[freeciv-ai] Re: (PR#3663) [PATCH] The AI gets tech too quickly at the easy level

["Anthony J. Stuckey" <astuckey@xxxxxxxx>]

On Sat, Mar 08, 2003 at 04:49:32PM -0800, Gregory Berkolaiko wrote:
> I would ask you to listen to "recreational" players, whose opinions are 
> contained in Sam's email and the link he gives.  

        I read both, and far more besides.

> Yes, Diplomacy with non-attacking AIs will make _survival_ trivial.  But
> it won't make winning easier: once provoked, the AI will come down on the
> newbie player like an avalanche, with all it's tech advantage.  If not
> provoked, the AI will just blast off to space in 1775.

        With survival "assured", there will be far less pressure and more time
for learning the game.  I believe that people will learn to beat the Easy
AI relatively quickly.

> We can try turning off omniscience, but I suspect the consequences will be 
> disastrous.

        Oh, that's still a required step anyway.

> The appeal of Sam's proposal is that this handicap can be tuned and graded
> very easily.  It's not a dichotomy like "omniscient or stumbling in the
> dark".

        And is apparently less invasive than tuning TRADE_WANT.  Color me
unimpressed.

        Writing a guide is still a good idea.