[Freeciv] Re: city smallpox (was: Some questions)

[Reinier Post <rp@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Dec 19, 2000 at 09:06:26AM -0500, Mike Jing wrote:
> It is my impression that many of the principal developers actually play 
> solitare almost exclusively too.  Therefore I think they would be very 
> sensitive to your suggestions.  Don't let the lack of response discourage 
> you because they normally do not raise their voice unless absolutely 
> necessary.

Solitaire isn't as exciting once you can beat the hard AI ...
 
> Mike

> Bobby D. Bryant <bdbryant@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[...]

> >After various discussions in various forums, I have concluded that there 
> >are two classes of gamers, and that neither can understand the other's 
> >motivations.

You may have a point, but there is a difference that I feel is much more
important: the timeout!

> >FWIW, I use *all* the features you mention above *every* time I play 
> >solitaire.  And I don't play competition at all, because the competition 
> >players all want full certainty so they can win by playing a scripted 
> >solution.  I'm happy if that makes them happy, but it doesn't appeal to me 
> >at all, so I don't play on the server.

Timeout plays an important role here.  When playing in real time you
have to be economical.  Time critical or very laborious actions become
much riskier.  Unit movement with all its clicking becomes costly
(especially the coordination).  Well-coordinated surprise actions or
sophisticated diplomatic action become very difficult to handle.  A low
timeout favours predictable, steady expansion and 'steamroller' methods
of attack.

Then there's a social aspect: playing against humans stimulates the
competitive element.  It still feels bad to lose against AI players but
nobody else will notice.  So players gennerally attach more importance
to fairness in human-to-human games.  And with the typical Freeciv game
lasting 2 or 3 hours, you don't get many chances at revenge, so this
fairness is imposed on every game.  This may explain the general
reluctance to use options that increase randomness and unpredictability
(techlevel, generator 1, unknown rulesets).

-- 
Reinier