Cake Or Death! (MA 6-10 players) Thread - Dominions 4: Thrones of Ascension

So in this metaphor, the cake is a lie becoming the grand Overgod of the whole of creation, which includes cakes if ya think about it, and death is... well, still death. Not much of a stretch on that last part.

This is a Middle Era, non-disciple Dom4 game for six to ten players. If this were a Dom3 game I'd say it is for players of intermediate skill, but in this brave new Dom4 world the number of people who are actually veterans of this game is pretty small, so anyone who can claim competency can join. The map is Peliwyr (wrap around) Atha Avin (wrap around), though that can be changed given sufficient concern.

To join, simply post your interest to join and include your top three nation picks. In the event of a nation being claimed by multiple people, I will randomly determine who gets what, with slightly better odds going to the earlier claimant.

Players

• Shatner: Ulm
• TheHeatMiser: Man
• Morradar: Arco
• Baldanders: Ashdod
• Gustavberner: Agartha Vanheim
• Zinegata: Eiru
• Laethaka: Pythium
• Jamesshank: Asphodel
• Puniya: Marignon
• Casiodorus: Ermor
  

Players:

1. Shatner (Ulm, Asphodel, T'ien Ch'i)
2. TheHeatMiser (Man, Abysia, Machaka)
3. Morradar (Arco, Abysia, C'tis)
4. Baldanders (Marignon, Ashdod, Asphodel)
5. Ighalli (Pangaea, Vanheim, Jotunheim)
6. Gustavberner (Agartha, Vanarus, Jotunheim)
7. Zinegata (Eiru, Vanheim, Jotunheim)
8. Laethaka (Pythium, Eriu, Machaka)
9. Puniya (Agartha, Marignon, Vanheim)
10. Casiodorus (Ermor, Oceania, R'lyeh)
11. Jamesshank (Asphodel, Mictlan, T'ien Ch'i)

Underlined names are after the 10-player max but will be slotted in if players drop or reserved people fail to show up.
Recruitment thread also available at Dom4Mods.

Edited by: baumgarm

I would like a spot

1 Man
2 Abysia
3 Machaka

Edited by: TheHeatMiser

I would also like a spot, no multiplayer experience tho but I have played dominions alot.
1. Arcoscephale 2. Abysia 3. C'tis.

Another guy with only SP experience here who would like a spot

1) Marignon
2) Ashdod
3) Asphodel

I would like to play.

1 Pangaea
2 Vanheim
3 Jotunheim

Welcome aboard. I've updated the original post to reflect your order and preferences. If the two reserved guys get back to me soon then we'll have enough to start. Regardless, I'll wait another day or two (or until we fill up) before actually kicking things off.

-deleted-

Edited by: catabrae

I would like a spot as well. I have limited MP experience but quite a bit of SP experience:
Agartha/Vanarus/Jotunheim

I'm interested. Where will this be hosted?
My preferences are Eiru, Vanheim, and Jotunheim.
Edit: Shifted first choice to Eiru

Edited by: Zinegata

I'll register interest, but events in the next couple days might limit my ability to commit to a long-term game. If so, I'll post my withdrawal.

1. Atlantis
2. Asphodel
3. Mictlan

that's one pretty map

i'd like to join with
1) Pythium
2) Eriu
3) Machaka

You can count me in as well - I'll send my nation props once I'm back from work (5-6h from now).

Edit:
1. Agartha
2. Marignon
3. Vanheim

Edited by: puniya

Interested, with :
1)Ermor
2)Oceania
3)R'lyeh

Interested with:
1: Asphodel
2: Mictlan
3: T'ien Chi

Lots of signups. That's great! I've heard back from one of the reserved players and hope to hear back from the other within 24 hours. We've actually crossed the 10-player limit for this game, but players who signed up after the cut-off are being listed in case people drop out before we start or reserved players fail to materialize.

This game will be hosted by me on my PC. In the past I've used Llamaserver for this sort of thing because Llamaserver is a truly excellent tool, however on the rare occasion when something goes wrong (a turn is skipped, a player's turn isn't processed, hosting deadlines are missed and people stall) setting it right can be a true hassle (rollbacks can cause all sorts of errors, and that was on the more mature build of Dom3). Given that we're going into the holidays, I figure me handling everything manually will give us the flexibility we'll want to play this game.

The way this will work once we have finalized who is playing and with what nation is that I'll post my email address and ask everyone to email me their god design. Then I'll email everyone their turn (the .trn file), everyone emails me their orders for the turn (the .2h file), and once I have everyone's orders I'll host the turn and repeat the process. I'm playing in another game right now that's hosted like this and it's worked out to everyone's satisfaction.

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Alright, let's talk game settings. I'm thinking default site frequency for Middle Era, common random events (to spice things up in a PbEM), and 2x Hall of Fame entries per player (so almost certainly 20). Special powers and fame on commanders is fun and can potentially unlock some interesting strategies, so I'm in favor of having a large HoF.

I certainly want a Throne victory. Now, this is going to be a fairly cramped map (roughly 9 provinces/player) so I want to keep the number of strong thrones small. That's because if you end up with a Level 3 throne protected by a demigod in your capital ring and you're already squeezed in by the neighbors, it makes for a bad situation. However, having bigger thrones is more interesting in the long run. At the moment I'm thinking 15 thrones:
8x Level 1
5x Level 2
2x Level 3

With a total of 24 throne points (8x1 + 5x2 + 2x3) and a victory threshhold of 12. If you manage to capture half or more of the seats of magical power then you win the cake... and the game.

Site Frequency: Standard
Random Events: Common
Hall of Fame: 15 20
Throne Victory: 12 points

What do y'all think about those suggestions?

Edited by: baumgarm

I'm ok with settings.

So, I've been thinking and I'm a little worried about how cramped the upcoming game would be on Atha Avin. 9 provinces/player (on land) is pretty small and I'm not looking for a knife-fight-in-a-phone-booth kinda game (even though, as the likely player of Ulm, I would probably fare better than most in said knife fight). I'm thinking of switching to the new, larger, yet still gorgeous and still wrap around Peliwyr map. That'd bump up our province count to just over 14 land provinces/player, which sounds much more viable.

Sound good to you all?

Wow, that map looks really nice.

Sorry, but I think I'm gonna have to withdraw from this. Just heard Starbound's open beta comes out tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great game!

I support the move to the bigger map, the other settings are good for me.

I'm ok with bigger map.

That's a pity, Almler. Another game, perhaps. At this point I'm gonna consider the reserved spots no longer needed which moves a couple of people up into the core ten positions. I'll give everyone until around 2pm Central Time to make any adjustments they want on their trio of nation picks and then I'll start finalizing who gets what. After that, I'll start accepting Pretender designs.

I realized the Hall of Fame only goes up to 15, so that's what it'll be. Also, one more important matter that deserves discussion: Graphs On or Off? Off is the new default for Dom4 and nations must infiltrate enemy capitals with spies or remote spells to peek at their chart. Back in the days of Dom3 I always preferred having charts on because it gave everyone a slightly more realistic assessment of everyone's relative positions. However, the developers of Dom4 clearly wanted to make spy-recruiting nations feel special and I don't mean to undermine their design intent. As such, I'm leaning towards Charts Off, but I am certainly open to discussion on the matter.

off on the graphs is what I would prefer. Btw you havn't really talked about diplomacy is that because this match will have none?
EDIT: I also support the map change. Great work baumgarm.

Edited by: Morrodar

I am okay with the settings and support the map change.

graphs off, great map and settings

I like very much the new map, and I prefer graphs off.