[Discuss] experimental delayed scouts code

[Timothy Collett]

I've been thinking about this change, and with all the suggestions  
people have come up with, it sounds like, as a strategic player and  
one who already devotes a good deal of time to BattleMaster, this  
could be a lot of fun for me.

But there is a fear that has been niggling in the back of my head,  
and this line brought it fully formed out into the light:

On Feb 21, 2007, at 10:12 PM, Chuong Huynh wrote:
> ...if your enemy has time to scout you, then you have time to scout  
> them and make the retreat.

The fear is that this will not be true in all cases: that the change  
will, in fact, make the game *less* lightweight for those making the  
strategic decisions, because there will be pressure on them to get  
scout information instantaneously, whether by recruiting  
infiltrators, priests, adventurers, even nobles with small, evasive  
units--anyone who can sit in the region with the army and report on  
their activities.

The fear is that the *very same people* who now benefit most from  
instantaneous scouting, those with the most time to spend on  
BattleMaster, will also be the ones to benefit most from this  
change...and that the benefit will increase tremendously.

Before, if you couldn't get your people to scout often enough, you  
might occasionally miss a whole turn's worth of scouting.  Rarely.   
Most of the time, you could at least get *someone* to scout the enemy  
force within the first 2-3 hours after the turn, because it didn't  
take much, and being able to scout and react later than that confers  
a real, but, in the end, small advantage.

Now, those able to put in the extra time will consistently get  
current, accurate data on the doings of their enemies...while those  
unable to do so will be in the dark, always relying on yesterday's  
news...so that their enemies will always be able to get the jump on  
them: box them in, wipe them out, storm their capital while they  
march to the front, and all because they can only see yesterday's  
data, while their enemies can see what's going on *now*.

I don't *know* that this will happen; it might not.  It's only a fear.

And so I implore Tom, not to change his mind now--because I think  
that this change, as with many changes and features, deserves at  
least a chance--but to watch the effects of this change *very*  
carefully over the next 3-6 months, and seriously consider revoking  
it if it looks like the scenario I have described starts to occur.

Timothy Collett
Anaris Family

--

"I'm being nibbled to death by cats!"
~ Londo Mollari




-- 
Unsubscribing and other list options:
http://news.battlemaster.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss