Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...

From: Patrick F. McGehearty <patrick@convex.COM>

Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000

In article <33f10600.12840552@news.concentric.net>,
 <MDBench@spamisevil.concentric.net> wrote:
....trimmed....
>
>To put it blunty, having all that information in the open gives
>'veteran' (read: weenies with information they should not have
>and probably would not have the know-how to obtain by issuing
>orders in MEPBM) players a *huge* advantage over rookie players,
>especially in regards to launching a quick knockout blow vs.
>an inexperienced enemy in the early turns of a game.
>

Elsewhere in your post, you make some good points about how hidden
information would make for a better game.  But that paragraph is flame bait.
"information they should not have" - by who's lights?  Should I not have
information from previous games that I played?  Should I be required to play
in dozens of games to be able to play on an even footing with more
experienced players?  Of course not! Would you expect a chess master to
reinvent every opening he uses?  To fail to study the outcomes of other
games and the implications of great matches by others is simply to play
without foresight!

As far as veterans not having the know-how to obtain this information, that
is a slur on the game playing ability of all those you are speaking of.  I
hope that I don't face opponents who don't know how to go beyond the base
starting info, as it would make for too easy of a win.  There is so much
more to the game than the starting info.  The 'lost' artifacts are in
different locations every game, and these include some of the most important
in the game.  Coordinating the finding and retrieving of these artifacts by
a team is a real art.  By turn 10, more than half the popcenters on the
board are new.  A subtle opponent will build several popcenters that are not
on any of the maps of you or your allies.  Even the starting artifacts don't
stay put.  For example, I generally move some artifacts around between my
characters to improve their usefulness and make it a little harder to
predict which of my characters is a challenge monster.  There are numerious
other ways to reshape your nation, especially if you are in the 2950 game.

I consider the "known tables" of starting nation information to be as much a
part of the game by now as the rule book.  How do most people find out about
MEPBM?  I would think that they are introduced to it by a friend.  If the
friend has had much experience or talked to other people in the game, he/she
would have found out about the starting nation information and gotten a
copy.  That copy should then be provided to the new player.  Or the new
player reads about the game here, and then finds the info on the web.  I do
what I can to spread this information so that we can all start on an equal
basis.  Newbies need not be at a disadvantage with respect to more
experienced players about initial information, but they do need someone to
get them started in understanding the wealth of detail that the game
provides, and have someone clue them about common strategies for their
position.  After that, it is up to each player as what they do with the info.

--------------
As far as changes to 1650/2950, I don't see any need to randomize the
artifact numbers.  Collecting them is hard enough as it is when you
know which number goes with which name.  Does it make sense for a mage
to locate random numbers when what he really wants is a mage artifact?

I can see a case for randomizing popcenters slightly, but see the counter
argument about that making major tactical shifts in the early game.  Perhaps
the idea of being allowed some freedom in locating some secondary popcenters
might be a good idea, especially for 'hidden' popcenters.

Another major limitation is the standard location of starting maps.  It
would be interesting if each nation was allowed to start their map at a
1-hex offset in any direction from the current defaults.  That would make it
a little more difficult to move an army or hide a popcenter 'just off'
another nation's map.

- Patrick McGehearty
patrick@convex.hp.com

References

MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
MDBench@spamisevil.concentric.net
Fri, 08 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
RedEyeJoe <juden@algonet.se>
Mon, 11 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
Eric Myerson <eric.myerson@worldnet.att.net>
Tue, 12 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
MDBench@spamisevil.concentric.net
Wed, 13 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
MDBench@spamisevil.concentric.net
Fri, 08 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
RedEyeJoe <juden@algonet.se>
Mon, 11 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
Eric Myerson <eric.myerson@worldnet.att.net>
Tue, 12 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: MEPBM 'riddle help' = you guys are weak...
MDBench@spamisevil.concentric.net
Wed, 13 Aug 1997 00:00:00 +0000