Mature Gamers World War: Neptune's Pride

[Lance]

For all the new people here, Neptune's Pride is an awesome Browser Based Strategy game where you control stars, build ships and beat each other over the heads with big-ass fleets. You can find the game here: Neptune's Pride (http://np.ironhelmet.com/)

Suffice to say it's quite enjoyable.

While the game does cost, I've forked out on some credits and will be creating the game so everyone can join for free.

Since I have to specify the number of players when I create the game (and it can't start until it's all filled), I'll be setting a creation date of 11th March to give everyone a chance to sign up here. There's a maximum of 12 players and it will be first come, first serve, so sign up quick.

By Gentle(wo)mens agreement, there shall be no Alliances in this round.

To allow everyone a fair chance, the war will start 24 hours after the game starts.

Once the war starts, we pretty much just beat each other to death until 1 person is standing. There will be no cease-fires, alliances, surrenders etc - just win or die :D


Players
Lance
Archangel
Jason
Konrad
MNDF
Daggers
sniped02
happysister


Game Rules

Double Speed (2 pays/ 24 hours)

No Alliances

32 Stars per player Map

10 Starting Stars each

Maximum Resources, Starting Cash ($1000), Infrastructure (Level 20 Industry and Economy, Level 5 Technology to start) Technology (Level 5 in each), and Ships (50 per system, meaning 500 ships per player at the start)

Cheapet Development and Technology Costs

-

Obviously this will lead to a fast and furious round and since there are no alliances, there will be no need for anonymousness.

So, sign up now :D

[Archangel]

I am for you, sir.

I'm going to miss the scheming and plotting from last round, though. If Nonseq had been more actively engaged in killing folks all throughout my plotting and scheming, it would have paid off so darn gloriously.

But... I am happy with a battle royale.

For Midgard, and for Father Odin.

[Jason]

You HAD to start the war on the good lady's birthday, didn't you? This is all part of some huge whacking great Xanatos Gambit on your part - even your enforced absence from these forums was all part of the ruse...

Good work, sir. Those are exactly the kind of cheap underhanded tactics that might win you this war. :p

(oh, and I'm in. :D)

[Lance]

Considering every time we've played I've gotten screwed over -.- Yes, this is all part of my master plan :D

But, this round should be quick and nasty - a few weeks at max, so after that we can go for a slower, plotting scheming type game or whatever you guys want

[Konrad]

Of course I'm in!

[Daggers]

I'm in

[Archangel]

Ah Jesus, if Ace is in then we've already lost.

[sniped02]

I heard of this game months ago but never got around to playing it. I'm in but I'll probably be the first to lose.

[Lance]

7 so far, looking good :D

Only 5 more places only - so get in fast (and for those already in, spread the word :D)

[Lance]

Ladies and Gentlemen - Hurry up and join!

This is the perfect chance to beat your fellow MGers to death, and have bragging rights for years to come!

[Konrad]

This is true, Corey Jason and Lance still have to show up on a regular basis for the verbal beatdown I get to hand out ever since that first game.

[Jason]

For those who are looking at this and thinking 'should I?', I can answer that you most certainly should. It's browser-based, so any computer or laptop should be able to run it, the cost is covered by the host of the game (in this case Lance), and whilst it does look a little (alright, a lot) overwhelming from the outside, it's actually really easy to pick up.

[happysister]

so, wait. is this game like Tribal Wars, Ikariam, Travian, etc.?

[Daggers]

so, wait. is this game like Tribal Wars, Ikariam, Travian, etc.?

From what I can tell, yes. Just it's set in space.

[happysister]

i shall give it a go then. i enjoy games like those, lol.

[Lance]

Yay :D

I may pull the game forward by a few days - I'll give it today to see if there's anymore sign ups first

[Daggers]

So when we starting?

Anyooooooone?

[Lance]

Apologies for that - few life things distracted me. I'm setting up right now :D

[Lance]

Game set up - password is crazyperson99

It will start automatically once all 8 players have joined

[Daggers]

Umm where do i go to put the code in?

[Daggers]

Also, I mean, I dont know how it works but you might want to put that in PM to everyone. Is there a risk of randomers finding the thread and joining the game?

edit: did some snooping and general "finding things out for myself" and I am registered :)

[Lance]

No risk Daggers - you have to specify the number of people in the game and it won't allow anymore than that.

Once MG becomes a bit bigger and there's a risk of unforseen people joining, I'll start PMing the password - but for the moment I trust you guys :D

[Archangel]

I am with you, sah. Gettin' my Viking Glory prepared preemptively.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Commissar Morrison, reporting for duty.

[Konrad]

I am Konnie. Reporting for GLORY!

[Daggers]

So just waiting on Happy and Jason now then?

[Lance]

This is correct Daggers :D

Everyone will have 24 hours to sort whatever they need out, then safeties are off and we can all bludgeon each other to death :D

[Jason]

Aye, I'll check in on this tomorrow morning and log myself in. I'd do it now, but I'm utterly exhausted, plus having the cash arrive at 12am local time doesn't make good tactical sense. ;)

[Lance]

I should point out - I have the ability to "Force Start" the game at any time I want :p

[Archangel]

Do it. Do it now.

[MyNameDidntFit]

But then we can't kill Jason... ?

[Konrad]

It is absolutely preposterous that two of you people are finding yourselves too preoccupied to click the Join button.

I want to SCHEME damnit.

[happysister]

sorry guys, my internet went out for a few days. >_< lemme see if i can figure out how to get in.

aaaaaand i get denied by a server error. i'll try again later.

[Jason]

I'll be along later tonight, or in the absolute worst-case scenario tomorrow night. I'm currently near death from (what I'm really really hoping is) a 48-hour bug, am just approaching the tail end of a 12-hour shift at work after an hour and a half's sleep, and can't guarantee that I'll be in a fit state to do anything other than sleep when I get home.

[Archangel]

And yet, still, you can type a well-phrased paragraph, but not click a button.

I don't believe you, sir.

[Konrad]

Hear hear.

[happysister]

there we go. i'm in now. *waits on the last person*

[Daggers]

Be nice to start this game this week Jason :P

[Archangel]

Jason, I'mma chargin' my pimp hand.

[Jason]

Game is a-go, folks.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm returning to my deathbed.

[Lance]

Oh Dear Conkers you have to be kidding me!

I'm in the middle AGAIN and surrounded by everyone -.- Why do I always pull the short straw

[Jason]

In fairness, Konrad had that position in the first game, AND managed to incur both mine and MNDF's wrath by invading both of us simultaneously, and he still won (granted because neither of us bothered to finish him off, but still...)

[MyNameDidntFit]

Er, guys... are we having unofficial alliances or not? I've done forgot.

[Lance]

Well - I can't Really stop anyone from secret alliances, and trading with anyone is fine - I just thought everyone against each other would be fun for a change

[happysister]

seriously? it takes an hour and 5 mins to visit a star right next door???

how long does it take for revenue to accumulate? o.O

[Jason]

I think if I've understood Lance's setup, we get revenue in every 12 hours.

NP is a game that's played over weeks rather than hours - it's one of the advantages that you can just log in, set all your waypoints, spend your revenue, and then go away and forget about it while your diabolical scheme unfolds. You usually know it's worked when you get an abusive message via IM or PM from your victim. :p

[happysister]

i see. this is kinda nice though. after playing Tribal Wars for a couple years (especially during war times) i got so used to having to log in a couple times a day to keep on top of things. >_<

[Jason]

Yeah, you can go pretty much either way with it - if you've got the time and the inclination, you can do the logging in multiple times a day thing, but it's certainly no huge disadvantage just logging in once a day to spend your cash and repel Australian invasions (seriously, be afraid - Aussies swarm - it's like a zerg rush, only uglier.)

[happysister]

ew....

*adds Aussie repellent to her shopping list*

sooo...i hate to be technical and everything, but why are we in control of burning balls of gas, and what "natural resources" come from them? >_>

[MyNameDidntFit]

Well, the gases, I imagine.

[Jason]

I think they represent star systems, although for practicality they just show the star. The resources are... well, cash.

The real decision is whether you spend that cash on Economy (which in turn allows you to make more cash), Industry (which allows you to build more fleets of ships) or Science (which makes the fleets you build more awesome).

[Archangel]

I missed the initial "SEND ALL SHIPS EVERYWHERE" star conquering phase, which may well be painful in the days/weeks to come. But it's alright, because I've got Odin on my side.

[happysister]

oh yeah, well, i have happiness on my side. so there.

[Archangel]

Well, seems everyone's already getting a good and solid headstart on the war afore the ceasefire's even ended (Konnie, I'm looking at you, you sly bastard), so that clearly didn't go quite as planned.

And the whole 'quick start' thing, er... well, yeah, y'all started quick. I were sleepin'. I don't see this going too well for me.

But, if I die, I die with honour.

[Lance]

Yeah, Sniped is already attacking me too - about to get knocked back as well :D

Arch, unless you get ganged up on big time, you should be able to weather most storms and get on even pegging eventually

[Lance]

Btw, for what its worth - the ceasefire now offically over and you're all free to beat each other to death

[sniped02]

I seriously don't know what I'm doing. All i know is send ships and hope for the best :P

[Daggers]

I seriously don't know what I'm doing. All i know is send ships and hope for the best :P

Yeah, just know that I'm watching you bub.

[Lance]

I seriously don't know what I'm doing. All i know is send ships and hope for the best :P

I... shall... not... take.... pity

Must crush invaders!

[Daggers]

I... shall... not... take.... pity

Must crush invaders!

No no no, you should WELCOME your marauding neighbours! i.e. empty all your neighbouring territories :D

[sniped02]

Celaeno is mine!

[Daggers]

Thaaat's it, you just keep focusing on that pesky red guy and don't mind your peace-loving hippie purple neighbour at all ;)

[Archangel]

The trouble is the guy with the most stars is the guy harassing me. Probably because the bastard stole all of my stars while I was at the tavern.

[Jason]

Daggers you utter bastard, you do realise that K'Var's going to eat your children for that act of treachery, right?

[MyNameDidntFit]

I shall sit here, biding my time, plotting nefariously with allies whose names I cannot reveal and such.

[Konrad]

For a slow-paced game that's played over weeks, I sure feel pressured to log in every 15-30 minutes just to keep on top of things.

[Jason]

In a game with no less than three Australians involved, I don't blame you. They're sneaky like that.

[MyNameDidntFit]

I'm OCD with this, I'll admit. I look back every five minutes even though I know nothing has changed.

[happysister]

great, now i'm in last place. guess i should try to catch up.

[Daggers]

Muahahaha, diabolical schemes are unfolding!

Pics to come tomorrow morning :D

[happysister]

don't tell me you're taking screenies of yourself conquering vacant stars.

[Daggers]

Yup :D

[Jason]

Oh I love the cloak-and-dagger nature of this game. Sneaky business indeed.

[MyNameDidntFit]

It is quite delicious.

[happysister]

i'm feeling a little paranoid right now. like this game seems a bit too simple. there's got to be something i'm missing...

[Daggers]

i'm feeling a little paranoid right now. like this game seems a bit too simple. there's got to be something i'm missing...

Like a giant Space Station capable of destroying planets in one shot?

[MyNameDidntFit]

It is that simple, happy. It just looks complex from the outside. The complexity comes from the diplomatic side of things if you choose to play it that way.

[happysister]

i'm gonna have to get used to this, lol...

Like a giant Space Station capable of destroying planets in one shot?

omg can we buy those? :O

[MyNameDidntFit]

It appears that first true blood is mine this day.

[Lance]

Eh

I was still first to take a Capital (looks at Major Pain ;)

[Konrad]

Favourite part of NP: coming back to this game only to find the enemy ships beating you to your less defended planets by five minutes no matter what you do.

[Archangel]

My bad.

[MyNameDidntFit]

I have to say I'm equally torn between the daggers and cloaks diplomacy and the oddly exhilarating* battle planning for my favourite part of the game...


/Edit: damn this game. Can't stop checking. I've even taken to checking it at work occasionally >.>



*I mean, travel is measured in hours and yet, somehow, I still feel as tense going into battle as I to running into an enemy position in an FPS. Perhaps its the pressure of knowing exactly how little it can take to snap the strings of your perfectly orchestrated plans...

[happysister]

hehehe, it's fun watching you guys get totally into this. :P

[MyNameDidntFit]

Lance... 3 times now you've sent fleets of 20 ships to my stars... even after watching to first two be destroyed before getting a shot off you STILL sent a third... I must question your logic.

[Jason]

Just you wait, Happy. Just because Konnie and Arch are fighting eith each other right now doesn't mean they won't come after you eventually. To get maximum fun out of Neptune's Pride, I highly recommend making use of the message system to snare yourself some technology trades/unofficial agreements/weave a complex web of lies and deceit.

It's definitely worth it. :D

[happysister]

you say that assuming i haven't already done so.

[Lance]

Wow

I must have been hammered yesterday -.- I just went through all my reports and yeah, I did send lots of 20 - don't ask me why

[Jason]

you say that assuming i haven't already done so. Well if you did, you stayed a long way away from me. I can't decide whether that's a good or a bad thing. :p

[Daggers]

They's killin me :(

[Kozahk]

You're the member of the month, theres more prestige in taking you out :)

[MyNameDidntFit]

They's killin me :(

To be perfectly fair, I'm also killing Lance. It's nothing personal, but you withdrew all your forces and there's no way in hell I was going to let Jason have all those neat victories :p



Also, just because it feels good to say it: every day I construct 942 ships with FTL drives capable of 8.64ly/d and weapons capable of destroying 26 enemy ships with each volley. My engineers are awesome.

[happysister]

yeah well, for the longest time, i've had the largest army. so there. :P

[MyNameDidntFit]

yeah well, for the longest time, i've had the largest army. so there. :P

Only because you're not using it :p

[Konrad]

Can we play a slower version of this game next time? I get too busy to log-in for a day-and-a-half and... well... that's not the best choice considering i'm surrounded by the best allies around.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Despite this 12 hour model being decidedly awesome for me, I'd have to agree that 24 hours is much better for the most part.

[Lance]

Yup, easy enough to do :D This was just a much-around, no rules game

Back to normal broadcasting next game

[Jason]

They's killin me :(

My attack was a response to your entirely unprovoked attack on my stars at the start of the game. If there's only one thing you remember about NP, it's that your opponents NEVER, EVER FORGET. :p

[MyNameDidntFit]

Daggers... your Death Star is doomed...

Red 5, standing by.

http://llamabutchers.mu.nu/XWINGLuke.jpg

[Betty]

I fucking love MNDF.

That will be all.

here is the high five I promised him. o/

[Daggers]

The Death Star: Fleet Strength - 713 Ships

[Jason]

That's going to need an awfully big graveyard.

[happysister]

Only because you're not using it :p

your ignorance will be your downfall in the future. just letting you know. ;)

[MyNameDidntFit]

Ah, I only lost 616 to destroy 837. Goodnight, Daggers.

*etches third notch into belt*

[Archangel]

your ignorance will be your downfall in the future. just letting you know. ;)

Just letting you know, in the future MNDF will have won. He only needs 15 more stars for victory, and meanwhile, you're attacking me--the guy with the least amount of stars who hasn't been effed with yet, and poses rather little of a threat--for control of Konnie's stars.

War with the Aesir is not something you want when your enemy stands upon the brink of victory.

[happysister]

Just letting you know, in the future MNDF will have won. He only needs 15 more stars for victory

durr, i already knew that. i do keep up with the player standings you know. ;) i haven't exactly gone after him because, well, you and Konnie are kind of in the way. his stars are too far away. you can blame the random placement for that. if i made a colony on one of them, it would take too long for me to get reinforcements out that way and would be a pain to protect. unlike most people, i don't like having stars with barely any ships in them.

still though, i wasn't really expecting to win. it's the first time i've played this game anyways. had to get used to the ways of the game and experiment with stuff. third place isn't bad for a first time though.

and meanwhile, you're attacking me--the guy with the least amount of stars who hasn't been effed with yet, and poses rather little of a threat--for control of Konnie's stars.

sorry, didn't really know it was you. hardly anyone uses their forum names as their ingame names, so i have no idea who the heck most people are. and like i said, Konnie's stars were the closest ones to me, and he doesn't seem to be in the habit of protecting his, so i figured that would be the best way to go.

[Kozahk]

That's going to need an awfully big graveyard.

"It was as if a million voices cried out, and were suddenly silenced..." :)

[MyNameDidntFit]

Gosh. We're all so darned nerdy.

[happysister]

you just realized this, Mr. Long-Rants-About-Techy-Stuff? or was that Arch? >_> you guys are both Aussies, so i get you mixed up sometimes.

[Lance]

Thank you for not mixing me up with either of them though, I appreciate it :D

[Jason]

In fairness, MNDF had already all but won about a week ago - the first few days are vitally important, because if you miss a chance to claim those vital unprotected stars, you're constantly playing catch-up (isn't that right, Arch?) and conversely, if you manage to snap up a few extra stars at the start, that extra economy makes a big difference to the point where even now, if me and Happy put aside our differences (the main one being that I want her stars and she doesn't want me to have them) and fought a joint battle against him, we'd probably still struggle to do much more than give him a bit of a tactical headache for a day or so while he fights a war on two fronts.

Still, I've learned quite a few things from this game, fast and furious as it has been, and I'm looking forward to trying them out alongside the more subtle diplomatic side of things in the longer game.

[happysister]

Still, I've learned quite a few things from this game, fast and furious as it has been, and I'm looking forward to trying them out alongside the more subtle diplomatic side of things in the longer game.

same. i kinda like this one. it's not incredibly technical, but not too easy as to make it boring. i wouldn't mind doing this again.

[MyNameDidntFit]

In fairness, MNDF had already all but won about a week ago.
Oh, bollocks. I wasn't the one who got the most out of the initial dash--I'm where I am due to a combination of luck and tactics. Luck that you happened to distract Daggers from sniped so that I could take advantage of the bloody nose he'd been given and tactics in that I was able to do that well enough that I could roll that momentum into Lance's death.

Once I'd broken Lance was when nothing short of a concerted attack could stop me.

[happysister]

it's over! yay! gg all, and congrats to MNDF!

[Archangel]

Don't congratulate him. Make excuses for why you didn't tear him a new one.

You'd think she's never played a game online before. :P

But yeah, Jason has a point, as does Corey. The initial star dash plays a very large factor in following success, as do the first few engagements. I had about 18 stars, and I continued to have that many for a long time. Konnie started with ~40, and anything I tried to take he could take back with reasonable ease. If it wasn't for Happy harassing him on the other side, I could have been defeated, but then Konnie would have been disadvantaged, and Happy would clean us both up. Or Corey would have.

Meanwhile exactly the same thing was happening on the other side of the galaxy; you'd all made war with Sniped, except Corey was sitting there pretty content with his ~30-odd stars, and then just came in and mopped up the situation you'd all created. If I'd attacked him instead of Konnie near the start, then I still wouldn't have won, and instead Konnie likely would have wiped me clean or wiped up Happy, and then he very possible would have assumed Corey's role instead.

So yeah, moral of the story. That first star-dash, and those first few engagements that determined which war you want to fight. They're the game changers. In this round, they were more pronounced than previous games too, due to the highly valuable nature of each star and the speed of the game. I missed the star-dash and had less planets than everyone; it was only by diplomacy and holding a very careful advance that I stayed alive, but by the time I could actually start waging war, Corey had already won.

[happysister]

yeah, i wasn't sure if it was a good idea to start going after stars like mad at the start or not, seeing how ships were very limited, and i didn't want to shoot myself in the foot by spacing out my army too much, making what stars i did capture easy prey for other people. i'll have to try that though next time and see how well that fares me.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Dammit. Didn't get Jason's capital before the the end, got all the others, though.

[Lance]

Don't congratulate him. Make excuses for why you didn't tear him a new one.

You'd think she's never played a game online before. :P

But yeah, Jason has a point, as does Corey. The initial star dash plays a very large factor in following success, as do the first few engagements. I had about 18 stars, and I continued to have that many for a long time. Konnie started with ~40, and anything I tried to take he could take back with reasonable ease. If it wasn't for Happy harassing him on the other side, I could have been defeated, but then Konnie would have been disadvantaged, and Happy would clean us both up. Or Corey would have.

Meanwhile exactly the same thing was happening on the other side of the galaxy; you'd all made war with Sniped, except Corey was sitting there pretty content with his ~30-odd stars, and then just came in and mopped up the situation you'd all created. If I'd attacked him instead of Konnie near the start, then I still wouldn't have won, and instead Konnie likely would have wiped me clean or wiped up Happy, and then he very possible would have assumed Corey's role instead.

So yeah, moral of the story. That first star-dash, and those first few engagements that determined which war you want to fight. They're the game changers. In this round, they were more pronounced than previous games too, due to the highly valuable nature of each star and the speed of the game. I missed the star-dash and had less planets than everyone; it was only by diplomacy and holding a very careful advance that I stayed alive, but by the time I could actually start waging war, Corey had already won.

Don't underestimate starting position either - starting in the middle of EVERYONE is extremely precarious, since it's unwise to trust anyone you need to protect all your border planets rather than just 1-2 (at most 3) fronts instead of 4-5

And you have to be polite -.-

Anyways, congrats Corey, good work :D

I'll set up a new thread momentarily

[MyNameDidntFit]

With your starting position, Lance, what I would have done is set speed tech as a serious priority and held my main defensive fleets a couple systems in from the edge--that way you can respond where you're needed, when you're needed, without spreading yourself thin. It's easily doable in theory.

[Archangel]

Except when you sleep, that speed is utterly useless.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Who sleeps? :/

[Lance]

Yeah, how do you think I have this unnatural habit of knowing when I'm being attacked :p

But yeah, in theory that's a good idea since I log in randomly MNDF - I was more going the weapons route to make anyone attacking any of my planets costly - I don't know what I'll do this time if I get stuck in that postion - we'll see :D

[Kozahk]

Yeah, how do you think I have this unnatural habit of knowing when I'm being attacked :p


I just had this image of you sitting around, drinking beer while watching footy. Then you just stop, slowly rise up: "I sense a disturbance in the force... Neptune's Pride AWAY!"

:p

[Lance]

.....

Do you have a camera in my house? That's exactly how it happens....