How to find a new good reliable pbm player ?

[asdicus]

For many years back to the start of original witp I played repeated pbm games against the same opponent. We must have done at least 4-6 complete campaign games(witp and witp ae) and I was always impressed with his ability to combine real life and still send frequent campaign game turns. Earlier this year our last game finished and we thought it would be a good idea to try new opponents (fresh ideas/challenges etc). For me trying to find a new good reliable player has turned into a disaster. 2 pbm games started both abandoned by my opponents within 2 game weeks. Both opponents were not frequent posters on the boards but how are you supposed to pick players ? I mean it seems mad just to refuse to start pbm games against all newish pbm players.

I advertised for an opponent on the board. Set out what I was looking for in a game. Was upfront about everything and aimed to avoid any nasty surprises once the game began.

Want a fast paced game ie more than 1 turn a day on average (ie I don't want to fight the pacific war in realtime or slower). I will mention it if the game then progresses at a snails pace so why does an opponent then get unhappy with me chasing turns ?

Want to use babes mod with a few changes. Changes will be highlighted and agreed in advance. Houserules yes but agreed in advance. No the scenario has not be devised just to screw the japs. It plays like history not a fantasy game. I will happily play the japs but prefer the allies. So please after 2 weeks gameplay do not accuse me of creating a 'biased' scenario and being unhappy because my opponent is ignoring one of our major houserules.

Stated that I have played witp and witp ae pbm for many years. Looking for an experienced jap player or less experienced allied player (I have never played japan in pbm). If you do not fall into these categories then please do not commit to the game. I aim to have a good longterm game so seeing the japs(through inexperience) fail to invade malaya/burma or use cap to cover ships or surface warships to cover transports does not make for an interesting game.

Most important keep in contact even if you are just saying you quit the game. One player did email me to quit the other just stopped sending turns and did not reply to my queries (he still views the forums). It is so rude to do this - how much effort is a short 'I quit' email ?

I now realise that I should have hung leachlike onto my original longterm opponent. My advice is if you find a good pbm player cherish them because they are not easy to find.

Any suggestions on filling my current pbm game void would be appreciated. I have no interest in starting a flame war against any of my recent game players so please do not start one.

[Canoerebel]

Try to get Miller as an opponent. Great guy, reliable, courteous, tenacious (he don't give up!).

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: asdicus
Most important keep in contact even if you are just saying you quit the game. One player did email me to quit the other just stopped sending turns and did not reply to my queries (he still views the forums). It is so rude to do this - how much effort is a short 'I quit' email ?

You're right. That's no effort at all and only a reasonable request. That's just not cricket.

I now realise that I should have hung leachlike onto my original longterm opponent. My advice is if you find a good pbm player cherish them because they are not easy to find.

Yes, you're right.

Any suggestions on filling my current pbm game void would be appreciated. I have no interest in starting a flame war against any of my recent game players so please do not start one.

My recommended screens:

1. Someone that is a regular on the forums should get top consideration. Yes, there are some great PBEM partners out there that are infrequent posters, but there's at least a modicum of commitment to the game 'system' with those that frequent the site. This is my opinion, YMMV.

2. You may need to check some of your suggested 'mod' thoughts, as this will limit prospective opponents, in my opinion. The number of opponents that will want to play a slightly altered unsupported (by Matrix) mod may be different than those that want to play an official scenario.

Also, would you turn away from a quality opponent that was only able to guarantee 1 turn a day (not more)? Your insistence on an up-tempo game may not be suitable to some players out there.

3. Consider playing the Japanese side. There are fewer reliable PBEM long-term opponents that tend to advertise an open game as the Japanese.

Hope this helps. Good luck moving forward, asdicus.

[Bill Durrant]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Try to get Miller as an opponent. Great guy, reliable, courteous, tenacious (he don't give up!).

Good news for me I had a couple of opponents quit recently but just started a game against Miller

[Rising-Sun]

Well finding a realible player that have time to play is not going to be easy. If any of these players have medical or other issues can be a problem later on. Sometimes can postpone or delay, but there no telling if things will get better or worst. I had few setbacks and some players out there had their problems too.

Not going to be easy to find good players, wish you all good luck on that.

[geofflambert]

Hope it doesn't sound like I'm blowing my horn, but I've had two opponents (one twice) give up in early '42. When we were playing we normally got in at least one turn a day and sometimes three. I will soon be looking for an opponent but I'm interested in DaBigBabes C but I'd have to download it, make sure I did it right and study it a bit before I could start. I'm only qualified to play the Allied side, though. Please keep me in mind.

Oh, and that "Elite Guard" stuff is nonsense. I think I earned that by posting way too much.

Also, I don't mind when a Axis player quits after losing CVs, but as the Allied player, you can sink all my CVs and I'll keep fighting.

[nashvillen]

rjopel and I have been playing for over three years. I believe next month will be three on the current campaign. We started one and both of us made terrible mistakes, me with the Japanese economy and him with the allied carriers. By April 1942 we determined it would be better to chalk it up to lessons learned as it was the first pbem for both of us and start over. We started with the 8 Dec scenario and have had a steady campaign through three deployments of Ryan, a major surgery on me and other family/friend issues. I have had the opportunity to know Ryan beforehand to know that he is a good gamer, like myself. This is the best way to find an opponent, get a friend involved! A gamer with simular likes to yours would be a good "target"! [:D]

I have also played in another campaign which was a mistake for me as playing two full campaigns took up too much of my time and my play was suffering in each. This one ended with a capitulation in April 1942. I do not feel my opponent in this case to be giving up to give up, but that it would be a waste of both our's time to continue as the game was going to go a long time before the Allies would be able to do anything of importance. I am currently involved with a 3x2 Allied x Japan game that is progressing 3-4 turns a week, which is all you can expect for having five people involved. It is interesting to play just 1/3 of the game and have to rely on the skill of someone else to progress the war elsewhere. Lots of fun there.

Anyways, don't give up. Starting with players that post here are a good option or even asking privately some of the more experienced and calmer voices here if they know about a certain player is OK, I am sure they won't mind. I have received PMs from them in the past warning me of trolls and I am sure they will help in the other direction.

Sorry, to answer your question before you ask, sadly, I have a family, a job, and other things that prevent me from playing more than what I have on my plate now. Yeah, I know it is a poor excuse, but it is what it is. I wish you luck in finding a good opponent. The suggestion to learn the Japanese side is good as you can find plenty of allied players.

[geofflambert]

He also spends a lot of time giving Superman advice. [:D]

[aaffins]

I think I went through about six opponents over about 12 months before I finally found one who has stuck and am finally enjoying a game that is past the opening moves. Unfortunately the long term nature of this game is different from almost anything else out there and people tend to lose interest after a month or two.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Oh, and that "Elite Guard" stuff is nonsense. I think I earned that by posting way too much.

Yes, "Elite Guard" status is rubbish. Now, when you rise upon the halcyon pinnacle of men and become a Matrix "Legion of Merit", then (and only then) will your words be worth the utterance. All may kneel trembling before us meritorious leaders. We are Gods among men.

Either that or I post way, way too much. [;)]

[geofflambert]

Well said Knabe Kuken, I now kneel to you. [&o]

[LoBaron]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy
Also, would you turn away from a quality opponent that was only able to guarantee 1 turn a day (not more)? Your insistence on an up-tempo game may not be suitable to some players out there.

I think Chickenboy mentioned a key factor.

There are a lot of reliable WitP AE players out there who got a real life.

I have a small kid, I have a girl, I got a job, I like to play flightsimulations, enjoy nature, do sports, read books, meet friends...
And I dislike being put under pressure because I cannot or don´t want to send a turn a day. I would not choose an opponent with this expectation.

My wars take ages, but so what? The goal of this game is to play and see how far you can go, and to test your brain against an
intelligent and cunning opponent. It is not about "finishing first".

I think if you insist on a high turnaround rate per default, you are automatically excluding a significant number of players who approach the game
with earnest dediaction and thought, spend much time on their turns, and are very reliable, but are limited in their time available.

I would go as far and say you by default exclude the vast majority of WitP players by expecting more than 1 turn a day.

A suggestion: If you need a turn in your inbox this often, how about starting two games against players with slower turnaround rate? Might be a solution
and you don´t need to poke one player if he takes longer for a bit.

[RogerJNeilson]

+100

Its not about how many pints you can down, its about how you taste every sip of a good malt or a fine wine......

Roger

[asdicus]

Thank-you for all the comments and suggestions made so far.

I certainly will consider playing the japanese side - I did not realise that it is harder to find japanese rather than allied pbm opponents. All my game experience to date has been as the allies but I am willing to learn the ropes of a japanese pbm player. Fortunately there are some excellent guides available for japanese players(the jap economy guide is just brilliant eg it even tells you which merchant ships are the most efficient as well as what convoys you need to run). Also some of the japanese player AAR reports are perfect for learning to play as japan. There are plenty of good aar's to read but at the moment I am finding GreyJoys latest game as the japs makes an excellent learning tool.

I would like to express my thanks to the Babes team for creating a wonderful set of mod scenarios. I have been playing them in pbm for years and the level of detail and realism they add is very commendable. I am sure it takes a lot of hard work to create those Babes scenarios and I for one am very appreciative of the results. To any players who have just tried the standard scenarios I would strongly suggest you look at Babes for an excellent game.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


Yes, "Elite Guard" status is rubbish. Now, when you rise upon the halcyon pinnacle of men and become a Matrix "Legion of Merit", then (and only then) will your words be worth the utterance. All may kneel trembling before us meritorious leaders. We are Gods among men.

When is YOUR new throne due, old boy? Pip, pip, tommy-rot, roaste beefe of olde England, chap. [:'(]

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy


Yes, "Elite Guard" status is rubbish. Now, when you rise upon the halcyon pinnacle of men and become a Matrix "Legion of Merit", then (and only then) will your words be worth the utterance. All may kneel trembling before us meritorious leaders. We are Gods among men.

When is YOUR new throne due, old boy? Pip, pip, tommy-rot, roaste beefe of olde England, chap. [:'(]

Oh, bloody hell...looks like they're letting everyone into this formerly exclusive club now. [;)]

ETA: I like the supernumerary / superfluous 'e's too, Bull. [:D]

[ALF1]

It would be good if people can comment other people profile. I hope people would do it in positive way. From my 5 PBEM games I had almost only one good opponent which I would like to comment in his profile. Other which start the PBEM stop to send the turns after few months/weeks without any explanation.

To have some info in profile from other people could be good.

Something like this:
http://www.worldatwar.eu/index.php?&lang=3&refcode=0&location=commprofile&commid=422


I thing there could be lot of good opponent which is difficult to identified. Not all of them make lot of post here, they only watch and observe forum. But to find good opponent for years the best is to have advice from other people from forum. This comments in profile could help.

[Rising-Sun]

ORIGINAL: ALF1

It would be good if people can comment other people profile. I hope people would do it in positive way. From my 5 PBEM games I had almost only one good opponent which I would like to comment in his profile. Other which start the PBEM stop to send the turns after few months/weeks without any explanation.

To have some info in profile from other people could be good.

Something like this:
http://www.worldatwar.eu/index.php?&lang=3&refcode=0&location=commprofile&commid=422


I thing there could be lot of good opponent which is difficult to identified. Not all of them make lot of post here, they only watch and observe forum. But to find good opponent for years the best is to have advice from other people from forum. This comments in profile could help.

Not a bad idea Alf, not sure how that can be done on the forum though. If you manage to find a player, try get to know him/her before launching a long term game. This almost remind me when i buy something from ebay and the seller has good rating and no bad remarks. So it wouldnt hurt to have something like that, maybe someone can make another forum or a program to keep track of active players.

[LoBaron]

This will not work.

The moment people are able and encouraged to officially judge others based on their personal subjective experience interacting with them,
things go downhill. They always do.

My suggestion is always:

If you find a new opponent play a small scenario against him first if he is a complete unknown.

Why? Because in the optimal curcumstances you will be playing against each other for years. So what difference do the couple of weeks playing
Guadalcanal make? You get to know your opponent, get a feel for his/her quirks, begin trusting each other and start understanding the others way
to communicate. Sounds like relationship or marriage? Well it is...

I never understood the "Hey I´m Paul from Tierra Del Fugo, nice to know you, please send me the turn" style.



Edit: thats an impressive link Alf1! Still I think considering the casual moderation and the size of the forums it would not be possible here, at least
not without the dedication of volunteers which have to invest a lot of their spare time besides playing the game, and need to be trusted member
of the community.
For a short time this might work, for the time required by a game that takes this long to complete, I doubt it.

[tocaff]

It's really a simple thing if you ask the person for any references. A reference to a known person on the forum is golden. Of course there are new players who come along (thankfully) and are worthy opponents too. Sometimes it's just a crapshoot.