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First ! (We've finished !) - 7/20/2010 8:54:18 PM

DCWhitworth

Posts: 676
Joined: 12/15/2007
From: Norwich, England
Status: offline

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I'd like to lay claim on behalf of the Near Run Thing game of being the first seven player full campaign game to reach completion, only took us two and a half years !

Congratulations to Varick Ready who as the Turks (or Ottomans as he insists on being called) demonstrated expert diplomatic skills to cruise to victory in June 1813.

A fuller report will be posted to the After Action Reports soon.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by DCWhitworth -- 7/20/2010 8:55:15 PM >

_____________________________

Regards
David

Post #: 1

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/20/2010 9:56:37 PM

Yearworld

Posts: 201
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

Congratulations to all 7 players for finishing the game and Varick Ready for coming in 1st. Cool to see that a game can be finished and so quickly. Gives hope to the rest of us.

Yearworld

(in reply to DCWhitworth)

Post #: 2

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/21/2010 2:27:39 AM

Dancing Bear

Posts: 1003
Joined: 2/21/2008
Status: offline

Well done, David and co. I guess Varick is the reining champion for now.

2.5 years is almost reasonable time in which to complete the game.

(in reply to DCWhitworth)

Post #: 3

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/21/2010 1:30:32 PM

Mardonius

Posts: 654
Joined: 4/9/2007
From: East Coast
Status: offline

If I may, I'd like to give a few hints on how to finish a game.

First: Form a game with people whom you have gotten to know, like, respect and trust. This game is more about personalities than countries or Napoleon etc. If you form a group of reasonable people with thick skins, who are reliable (timely), flexible, and who are rather easy with the various set backs that one WILL incur, then you are on the right path. And be ready to take on new/replacement players as we all have changes in you lives. A positive attitude is everything! I had a great group of fellows to play with: Dave Whitworth (France), Mitch Ledford (resurgent Russia), Ron Berg (Great Britain), Fabrizio Viannello (poor little Prussia), George Meyer (who took over a disembowled Austria), and Steve Williams (the Spaniard, to whom I owe 30$; check is in the mail). Kudos to all of them!!!

Second, Establish house rules rules up front, but after the first pitch ("bowl"), stick to the rules. If someone wants to change a rule mid-way or introduce a house rule, this should be permissible only if all agree/don't object to the new rule. A democracy does not work once the game has started. Before countries have been assigned, yes; After, majority votes are mob rule. The rule of law must be upheld.

Third, unless you are playtesting, use only official patches and even then be ready for some bugs.

Fourth, requisition a fellow like Dave(DC)Whitworth who can fix or workaround just about any bug. You NEED a fellow of such skill or you are in an very big hole.

Good Luck all,
Varick

_____________________________

"Crisis is the rallying cry of the tyrant" -- James Madison
"Yes, you will win most battles, but if you loose to me you will loose oh so badly that it causes me pain (chortle) just to think of it" - P. Khan

(in reply to DCWhitworth)

Post #: 4

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/21/2010 3:15:10 PM

fvianello

Posts: 534
Joined: 8/6/2002
From: Italy
Status: offline

As an additional hint, I strongly suggest to use the original EiA victory conditions (Add manpower to accumulated Political Points to see if a nation cross its victory line), as they allow for stronger alliances and cooperative play.

_____________________________

H. Barca,
Surplus Consuls Dispatcher

(in reply to Mardonius)

Post #: 5

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/22/2010 7:54:05 AM

gazfun

Posts: 1046
Joined: 7/1/2004
From: Australia
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mardonius

If I may, I'd like to give a few hints on how to finish a game.

First: Form a game with people whom you have gotten to know, like, respect and trust. This game is more about personalities than countries or Napoleon etc. If you form a group of reasonable people with thick skins, who are reliable (timely), flexible, and who are rather easy with the various set backs that one WILL incur, then you are on the right path. And be ready to take on new/replacement players as we all have changes in you lives. A positive attitude is everything! I had a great group of fellows to play with: Dave Whitworth (France), Mitch Ledford (resurgent Russia), Ron Berg (Great Britain), Fabrizio Viannello (poor little Prussia), George Meyer (who took over a disembowled Austria), and Steve Williams (the Spaniard, to whom I owe 30$; check is in the mail). Kudos to all of them!!!

Second, Establish house rules rules up front, but after the first pitch ("bowl"), stick to the rules. If someone wants to change a rule mid-way or introduce a house rule, this should be permissible only if all agree/don't object to the new rule. A democracy does not work once the game has started. Before countries have been assigned, yes; After, majority votes are mob rule. The rule of law must be upheld.

Third, unless you are playtesting, use only official patches and even then be ready for some bugs.

Fourth, requisition a fellow like Dave(DC)Whitworth who can fix or workaround just about any bug. You NEED a fellow of such skill or you are in an very big hole.

Good Luck all,
Varick

I couldnt agree more with Mardonius remarks here.
Congratulations everyone who has stuck to it, shows you guys have a lot of character, and positive attitudes something of which is necessary and a stick to it attitude to finish the game here.
I think there may be another game coming to a close soon here, as well. Hey David

Game Three?
It is true that its more to do with the personalities of the players, than it is to do with countries. Great stuff guys

_____________________________

(in reply to Mardonius)

Post #: 6

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/22/2010 10:31:50 AM

DCWhitworth

Posts: 676
Joined: 12/15/2007
From: Norwich, England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: gazfun

I think there may be another game coming to a close soon here, as well. Hey David Game Three?

It's true that game three has gone along way but it's actually over three years behind Near Run Thing even though it started not long after. It says a lot about the pace we were able to maintain. When going well we were regularly playing a month in a week of real time.

_____________________________

Regards
David

(in reply to gazfun)

Post #: 7

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/22/2010 2:26:13 PM

Marshall Ellis

Posts: 5630
Joined: 10/2/2001
From: Dallas
Status: offline

FANTASTIC guys!

This is really cool!

Hats off to Mardonius. Feudal power!

Why don't one of you guys put together a "nice to have" (You may already have in Mantis) but a quick summary of what would have made things a little smoother in the game?

_____________________________

Thank you

Marshall Ellis
Outflank Strategy War Games

(in reply to DCWhitworth)

Post #: 8

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/22/2010 8:56:50 PM

DCWhitworth

Posts: 676
Joined: 12/15/2007
From: Norwich, England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Marshall Ellis
Why don't one of you guys put together a "nice to have" (You may already have in Mantis) but a quick summary of what would have made things a little smoother in the game?

A couple of things I can think of as game host - the ability to turn on and off phase skips for other players. And an in-game editor would be a real boon. The latter would mean you could correct minor issues, undo player mistakes and also run house rules effectively.

From a general point of view the security issues in the game are still a concern. Sieges and foraging can be manipulated. Even if they're not there is the worry that they *might* be. In NRT we got around the siege issue by using the 3rd party combat (and found a few bugs with that !) but another work around would be to have players be able to enter die rolls and hence use a verifiable online die roller.

Oh and perhaps fittingly we found a bug in the final victory sequence, I'll log this with Mantis soon.

_____________________________

Regards
David

(in reply to Marshall Ellis)

Post #: 9

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/23/2010 2:24:23 AM

NeverMan

Posts: 1722
Joined: 2/24/2004
Status: offline

It helps if you have 7 players with no/little lives. LOL.

(in reply to DCWhitworth)

Post #: 10

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/23/2010 2:32:40 AM

Dancing Bear

Posts: 1003
Joined: 2/21/2008
Status: offline

In game editor would be good, but I wonder if it might require a lot of coding.

One thing that I thought about as an easy alternative, was allowing the host to manipulate saved manpower same as money. This would involve every power having a saved manpower total of zero, except Prussia who can add to it naturally (I imagine the game already has a zero saved manpower total built into it for all major powers). By adding manpower and money to a major power, a host could effectively correct most errors in the game without an in game editor (although at this stage, we really should not see very many errors).

I would support host control of the skip selections. It would make players more amenable to skipping (players simply don't skip enough).

(in reply to Marshall Ellis)

Post #: 11

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/23/2010 3:59:29 PM

Mardonius

Posts: 654
Joined: 4/9/2007
From: East Coast
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: NeverMan

It helps if you have 7 players with no/little lives. LOL.

That is true!! Advise all to put Neverman first on their lists of potential players...

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Post #: 12

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/23/2010 8:41:55 PM

Yearworld

Posts: 201
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

You guys finished the game in 2.5 years correct? Maybe now you will be interested in playing the 1788-1815 version? :)

(in reply to Mardonius)

Post #: 13

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/23/2010 10:46:53 PM

DCWhitworth

Posts: 676
Joined: 12/15/2007
From: Norwich, England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yearworld

You guys finished the game in 2.5 years correct? Maybe now you will be interested in playing the 1788-1815 version? :)

You think it's a good idea to ask someone who's just run a marathon if they want to run two more ???

_____________________________

Regards
David

(in reply to Yearworld)

Post #: 14

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/23/2010 10:49:04 PM

DCWhitworth

Posts: 676
Joined: 12/15/2007
From: Norwich, England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: NeverMan
It helps if you have 7 players with no/little lives. LOL.

Heh, actually it helps if they live online. Largely as a result of my job I spend 50%+ of my waking hours on a PC with access to the internet and the game.

_____________________________

Regards
David

(in reply to NeverMan)

Post #: 15

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/24/2010 3:45:18 AM

Yearworld

Posts: 201
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

Hi DCWhitworth,

Just a joke. Awhile back I tried to get a 1788 game started but not one person(besides me) wanted to play. :)

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Post #: 16

RE: First ! (We've finished !) - 7/24/2010 4:46:03 AM

Thresh

Posts: 393
Joined: 12/25/2006
From: KCMO
Status: offline

Way back in the day we tried a Mega Grand Campaign. Got to 1799 before it died out. Lots of backstabbing in that one.

Todd

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yearworld

Hi DCWhitworth,

Just a joke. Awhile back I tried to get a 1788 game started but not one person(besides me) wanted to play. :)

(in reply to Yearworld)

Post #: 17