RB PBEM #1 - Discussion Thread - No Players!

[kalin]

I have to say, I'm not a fan of the "is stealing techs harmful spying" question. And while I'm at it, I'm not a fan of earlier questions that related to when people expect wonders to get complete and what they should do if they don't get such wonders. Maybe I'm biased because I know that these questions implied things I know to be true from other threads (that Ruff is planning to steal techs and that there was a race for particular wonders) but I'm concerned players are going to draw the same conclusion.

You have a good point, and I apologize. I will be more careful in the future. Regarding the question about the wonder(s), I think I ask the player for both options, which seemed like a fair thing to consider: when you go for a wonder you have to take into account not getting it, no? Your point still stands, my question to soooo was a bit too loaded.

K

EDIT: I wouldn't edit my comments in soooo's thread as I feel that this may actually give him even more information.

[Krill]

TBH I don't think it is a loaded question; sooooo specifically stated a scenario where Ruff would steal Aesthetics, which is fair enough.

But what about stealing a tech that there is no deal for? soooo doesn't have a right to demand to trade every tech...I think the diplomacy is going to be awesome. It's all about the definition of harmful, and as T-Hawk said earlier espionage isn;t necessarily harmful.

Would have been better if Ruff hadn't caved in about DV though He should have pushed and looked soooo in IMO.

[Krill]

Is anyone wondering if Dreylin should settle his new city 1W of the horses, to grab the pigs as well? He has a chariot in the area that could raze MHs' city if he wanted to...so I'm suprised he didn't take a peek into the city on his last turn to see what the defences were like.

[sunrise089]

I think the chances that someone will take a cheap 1-city kill in this game are essentially zero Krill (though I'll be on my guard against you in the Pitboss game )

However, I agree he should settle more aggressively - I would take the forest hill 1NW of the horses.

[Broker33]

Wow Sunrise I had would have settled the same tile and taken the pigs and fought the culture battle.

Maybe I wont be thumped as badly as I thought in the pitboss game.

[regoarrarr]

Sooooo (pardon the pun), it looks like soooo is going to get the HG by a few turns. From his thread it looks like he will do it in 2 turns, while M_H is 3 turns away, I think?

[kalin]

Sooooo (pardon the pun), it looks like soooo is going to get the HG by a few turns. From his thread it looks like he will do it in 2 turns, while M_H is 3 turns away, I think?

I wonder if MH will go on a war path as a result. It looks like the relationship with Dreylin is about to get a bit sour...

K

[RefSteel]

My Long-winded thoughts:

I wander if MH will go on a war path as a result. It looks like the relationship with Dreylin is about to get a bit sour...

K

I don't think he's positioned very well to go into war mode, but even so, such a war might be MH's only (distant) hope to win the game. If sooooo accepts the spy bomb peacefully and the result is effectually permanent peace between Ruff, Dreylin, and sooooo, I think sooooo and Dreylin will (continue to?) run away with the game. If sooooo and Ruff get into a war (even a sufficiently serious cold war while still under NAP) and MH can somehow manage to win a war against Dreylin ... he might, just, maybe get back in the game. To be honest though, I think the best he could do with such a war would be to distract Dreylin long enough to hand the game to sooooo.

Of course since it's what's happening NOW, it's natural for it to seem this way, but I think this is a critical juncture in the game. Even with no active war, degradation of relations between M-H and Dreylin or between Ruff and sooooo could well be what drops one of the front-runners to a clear second place. (It's also just possible that Ruff could pull something off if he manages to smooth over the spy bomb and eventually launches a well-timed major surprise attack on sooooo, but this is a long-shot, and would thoroughly upset the diplomacy and balance of power in the game.)

(Actually, I think MH's best chance, and Ruff's, would be to solidify their "Mutual Friendship Pact" ... to the extent of a mutual war against Dreylin! Or it would be if not for Ruff's NAP. If he breaks that, the result could be M-H and Ruff trying to take on Dreylin and sooooo ... which does not sound good for the challengers, frankly.)

[kalin]

@RefSteel: very nice description!

It seems to me that Dreylin is on a path of becoming a powerhouse, particularly that Ruff seems quite bent on warring with soooo at some point! I don't see MH in a good position to fight Dreylin alone now or later, since Dreylin's position is already stronger and only likely to improve. The other interesting factor is that it seems that Athlete is also thinking about fighting MH! It's very interesting to see how the position in the middle (Dreylin) actually becomes the best with the "wings" planning wars between themselves (Athlete vs. MH and Ruff vs. soooo). Very curious to see how things will play out...

K

[sunrise089]

I think M_H should meta-game a bit and attack Athlete. He knows Athlete is the least experienced player, there is no "mutual friendship pact" and he knows Dreylin and Ruff have been cooperating together. Absorbing Athlete's land would give M_H quite the boost