From: joltman@cookie-crisp.ai.mit.edu (T. Andy Frakes)
Newsgroups: rec.games.empire
Subject: Starting Theories and Empire Flaws
Date: 29 Dec 1992 20:12:20 GMT
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: cookie-crisp.ai.mit.edu

In article <C00qxv.J4z@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, mrl28033@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Michael R Linksvayer) writes:
|> In my experience, I've never had trouble grabbing enough land at
|> the start without using land-grabbing tools. Type very fast and
|> don't pay any attention to what you are taking - just enclose as
|> much land as possible in as little time as possible. Or maybe I've
|> just been lucky to not be next to users of land-grabbing tools.
|> 
|> I am bored with start islands. They're fair. So what. Maybe if I
|> was concerned about winning a fair game I would like start
|> islands. I don't have time for that anymore though, so I'd rather
|> have some fun with shared landmasses.
|> 
|> Negativland (and occasionally a world renowned drug dealer)
|> -- 
|> Mike Linksvayer   m-linksvayer@uiuc.edu   +1 217 344 1326

Usually you see the effects of multiple sanctuaries indirectly.  It only
takes one person out of 60+ players to get put on a 300 sector island with
a couple other countries and surround them for whatever reason (they're
newbies, they broke late, they didn't have tools, they type slowly, etc).
This person doesn't need to be on your island to affect you.  You may not
meet up with the player until the end of the game (or not at all).  For
example, this person may be on the next island over and use his 200 sector
advantage (and the big advantage of having no land borders) to expand
freely and squash you while you're busy trying to kick the two puds off your
island (something the other guy doesn't have to spend time and money on).

The point is that one player can take this initial advantage and keep it
for the rest of the game (if he knows what he's doing).

Personally, I think start islands are fine as long as they are the right
size (~50-100 sectors).  I also think separating continents into regions
with deity held sectors (forts, etc.) is fine, too.  One's success should
have as little to do with 'who has the best interface' as feasibly
possible, but as better tools are produced, this will be increasingly
difficult.  If the basics of the game are not changed, we will probably be
forced to make special arrangements for this (as with the 'blessed' clients
in netrek to help keep out robot clients), but this is a long way off.

The main factor that prevents empire from becoming much more successful is
the amount of time required to be seriously competitive.  Once you reach a
certain proficiency, time is by far the controlling factor.  This is why
many (if not, most) of the best players no longer play the game.  It's not
good for a game's future if the game's expert players decide that the game
isn't fun anymore because the time commitment is too great.

All for now....

-Andy (a.k.a. Ultima)

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=             T. Andy Frakes (joltman@ai.mit.edu)              =
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Newsgroups: rec.games.empire