The Modern Multiplayer Map Reader's Digest

[Doc Paterson]

On some maps, I think starting with a pre-flagged village would make me prefer player 2's position if I wanted to try early aggression. The combination of 3 extra gold early on (possibly 6 if the village is one normally out of easy reach) plus not having to flag that village could under some circumstances, depending on faction, map, and which village is flagged, actually put two extra units at the front.

Well as you say, that's very conditional, and would, if done right, usually not be the case. I'm trying to set it up so that the village will never be one that is two moves away, and only ever adds up to a one-turn gift. Player two often has to be a bit more defensive anyway as you know, and increasing their strength in the smallest way sits pretty well with me.

One map on which I would probably not give P2 a flagged village is Silverhead Crossing.

Keep the comments coming- I think this thread has been very productive so far.

[Doc Paterson]

i did not forget i just took this one and only point into consideration. ur ideas about not taking the village cuz its flagged already seems to be a good start.

HGB was interesting and dynamic because of the central keeps. not talking about balance now. sometimes on maps which are like mirrors, for example hamlets, its hard to play seriously there with certain players who give u the creeps with their defensive (u attack me first) behaviour.

Yes, with Hamlets, I've always found that the game can get pretty boring with defense-oriented players. That would be a reason to not play on it I guess, if that's not the sort of game you like. I've never had much of an issue there myself, because I play very aggressively, and particularly as player one, it's easy to get things moving. As always though, suggestions welcome.

About HGB's central keeps - It's hard to make them safe, balance-wise. If you have any ideas, including wild WML solutions , let's hear them. (One idea that I had was to extend the first advance keep a little and put a recruiting hex at the far tip, to allow leaders a little more, though not as much as before, interaction in the assaults.)

[Aethaeryn]

About HGB's central keeps - It's hard to make them safe, balance-wise. If you have any ideas, including wild WML solutions, let's hear them.

How's this for a wild WML solution: if the problem is rushing, leave the castles there, but remove the keeps. Then have the keeps appear in their original position on top of the castles after turn 6 or so (or whatever turn is past the rushing problem, I wouldn't know because I haven't play that map enough). That way, the keeps are still there to recruit on, but only after any p1 chaotic-rush advantage is gone.

[Rigor]

haha this sounds really unorthodox. and u can rename HGB straight afterwards to "howling ghost and rising castle from nowhere badlands". i must confess i really like this idea )))))))))) but i fear its just a daydream.

[Rigor]

btw there is this one guy, ahilej, who is still joining my games making me feel really uncomfortable with comments such as do u have a girlfriend ? what is her name ? what is your name ? where do u live? i told him many times already but hes still stalking me. he pmed me 2 min ago thats why im furious about it now.

[Doc Paterson]

haha this sounds really unorthodox. and u can rename HGB straight afterwards to "howling ghost and rising castle from nowhere badlands". i must confess i really like this idea )))))))))) but i fear its just a daydream.

Hehe, yeah, I don't know about that either. I'm going to have to say probably not.

I think for now, I'm going to just extend the forward keeps a little bit, to try to find some middle ground between where it where it was, and where it is now- The goal being to keep things fairly dynamic without going too far.

[Doc Paterson]

btw there is this one guy, ahilej, who is still joining my games making me feel really uncomfortable with comments such as do u have a girlfriend ? what is her name ? what is your name ? where do u live? i told him many times already but hes still stalking me. he pmed me 2 min ago thats why im furious about it now.

Hm, well I'm not a server admin (and can't even get on the server from my current location and computer), but I'm sure you can find one to take care of this.

[Yogibear]

btw there is this one guy, ahilej, who is still joining my games making me feel really uncomfortable with comments such as do u have a girlfriend ? what is her name ? what is your name ? where do u live? i told him many times already but hes still stalking me. he pmed me 2 min ago thats why im furious about it now.

Check out the "mute" command, it makes him still observe your games, but you won't hear him talking then. He can talk if he wants and you can have your game in peace .

[Rigor]

i have him on my mute list but now even his presence annoys me. i can almost hear him saying "hi rigor" when hes obs. besdes, other players might respond.

[Doc Paterson]

If anyone seriously opposes my P2-starts-with-a-village idea, which I would implement for all non-Silverhead 1v1s, I'd like to hear some arguments. Spread the word on the server, and direct people over here if they want to discuss it.

[grrr]

I don't oppose it =) I am simply not sure on all its consequences.

+1 unit on frontline, this seems too vague to me. Depending on the village's location the real costs savings could well be over 10 mp (1 to 2 turns). Given that p2 may not have to retreat any longer, isn't there a great danger for p2 loy/drake rushs now?

[Aethaeryn]

I don't oppose it =) I am simply not sure on all its consequences.

+1 unit on frontline, this seems too vague to me. Depending on the village's location the real costs savings could well be over 10 mp (1 to 2 turns). Given that p2 may not have to retreat any longer, isn't there a great danger for p2 loy/drake rushs now?

If you have to give the village via WML anyway, perhaps you could balance it better if it were only for certain factions.

[Caphriel]

I'd like to try it out a bit to see how it feels before committing to opposing or supporting it. It's an interesting idea, and it will definitely change the feel of 1v1.

[mabeenot]

Maybe the p2 starting village will make balanced symmetrical maps possible.

[Doc Paterson]

I don't oppose it =) I am simply not sure on all its consequences.

+1 unit on frontline, this seems too vague to me. Depending on the village's location the real costs savings could well be over 10 mp (1 to 2 turns). Given that p2 may not have to retreat any longer, isn't there a great danger for p2 loy/drake rushs now?

I'd say probably not. The +1 unit will usually only equalize them unit-wise, if P1 attacks within the first cycle (depending on where they attack of course.) Bear in mind also that TOD changing right before the opponent's turn (instead of right before yours) often isn't as condusive to an aggressive playstyle, particularly in opposite aligned matches. P1 Drake against P2 Undead feels like a very different match than P1 Undead vs. P2 Drake, for example.