Re: Age of Exploration

From: bobbyhowelljr@aol.com (Bob Howell)

Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

>As an aside, I am a little disappointed in the fee structure:
>     The set fee per family plus 10 cents for each action is not a unique
>model
>but not one that I enjoy.  10 cents is not a big deal but it still means that
>I
>can do "better" than you not by outplaying you but by outspending you.
>     Also, if you want a powerful family, you must first already be paying
>for
>3 (or 2?) normal families.

The fee structure is something I would prefer having changed to something more
standard i.e. flat fee, but in this case it is not too expensive. And you are
right about the concept of buying the game. But that only comes into play for
the very large factions. An example in this game is in the training situation.
I belong to a group whose families are located in and around Germany more or
less. We are not as a group the richest people in the world. We have spent
about $500 over the last 20 turns on training our characters between 10 of us.
The group controlling France has spent about $5000 between 17 or 18 players.
This gives them a huge advantage in skills over our group. But because of the
large size of our two factions the advantage is minimal in effect. I don't know
how to explain it any better without writing a book. For one thing you cannot
train any character above the skill level of the trainer. No one character
started the game with more than a 999 level in any skill. So I guess the
advantage is they have more characters with a high skill in whatever. We have
the same or better skill levels just not with as many characters. But we also
are a smaller group anyway. Gee, I hope that made sense.

As far as "powerful" families go. There are two types of families, Ordinary,
and Elite.  Everyone can play ordinary families. To play an Elite family you
must be currently playing three ordinary families. In my opinion this is to
make sure that if you are playing a powerful position in the game you are
committed to the game. As you probably know some players come into a game find
they are not enjoying it and drop. This would damage the game if for example
someone came in to play the Pope(Borgia family) for 2 or 3 turns and then
dropped.  Also, Ordinary families are not all little sisters. There are some
very powerful ordinary families in this game. So far it seems that Elite really
means "access to many cities". Access to cities allows you to trade at those
cities. Some families have ingress to only a couple of cities. This severely
dimishes their "power". The Elite families seem to have many, many cities they
have access to.

>     Finally, I didn't see any limit to the number of families that one
>person
>could run.
>     So, if your (the generic "your") families attacked mine, could I go
>"buy"
>some more families from the moderator and make them my allies to tilt the
>battle?
>

You are correct. However, when families start out they are relatively poor,
own small armies, and don't have access to large trade business. This tactic
would be ineffective in the short term situation you described.

>I can appreciate the economic model from the moderator's perspective but I'm
>not sure about it from a player's standpoint.  Do financially-challenged
>newbies with only one standard family get jumped by the old vets with
>multiple
>clans?
>

This game is still new. 20 turns old. Right now everyone is on relatively good
terms with each other. There are two main factions, and a couple of small
groups of 2 or three players banded together. There are also several
independent players.  You can survive in all three ways. There is a player
whose families are based in Switzerland who is just as neutral as the real
country. He is in a good defensible location with a decent sized army
controlled by a family with good starting military skill. He has no formal
allies but believe me, right now he doesn't need any. Most "old Vets" want to
get newbies in their faction. As far as what happens in the future to newbies I
cannot say. I can say that they will always be welcome in my countries of
Bohemia, Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania.
:-) Look me up if you join.

>   So, how did you get into this game?   Did you play Renaissance prior to
>AoE
>starting up?  And without giving away any secrets, can you tell us what
>you're
>doing with your families - their goals and actions, your perceptions of what
>everyone else is doing in the game and how things will develop.

I played 5 or 6 turns of Renaissance II several years ago, but it did not grab
me.  Then last year Constantine advertised for playtesters for Age of
Exploration on this newsgroup. I applied and got hooked.

The Jagiello family which is my Elite, are just trying to generate some money
at the moment. There is a really nice supply of dyestuffs in Breslau that if
sold in the right cities can generate a 1000% return. They along with a few
other families are making the trade runs as we speak.
The Podebrad family which is a noble family from Bohemia has a character or two
doing the same thing. They also have a character who is magistrate of Prague
and is directing trade there.
The Durer family which is a commoner family with excellent art skills is
trading between Augsburg and Nuremburg. They are also exploring the remaining
cities in Bohemia I have not visited.
The Radziwill family which is a noble family from Lithuania is exploring
Lithuania and Eastern Poland.

That should cover your questions for now.

Bob

References

Re: Age of Exploration
jonmmorris@aol.comnospam (JonMMorris)
Tue, 11 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000

Referenced By

Re: Age of Exploration
jonmmorris@aol.comnospam (JonMMorris)
Tue, 11 Apr 2000 00:00:00 +0000