[NO PLAYERS] Witnessing Democracy Inaction

[NobleHelium]

Yeah Menagerie had a much better start than the others. RB doesn't have enough players for this game's ostensible premise, and definitely not enough players with the right kind of mindset for this type of game.

TEAM never took the game seriously, which turned out to be on target for the eventual state of the game, even though it contributed to it.

[Sullla]

I think that there were enough players to make this work, if there had been 5 highly motivated and dedicated team captains in place. Unfortunately, I think we only had about 1.5 such captains in place, and then the whole thing fell apart at the seams thereafter.

[timski]

This screenshot should be captioned, "Need More Workers":

[timski]

Counterpoint: Troll's 8-chopped instant Pyramids... Sometimes it is hard to believe all these teams are playing the same game.

[NobleHelium]

They shouldn't be playing in the same game to be honest. Are the Pyramids on Menagerie's wonder shopping list?

[timski]

Menagerie mused on "another wonder" at their capital: Pyramids, Great Wall, who knows? Menagerie's capital lacks forests, and without Stone connected they'd be slower than the Trolls - even if Menagerie had the same level of planning and micro as the Trolls, which they don't. The wildcard is TEAM - that is, Lewwyn - who was planning the Great Lighthouse, but obviously didn't get it, and could now be planning the Pyramids instead: Not least for the denial value vs Trolls - Trolls are evidently the team with the most to gain from completing the Pyramids by virtue of being the only non-Financial civ. Still, it is hard to see Lewwyn completing the Pyramids quicker than the Trolls, since the Trolls have their Fast Worker advantage, and everything else is equal.

[NobleHelium]

Now Gillette is being run entirely by newbies. I think Trolls are definitely the favorite to win now.

[timski]

A couple of WTF screenshots to complement "Need More Workers" above:

Exhibit A shows how not to deploy cottages. Hint: Financial civs initially get 3 commerce from riverside Cottages. Perhaps those Worker turns could have been slightly better used while waiting for the city's borders to pop? I must confess I have no clue what strategy the Pirates are even attempting to deploy now, beyond failing to early land religions which they don't especially need now they have Terraces, while groaning about their pitiful economy.




Exhibit B is one of the Trolls' more interesting city placements. Smooth Operator has been placed to secure Wheat in the first ring, and essentially nothing else of any immediate consequence. Moving the city 1W would have allowed it to work the capital's Pigs while waiting for the second ring, and then both Fish, Wheat and Pigs... or perhaps even something that grabs the Fish, Wheat and Horses? A well-timed Missionary would have opened the second ring fairly quickly.

[NobleHelium]

Yeah, Gillette's city placement has been highly suspect since scooter left. That's why I say they're run by newbies now.

[timski]

To be honest, I don't think the Gillette (I incorrectly wrote Trolls above) have a very good grasp of the mechanics of game: Their planned (commented) city placements are all very tight, typically with only 2 or 3 tiles between each. Sure, there is a lot to be said for settling close to your capital to keep maintenance manageable, and overlapping big-fat-crosses somewhat for faster city starts and more flexibility. But they're playing as if the aim is to ensure every tile is workable in the early game, when in practice most of those tiles are worth almost nothing: It is often forgotten that each tile costs 2 food to work, so working a basic tile adds almost nothing, in comparison to a resource tile that effectively adds at least the same again. Once one adds in the fixed cost of city settlement and maintenance, cities placed to work a lot of nothing actually detract from the overall economy.

I grimaced slightly when Old Harry started musing on a war with Menagerie to "liven things up". I'm half expecting Menagerie to jump the gun and try to steal Gillette's rather vulnerable Settler or Worker. Menagerie clearly don't like the idea of Gillette settling that hill. I'm not surely exactly what would happen if Menagerie declare war while in neutral territory stood on top of a (non-combat) now-enemy Worker. Are Gillette correct in their assumption that Menagerie's Axe would be pushed off the tile?