Server-based PBEM - yay!

[JudgeDredd]

More like "a small sense of unease". After all, we all know how pissed off we ourselves can get when we fall just a *little* short of that objective... Grrr...

Maybe so - but it saddens me that people put such an emphasis on winning that they cheat [:(]

I'd like to believe that whomever I am playing against has the balls to take his mistakes on the chin. But, I think more crucially, if I start thinking he could be cheating because of his game choices then I'm not giving him the credit for his moves and therefore perhaps I shouldn't be playing pbem.

I think someone asked the question above and I'm not sure they got the answer they wanted (as I interpreted the question anyway)...if the server no longer becomes available, can you continue your PBEM game (server based one) without using the server, or would you have to start a new pbem game?

[dobeln]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
Maybe so - but it saddens me that people put such an emphasis on winning that they cheat [:(]

I don´t think it´s that common. But remember, "trust but verify" - this will make PBEM more satisfying even if we posit that there was no cheating going on whatsoever before server-based PBEM.

[TemujinOz]

If the server was 'off line', you would not be able to continue a game in progress. There are no local files when using the server based system, everything lives on the server.

Having said that, the server(s) in question are the Slitherine servers, so the chances of problems are greater than zero, but only just.

[JudgeDredd]

ORIGINAL: dobeln

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
Maybe so - but it saddens me that people put such an emphasis on winning that they cheat [:(]

I don´t think it´s that common. But remember, "trust but verify" - this will make PBEM more satisfying even if we posit that there was no cheating going on whatsoever before server-based PBEM.

I have no doubt that it is rare - but that kind of makes the fact that we need (or like the idea) of a server to verify PBEM games that little bit sadder tbh.

And the "trust but verify"...? The verify statement kind of negates the trust element.

Anyway - regardless I'll leave you all to your PBEM glory. I very much doubt I'll be taking part in PBEM anyway (the chances are greater than 0 - but only just [:D] ) because I trust none of you [:'(]

[dobeln]

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd
And the "trust but verify"...? The verify statement kind of negates the trust element.

Nah, it just weakens it. Very few instances of trust are total, after all.

[CheerfullyInsane]

Fair enough, dispensing with the cheating aspect of the PBEM system.

The challenge system (assuming that they carried that over from FoG) is the real beauty of the thing.
Want a PBEM game?
Simply post an open challenge, and anyone who logs on can pick it up.
If you want to play a specific person, you can password-lock it and use boards/E-mail to send the password to your opponent.
But the treat for me is the open challenge. Usually I will play anyone at anytime, so whenever I feel like a human opponent for FoG I simply post an open challenge.
Now FoG is a tactical game, with max. 20 turns so a game will finish in 3-4 days depending on time-zones, so there will arguably be fewer games started for something like WitE.
But as a comparison the longest I've ever had a standing FoG open challenge before someone picked it up is 20 minutes.
If you've never done PBEM, this is the perfect way to get into it.
This thing is IMHO an invention that is right up there with pizza and remote-control.

4 more hours..... [:D]

[dobeln]

Sounds fantastic!

ORIGINAL: CheerfullyInsane

Fair enough, dispensing with the cheating aspect of the PBEM system.

The challenge system (assuming that they carried that over from FoG) is the real beauty of the thing.
Want a PBEM game?
Simply post an open challenge, and anyone who logs on can pick it up.
If you want to play a specific person, you can password-lock it and use boards/E-mail to send the password to your opponent.
But the treat for me is the open challenge. Usually I will play anyone at anytime, so whenever I feel like a human opponent for FoG I simply post an open challenge.
Now FoG is a tactical game, with max. 20 turns so a game will finish in 3-4 days depending on time-zones, so there will arguably be fewer games started for something like WitE.
But as a comparison the longest I've ever had a standing FoG open challenge before someone picked it up is 20 minutes.
If you've never done PBEM, this is the perfect way to get into it.
This thing is IMHO an invention that is right up there with pizza and remote-control.

4 more hours..... [:D]

[Pford]

I played Battlefield Academy on the Slitherine servers for a while until getting a bit bored with the game; cute but it little too wargaming lite for my taste (mortar and mg teams were stationary!, this bugged me, lol) . This was a couple of months ago. One issue their system had- at the time- was an inability on the part of the player to delete old games. This had to be done by the administrator. Also, it kept a public record of ones wins & losses, as well as games played. A bit invasive from a privacy pov, imo.

[CheerfullyInsane]

ORIGINAL: Pford

I played Battlefield Academy on the Slitherine servers for a while until getting a bit bored with the game; cute but it little too wargaming lite for my taste (mortar and mg teams were stationary!, this bugged me, lol) . This was a couple of months ago. One issue their system had- at the time- was an inability on the part of the player to delete old games. This had to be done by the administrator. Also, it kept a public record of ones wins & losses, as well as games played. A bit invasive from a privacy pov, imo.

Never tried Battlefiled Academy, but they've changed a few things in FoG. (or vice-versa I suppose)

It still keeps a record, but only for games played against the AI for some obscure reason, and it's only made public if you link the statistics to your board account.
You still can't delete old games from your list, but there is a function that allows you to claim a win if there is no enemy activity for a specific time (a month IIRC).
Shouldn't be an item with WitE simply because you're less liable to have scores of games running simultaneously.

[Rosseau]

FWIW, it's a wonderful system. Never played MP in 20 years until FoG and BA came out. And now, WitE has it!

Hopefully, one of the testers will write WitE for dummies. That's quite a manual to digest, and I would never submit someone to an MP game unless I knew what I was doing.

This is really good, though...