Magic with Feudal Chivalry +25k gold to non-podium kingdoms

[Jumpingfist]

I do not like how switching the WA out effects other positions either. The clear number 1 choice just got stronger. Like they needed it. The rest of us do not get to counter the move. Whatever there is no good fix other than to do a full draft at this point. I can assure you I would not be playing this game if I knew players to kingdom would be released and that one team could switch his stuff and others could not. I even clarified this before signing up yet here we are a good ol fashion bait and switch

inconsistencies and changing rules for some players and not others does drive me crazy. Some examples that resonate in my head since they effected me
-In this game Morgan Kane is ranked very low but in a previous team game when he was on my team Rick changed his ranking from 67 to 5 overall making my team pick last vs second. In this game no adjustment. The kingdom they selected was our #1 choice. Giving the two teams the eye ball test it is very clear which team should be picking before the other as well.
-awarding the championship game 1.5x as many point when it is not listed at sign up. Yet the years before match had no points adjustment. The experienced game which did have 1.5x points listed at signup got no adjustment even after it was pointed out at the end of game.

[HeadHoncho]

Did no other team try a substitution as described in the beginning of the thread? How did all three of us miss the "sort of retraction" - but everyone else saw it?
...
The cost of that, though, is that if the GM is going to pay attention to the rest of his life once in a while we just kind of have to deal with the hiccups that result from trying something a bit different.

On page 4 of this thread, Will clearly asked if this would be preset teams with no substitutions, and Ry Vor's response (in all caps, no less), was YES.

As for the rest, of course ALL of us understand that people have lives.  I would posit, however, that a significant chunk of this is about attitude.

You can see, I hope, that there might be a very big difference in both the original statement tone and in players' responses, between:

1) Sorry, but it took me four hours to set this up, and the game is formed.  Too bad so sad.

2) Guys, I screwed up.  I misunderstood the partial anonymous setting on the game setup tool and forgot that I told everyone no substitutions.  With that said, it took me four hours to set this game up and I have family coming into town.  Would anyone mind if we just tried playing as is, with the understanding that it's a less-than-ideal situation?  If anyone has a major problem with this, please e-mail me privately and I'll see what I can do to either make it up to you or replace you with a standby.

I bet there would be a vast difference, myself.

[Ry Vor]

I don't want to repeat myself.  My company is me.  It's not Microsoft or Apple.  And I have had wonderful contributions from Mike, and before that, from Cipher.  And volunteer contributions from several like Frost Lord, Lord Diamond, Bananas, hope I'm not leaving anyone out.  And I appreciate our Mentors /Chancellors, and our frequent posters.  But while people are paying to play, there is very, very little money to the company and so its proprietor.  I borrow from my savings monthly.  And yes, I do feel taking four + hours to create a specialized game is not meaningless.  How much would any player expect in their jobs for four hours of their time?  And then maybe throw in another four hours for free?

For those looking for an apology, yeah, I thought Magic would have the "semi-anonymous" choice in game setup for diplomacy.  Sorry, it didn't.  But its the same for everyone.  When you went to a soccer or football game, maybe you thought it would be sunny and instead it was raining.

I've never been to a restaurant that offered completely new and customized offerings that was run by one person - chief cook, bottle washer, etc.  Haven't some people dealt with a one person business before?  For example, when I commissioned art from Michael Komarch, or Ryan Barger, or got rights from Frank Frazetta or Brom.  They don't have a customer service department.  And they would have thought I was nuts if I said, "What you gave me wasn't quite what I expected.  I want you to redo this piece." 

Anyway, I'm not interested in being coached on how I should run my game, my website, my forum, my customer service, the turn around times, the options provided, the speed of replies, the speed of new product development, the perceived politeness, etc.  I would say again, but hate repeating myself, show me the shining example of what other PBEM game provides even a fraction of what our players have enjoyed in the 2+ years of very hard work in The Resurgence, at even close to our pricing on top of that, and all the available player aids, the instant turnaround, the incredible number of variants I have introduced at customer request, etc, etc.  But I know the answer, as demonstrated over and over: silence.

I'm going to pick my daughter up at the airport.

[HeadHoncho]

Pretty much as expected.

Have fun, guys!

[VballMichael]

Yikes, I have stayed on the sidelines of this whole discussion, but seriously, yikes.

We drafted last and therefore got the weakest team; and that is fine, we expected that. JF and Morgan Kane even predicted it.
But then our immediate neighboring team got tougher and more right in the middle of our team, thus even more forcing early confrontation. The WA would have been slower developing; the RA is strong right away and sharing a region with our team. Again, ok fine.

But please don't add that we have to go easy on a newbie team in basically a four person game. That would end our game before it begins.
No offense, newbie team, but it seems the line-ups will force the west teams to fight and the east teams to fight.
I don't want to be accused down the road of picking on a newbie team, but we have enough challenges without also tying one hand behind us.

I won't even comment on the whole switcheroo and attitude surrounding it. I am just accepting that as part of Alamaze, to take it or leave it.

[bananas]

Absolutely not a problem. I didn't understand that is how things were lining up when I talked about pulling punches on the newbs. Feel free to give us what-for.

[wfrankenhoff]

Hmm...seems like there's a bit of controversy about the game, either in terms of picking order or about the changes in team/kingdom composition.

Now, I haven't consulted with my teammates (so it's just my opinion) but speaking as the team least affected by the changes, it seems we have a couple of options:

1. Play as is.
2. Play as is with the most affected team (DW/SO/BL) being awarded 25K each.
3. Redraft with preselected teams (not that I think it would change anything unless the WA was reinstated)
4. Redraft but as in a full, anonymous draft (no preselected teams)

IMHO, option four seems the...fairest, for lack of a better description. However, options two, three and four, would require Rick's consent and a full new set-up. Again, just speaking for myself, I'd be willing to pay the set-up fee but I'm sure some folks would object.

With all that said, my orders are in and I'm operating under the assumption that we'll play as is unless otherwise informed.

W  

[Rogal]

I just want this game to get started so a new game can start forming up. 

[VballMichael]

We are good to play as is.

If we lose, we won't whine about the picks. If we win, we do not expect to be accused of winning because we were next to newbies. I think maybe that their team strength will balance out their newb status . And there are two other teams, so this should be fun.

Anyway, good luck to all, and we are playing to enjoy the game however it turns out.

[Ry Vor]

Thanks for that.  Let's start rocking.