Good morning, folks!
Well, insanity has set in for me, as I started a Huge/Maso last night. Things are going fairly well so far. I got a not-so-great start but I've managed to keep my head above water. At least I haven't been in any wars yet...
Wombie, thanks for stopping in! Good to see ya! I've recently stopped turning off victory conditions and just let the chips fall as they may. It might not be good for the Metaverse score, but it's keeping me a bit more honest, and the games seem more interesting. However, my game style sort of leads me into military victory a lot more (hey, I can't help myself...I just love Combat Transports!) 
Celeborne, adventure tends to pop up at the strangest times. You never know when some poor unsuspecting pirate needs to have their pockets lightened!
          
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Theoden - good to see you, too! I always thought you would be a Combat Transport kinda guy - what else would a warrior horseman be?  Good luck with that maso! What's this about lightening a pirate's pocket?! Bwhahahaha! OK, just for the laugh...I'll send ya over a dozen cold bottles of Fosters...cheers! 
   
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You should be welcome, Gerakken...you're an honorary member!
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Theoden. Good luck on the huge/maso.
Vincible. I just finished a large/maso pacifist game. I did not allow myself warships including transports/combat transports so no invading the minors or any military rushes. It was fun but it was harder since I couldn't take out the minors with alpha strikes to gain a foothold for culture bombing. My point is that we can make it harder/more challenging for ourselves right now if we wish, without Stardock taking a risk of getting anything wrong (like they did IMO when they nerfed subcrippling scores comparing 1.10 to 1.05).
If you don't think using 1 IP is legit, then you are welcome to play the game without using IP. It's that simple and there is no reason 3 weeks after 1.10 is out to make it harder for the vast majority of sub-maso players who want to give the current 1.10A version of maso a try.
If someone thinks diplomacy or populists are too good of picks, then don't pick them and try to win without diplomacy boosts (good luck). We just need to keep it fun so we keep playing. I don't feel strongly about this (as long as Stardock doesn't totally nerf diplomacy) but I still remember when I thought I would NEVER ever be able to play maso. I would prefer we see more folks playing maso before we lobby Stardock to make it harder. If everyone played as well as the top 25 in the masoverse, I would feel differently.
PS The personal profile score goes up when submitting a game today but the metaverse score remains unchanged. Did this just start today?
PPS Looks like Cotal took the masoverse lead as per the personal profile. Ray, you are always number one in my book. Hope you are enjoying neverwinter nights.
  
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Rick,
Some weird things have happened to the Metaverse since they changed servers. Try logging off and then back on and refreshing all the pages. I had to do that to fix what I was seeing.
I think Stardock is working on it on there end as well.
Good job on the pacifist Maso!! That's incredible!
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Thanks Theoden. I logged off and on and refreshed but the metaverse listing is still paralyzed and won't acknowledge that I gave it a 70th game. The personal profile and the overlord scores in empire listings update ok. Ohers have this problem too (there is a thread) so I guess it is not just at my end and Stardock will probably fix it soon. That was really smart of you to save that anomalous game. Hope it submits OK on 1.11.
Saw a really great movie last night, "Hurricane" a biography of Rubin, "Hurricane" Carter, an American prize-fighter. Right now there is time to start a new Gal Civ game, play some spades (cards) online, and watch the 'making of' and director's commentary of Hurricane: Special Edition tonight. Talk to everyone tomorrow.
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vincible - re Civ3: admittedly, I never scaled the heights of the most difficult levels so my opinion there was based on lower level play. I dont recall any obvious scoring bias in the paths for victory, though, and I think that was the point I was alluding to above. I guess it really only applies to the likes of us, who are 'hardcore' Metaverse players seeking to advance our board score. A 'non-Meta' player can play on Painful or Crippling for tech victory and enjoy themselves forever. It's the relatively small group of hardcore Meta players who are having their choices reduced, in a sense.
The influence issue is also a matter of degree. I am a devout influence player, and I think it is perfectly reasonable that I can ingratiate myself with the AIs...until I am ready to OWN them  . Greasing the palms of your opponents to keep them onside while you insidiously white-ant their social structure and turn them to your way of thinking is just plain fun...and a time-honoured strategy in world politics - just ask the CIA It's the cost of such manipulation that is the issue - and ONE influence point is too low a price to buy a state change (eg Neutral to Warm) in reality. Having said that, I'm not sure what the 'right' price is - 100 pts, or 500 pts - but I just dont think this process should be closed down completely, because it DOES represent a valid strategy. Excessive nerfing of diplomacy/influence removes it, and reduces choices in the game.
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Well, I lost my Maso game. Everything was going perfectly until the stupid Fundamentalists popped in and wiped out the Arceans and severely reduced the Altarians, and Drengin. The Yor were basically weak anyway, but they had just gone through an "alignment change" event and were good, so they lost nothing. The Torians made out like bandits though. I had everybody at war with everybody else and the Torians didn't lose anything to the Fundies. Well, the Torians cut through the Altarians and Drengin like a hot knife through butter and suddenly they controlled about 80% of the galaxy. With their newfound power, they immediately went to war with me and wiped me out. All this happened in the space of about 15 turns. 
With the disappointment and frustration fresh in my mind, I decided to start a Huge/Crippling and pay the Torians back. For some reason, I changed to Abundant so the colonization phase is just ending.  So far, I seem to be competitive. I'm just hoping the stupid Fundamentalists don't ruin this game like they did my Maso. 
Oh, yeah...good morning everybody!
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Welcome to the Fellowship, Diplomatic Translator. 
I'm currently serving my country now for about 2 1/2 weeks.
It's part of our obligation as male Singaporean citizens to serve in the military a couple of weeks a year for at least 13 years after our 2 1/2 year full-time military service.
Obviously won't be able to visit the forum as often as before but I'll still pop in when I'm able to.
  
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Go do your duty, Ray. We'll hold down the fort here!
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Theoden: wipe them out...all of them (oops wrong thread). Anyway - kick them back to where they belong. vincible - yep; GalCiv still provides the most playable and workable modelling of influence and diplomacy in a game you can finish in an evening, definately one reason I'm still playing.
Do they call you Ambassador, too, Ray? 
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Welcome to the Fellowship, Diplomatic Translator! I've added you to our Roster page on our website.  Link
Wombie, yeah. I'm going to be roasting aliens over the burning remains of their starships.
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Yeah, the Fundamentalist event can make or break a game. I've had the Fundies make a game too easy before, too. Honestly, I don't think I would've enjoyed that Maso game if the Torians would've got slaughtered along with the Drengin and Altarians. Of course, losing isn't very enjoyable either!
Oh, well. That's what makes this game so great is it's unpredictablity. You never know when an empire is going to start whooping your butt...
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Celeborne,
I'm a Lieutenant in an Air Defense Battalion. We operate the Mistral (French) system - a passive infra-red seeking missie.
Spent a large part of yesterday in drills to recognise aircraft in our region. Basically it involves recognising aircraft at about 1km shown on slides every 4 secs.
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Ray,
Congrats on that shiny silver medal...er...
You're a staggeringly important part of this Forum and the Metaverse, and we look forward to any contributions that you have the time to work in. Good luck.
Theoden:
| the stupid Fundamentalists popped in and wiped out the Arceans and severely reduced the Altarians, and Drengin. |
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Despite the fact that your game came crashing down around your ears, the thought of the Fundies going after the Altarians has to be worth a laugh. EBZ would be proud.
 
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| Anyone have any favorites they'd like to suggest? |
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Look at my 'Weather Control Pack', and then tell me what you think of it(in the Mod forum, of course).
   
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