Round 11 of the Metaverse League is on! Welcome back to our continuing players, and a cylon salute to our new players!
Round 11 will ask for extra levels of team planning and coordination:
All Victory Types, Mixed Settings
In an effort to freshen up the gameplay experience, JustinSane and I have discussed a new take on an old favorite. Teams will fight for victory in at least 3 of the 5 available victory types on entirely different map settings. Below is a little more detail on how this will work; we're also introducing a new victory condition -ethical alignment- and making some tweeks to scoring. Please take the time to read more about these changes.
Mixed Settings RoundsA "mixed settings round" is where several different sets of map settings are offered, and teams must play at least some of them to properly secure their base points. In this round, each victory type will be assigned different map settings. Teams are required to submit victories of at least 3 different types to qualify for their base points. Teams with more than 3 players will be allowed to either repeat settings among two players or compete for individual points in one of the other two victory categories. For example, to qualify for their base points, Team X (The X-Men) submits a cultural victory, a technological victory, and a military victory. At that point, their 4th player (Storm) may submit another cultural, technological or military victory, or she may submit a political or ascention victory. How your team chooses to submit its potential 4th game is part of your team strategy. Teams with only 3 submissions may have an easier time securing team bonus points, but submitting a 4th game might allow a team to either improve its average team scores or compete for individual bonus points in another game category. As always, we will champion the honor's system.
3-player teams will be allowed to have a single player submit a second game, but there are conditions. First they must formally request this option in this thread from the Co-Commissioners, JustinSane and myself. Second, every team member must be willing to play a second game, since the player allowed to do this will be randomly assigned by either JustinSane or me (based on whoever replies in the thread first, should both reply without seeing each other's response). Finally, should a forth player be assigned to the team after a player as submitted a second game, the players second submission will be considered null and void. To clarify, not every member on such a team will be required to play a second game; only one player will, but because it's randomly assigned, the team should agree that they are each willing to do so should they be assigned the second game (though, this doesn't preclude teams from having their players attempt secondary games before requesting the option of a fourth game).
Ethical Alignment as a Victory ConditionRules in round 11 will now require players' victories to have certain reported ethical alignments. We will use the reported alignment on the metaverse to determine this. Note: this doesn't mean you cannot pick a race with a different alignment, nor does it require you to research Xeno Ethics. If you complete a game without researching Xeno Ethics, the metaverse will use 'what you're leaning towards' as your alignment. You can determine this through the Civilization Manager, Government and Ethics tab. There are seven possible alignment restrictions: any (no restriction), good, neutral, evil, good or neutral, good or evil, and neutral or evil. We hope this will not only mix up games, but also encourage players to explore Twilight of the Arnor a bit more, as evil is less appealing in TA, and good is in some cases more appealing.
Team Bonus PointsPoints awarded to teams for highest average score, fastest average game, and earliest average submission time are being raised to 3 points for first place and 2 points for second place. This will help bring the total number of points awarded this round more in line with what was available in previous rounds (due to the reduction of base points last round).
Victory Settings
(the thread will be updated soon with hyperlinks to screenshots of the map setup screen)
Victory Type 1: Technological Victorybasics: tiny map - abundant habitables - common planets - occasional stars - loose clustersmore basics: abundant anomalies - uncommon asteroids (DA/TA) - very fast research - 7 minor civs (DL: random)check marks on: all victory conditionsno check marks: super abilities (DA/TA) - mega events (DA/TA) - "disable tech trading" (TT enabled) - "disable tech stealing" (TS enabled in TA) - blind explorationopponents: one (1)valid ethical alignments: any(space reserved for hyperlinks to screenshots)notes: This one should be very easy and lead to very rapid game times (both game years and real time). We expect zero and one-year victories to be quite common.
Victory Type 2: Military Victorybasics: small map - abundant habitables - abundant planets - abundant stars - scattered planetsmore basics: abundant anomilies - abundant asteroids (DA/TA) - very fast research - no minorscheck marks on: all victory conditions - super abilities - mega events - "disable tech stealing" (TS disabled in TA) - blind explorationno check marks: "disable tech trading" (TT enabled)opponents: six (6)valid ethical alignments: any(space reserved for hyperlinks to screenshots)notes: This one may take the most real time due to the number of opponents and planets, but should offer the highest scoring potential due to the victory type and various settings. It may be more difficult than average.
Victory Type 3: Political (Alliance) Victorybasics: small map - common habitables - common planets - uncommon stars - tight clustersmore basics: occasional anomalies - rare asteroids (DA/TA) - very slow research - 1 minor civ (random in DL)check marks on: all victory conditions - super abilities - mega events - "disable tech trading" (TT disabled) - blind explorationno check marks: "disable tech stealing" (TS enabled in TA)opponents: four (4)valid ethical alignments: evil(space reserved for hyperlinks to screenshots)notes: This one should be rather difficult, quite slow in game years, and pretty low scoring, but it's likely to be less competitive and thus easier to get individual bonus points.
Victory Type 4: Cultural (Influence) Victorybasics: large map - occasional habitables - rare planets - rare stars - tight clustersmore basics: abundant anomalies - abundant asteroids (DA/TA) - fast research - 4 minors (random in DL)check marks on: all victory conditions - mega events (DA/TA) - super abilities (DA/TA)no check marks: "disable tech trading" - "disable tech stealing" (TT and TS enabled) - blind explorationopponents: five (5)valid ethical alignments: good or neutral(space reserved for hyperlinks to screenshots)notes: This should score fairly well and play fairly rapidly, and be fairly easy to play. No evil means Twilight is relatively more favorable.
Victory Type 5: Ascension Victory (TA only)basics: medium map - occasional habitables - occasional planets - occasional stars - tight clustersmore basics - occasional anomalies - occasional asteroids - normal tech - random minorscheck marks on: all victory conditions - meta events - super abilities - blind explorationno check marks: "disable tech trading" - "disable tech stealing" (TT and TS enabled)opponents: two (2)valid ethical alignments: any(space reserved for hyperlinks to screenshots)notes: These games should score decently, but will likely have long game times (in game years). It might offer good chances at individual bonus points since not everyone plays (or has) Twilight.
Team Rosters
Team A: Capt. dystopic; PlayJeff45; LoupdinourTeam B: Capt. JustinSane4; Ferrel; VegJed; LethrinTeam C: Capt. TheGreatEmperor; Davaled; Freeman43; e-stabTeam D: Capt. KzintiPatriarch; Ragnar1; SilverBeacherTeam E: Capt. DethAdder; Pndrev; RhetoricalSun; Galefury
players who haven't confirmed yet and new players will be added to teams with only 3 players. I will update the list as the round roster changes.
Round 11 ends on October 19 at 12:00 noon, Eastern time (12:00:00 reported forum time)
GOOD HUNTING!
well, thanks for the formal notice GE. unfortunately the league can't abide by the kind of unreliability you've established for yourself. it's difficult enough for a team to coordinate their efforts without having to account for someone who may or may not show up. it's one thing to have to bail mid-round because of real life complications, but it's another to commit to playing 3 (or is it now 4) rounds in a row. while i don't harbor any personal feelings of ill will, i'm ruling that you won't be allowed back on the league rosters in the future.
best wishes, dystopic
Best wishes, huh?
So you're saying that I'm kicked out for life?! Look, I've been trying to get back into Galciv, but even the "normal" level AI is too hard, and most of the time the game gets too damn boring. Maybe Twilight will change that.
If I get back to galciv, and get addicted again. I want back in. Don't be a jackass.
Yes smart arse comments is just the way to get back in. Well done, i'm sure you will be playing in no time.....
i was sincere. i can understand not feeling "into" the game. truth be told, as excited as i was about these round settintgs, i haven't had the motivation to start a game yet myself. but even if i don't feel like playing before the round is over, i will force myself because i've made a commitment to my team mates and the MVL.
if and when you get back into GC2 and wish to resume the MVL, we can discuss the issue at that time.
The following is just a 3rd party view on this situation. If any of the following has some incorrect information, I'm sorry for not parsing thru the past rounds to do all my homework. I'm just trying to give a less harshly worded explaination to what I saw.
I think the issue here is, the past 3-4 rounds (going by a previous post as this is my 2nd round only) you haven't entered in time due to 'boredom' with the game I guess?
The way I took the MVL, it was for people who were into the game enough to be able to at least pop out 1 game a month...especially if the maps were very small in size. If you're not into the game enough to play a small map at least w/in the month or so time limit...then I wouldn't consider you an 'avid player' of GC and thus wouldn't fit in with the people who would make up the MVL. I hope that doesn't come out 'elitist' or such. I'm just saying that for the betterment of this league, all participants must enjoy the game enough to devote at least 1 game in the timespan of the round. Your team was formed in the mindset that you would do so.
If you were bored with the game to the point of not getting in a game w/in the time contraints, I think you should have bowed out a bit ago letting people know you weren't able to fulfill your duty to your team and you'd like to return perhaps at a later date when you regain a certain level of interest in the game. This past round many people did so. I think any resentment that may have come from dystopic was due to the multiple rounds of letting your team down and now mid-round bowing out.
just to clarify, i didn't originally mean to suggest that i was banning you for life. it should have been "until further notice." i tried editing and of course that was a no-go, then i got distracted. if i came off sounding harsh, i wasn't my intention, but i did wish to be stern and clear. i think JustinSane and I went beyond fair and into the realm of generous by giving you another chance this round, however there comes a point when continuing to do that becomes unfair to everyone else.
and that's as much as i intend to say on the subject at this time.
Thank for the clarification. I'm sorry about the jackass remark. Something else made me mad earlier that day, and that post pushed me off the edge. Speaking off the edit button, this forum needs serious work.
good game!
once the round is over, JS will have to tell me what he did. Its hard without those psionic beams , i actually couldn't just spend my way into oblivion
Good game Silverbeacher. It's sad, but I can't actually remember exactly what I did in my game. As I recall it mostly consisted of going as the Terrans, maxing out diplomacy, and abusing the AI as much as possible in negotiations .
Not bad SB!
I find myself checking this thread much more often than in previous rounds. I think the new types of round settings and the excellent work of our co-chairmen (or whatever y'all are called) really increased my motivation level. That being said, I'm suprised there isn't a lot more activity than there is.
Or maybe it's because the rest of Team C don't want to give away any hints on their suprise strategy to take the crown this round
BTW, has anybody heard from Piznit at all in the last 2 months?
Sentient species taste better...
nope, he hasn't really shown up on the ToE forum either.
BTW, DEATH TO MICROSOFT ACCESS!
Come now...death? Why so easy of an end for it? Break out the cruel and unusual punishment to Micro$oft Acce$$.
yeah, i haven't heard at all from Piz, and I have him on msgr also. I'll try sending him an email and see if he gets back to me.
I say death to (most of) Microsoft....except the few things I like, such as Excel. Windows 95 was nice too, hehe.
Anyone noticing a lag-time with new posts showing up? I cant see my last one, and I think one previous to mine also is missing.
Aye, I noticed some of it yesterday. The fun thing is that the My Replies will mention a new post in a thread, you click on the thread and there is nothing new you can see.
I've got used to Outlook. Word ane Excel are cool if you know what you're doing. XP has been a fine OS for me. but i wouldn't say that i like any of them.
i've noticed lag time with new posts for a while now, maybe about a week. i can't tell if it's a consistent lag or sporatic. it is, in my observation, pervasive across the various means where a new post shows up, i.e., in the forum itself, in the recent posts list, and in the forums lists.
My submission:
Team D:
time: 1 year
score:10150
Beyond Mortality
Race: Altarian, Diff: Suicidal, Alignment: Very good, Map size: Tiny,
great job Ragnar! All bow before the mighty Domination of Death, all shall love us and despair!
Excellent Ragnar!
Great game Ragnar! Some excellent times coming out of that settings groups .
Thanks, guys. I believe it is possible to get a 0 yr win on the tech settings, but it will take some luck. I was close, I ended in April of year 1, and I think I had either the last or second to last tech being researched at the end of year 0, but my creativity just didn't trigger enough (maybe once or twice early on).
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