic relationship with

"Backhanded, treacherous, and un-noble" actions are standard behavior in cut-throat games of this style - which understandably doesn't mix well with significant others...

So as long as you don't treat your s/o the way you treat your "alliance" partners, everything should be cool

Harovan · August 10, 2003, 04:42

Quote:

Originally posted by notyoueither
Well... Theseus gave us his number and said that if something important came up that we should call him, no matter what time it was...

Well, the opportunity came up... hehe. We decided it would be better if the voice on the other end of the phone carried some Teutonic weight, if you know what I mean...

I must say, Theseus' significant other responded like a trooper. I think she said something like, 'just kill Vox already' at some point.

I called actually from work and for me it was 10am. My vis-a-vis colleague slightly raised his eyebrows, guessing with whom I may talk through my mobile phone in English and about things absolutely not work related. Who the hell is Vox and the Glory, and what the heck is Arashi?

Actually, my voice has not much teutonic weight, it's rather soft and must have an outrrrrrrrrrageous accent, because I rarely care about pronouncation.