[OOC] States of Evolution

[epicberet]

Papyrus, wax tablets, vellum, parchment are all good options. Making paper from animal skins is really expensive and time-consuming, but I'm sure that will pose no problem to the mighty Empires of our world.

[ClocktowerEchos]

@Frengo Sorry but I'm going to have to pull out, it seems that I'm not good with the kind of writing this RP demands
Good luck to the rest of you tho!

[SavOrhchid]

<Snipped quote by ZB1996>

I'm going to be totally honest, I glanced over it. In fact, let me address a quickly emerging issue:

Once again, I underestimated something. This time, it was not the turn's fluidity, but rather, the abundance of information that is being churned out by such enthusiastic and imaginative brains.

Ya see, I'm just one Frengo, with a job, a Mrs, some guineapigs and a house. In short, I've kind of got a life going on outside the Guild.

What this means is, I can't comb over these posts and retain the knowledge effectively; even now, and as Shorticus and ZB could probably vouch for, I'm starting to confuse who has done what. For all I know, one of you has developed a nuclear weapon - honestly, you go read through 12,000 words, all written by different people about different things, and try to keep it all in your noodle!

And so, I'm going to have to ask for us to band together in the policing of things. I know I'm the GM, but I'm also a player, and alas the RP is on too much of a grand scale for working adult to properly govern effectively. My fault, because I should have seen this coming, but hey ho, here we are!

So here's what we'll need to do:

Keep an eye on each other, or more specifically, those you are interacting with. If they do something that concerns you, or even all of us, then make the effort to draw my attention to it. If we all have each other's backs, then no one will inadvertently build a space ship and fly to the moon whilst everyone else is trying to work out what the Hell the moon even is.

Sorry it's come to this, but like I say, It's become a matter of human limitations for me personally lol.

We all cool with this?

@Frengo

... //Proceeds to hide nukes.

[TheSovereignGrave]

@Frengo Sorry but I'm going to have to pull out, it seems that I'm not good with the kind of writing this RP demands
Good luck to the rest of you tho!

@ClocktowerEchos

Awww, well that sucks. :/

[Frengo]

@Frengo This RP has thoroughly unmanned me, and I must tend my resignation.

@ClocktowerEchos

That's okay chief, thanks for being up front and honest about it.

Any preference for what happens to your civ? Huge natural disaster? Mutated Promethean Plague? Or do you just want them to turn into an NPC entity?

[Shorticus]

@ClocktowerEchos You take care, then. Still glad to be in other RPs with ya.

[Sigma]

Shame to see you go Clock.

[ClocktowerEchos]

@Frengo Sorry but I'm going to have to pull out, it seems that I'm not good with the kind of writing this RP demands
Good luck to the rest of you tho!

@ClocktowerEchos

@FrengoThis RP has thoroughly unmanned me, and I must tend my resignation.

@ClocktowerEchos

That's okay chief, thanks for being up front and honest about it.

Any preference for what happens to your civ? Huge natural disaster? Mutated Promethean Plague? Or do you just want them to turn into an NPC entity?

@Frengo

First off, please don't twist my words like that, its not exactly the nicest thing to do to people.

As for the Regulii, either some how wipe them out, NPC them or @Shorticus can some how inherit the land through some really weird diplomacy or something.

[Frengo]

<Snipped quote by ClocktowerEchos>

<Snipped quote by Frengo>

First off, please don't twist my words like that, its not exactly the nicest thing to do to people.

As for the Regulii, either some how wipe them out, NPC them or @Shorticus can some how inherit the land through some really weird diplomacy or something.

@ClocktowerEchos

T'was only joking govna', no offence meant. I wish you all the best in your other endeavours.

@Shorticus Looks like you've got the driving seat. What'd you want to do with them? In the event a player dropped out during the Evolution Phase, it was either decimation by the forces of nature, or relegation to an NPC entity - like the Promethean Empire. However, if you'd like to assimilate them, I'm sure something can be worked out.

EDIT: Third Century starts tomorrow, and I'd like to be on the fifth century by the weekend if we can. This Evolution Phase has dragged on longer than planned, which isn't much of a problem, but Clock's exit does prompt some anxiety about the issue.

Think we're waiting on Epic, aren't we? Be a shame to have to give him/her the chop, but rules is rules. I'll be as patient as I can, but we're at that stage now where things need to start moving.

Also, if you're all wondering when I'll update the map, it'll be at the end of the fifth century.

[epicberet]

Sorry to see you go, Clock! Thanks for your contributions.

Post is up. I also took the liberty of throwing together a rough map that shows the state of things in the north-east/centre of the map, just to help us visualize things in prep for round three. Let me know if you have any objections!

I tried to throw out a bone in everyone's direction, so please feel free to bite next round!

[Shorticus]

I don't think it'd be necessarily fair for me to inherit them without any struggle. I'll... Hm. I'll get back to you on this, @Frengo, but my current train of thought is one of two things:

A) Another show of force followed by forceful diplomacy,
B) Ilitscium making a weird diplomatic arrangement that creates what's almost a merge of the two nations rather than truly capitulating.

But the trouble with A is I'm pretty sure Zaqiri manpower's gonna feel a little depleted, and the trouble with B is that gives me... a bigger advantage. Hm.

Like I said, I'll get back to you by the time Turn 3 rolls around.

[neogreggory]

Hmm... I can help but wonder how effective it would be for Kobolds with ranged weapons and spears to ride Stone Trolls into battle. I wonder if there would be a way to test that theory...

[Sigma]

@Shorticus Perhaps an outside threat forces them to join hands? Such as me :P

Would take a while though. Until the Great Horde forms.

[epicberet]

I can't help but wonder how effective it would be for Kobolds with ranged weapons and spears to ride Stone Trolls into battle Troll Mark II Main Battle Backpack Catapult Tanks would be. I wonder if there is a way to test that theory... This is the obvious next technological advance for the unstoppable Trollayelscalethien Empire, after tea and crumpets.

@neogreggory

Fixed that for you.

Hey, it worked in the Hobbit.

[epicberet]

But seriously, not a bad thought neogreggory, and seeing as the trolls don't exactly have much interest in making, using, or owning small pieces of technology, pretty baubles excepted, they'll be trading their strength and size.

Feel I should clarify what the troll-spawn are: humanoid troll-spawn are generally slightly taller and stronger than your average human, with mottled, calloused skin, often a grey colour, very little hair, and long limbs. They can breed among themselves and with other races, though they usually breed true to their parent race; human troll-spawn give birth to humans. That said, they have a fairly low fertility. They might then hibernate their child with a troll for a few years to protect him; troll-spawn have a very low infant mortality rate. While generally resistant to disease, they can be prone to physical or mental deterioration relatively early in life. So their population is pretty much tied to the number of stone-trolls in the world.

[TheSovereignGrave]

Wait, so are we all ready for the start of the Third Century now?

[Frengo]

Wait, so are we all ready for the start of the Third Century now?

@TheSovereignGrave

That's right buddy.

I need to discuss things with Neogreggoy, Empiry things, before I can post. However, I've just thrown the Prometheans an NPC post because I felt bad for them. Also, it sets the stage for what Neo wanted to explore in this century.

[neogreggory]

I look forward to this war.

That said, just because I sometimes enjoy ranting for no real reason I want to talk about Total War, Medieval 2 and the first Rome to be precise. The AI in that game angers me greatly. It has been too may battles where I brought a legion of infantry to dispose of the tiny stacks of enemies on my borders to find that their 'army' was two or three chariots, something that could never actually wound my attackers but sure as hell could outrun them, turning what should have been a five minute melee into half an hour of me trying to split my forces and trap my eneimes before I give up and let it count as an AI victory. And the way the game calculates who has the better odds of victory irks me a great deal.
When the game looks at the two armies it seems they do nothing but count the heads in each crowd and then say the one with the bigger force will win. I am rarely the larger force, and lose with even greater rarity. The computer never seems to consider the units being brought to the battle, or the possible tactics I may employ.

My favorite example of this is a unnamed battle I was in, taking place in the Britannia expansion to Total War Medieval 2. I had next to no units, I think it was... a noble commander with his bodyguard, a unit of spears, a unit of bombards and a unit of proper artillery. I was sitting in one of the small forts littered across Ireland, as I was playing the Irish, and a English army thought to attack, indeed their chasing is why I was held up in the fort. They came at me with thousands. At least four siege towers, as many or more rams and ladders, and to use these tools of war at least two dozen units, ranging from skirmishers to front line spearmen to noble commanders. I held my little rubbish fort, using my guns to blast away their towers, not a single one reached my walls though a few came close. However in time ladders found their way to the far wall of my fort, and a ram was at the gates. I had my infantry meet the enemy coming in from the now broken gate, and for the enemy climbing the wall... I had my bombards blast away at the wall, the AI being completely unable to cope with such a tactic. Their soldiers kept climbing the wall, until the wall fell out from under them. While this was happening I had my commander and his bodyguard charge into the forces slowly pushing against my infantry, and shattered the English dogs.
After this victory I named my nearest city after the English commander who led the attack, I forget his name. The city was then named [insert name here]'s folly. I shall not forget that mighty battle, nor the intelligence, or lack there of, of Total War's AI.
For reference I was playing on normal, perhaps the AI is smarter on hard, who am I to say?

[Frengo]

@neogreggory The A.I was quite abysmal in Medieval, but the Grand Campaign Mod (lets you play as loads of extra nations, and has a much bigger map) did a lot to help. Even so, if you go against an A.I army with third the strength of theirs, you will usually win.

I'm using Shogun to decide the battles that have been asked for resolution. The A.I is better in that, probably the best out of all of them, though it still has its flaws (sometimes the general runs ahead of the army and suicide rushes the center mass of the opposing army!?).

You should see what they did in Rome 2. I will never forgive CA for the monumental fuck up that was Rome 2. That was the last game I ever pre-ordered. You want bad A.I? Holy shit, Rome 2's A.I was actually retarded. Like, proper retarded - offensively retarded. We're talking the entire enemy army just walking through your army - without even trying to fight - just to get to some magical flag on the battlefield that made whoever held it the victor.

Total fucking trash. URGH. Now I'm angry.

[TheSovereignGrave]

...Bronze ore? It's pedantic, I know, but there's no such thing. :D

But it's interesting that Promethea's stepping up its game; a pity they'll never amount to much since they're an NPC. XD