Mare Nostra, a casual weekend CK MP game

[Swuul]

GAME INFO

Game starts 4th of March, at 19:00 CET.

Scenario: 1066

Playable starting-positions: Any Duchies touching the Mediterranean (including Black Sea), all duchies in the Balkans and Italy. Certain Kingdoms too (like Bosnia)

GM: Jarkko

Game time: Weekends, as is most suitable for the majority of the regular players. First session is on Saturday 4th of March.

RULES
1) You may not claim Duke or King titles, usurp is the way to go!
2) If a player crashes, the game is rehosted at the start of the next year unless he is in war in which case an immediate rehost.
3) If player goes AFK during rehost he will not be waited for, the game starts immediatly.
4) No editing during the game.
5) Latest (beta-)patch will always be used.


Just as in the Summer 2005 -game, any and all players are welcome! If you can make it for one hour during one of the sessions, please do join I will also help new players test their connection, and go through the basics of CK MP, if needed. Test sessions will be held on Thursday and Friday evenings (European time) if anybody wants them to be organised.

Playing positions are handed out on the principle first come first served, so claim your duchy now. Players who have not claimed or played a a position will be placed in a duchy I feel is most deserving a player.


As usual in games GM'd by me, I do not tolerate personal insults or attacks. However, *in character* insults are not only tolerated but highly recommended. A line "You, my dear neighbour, are a son of a thousand fathers and your mother was a dog" would get high remarks in my books Also, as goes without saying, any cheaters or exploiters will be first flogged and then kicked out (and known exploiters should not bother to sign up here).


The following people have so far shown interest:
Jarkko
Styrbiorn
gigau
Aldo
Wyvern (Apulia)
maartos
BurningEGO
Varyar
GrimPagan
Duuk

 

[unmerged(15723)]

The following people have so far shown interest:
Aldo

Please advise a nice Duchy!

 

[Swuul]

Ok, the patch is out! Rejoice!

However, time may be a bit short to start the game on this weekend, but lets try anyway. At least to see if there are enough people around. Also, we need to test the scenario with 1.05 to be sure it works.

So, let us aim for a (test-?) session on Sunday, starting 18 CET and lasting until 21 CET. All interested people, please do report in

 

[Swuul]

OTOH, while the scenario I suggested is IMO very interesting and balanced for MP, it is not exactly "newbie friendly", as there are files to be altered etc.

So, unless there is much opposing, lets go with either of the later "vanilla" scenarios. That way it is easy for anybody wishing to drop in to play

 

[Swuul]

There is a slight little problem... Finland and Sweden got to the final game in ice-hockey. Which is played Sunday early evening...

I suggest we postpone the start to next week

 

[unmerged(15723)]

There is a slight little problem... Finland and Sweden got to the final game in ice-hockey. Which is played Sunday early evening...

I suggest we postpone the start to next week

Agreed. But there was only two posters to start with so I don't know how large the loss is...

 

[Styrbiorn]

I suggest we postpone the start to next week

I didn't even bother looking here, assuming that'd be the case.

 

[Wyvern]

Hey Jarkko, if you're planning to play this on a Saturday I'd like to join. I downloaded the new patch at the weekend and most of my old issues with the game seem to be solved (too many/silly events that spiralled out of control).

Assuming you're going ahead with picking Duchies bordering the med, can I take Apulia please?

What difficulty/ai aggressiveness do you plan to play on? Also as I've been out of the loop a fair time and haven't played this for a couple of years until yesterday, a run down on any CK MP ettiquet issues would be appreciated (ie things the game engine allows but that shouldn't be exploited anyway, those sort of things).

Cheers .

 

[Swuul]

Right. Let's aim for a session on Saturday Do people have any prefered time-slots? Basically Saturday is a bad day all day long for me, but I'll arrange things (I really want a 1.05 game going on ) so that any time will suit me

As of 1.05 many of the early exploits are not available anymore, especially if we go with the 1337 scenario (no pagan bashing, moslems are strong). However, the various pause exploits are still there, and people who pause without a *very* good reason (for example, your room is on fire and the fire fighters want to get in) should expect to not see a future in any game I have any word in. Basically, IMO those who pause to exploit the game engine should be shot, hanged and shot again, and then ridiculed over and over again (it is, after all, only a game, so I can't understand why somebody would destroy the fun by exploiting).

Let's go with the Dukes around the Med, though there are a couple Kings who could also be played (like Bosnia). So Wyvern, you can consider Apulia yours

 

[Swuul]

About AI, now with 1.05 harder difficulty levels are also playable (as the difficulty level no longer make your available armies smaller, which earler meant harder AI levels were not an option). I haven't really tested 1.05 on harder difficulty, is there a noticeable difference?

 

[Wyvern]

I can make myself available pretty much any time on Saturday if I know in advance, so feel free to pick a time.

Had assumed you would play from 1066. Guess I'll have to take a look at the 1337 scenario .

Don't understand - regarding pausing, how was that exploited in MP?

 

[Swuul]

Don't understand - regarding pausing, how was that exploited in MP?

An example from a real game:

A player sees another player is about to win a war against a third part. So he pauses the game, carefully planning his dukes moves, setting him to movement, but more importantly, claims all the lands of the third part too. He then concentrates on taking down *one* of the forts of the third part, a fort that is only besieged by a marshal of the second player; he sends in his duke so that he steals the siege (stealing a siege btw is perfectly ok, and if it wasn't for the pause exploiting he planned to use, this would have been a marvelous strike). Then, when this last fort falls (with him gaining control of the province), he immediatly pauses the game again. He proposes peace with the third part during this pause by which he gets all the lands he has had prestige to claim, a peace that automatically has to be accepted (as the third part does not control any of its lands anymore) -> the player took several provinces with minimal effort.

Needless to say I freaked a bit. Especially after the GM of the game approved this sort of behaviour. Those two know who they are, and there is no need to repeat their names here. And in general I won't even bother to spit in their direction anymore.

 

[Wyvern]

Got home and checked out the 1337 scenario - Apulia doesn't exist in this scenario so scrub that choice.

There aren't many duchies to be honest that seem reasonably playable - you mention Bosnia as a playable kingdom, what about Sicily which consists of 5 provinces. If that's around the size you're looking for then I'll try that, or if you want to keep with duchies only then I could try the Duchy of Calabria (part of the kingdom of Naples).

 

[Swuul]

Got home and checked out the 1337 scenario - Apulia doesn't exist in this scenario so scrub that choice.

There aren't many duchies to be honest that seem reasonably playable - you mention Bosnia as a playable kingdom, what about Sicily which consists of 5 provinces. If that's around the size you're looking for then I'll try that, or if you want to keep with duchies only then I could try the Duchy of Calabria (part of the kingdom of Naples).

Sicily is IIRC about to merge with Hungary, so I don't think it is a balanced choice.

Anyway, only I have so far vouched for 1337, does this suite, or would 1066 be better? 1066 sure is more fluid, with lots of weak moslems around the Med to be grabbed.

 

[Wyvern]

Sicily is IIRC about to merge with Hungary, so I don't think it is a balanced choice.

Anyway, only I have so far vouched for 1337, does this suite, or would 1066 be better? 1066 sure is more fluid, with lots of weak moslems around the Med to be grabbed.

Ah well there your knowledge of the scenario exceeds mine - never played 1337. I'll go along with whatever you suggest, you've got a better understanding of what makes a fun CK MP game than I.

 

[Swuul]

Let's aim for a 19 CET game launch on Saturday.

I have been asked if it is ok to join if one can play for just one session. Yes, please do join. This is intended to be a casual game where anybody can pop in for a session, while it is also very ok to play the full campaign

 

[BurningEGO]

Well i would like to join this game, but i am already involved in 2 other MP games, so i don't know if i can join this one. Still i would like to know if i could play as the Kingdom of Mallorca. If not, i will go as the Principality of Thessalonika. Oh and yes, Jarkko, that trick to conquer someone else province is pretty lame, usually i do it in SP, but against human players it is totaly sick. I hope that i never see such. Sorry if i am too stupid but what does CET mean? :wacko:

 

[Swuul]

B-EGO, you are welcome even for one session CET means Central European time, which is GMT+1 (GMT=Greenwich meantime, ie the "world time"). You can check the GMT time and your own time-zone's relation to it from http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/


The scenario will after all be 1066, not 1337, so unfortunately no Mallorca available. But please do pop in

 

[Varyar]

I'd be happy to join in. Never played any CK MP before so I could probably use one of those connection tests. As for duchy, I'd take any suitable one availible.

 

[Swuul]

Ok, tonight a test hosting at 19:30 I have only 20 minutes, so basically it is just to test the connection works. If there are problems, we'll launch another test tomorrow too.