Small PBEM question and general feedback

[benjerry]

First off - great game. From a purely technical standpoint a big step up from the first game (which was java iirc?).

This creates (drumroll) synergies with other elements of the game. Snappy, responsive movement and feedback combines with the good UI and proper* choice of scale to create that elusive "one more turn" feel. Best I´ve felt in the sub-genre since Clash of Steel. And that was in 1993.

As usual, your "PBEM" mp system is second to none in the wargaming area. (I´d chop off a... erm, fingernail, if you re-released Gary Grigsby´s WAWAWD with it implemented... )

Some quick suggestions for further improvement:

- Be more liberal with the popups / mouseovers / click-for-info elements that explain rules, stats, and calculations. This really opens up a game like this for newbies, and ít´s the direction the industry is moving.

- The PBEM system is gold. But it is a great foundation to build something even better on, with stats, etc. Which leads me to my question:

*Actual question* One of my games just... disappeared. Does this mean that my opponent surrendered? Or is it a bug? Or did you detect my aimbot?

Again, fine work, keep it up!

* Personal taste of course. But it´s very hard to get a "one more turn" feel when turns take an hour**.

** I.e. "WWII at divisional scale", etc.

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: benjerry

One of my games just... disappeared. Does this mean that my opponent surrendered? Or is it a bug? Or did you detect my aimbot?

warspite1

This comment got me concerned. When an opponent surrenders in PBEM I assume the last message comes through? What does the victor actually see? I sent congratulation messages to each of the victors in my games - I would hate to think they did not get that - that would look awful....[:(]

[benjerry]

ORIGINAL: warspite1

This comment got me concerned. When an opponent surrenders in PBEM I assume the last message comes through? What does the victor actually see? I sent congratulation messages to each of the victors in my games - I would hate to think they did not get that - that would look awful....[:(]

That´s going to be easier to figure out now - since I think it was you that I was playing, yesterday (unless there´s more than one Warspite1 hanging around ) . And your game went poof very late last night (GMT+1). If so, we might be looking at a bug here.

[benjerry]

I should add both our mirror games went poof at the same time - so if you´re wondering why you haven´t got any turns waiting for ya, then it might indeed be a bug.

[warspite1]

No, no bug. I surrendered in both games.

What concerns me though was that in every game I have played (and lost) I have sent a congratulatory note to the victor and a brief explanation of why I have surrendered.

If no one has got these then that's very disappointing because it would look like I can't be bothered or I have gone off in a strop. That's rally unfortunate....[:(]

So Slitherine - yes your PBEM is a brilliant, hassle free experience, but I am disappointed that the chat ends abruptly upon surrender without the victor seeing the text from the losing party. Can this be fixed?

benjerry played brilliantly in both games and I was beaten as both CP and Entente before the autumn!! He crushed me in France - I had lost Paris by about turn 7, and was hurting me in Serbia. In the other game my attack in France had run out of steam long before Paris and I was in a no win situation in the East.

[Orm]

I won a couple of multiplayer games and I felt a slight frustration that when I had won I was just shown a small surrender flag at the side of the game showing the victory. I could not open the game and see if there was any last turn moves from my opponent. Nor could I see if there was any comments.

The last game I won I left on the server so I could see if I could open it after the patch but it has now disappeared from the server!

[benjerry]

@Warspite: Then I know, and thanks for the praise. I tried out a hyperagressive style, and it worked out pretty well, though things got kind of dicey in my assault on Serbia for a while. If you feel like having another game, give me a holler!

----

Further feedback:

As an aside (I did not use this "trick" in our game, but I can see it being huge), I think it´s urgent to patch the scrapping of fleets. Getting 50 "bonus" IP as France or Austria in early 1914 when every IP can have huge impact on the entire flow of the war is just out of whack.

A simple fix is just hugely reducing the return to scrapping fleets. A more elegant "fix" might be possible, but just cutting it down so it doesn´t equal (much) more than an extra turn´s net production, which can throw balance out of whach, necessatating house rules, etc. would fix the issue in a satisfactory matter (after all, you´re generally not supposed to be scrapping your high seas fleet in a WWII game)...

[JJKettunen]

ORIGINAL: benjerry
A simple fix is just hugely reducing the return to scrapping fleets. A more elegant "fix" might be possible, but just cutting it down so it doesn´t equal (much) more than an extra turn´s net production, which can throw balance out of whach, necessatating house rules, etc. would fix the issue in a satisfactory matter (after all, you´re generally not supposed to be scrapping your high seas fleet in a WWII game)...

I think a simple rule change would suffice: one cannot disband the fleets.

[benjerry]

ORIGINAL: Keke

I think a simple rule change would suffice: one cannot disband the fleets.

That would work fine too, but to allow for those times where someone legitimately wants to get rid of fleets (I.e. you built a bunch for some purpose, and don´t need em any more), just reducing the amount brought in from scrapping drastically might be a better (and very simple - just a number change) way to go.