Chickenboy -> RE: Very disappointed (10/9/2009 4:56:27 PM)
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ORIGINAL: bjmorgan Well, I only play against the AI. My sachedule is such that I can only play in spurts. I'll have a whole weekend where I can crank out three weeks or a month of game time, but then may not be able to get back to it for a couple of weeks. A human player wouldn't tolerate waiting on my turns in the off-period, and I wouldn't tolerate waiting for someone else even a few hours during my "on" time. If the game is designed to be PBEM only, then it should say so. If it's PBEM "highly encouraged," then Matrix should just say that up front, as well, BUT tell us that the AI cheats and how it cheats to some extent. Then, the consumer knows what his $100 is giving him. As a one-time very serious military histirian, I play the game to explore strategical possibilites, so it's disconcerting to discover that the AI doesn't have to refuel, or it soesn't need air support, or it .....you get the idea. Those things mean that the side I play is bound by historical conditions, but the other side is not. So, it's strategic decisions are scripted, or worse, arbitrary. I would hope that the cheats would be based on reducing the impact of certain historical restrictions, rather than eliminating them altogether. It far preferable, for example that the AI gets an air repair bonus of some percent, or it uses fuel at some reduced rate, or it can load troops a little faster, or .... well, those are better than just having no fuel needed for a TF. If the Japanese have no fuel or supply restrictions then they can do VERY ahistorical things. That is a problem for me, given the reason I play in the first place. All that said, I'm not very disappointed in the AI at all with AE. A little too adventurous, I suppose, but MUCH better than WITP. It seems to place the player in the position of not knowing what to expect, so all possibilites have to be considered (and with the AI cheats NOTHING is impossible, my only real complaint, I guess.) But, I've found that even with all the cheats, by mid to late '42, a Japanese AI is pretty much screwed. It's frittered away it's CVs, it's pilots are inexperienced, and it's ability to conduct offensive operations is essentially over. That's pretty close to what happend, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT HOW IT HAPPENED. So, I get to plan the inevitable counter-attack pretty much like it was done historically. So, it seems to work out about right. What goes on under the hood may not be all that bad after all. But please, gents, don't pontificate that we're stubborn, or cowardly, or that we like to replay turns to cheat. That's demeaning to a number of serious AI players out here and it makes you look small. I happen to love the game and will play it a long time. I'm 60 frikkin' years old and expect that one day a doctor will tell my wife "... he said he wants to finish this turn before we cut off the life support ...." Thanks, BJ. Nicely put.
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