Posts from Should we ban the Griffin Conservatory and the Hive of Serpents?
Would you prohibit visiting the Griffin Conservatory and the Serpent Nest?
We recently discussed Griffin Conservatories and beehives — Pasha suggested it. Discuss it again?
I don't care what rules we play by. But I don't want to introduce such a ban into the Season rules. I'm against it.
The idea isn't new. It's been suggested a million times. Some people even play by these rules. But IMO, it's not the right approach. Without stockpiles, players will start hoarding resources, building up their starting army, etc. There will be even more randomness, I think.
Added 2 minutes ago
Recently, based in part on such reasoning, I created a script to change the contents of stockpiles and hives.
Game practice quickly showed that the number of stockpiles on the map and the ability to double-build become very important.
That is, if one player gets good stockpiles, the other is left behind and can't catch up in power. If one player gets double-build, they can build up their economy, buy units, and dominate. And they don't worry about the opponent rushing them on turn 2 with a force of control and stat-boosting units obtained through angels and vivs.
So, the idea is bad; we've been there, done that.
Added 2 minutes ago
Recently, I played with a foreigner who had only 10-15 games played. I asked him: what rules do you use? He replied: I ban everything that I've ever lost because of. And he listed everything, including stockpiles and hives. We played, and I built a secondary Conflux. After the game, he happily suggested: let's play again, now with Conflux banned. I wonder what he'll have left after 20 games.
The arguments are absolutely not serious. What is an external dwelling of the 6th level, for example?
Taking cans and hives—for me, this is also part of the game and strategy. The ability to take them as early as possible is also a skill.
On which week will Dragon Utopia be taken without cans and hives? Again—it's dragging out the game.
We'll be reading reports like:
"The opponent was given an elf external dwelling" or "on 112 I'm capturing my own secondary, decided not to continue :D "
Such "accidents" will start deciding the game.
Random is random precisely because you play what the computer threw together; that's why we love it! If you want perfect balance—play fixes!
Added after 1 minute
And one more thing. Play about 10 parties with a ban on cans/hives and write down your impressions of the game. I think many will agree (especially those who suggested this before)
Or am I just stupid?
I'll explain again – the number of hidden locations/double builds is a whim of the generator; it either exists or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, then it won't (starting from week 3, and even from week 2, double builds don't really matter much). Plus, they are easy to find. And little depends on the player here.
And the "canned food" locations are everywhere on the map, so the number of ducks/angels collected depends, among other things, on the player's skill. Not only in the sense of "finding" them, but also in the sense of "taking" them.
I agree that the presence of "canned food" locations slightly unbalances the game, especially when players are located close to each other. But banning them would ruin the game even more – see the reasons above.
A possible solution could be the following feature: to obtain angels/ducks, you need not only to kill the guards but also to pay some gold (proportional to the value of the reward). Then, taking them would take a little more time, mass looting would be more difficult, and there would be competition with troops from other sources.
I think the arguments are serious.
Taking cans and hives - for me, this is also part of the game and strategy. The ability to take them as early as possible is also a skill.
On which week will the Dragon Utopia be taken without cans and hives? Again - it's dragging out the game.
We'll end up reading reports like:
"The opponent was given an external dwelling of elves" or "on 112 I'm capturing my own secondary, decided not to continue :D "
Such "accidents" will start deciding the game.
Random is random for a reason: you play what the computer threw together, that's why we love it! If you want perfect balance - play fixes!
Added after 1 minute
And one more thing. Play about 10 parties with a ban on cans/hives and write your impressions of the game. I think many will agree (especially those who suggested this before)
Added after 4 minutes
Not without that. And you're also being very rude.
Added after 1 minute
And in general, some swamp would still have to try and take those cans from their own respawn; you'll get tired of transporting those angels :D
Remember our last game (with a disclaimer about my skill level, obviously). At my respawn I had 2 cons and a Dragon Utopia, but absolutely no wood, plus a bug: on the way to an adjacent secondary site, I hit a mountain (I don't think I've encountered that before). You only had an external dwelling of elves and a portal in the dungeon.
Meaning all week I spent every turn fighting off skeleton piles for resources for horses in the citadel, then money for redemption, and I could only get a 3-stack of cons around 125 or so... While you stripped a free respawn (though I stole a couple of piles from there) and came to me at 126 with your native power. Which mattered more—my 3 angels with a level 12 Valkyrie or your 20 elves and company with a level 7 Kirr—you saw for yourself.
Let's ban cons, double-build, external dwellings, and let something else matter. Like the wood piles at the sawmill.
For me, the whole beauty of randomness is exactly in the randomness.
Damn, it kills me when you spend 3 weeks calculating things, making some beautiful moves on the last turn, fighting off stuff with your turns, overtaking the opponent in terms of stats, and then they get a tea kettle or a book in the Dragon Utopia and that's it—the excuse is ready: obviously he won, he had a Dragon Utopia with a tea kettle! I'm not talking specifically about myself right now, but in general. Rarely does anyone write: "I lost because I played like sh**" (c). Of course not, the opponent just had too many cons and snails.
and it was quite interesting, at least for me. The objections are not serious, therefore.
to Wlk777
Remember our last game (with a disclaimer about my skill level, obviously). I had 2 cons and a Dragon Utopia at my respawn, but absolutely no wood, plus a bug: on the way to an adjacent secondary site, I hit a mountain (I don't think I've seen that before). You only had an external dwelling of elves and a portal in the dungeon.
Meaning all week long, using every possible trick, I was fighting for some resources for horses in the citadel, then money for buyouts, and I could only get a tier-3 con around 125 or something... While you stripped a free respawn (though I stole a couple of piles from there) and came to me at 126 with your home power. As for what mattered more — my 3 angels under a level 12 Valkyrie or your 20 elves and company under a level 7 Kyrria — you saw that for yourself.
Let's ban cons, double-builds, external dwellings, and something else will matter instead. Like the piles of wood at the sawmill.
For me, the whole beauty of randomness is exactly in the randomness.
Damn, it kills me when you spend 3 weeks calculating things, doing some fancy moves on the last turn, fighting through stuff with tricks, overtaking your opponent in terms of stats, and then they get a tea kettle or a book in the Dragon Utopia and that's it — excuse ready: obviously he won, he had a Dragon Utopia with a tea kettle! I'm not talking specifically about myself right now, but in general. Rarely does anyone write: "I lost because I played like sh**" (quote). Of course not, the opponent just had too many cons and snails.
but you got stuck on these "canned" units and instead of developing properly and breaking through to another secondary resource, you relied on them – and here's the result – there's no real resistance in the final, if there was a ban, the game might have gone differently.
Arguing isn't my thing. I said what I wanted to say.