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Longest, most tiring game of Crusader Kings...EVER....Even though it only lasted 22 years, three years shorter than the average. Rewarding though, dominated Spain and France, and am not doing terribly in a war against England, Scotland and the United Arab Front. Will type up the AAR tommorow...Found the ingame screenshot button so collected some 400 shots, so they need to be sorted and whitled down to 40 ish.

Let me see... Portal Song sounds slightly different, one is a rather energetic song, a good song by all accounts, the other is rather...Spacey. Song you can listen to while staring at the celing. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12603519/Portal%20-%20Credits%20Song%20%27Still%20Alive%27.mp3 Eye of the Tiger sounds entirely different though. The actual song is one that really strongly energetic, really fighting music...while the slow version could easily have been the score of a Science Fiction Film, maybe set aboard some vast organic vessal... It starts with a beating heart, sort of background music, there is a mild arrhythmia, maybe the ship knows there is something inside? There is a build up, maybe a shot of a corridor, at the far end something is coming, something that turns into a wall of water, or blood. As the band of explorers flee behind a door there is a momentary relief...Just the heart beating again. Then a bludge in the door, followed by another, and another...then just the heart again, then more bludges, deeper, larger than before...then heart again, the explorers run down the another corridor, behind them the door gives way and one of their number dies horrifically. Then some extra buldge sounds, in case neccessary. Then we move on to just before four minutes, atomspheric music, set quieter than before. Maybe the intro, the explorer's shuttle drifting towards the vast mass of the ship. Various discoveries, maybe giant spires that loom across the camera, maybe bodies, maybe the internal workings. Then about 7 minutes, the alien language. Maybe still atomspheric music, the explorers hear the voice, unable to make sense of it. 14 minutes, the explorers reach some safe point, the heart beat stops, the alien speaks...The beat starts again, slower. I can quite easily imagine the film in my mind...probably made in the 80s, back when everything was panoramic shots, as much as they could fit onto the camera. And it doesn't matter how many times you listened to Eye of the Tiger before, you would not have associated it with a Sci-Fi film. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12603519/Eye%20of%20the%20tiger%20-Lyrics-.mp3 Ring of Fire is horrific if you slow it down =P I am not saying that all songs always yield more when you slow them down...I am saying that some do (2 out of 3 randomly selected songs from your list convert as something listenable). I would hasten to point out that our tastes in music are somewhat different, you clearly enjoy songs about struggling towards something dangerous/impossible (Basing that off Ring of Fire, Still Alive, Eye of the Tiger), where as I prefer instrumental, usually rather energetic or very slow...or the latter leading to the former: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_JeKZd9ecE Anywho. In responce to Nex: Yes, it does work far better with purely instrumental pieces. Vocals sounds pretty terrible 90% of the time anyway, but when you slow them down it tends to corrupt 9.9999% more.

Mather, what I mean is hearing what is too obvious to hear...or too small to hear. For instance, the first second of a song, or the second after that. We listen, but we do not hear them. We are aware of their existance, but we know little about them. We hear them only as a fleeting second in a hoard of seconds...Even if we listened to that track a hundred times that one second is still just one second of the song. And when we look closely at that one second we see that it is not merely one second, but a host of miliseconds, of sounds that we are not even aware of. Its like a video, you could watch a video a thousand times and still not see something. If you watched it in slow motion, say half speed, then you get more from the video, that roll of the eyes, or expression that you didn't see before, if you progress it frame by frame then all of those moments stand out. With music every second harbours so much, and when we listen at normal speeds we only just scratch the surface of the music. (though, of course, things take much longer at slower speeds =P) But your responce reminds me of the fable about the man and the rock. In summery: Man is the keeper of this rock, and has studied it intensely. Another man comes along with a microscope and asks if the man will allow him to look though the microscope at the rock (Which is special for some reason, I forget the details). The man, so confident that he knows all there is to know about the rock, refuses him and says that any question that he has about the rock can be answered by him. Anywho, after more narrative the man is eventually convinced to look through the microscope and is stunned by what he sees, shortly thereafter he leaves the sacred/special rock because he has failed as a keeper of knowledge by refusing to accept new knowledge when offered, beliving that there is no more left to know. Can also be summed up as a saying by Confucius 'He who keeps the old akindle and adds new knowledge is fit to be a teacher'

I have a case of writer's fatigue...Not quite the same thing, but I would imagine I will cure it with a good night's sleep...not sure entirely when that will be, but soon =P On an unrelated note, anyone ever tried listening to music they know well at slower speeds? Its a whole new experiance, because you recognise some of it, but there is a lot you don't normally hear.

Darn people and their need for historical accuracy... Ok, I will start later today.

On an unrelated note, I can read =P

Ico would be in year 12 going into year 13. I believe.

So Retech votes A. Any more for anymore?

We need to plan the sessions, I stayed up till 6 GMT cause you said you were gonna be starting at 3 GMT.

Sorryies!!!!! I was asleeping :sad:

If anyone ever needs to kill a few weeks: http://www.bgames.com/funny-games/Doodle-God-2.html 192 elements to find(Technically 190, since 2 are revealed in cutscenes) by combining 4, and their offspring...and so on and so forth. Only annoying thing I have to mention is that you need to discover all the first 130ish before you can move onto the last lot...which sounds fine, but when that means you can't combine apples and dough until you have made ghouls...very annoying. Anywho, I gave up and used a walkthrough, beat my record of 78 =P(not including the first 4)

Sir Alaric, Knight of the Round Table. With the Battle for Terra fought, for that is what the battle against the Wizards truely was...the battle for the survival of our world...the Kings and Duchies set about their usual squabbles, inheritance and conquest the tools of the day...But for some the Battle for Terra was not the final chapter in the Annuals of Magic, for some it was only an interlude, a chance for the artefacts once hoarded by the Wizards to be scattered to the wind, ready for the next generation to take them up. His liege is one such man. The Good King Oswald assembled the Knights of the Round Table, eleven men of honour, to seek out the artefacts, and so each of the Knights went their seperate ways. Sir Alaric, on the advice of one of the surviving Wizards in the Kingdom of Hosltein, took the long journey to the Kingdom of [insert Kingdom where the game takes place here]. John von Alaric is a Romantic, skilled in swordsmanship, battlecraft, conversation, mathematics and matters of subtley and disgression (Aka Intelligence, Charisma, Strength, Endurence, Dexterity are above average), but following a strict code(feel free to be inventive), which disallows the use of magic in near all circumstances. While he quests for the magic artefacts Sir Alaric does not consider himself ordained to wield the power of the Gods. Only circumstances it is allowed should be matters of life and death, decided by the Mod. (aka, I say I do it and the Mod, you, either says I am allowed to do it, or you say my character doesn't think it is dangerous enough yet and I get to retake my action). Character will hopefully be fairly knightly, with quests and what not. =P

Mmmm...It should ultimately be Stork's decision, since he is the thread creator. If he is happy then we should be happy about that. That, combined with the fact that people will post general artwork in the Backroom if they only want to show the Tavern.

John von Alaric. (Alaric for short) Need I say more?

A discussion implies that both sides are equal. When players see themselves as the Mod's equal the game dies.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12603519/boston-pops-Popcorn.mp3 Its all I have to say on the idea of everyone agreeing, and the generally Hexian idea of multiple creators, screw the mod and players know best. Players are, for the most part, idiots. That is a fact. If you were playing a game of chess, and you were about to lose then you might go 'Actually, you know what, I think that Kings can move two spaces at a time' to prevent yourself from losing. You need an impartial Mod, and that means someone who isn't playing the game. So unless everyone stops playing every time a decision needs to be made...your idea is unworkable. We can see this quite evidently by the fact that no one has taken interest in your game...And no amount of claiming the backroom swallowed your idea can contend with the fact that you created a seperate topic and still no one has taken an interest. (Explaining in case somewhat gets Mod happy and removes it: If everyone talked about it then there would be no music. Everyone would want the most notes, or everyone would want to play someone elses bit of music. Instead there is a composer and a conductor, people who write the music and people who administer the music so that the players don't try to help other people find their place by playing loudly or whatever. Ergo, a GM is a conductor/composer, and the players are the people on instruments) Bad idea. People who complain their idea isn't getting enough attention tend to be the people who no one wants to play with. Would be a better idea to simply institute a 3 day rule, that if an idea hasn't got three people playing then the thread to should be locked, and the idea to have been considered to have failed...Better than people sitting around going 'My idea is so awesome, if only people would play'. Mather, part of being a senior member of the Tavern...if you want to call yourself that...is being reserved and respectful. It doesn't do to shout the odds at a 'newbie' because they are shouting the odds... An eye for an eye and we all go blind....ect. ect.

The World At War, 1141-1167 [hide] And so it was that, in exchange for paying off the enormace debts accrued in the past Oswald re-established the Riechstag's ability to choose the Leader of Germany. The Document would later become known as the 'Pretio Pacem' or the Price of Peace, and heralded the beginning of a rollback against the late King Oliver, with policies being dictated by the Nobles, while the 'King' was reduced to a simple figurehead. In those early days Oswald contented himself to redesigning the flag, hunting and playing with his children, John and Osorio. In the Southern reaches of the empire the Battle of Lucca ended with subdued victory and Oliver's body began the long journey northwards to Lubeck. But there were few people there to greet the body when it arrived and it spent several hours housed in a pigshed before becoming 'Lost'. It wasn't until several weeks later that Oswald was even told that his father's body had been returned to Lubeck, and beging effectively under house arrest meant that the body stayed lost. As the weeks turned into months a steady routine developed in the von Alaric household, with time with the Children starting the day, then rubber stamping over lunch and into the early afternoon, and then martial practice until the evening. During this time the nobles began to build a huge series of fortifications, somewhat ingeniously designed with a double wall system allowing the Lord of the castle to protect himself from his own men, should the need arise...For the truth was, beyond the happy home like of Holstenhafen times were hard... In the wake of the 'Pretio' there were many who wished the Olivarian reforms to have continued. The revolts that gripped the nation were, fortunately, limited to the peasantry and the upstart ruler of Brandenburg, allowing for the united noble and vassel armies to take charge and put down the insurgence. By the beginning of 1143 the years under Oliver were systematically reduced to a footnote in the chronicals, so reduced that years later not a mention of him could be found, except for in the monastic archives...and even then only a few detailing his reign. The effect was to turn the man into a Myth, a hero to the peasantry, who would often be found wandering the countryside with his band of merry men, giving food to the needy and taking it from the wicked nobles and crafty merchants. But that would take a few more years, in 1143 a crusade was called to retake Orbetello from the Muslims, ostensibly there were religious connotations as well, but mostly it was to help the ex-count Ciuccio Sforza in return for taxation rights. Still, it was dubbed a crusade to collect dues from the Church, and once Oswald got wind of it he set off to lead it. The Nobles, convinced that the month or two long excursion would prove to the young King that he was better off at home, allowed it. Indeed they had been providing him with status updates on the Croatian war, showing how terrible it would have been had he not wisely given up his father's foolish ambitions in that direction. However the Oswald relished in the battle for Orbetello, and was only sorry that it was over too quickly. The nobles, keen to show the luxury side of things, in case future excursions were to be happened upon, took him to Roma, where he met the then Pope Peire de Bourbon, or Pope Celestine II as he was offically known. A chance comment about the holy land soon had Oswald obsessed and rashly promised Celestine II that the Kingdom of Germany would liberate the whole of Jerusalem! The nobles were, of course, outraged. But, there hands were more or less tied by Oswald's promise and so an expedition of 10,000 men was commissioned and the force set out in late April, arriving a few months later in Jaffa. From there march to Amman took until just before the end of the year, with no resistance to be faced. It seemed that the Sultan of the Hammadids was engaged in a long war with the Sultan of the Turks, and had left the Holy Land undefended, and what was more, stripped of troops. As the war drew to a close the King grew restless, having travelled across the world to find battlefields as barren as the rosebushes he never tended to. The nobles, by comparison, were overjoyed that the campagain was over so easily and quickly, and, what was more, with so much prestige and gratitude from the Celestine. But their pleasure soon turns to dismay as a letter arrives saying that King Oswald requests two years of supplies to be dispatched immediately for the purposes of conquering the entire holy land. The supplies are begrudgingly sent when it is pointed out that should the King die in the Holy Land a new King would need to be elected...and none of them quite trust each other not to take complete control. And, true to his word, within two years the Kingdom of Jerusalem is captured. With the once great Muslim nation of the Hammadids reduced to a handful of provinces surrounding the Persia Gulf. And still the King hungers for more. The Emirate of Medina and Mecca call to him, and by the end of march the armies wait on the frontiers, ready to march onwards. But the nobles delay, complaining about revolts, and riots, and wars in Europe...but none of this is paid any heed and soon letters containing phrases as 'Will take great pleasure in stripping the next person to send me excuses not supplies of their titles' got the supplies moving. The Nobles and Vassels, nominal rulers of Germany for the past half decade, were now laid low by letters from the Holy Land. But the nobles were not done yet, the prestige garnered over the last few years was put to good use and Germany was given advanced status within the Papal States. Using that power they declared the crusade at an end. The paperwork was mounding, and the Imperial Demense was spawling and overburdened, much of the wealth that should have been theirs...er...the King's was being lost to highwaymen, and stories among the peasants began to circulate that it was the late King, not actually dead, but betrayed by the Nobles. Bards soon travelled the lands singing the ballads of Oliver, the one in Yellow Tights, a master swordsman and archer, who robbed from the rich to give to the poor, and who was hunted by the evil Duke Ludwig von Steutzlingen, of Bavaria. Of course little of this was known by Oswald and soon letters began arriving declaring that a new crusade must be started, that Alexandria must now be saved! The nobles decide enough is enough and Helie de Villaret, Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, is given leave to take up the cross in stead of the King. The King, less than impressed by this returns to Germany for two months before returning to the Holy Land with another 10,000 men. With dizzying battle for the Holy Land raging the rest of the Kingdom continues to slide towards anarcgy, but there seems to be no end in sight as ever more Arabs rush to defend their lands, and Germany's bottomless pockets ensure that Christians are always there to meet them. But those bottomless pockets soon find bottoms as things deteriorate further...Plauen, Passau and St Gallen all declaring independence and the Demense returning less and less in the way of funds. But all of this matters little to Oswald, who recieves regular payments for indulgencies from the Vatican, and now stands on the edge of Mecca, ready to take the city, now and forever. The epic battles that had eluded him in Italy and the Northern Holy Land were densely packed in the final months of the crusade, with there being many moments where all seemed lost, only for a band of knights to charge out and drive the Muslims from the battlefield. And thus, after many years across the seas, Oswald returned and began to administer the Empire once again. Marshal Jen von Alaric, of Henrik's line, was appointed as the Duke of Jerusalem and tasked with protecting and adminstering the Holy Land. After some three years of uneventful war the armies of Germany arrive in the breakaway state of Ulm, ready to retake the province. Then they move on to St Gallen, then Passau, then Ansbach...But this final province proves a touch paper for full blown civil war! Or treason at least. Wurttemberg quickly folds under the pressure of the German army, and King Oswald uses the fact that an army has already been raised as a reason to invade the tribes of Prussia, which itself is an excuse to launch a much wider invasion of Kola. But it would seem the civil war is not yet done, and before his troops have even conquered one province, he is requested back in Lubeck for emergency measures. Thus consoling himself with Marienburg and Chelminskie, Oswald turns his attention to administration once again. The Civil War, as it turns out barely happens, with just the occassional uprising every time a boat is commissioned or an army raised for an expedition. Eventually Oswald just gives up and suffers the tedium of a few years paperwork and playing with the children. In mid may 1152 new reaches Oswald that his wife's brother has sent his heir to the court of Hainault, one of the German provinces boarding France. The boy is the heir to all of France and with his Father, the Queen's Brother, ill -as rumour has it- it is unlikely that another son will spawn. Thus, should the boy die, young John would be near assured of the French Throne... However, the situation is not without risk. Should he inherit the French Throne before the Nobles can be strong armed into electing him Ruler of Germany then he would no longer be eligable...Cursed Elective Law. The Queen is not best pleased, and relations with France grow ice cold...Fortunately they are already at wat with Hungery and England, so they would be ill advised to start another war... But the attack, when it comes, comes from an unexpected direction... And is met with overwhelming force... With that little misadventure behind him the tediousness returns for another month before Oswald is unable to contain his desire to flight and challanges one his Father's old friends to a duel to the death. When he refuses Oswald lays claim to his titles and invases Denmark...ignoring Denmark's alliance with England, who fortunately chooses not to take part. The war with Denmark is reaching its crashing cresendo in mid August, 1153, and yet Oswald is back at home, presiding of the re-creation of the Grand Duchy of Holstien With John finally a man, Holstien ceases to be part of the Imperial Demense. While he is home the nobles approach him with a united front, the Crusade has to be called off. Egypt has been left unchanged for near a decade and Germany is considered a laughing stock for being unable to deal with a single Muslim nation. With that final peice of paperwork done the King raises an army in Mecklemburg and attacks Werle, one of the few tangible benefits to this war is bringing an eighty year old claim to good use. It is soon incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Holstien But those eighty years have reduced Danish Holdings to a mere pitance of what they once were, and so, without any great effort Hardknut Knytling is forced to surrender the Danish Crown and is soon reduced to just the Duchy of Pomeralia. Yet, before even a year of peace a new war is joined, this time against France. An earlier request by Count Berthold von Stolzenburg, count of Verden, had gone unheeded and France had extracted vast indemnities...But now, with Hungery menacing France, and the considerable threat of France passing to John before it should, and his first son becoming King of a decaying wretch of a country...there was only one action open to them. In the open stages of the war, when things were simple, the province of Dauphine Viennois, in South Eastern France, was hotly contested, with the battlefield changing hands several times in the opening months...but, eventually, German weight of numbers won over French skill and the province was taken. This costly delay meant the war in the South achieved very little. In the North, however, the French presence was far smaller and brushed asside within a month of arrival. From here the armies marched to the English Channel, taking all that stood against it...But as Oswald marched through the French Kingdom it became more apparent that this Kingdom was dying. Britanny and Orleans had already broken away from the Kingdom and England controlled much of Normandy. Over the course of a year the North, and the boarderland regions were stripped from France, and as the war began to turn, what with Hungery's withdrawal from the war a treaty was drawn up. In exchange for claims on two Dukedoms, one in Ireland, the North of France-what was left of it- and Venezia was surrendered into the care of the German Kingom. But the German Kingdom itself was suffering from internal strife as well, and it was a three sided battle. The Olivandians were the main foe, representing a small number of Nobles who believed that that Von Alaric family was destined to rule, backed by most of the peasantry. The second side, known as the Oswaldians, took the opposite line, that it was the Reichstag that elected the Von Alaric family, and therefore the Reighstag knew best. The final side is the side to which Oswald actually belonged...A side he liked to call, Germany. Though both of the other sides claimed that he actually supported them....At only 41 years old he had accumulated more crowns for Germany than his collective predecessors had since the fall of the Roman Empire. Further his war with France had not been a disaster, on the contrary, he had conquered the Ile de France, the capital for centuries... The Holy Land, too, was in Catholic hands thanks to Oswald... Truely, he was chosen by God to lead. By Late 1157 dissent had been fermenting long enough and things began to come to a head with Holland and Osnabruck, two Olivandian Lords, declared independance, followed by Ansbach, Thuringen, Julich, Sticht, Oldenburg and Ulm, but headlined by the Duchy of Schwaben, the most influential supporter of the Olivandian cause. Each time the revolts were put down, but the lords allowed to keep their titles...proof, some argued that Oswald was secretly an Olivandian. But, after Schwaben the efforts ebbed out and the Oswaldians seemed dominate. But this was short lived. Two days before Christmass 1159 Genoa, a stanch Oswaldian declared war on Pomeralia. Pomeralia called in England, and Genoa called in Germany. Merely days later a plan to improve the state of affairs within the kingdom turns out to be a pyramid scheme. Some 4,000 gold in debt, at war with the second most powerful nation in the world, many fear the end of Germany is neigh...Others revel in it. Further distress is caused when, just two weeks later the long serving Pope Celestine II dies, and Galicia becomes the new Papal Controller, a Vassal of England. The world descends into what is later called the First World War, a war in which all that is civilised attacks everything else that is civilised. England starts the war fighting Leon and Germany, but by the second year Leon has joined England against Germany, and Scotland too has waded in to help their English breathen. The Danish are soon removed from the war, and with them most of the central European fighting ebbs out. Germany squeezes the English vassals to the East and West, while England fights Pisa in Iberia. As the third year of the conflict rolls into being the Kingdom of the Zirids attacks Pisa, and Germany is brought into the war, and is soon sending troops out to African Tunis. As the war in Iberia begins to heat up with 20,000 German soliders in the mix Byzantium offers an alliance, which is readily accepted, and peace with Leon is taken, allowing for a successful campaign against England, liberating all of the occupied Pisa and adding two provinces to thier demense. Out in the East the County of Kexholm, one of the two remaining from Henrik's reward, declares independance after it it taken by the son of one of his daughters. the Iberian war continues to be the focal point with England, Leon and several Arab States declaring war in the fifth year of the conflict, the first two in violation of their treaty with Germany. Alsace and their Lord's of Genoa are soon at war with Hungary and we are forced to intervene, rousing the Barvian beast from its long slumber and beginning a three year invasion which achieves nothing but dead Hungarians. The war in Iberia dries up just before the peace is signed in Hungary, with England and Leon unable to sustain the war, as Scotland has invaded England and is making good progress south. France too wades in, but is swiftly beaten back by England and Scotland working in Tandum, and two white peaces are drawn up. The Danish attack Norway and may good headway before being resoundingly defeated during Germany's interlude of 1164 to 1165. The Arab nations in Jerusalem are the first to bring Germany back to the war, and with Jen's death his son Edwin has taken over, a cruel tyrant, incapable of fighting. He is propped up by Oswald, but soon Oswald tires of protecting a land which he no longer holds dear. His arms tired of holding the sword against France and Hungary. Hungary again attacks, and again no progress is made in either direction, though the war remains open. Set against all of this has been a steady stream of Olivandian uprisings, and, for the first time, a few Oswaldian uprisings, those seeking to fufill the Reichstag's duty of passing the throne of Germany to John before he reaches the age of 30. The situation has a certain growing ludicrousness, but it cannot be ignored, and Oswald throws himself at all the problems, the divine will of God protecting him from their arrows, swords and axe blades, and finally, in late 1166 the threat of Civil War seems to ebb away. But half a year remains before our tale ends, in that time Denmark attacks again, and is repulsed, and England looks to be gearing up for another war...and finally, it is all too much. Late on August Eighth, while conducting drills with the army in Lucca, not far from the deathsite of his Father, a massive heartattack hits Oswald. He is immediately rushed to bed, but he is dead by morning. His body, is taken, not to Lubeck, but to Venezia, and not buried, but mummified, the techniques passed on by Muslims from the Holy Land. Then he is put on display, inside an open crypt at Pacem House. Whether this strange curiousity will catch on, or whether, with Osward dead, and John now gone thirty, a mystical number for some reason, the entire German Empire will come crashing down... [/hide] Decisions: Only one this time. 1) The Innevitable State Of Europe: John von Alaric (Or his children) are almost certain to inherit France, and when that days comes the nature of the German Nation will change with it. A) The State of Europe: Salic Consanguinity - Male Heir with the Most Power Inherits. Feudal Contract - A system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour. Regal Supremacy - The King is the head of the Church. B) The New Roman Empire: Salic Primogeniture - Eldest Male Heir Inherits. Royal Preorgatory - A system for ordering society around relationships derived from God, through the King. Church Supremacy - The Church rules unquestioned. C) The League of Nations: Elective Law - Strongest Vassal Inherits. Traditional Customs - A system for ordering society around what already exists. Ecclesical Balance - The Church is semi-autonomous.

I believe it is a 'You can be on a team if you want' game.

Cause you aren't a JMod? Its more like walking up to another player and them going "WTH! GET AWAY FROM YOU YOU CHOOB!" I like the idea Ico....Well I am interested by it, I am a little annoyed we aren't doing a carbon copy of my Dungeoneering, but I will live with it =P

Thats our Mather...For good or for bad.

As was stated when it first began. However since the Global Mods and Admin have put their backing behind it there is not a lot of chance of things changing...and unlike a lot of things done in the past the majority of the Tavern supports it (I am less than supportive for the same reasons as you stated). Discussing it is needlessly time consuming and serves no real function, same as discussing how it would be nice if the post count was restored. Unless someone wants to drag an Admin over here to get their head bitten off about how terrible everything is...I can't see anything happening. (Can't see anything happening even if they are dragged over here)

Ok, the Hegemony idea sounds interesting, but would never work. I believe Dusty said it best 'If people want to play [Crusader Kings] then they will play [Crusader Kings]' The three main problems with running a Hegemony game are: People give up, which means it might not be worth playing, which means people give up. Its not there when you want to play it (Or there too much in Spork/Stork's case) Finally, and most importantly, the game places unrealistically high targets on the GM. We have moved past the point where we can run Hegemony games for the Tavern. Dungeoneering I would be interested in playing with the Magic with curses...Could be something like you need Fresh Blood to cast a spell, or the bones of someone who was recently killed, or a familiar that slowly gains more control of you the more you feed it. I am not sure about the campagian though. In the past campaigns end up being purposefully derailed...maybe something like the orginal dungeoneering would be best, where people start together and then migrate outwards, in companies if they want, or alone if they prefer. I would really, really, prefer a Play by Post game, since we need activity :thumbsup: Oh, the other thing we need is to go back to the original leveling system. Makes a lot more sense than making it impossible to level crafting skills, while ridiculously easy to level combat skills.

Tavern has lost the main people who pushed games forward...Ross, Dusty and Grim. People who are left don't seem to have the ability to stay the course for more than a few days. Retech will blow stuff up if things don't go right. Nex has a tendancy to drift and occassionally blow stuff up depending on how he feels. Ico has a tendancy to drift too. Mather plays like Retech, replacing 'Blow stuff up' with 'Metagame my way though it'. Vixon and Iey don't play <_< . Stork and Spork sporadically play, but are otherwise good from what I have seen. Earth, you play a good game, and I hope you won't take offense when I say you play a follower not a leader. Just going from Space, you want other people to give you orders more than you want to take charge. Lynx plays well too, but people don't engage with her, and she doesn't engage with others. (I don't know about me) So games are not really sustainable any more, since no one takes charge, which means the people who follow orders don't have anyone to follow. Without that nucleus, the daytrippers like Nex and Ico don't have anything to congregate around. Elsewise most of the people playing a game tend to flake off after a few sessions or posts. Its everyone's fault really.

Ehhh...yes. Moving on, err, somewhat... Finally got round to giving HOI3 a fair trial...It is still terrible. They fixed the speed issue, which is good...But it can still be set to run at full speed and, as long as you set AI control, you will probably get a pretty good run out of how WW2 was actually fought. Great...Cept, of course, if I wanted to watch World War 2 being fought out over and over again I could watch the History channel... You go in as Great Britain. Ok, what can I do...Nothing...Nothing....Nothing..........................................................................MORE NOTHING. AH A DECISON! Protect Czechslovakia? That sounds like a sensible move....France has declared war on Germany... HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE! Britain says 'Hang on a second' and France goes 'DIE HITLER!'? WHAT MESSED UP WORLD IS THIS! And Germany doesn't even invade Czechslovakia. Infact Germany does a fat lot of nothing, what does happen though is Italy, the country I have been prodding away from the Axis suddenly ups and joins them, invading France instantly. I try to send an expeditionary force, and what happens? Half my army turns French. I say 'Oi, you, NO.'(to 0:53) And it tells me I have to wait 3 months to get my troops back...and when they do come back France has split them up so I only get back an eighth the troops I sent. AN EIGHTH! Italy has most of Southern France, and Japan has invaded and annexed ALL of China, yes, Communist and Nationalist...in six months. ALL I DID WAS SAY 'No Hitler, you cannot have Czechslovakia' and what happens? THE WORLD EXPLODES! Thats not realism...Thats not even close to realism...In the Real World Germany was not prepared for war, Italy was not prepared to invade France for no real reason...Japan did not have the capacity to invade and occupy China in six months. Neville Chamberlain made the right decision given situation he faced...But in this ALTERNATE universe, where Germany is not allied to anyone, and England is mobilising for war standing up to Germany made SOME sense. But no, clearly only by giving up Czechslovakia could China survive... Clearly Italy, so enraged by Britain doing what Italy was planning to do at that time, felt compelled to ally with Germany. Silliness of the highest order. Another issue I had was the unfinished feel to the game...You barely get any events, the research system is revamped, and looks quite good...but they have kept the date modifers...so even if you want tanks that are heavily armoured, but not very fast, you still have to wait as long as if you had researched heavily armoured and very fast. Bah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwgxug3yjvU

Mather we(me and Killered) talked about it a few months ago. http://forum.tip.it/index.php?app=members&module=list&max_results=20&sort_key=posts&sort_order=desc&filter=ALL Not exactly surprising given how inactive I and the Tavern have been in the last few months. Though that puts me in 4th overall <_<