FFH II PBEM IX 'The Dregs' Tech Thread

[Ellimist]

I would say there's definitely 3 tiers of leaders represented here.

Falamar and Alexis both have so-so traits and decent civilizations behind them, but everyone who plays Calabim or Lanun pick Flauros or Hannah.

The Khazad are okay, but Kandros is financial and they need it more than most. So nobody uses Arturus(whose traits aren't terrible). Amelanchier's traits seem weak, but I guess the Ljo's are alright.

Charadon is clearly inferior to other barbarian leaders.

[Mardoc]

Thanks for volunteering to make the map, Mardoc I personally would prefer if the map were a little... greener than what FFH PBEM VIII is using, but otherwise you've got a free hand as long as our preferences are accounted for. Since none of these leaders are very good economically (I guess Falamar is okay), and some of them are outright terrible (looking at you, Charadon), the map might need to be a little bit more lush than is typical. Doesn't need to be a paradise, but something as deprived as what PBEM VI is playing on would utterly kill the game.

If someone will compile your preferences, once everyone's weighed in, that would be great.

Elimist- Random.org would work for me. We can have someone roll up the leaders tomorrow, if there are no objections.

Can do - again, once someone's compiled everyone's preferences together so I do it right.

[Mist]

* Game speed? Quick. If someone wants otherwise, you need to make an excellent case.

This is probably first time I ever thought this makes sense but : Normal

Quick speed screws up early rushers. This is manageable somewhat if your rusher has something else to offer. But Charadon does not. Quick speed screws up Charadon to the point of being unplayable. Not that I don't like challenges, but with Falamar and Alexis in game it would be a non-contest.

* Starting era? Ancient or 1-in.

Ancient if speed is Quick. All worker techs if Normal.

* Orthus: on or off? I vote for on.

On

* Acheron: OFF

No preference.

* Human take-over allowed for Basium and/or Hyborem? I think that allowing a human to take over for Basium is key. However, I would prefer that there be no human-take over for both Hyborem and the civ he's spawned from, so if you summon Hyborem he's either going to be an AI or you'll have to turn control of your old civ over to one.

No preference.

* Difficulty level? I vote Immortal.

Emperor

* Barb activity level? No preference if difficulty is immortal, raging otherwise.

Normal

* Wildlands? I vote yes.

No

* Last Days? No.

No

* Living World? I vote yes.

No

* Lairs? Yes.

No preference

* All Unique Features? Yes, but the "power trio" should not be at anyone's capital. No starting next to the Guardian either. Common sense stuff here.

Mapmakers discretion

* Map type? I prefer something like Erebus Continent or Massive Continent Tilted Axis; one large shared landmass, with some islands / small continents for exploration. Please no island starts, they overemphasize the Overlords. I very much prefer that we do not have identical or mirrored starts. Fair distribution of mana nodes & strategic resources. Note that reagents are a strategic resource, as are pigs for the Khazad. No blasted hellscapes, please. "Terra" could be cool. Nothing really artificial looking like Donut.

Nothing flavour-based. Because it screws up Doviello hard and Charadon does not need yet another handicap.

* Diplomacy allowed? No preference- I'm fine with a normal game, CTON, or straight out AW

Slight preference for in game diplomacy screen only. No AW.

Also, how do we want to pick our leaders? We could do bids, or send our picks to the map-maker, or just openly work it out here in this thread. I'm happy with whatever. As Ichabod would prefer to not be the Khazad again, I would like to not play as the Calabim. Personally, I'm happy with any of the other leaders/

Random draw? I don't mind really. I can play anything.

[Ravus Sol]

Three Hours between opening and closing! That's crazy!

Oh well I guess I could offer to come in as the Ange-

I'd sign up to play Basium.

Damn you! Foiled again!

[Mist]

Three Hours between opening and closing! That's crazy!

And I only got in because I decided to check my emails before going to work That said, would you like to team up?

[Nicolae Carpathia]

I'd be interested in ded-lurking whoever's Falamar even though I'm absolutely terrible at FFH and because I single-handedly restarted the Hannah vs Falamar argument.

[Bobchillingworth]

Okay, going through everyone's selections the final combined game options are as follows:




* Game speed? Quick.

* Starting era? Ancient

* Orthus: on or off? On.

* Acheron: Off

* Human take-over allowed for Basium and/or Hyborem? Human take-over allowed for both

* Difficulty level? Immortal

* Barb activity level? Normal

* Wildlands? No

* Last Days? No

* Living World? Yes

* Lairs? Yes

* All Unique Features? Yes, but use common sense where you place them.




Map type (I put this info in a yellow because it's extra-important): Everyone starts on the same continent. No mirrored starts. No otherwise identical starts. No "artificial" maps like Donut. Some islands would be nice, but nothing that gives OO a game-winning advantage by simple virtue of geography. No flavor starts- Charadon should not be stuck in the tundra. That said, the Ljo need some forests. Balanced strategic resources, bearing in mind additionally that some of the civs here have non-traditional resources they need, such as pigs for the Khazad and deer for Ljo. Starts (and the map in general) should be a little nicer than has been typical of the last few PBEMs, because Arturus and especially Charadon are barely playable as it is, and none of the other three are exactly great either. The map should not be as large as PBEM I's, but also probably shouldn't have everyone within knife-fight distance of each other to start, unless the intention is to have the game over within the first 50 turns. Four out of the five leaders here are either rushers or can be easily played as rushers, so yeah. Should be obvious, but Falamar needs ocean water.



Whew, that was a block of text! Anyway I think that sums up all of our map preferences. For diplomacy, it looks like the consensus is to allow it.




We are also ready to have Mardoc select our leaders for us now. The restrictions are as follows (just going with one refusal from each player who requested one):


- Bobchillingworth cannot have Alexis

- Ichabod cannot have Arturus

- Sareln cannot have Charadon



Otherwise roll em' up, and we'll play whatever hands we're delt!




Players, I've sent Mardoc a PM notifying him of the codified game options in this post. If there's a major push to change one of the settings above though we can still do that. Personally I'm happy with them, even though I didn't get all of my preferences =)

[Bobchillingworth]

Three Hours between opening and closing! That's crazy!

Oh well I guess I could offer to come in as the Ange-



Damn you! Foiled again!

Lucky you, we've also decided to allow human take-over for Hyborem (or his abandoned civ). Want the job?



Really, this game filled up quickly because it's only 5 players, and it started with two slots already gone (me & Sareln) I'm sure there's enough interest on RB for another game, if you want something more substantial.

[Ellimist]

I think I really like this format idea, of having a predetermined leader/civ pool and the players get assigned semi-randomly.

[Thermos]

Yes, Charadon! I always loved the Doviello as a civ (awesome back story they have), and it's nice to finally see their pack leader get some screen time. Looking forward to lurking the game!