Play By Email Games

[Sapphire Harp]

Does anyone on the forum play any Play-By-Email (PBEM) Games? If so, what are they? I'm curious because it seems like a fun extension of things from the forum.

I suppose chess is the easiest of these - I know a few people have been doing that. Has anyone been playing some which are more complex?

Anthile's post about free-civ made me think of this, although I don't think free-civ is actually PBEM.
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[Felan]

I played several games of Civ4 in a pbem fashion but the files kept getting corrupted just when it got interesting. Basically the version I played the players were all controlling the same empire, but took turns at the helm.

 

[Anthile]

*raises hand gently* I don't play any of those games but I would be interested to do so.

 

[Felan]

I'm potentially interested in a PBEM as well.

 

[Sapphire Harp]

It's been a long time, but I've found a game which, I think, would be a pretty awesome thing in PBEM multiplayer... Dominions 3: The Awakening.

It's not free or even cheap, unfortunately. I haven't purchased it yet, myself... I'm still playing with the demo, trying to decide how much I like it, but I thought I would mention it - see if anyone else was playing or was into it.

The game is turn based provincial strategy in a fantasy setting. Each of the factions has a 'pretender god' vying to ascend to true godhood.

Battling armies, complex magic interactions... thousands of different units... It's an impressively complicated game. I definitely can see it taking a long time to master, let alone truly understand.

The most interesting thing about the game is battles, I think... For each battle, you design the strategy of your army and units beforehand. The computer completely resolves the engagement based on the plan you laid out... When you start the next turn, you can watch the battle and see how it unfolded. (Rarely as you expected it to.)
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[Devercia]

I have Dom3. I don't think I ever mastered it. I prefer the late era simply because its not so reliant on the massively complicated magic system. However, I think the Late Era is kinda noobish for that reason.

Never played a MP game of it. Im still curious to see late era Ermor in MP. I wonder if everyone would leave the Ermor player alone hopeing to not be the sap that has to kill him, or if everyone gangs up on him.

 

[Sapphire Harp]

In the end I decided not to buy Dominions 3. It's a very good game, but the degree of micromanagement I found in the game was too large... I'll admit I originally made this thread somewhat in anticipation of a game that was coming up, which is now out.

Solium Infernum. Nothing like competing to take over hell, right?

I've played a couple games now and I'm in my first PBEM game of it, but it's lovely. And, better than that, it's not pointlessly time-consuming. Each turn you only have to make 2 to maybe... 10 or 12 decisions, total. It's not hard to keep up with. Of course, all the decisions are quite weighty... so they might take time.

Honestly, I'd be surprised if anyone else here is playing this game, but I know it'd be fun to play with you all. Surely the lot of you are as treacherous as it can get.
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[Anthile]

Thanks, I'll piratelook into it.

 

[Puffy]

I used to play Diplomacy by email. There are some pretty good websites set up for it http://www.playdiplomacy.com/ is a very good site. If you enjoy the board game Risk, Diplomacy is basically that just much more complex and without the luck of dice rolling. Need to get back in to it me thinks

 

[warryer]

Do you think this game is worth the money Sapphire? I'm trying to justify the time and money that it would cost.

I played the demo a bit and got to only scratch the surface of a praetor build.

I'd be interested to see how a kingmaker game goes.

Let me know what you think about the multiplayer side.

 

[Sapphire Harp]

Hmm... Is Solium Infernum worth the money...?

One thing is certain - I don't think you'll find the value in single player. The AI just isn't able to compete on the same level as a player. I don't think I've even come close to losing against the AI - so, that's useful for trying things out and learning the game, but you're not going to find too much challenge there.

The greater part of the multiplayer experience is, of course, what you and the other players make of it... The pace of it allows for easy documenting and story telling about what's going on, for sure. The peak of this is probably the rock-paper-shotgun game they documented... which is fairly amusing. Experiences with strangers are less impressive, naturally.

So far, I've had absolutely no problem getting games together and coordinating them. The games I have seen posted usually take less than a day to fill up. The four I'm in have been progressing at a speed of anywhere between 1 to 6 turns a day, depending on how you set it up. (One of my games is just blazing by, I'm surprised we're getting that speed. It also happens to be one I'm sucking it up in...)

Honestly, I'm starting to have difficulty enjoying the game because the competition is quite a bit different. The AIs are a soft weaning ground, for sure. All advancement in the game happens through abusing your opponents. You'll want a tough skin for playing this, I think. It's frustrating when you've spent three turns preparing for something, to have it defeated at the last second. It's not like you get very many orders, so you're quite invested in seeing them succeed - only to have them broken and shattered.

Of course, if you're the kind of person who delights in creating suffering - then this could easily be a game for you. It draws on the nature of demons and back-stabbing politics very well.

Personally, I don't know if I would recommend buying it just in itself, unless you want to get into the cryptic-comet community. You really need a community to go along with this game - especially since each game you get invested in may last for a month or two. You should want to keep playing even when you're losing... Processing individual turns doesn't take too long, but you'll have to expect 40-60 of them per game, depending on how fast you go.

I don't know if that's the answer you were looking for. I know I was committed because I got to be good friends with the game's creator, back when I was playing Armageddon Empires - so that was investment enough for me.
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