BATTLE MINES - NEWBIES GETTING SCREWED

[RED MENACE]

As I tried to write on the post but was told I could only write one and that was limited...

So

The sad story of the new player... I started May 7th, 2007... got a few buildings and than the Doomsday happened and I lost everything except 1 cannon... spent 2 weeks getting back even basic buildings checking many times a day... Than Godzilla Showed for a few days every other turn lost 6 buildings (next to half of my new ones)... than I lost it all (Including my land not set to not to swap) to a player 40 levels above me... who I have no chance of trying to fight as I'm down to 2 mines/2 warhouses/2 cannons and he is now taking tithes out of my 4 items I get a turn (he takes three of them).

I have to admit for all of the time i put in for a month I have had the worst luck but I stuck it through to see if i could get on top of... well anything... after todays defeat and reviewing progress over a month I think it might be worth leaving the game as it seems that the game is heavily weighted to a player who has been in longer. They have at least enough stuff to stay in the middle with defeats/victories to enjoy the experience while new people go back to near zero. In other words newbies get screwed...

I'm sure most that will read this will automatically go ah this kid is just a whiner but rather than discounting me why not try to fix the problem... what could be done to help the newbies get to a decent level before they play with the big kids...

[iuewen]

I dunno what to tell ya bud - this isn't an easy game. We've all been there, trust me. If you stick it out long enough to get powerful, it is very rewarding - especially knowing that you are the ones that blew the whole world up, and pissed everyone off.

It certainly is weighted to the players that have been here longer, you develop over a long period of time. Tech levels take large investments of resources at a period when you don't have loads of resources laying around. Honestly, the destruction of buildings isn't that bad - it is easy to rebuild. Set yourself to Steel or Bauxite, set some decent trades up, and give yourself time to rebuild.

Unfortunately there is no defense for newbs against a DDD, nor should there be. It is a global reset switch, no matter what development level you are at. There is a very well-placed system of prevention against stronger attackers, so I think you will be fine there, and Godzilla is just plain bad luck - it happens to us all.

Stick with it, this isn't a game of instant gratification.

[Lars]

I don't think you're a whiner - that's exactly why I stopped playing too - 'cept I was a "big" player and I was just annoyed that I had to consistently rebuild myself. The game has changed a ton since I played, but it sounds like that's still the problem. I gather that Rasteroid and I have different theories on what makes for a fun game (rebuilding vs. not rebuilding).

I think Severian (?) said it best when he said playing Game of God makes him feel happy, while playing BM makes him feel frustrated.

More generally, I'm not against rebuilding a character - I ascend often in GofG - but the difference is that *I* choose when I'm going to restart, not random luck/tithes/other players.

[psiweapon]

Well, if it's any help, I hear your pain. Starting at battlemines is quite a difficult task.

[Rasteroid]

Hm, that sounds rough.

Regarding rebuilding vs. not rebuilding.. ha ha, that's hilarious. A game can't provide something new every day, especially if it's developed by one person. The rebuilding has to be fun if you're going to play more than a week, and it has to be unavoidable.

Given that you had a super crappy experienced and still played for a month, I'd say I'm doing pretty well.

[Jemaat]

You know what really sucks? When you go on vacation and you're so busy having a proper vacation that your Battle Mine's hull level plummets along with its tech level and win ratio. Makes it so much harder to pick up Strategist titles later on. Kind of like joining the game a year after it started and trying to get the Grizzled Veteran title, except not quite as bad.

[Jemaat]

Okay, I lied, your situation sucks more. But that one I mentioned sucks too.

[xade]

Ok, I'm just gunna weigh in here for a second...

And yes, it has been a *long* time since I was new to this game, but I have rebuilt from scratch a number of times.

And have come up with a fairly sold strategy...

In my opinion, the best tile to be on is Euranium. For a number of reasons.

a) With Euranium, the effects of a lower hold space are less pronounced.
b) Euranium is worth a fair swag more on the black market.
c) you have you own private supply of defence (once you have an academy.)

So, step 1) Get an academy. If you can't get what you need off neighbours, Ramul's exhorbinate rates are more than fair.
2) build a few cannons (maybe 5)
3) Build a reactor. Not many people will attack you when the odds are that they are getting hit by 5 shells of EUR.
4) build as many mines as possible
supplimentry) throughout all that, take any trades possible that enable you to get a pair of refineries.

Now that your defense and production is shored up (which might take up to 2 weeks...), you would want to start working towards a factory and spitting out an ICBM and a few diamond drills.

And don't forget these few points.
1. Unless your opponent is a communist, all they know is that you *have* EUR or ICBM's, they don't know how many.
2. Ramul is your friend. Yes, he charges through the nose, but if you try to buy in bulk, you'll be laughing.
3. If you are planing to hang around, contact a faction that is close by, generally, being affiliated won't get you attacked... but it will get you assistance.
4. If everyone uses my about strategy, it will sink the price of Euranium in the market, and you can achieve the same effects with coal... (Diamonds are worth a mint on the black market).
The only difference would be instead of running a reactor, build a cellar, and sit on a reserve of EUR.
5. Godzilla will F you up, no matter who you are. It's just a case of very bad luck to get him in the early game.
6. This game doesn't have an end game. You make your own fun however you can. So enjoy. (and as iuewen said, it's extremely satisfying to be responsible for a DDD)

[Rasteroid]

Very good synopsis xade.. I should link to that from the quick start section.


I'm wondering how bad it will be after the next scrambler, which should put idles in the center of the map.

The only problem is, if one in the middle idles out, a new user could get plonked down in the middle of a bunch of idles. :\

Also Godzilla could easily get lost in there. hmmm.

[xade]

To be honest, starting in the middle of a bunch of idles, with their oh so tasty and fair trades, might actually be a fairly decent buffer period...

[Rasteroid]

True.. that's why I've elected to try a scramble with the current arrangment and see how it goes.