Re: Olympia G2

From: morrow@newton.crisp.net (John Morrow)

Date: Fri, 31 Jan 1997 00:00:00 +0000

rlamb@usa.net (Robert H. Lamb) writes:
>B is the key to success in Oly.  Be a participant in an _active_ group
>that shares your goals.  This doesn't guarantee success but your
>chances are better and besides, its a whole lot more fun.

I did OK with only one other player as an ally.  Our problem was more
a lack of optimization during a stretch in the middle and some bad
luck with respect to timing and location.  Yupa had a castle not far
from Imperial City in G1 that he built himself.  Dogmatix also seemed
to do alot of damage on his own.  Just as an alliance doens't
guarantee success, not being in one doesn't guarantee failure.  I'll
agree that alliances are fun.  But you can also have alot of fun with
diplomatic mail without actually joining them.  The dispersed starting
cities should also have an interested effect on the politics of G2.

>Have part of the group sail away to new lands asap in order to
>diversify your position.

To diversify or not is another judgement call.  It's alot like
investing.  If you put your money in a single stock then you can do
really well or you can lose everything.  If you put your money in a
fund made up of alot of stocks, you probably won't lose big but you
also probably won't win big, either.  Diversification will help
protect you.  It will also make it tougher to achieve any one goal.

>In the short term, the non-magical skills are needed to build your
>position but long term, the game revolves around magical skills.

Possibly.  Actually, alot of G1 seemed to revolve around Beastmastery,
as well.  I know.  I didn't have a beast army and was exterminated
handily by one.  Yeah, it was such a common household skill that
everyone just took it for granted but from my point of view, it was
more important than magic.  But note that changes have been made to
both making them a bit less all powerful.

>That's an understatment.  If you're looking for sophisticated and
>challenging gameplay Oly offers it because some of the most skillful
>strategists & tacticians in pbm play Oly.

>On several occasions in G1 I had situations explained to me where the
>depth of play was astounding and where these guys were playing on a
>level _way_ beyond me.

What he said... :-)

>Which is not to say the casual or novice player can't have fun or do
>well (hey I'm a rookie myself and I did good!), just that while the
>basics of the game are easy to master, it's the opportunity for
>advanced level gameplay that is most interesting.

That all depends.  One can make a diplomatic niche for themselves
without ever being a major military power by providing maps and other
information.  You can still have fun without playing on the large
scale, though the large scale can always come along and force you to
notice.  Do whatever you think is fun.  There are alot of options.

>Read issue #130 of the Olympia1 Times, BOOK OF FIVE THINGS.

>Many of the specific details have changed with the G2 rules but
>overall there's some good hints there.  And for pure entertainment
>value, check out the first couple dozen issues.  Some good creative
>writing there, I especially liked Calvin Trillian's restaurant review
>columns (no I'm not Calvin)  :)

Yes.  Do it, just to know what has happened and what can happen.

John Morrow

References

Olympia G2
jhalpern@newbridge.com (Joel Halpern)
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 00:00:00 +0000
Re: Olympia G2
rlamb@usa.net (Robert H. Lamb)
Thu, 30 Jan 1997 00:00:00 +0000