12-10-2004 23:56									#1
	What to post publicly about the war Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

I intend this to be both a discussion thread on what we'll post publicly before the war, and as a preview of specific posts before it is approved. I've got some ideas on how this should work, please comment where necessary

Let's put some rules together:
1. A thread "Battle reports" is opened, in which we declare war to Lego, and show the results of our battles. In case it doesn't harm us from an intelligence PoV, we can post screenshots to make it more interesting for others to read, or to gloat a bit on how well we did

2. Only one person posts publicly on this war! This to avoid any leaks of intelligence, any bashing of the other party and of us, and any angry comments. No name calling or juvenile behaviour, ignoring all ill comments we might receive. Only the cold truth.
I volunteer to take this job, as it flows very naturally from being the player: I've got to write the battle reports anyway, so it won't be too much trouble to make them publishable.

3. All posts are previewed in this thread. The moment a post is made, 24 hours are left for comments (so effectively we've got a communication stop of 24 hours. In that period of time, Lego won't receive the save, so that's okay). After those 24 hours, adaptations are made where needed, and the post is published in the corresponding thread. These include possible screenshots

4. No other comments are made apart from the battle reports (normally one post per turn). No questions asked or answered. We want to avoid any interaction on the public forum, only those battle reports speak for us. That doesn't mean we can't include a little comment / smiley here or there, but nothing fancy, and no gloating

Others free to add. I might come up with more myself later

DeepO

	13-10-2004 00:17									#2
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example of our first post:

quote: Please don't post in this thread unless you are submitting an official battle report. Keep discussion out of this thread, to keep it clean. As we are required (and don't like) to submit battle reports to our enemies, we thought it would be neat to publish them here. Not only will battle reports be shared amongst allies anyways, but we think it would be fun for the outside public to see what's going on. While we are required to give battle reports, it might not always be easily recognisable what's happening... Whereever it doesn't compromises our security or give too much intelligence, we will provide screenshots so it's easier to follow. These are never doctored, but might be cropped, and blacked out in certain regions. To be able to assure we don't post wrong things, we want to have a 24h-36h communication stop. This should normally leave enough time for the team being attacked, so it can plan ahead before needing to play its turn. Unless otherwise noted, all units are considered veteran. Also, in case a unit is not full health, it will be mentioned. Further, let's use the following abbreviations, as otherwise we'll type ourselves silly: C: Cavalry I: infantry T: Tank M: Marine A: Artillery MI: Mechanized infantry E: explorer S: settler W: worker F: fighter B: bomber IR: ironclad DD: destroyer BB: battleship TR: transport Sub: submarine Others defined where needed. Separate units are named (in case they have a name), pointed out on a screenshot, or indicated where they are compared to a city (e.g. 1111111113 from Hurricane). Stacks are done in one line, named if you want, screenshotted or situated if possible. Attackers don't need to be named, as that won't be visible in SP either. So... let's start with our first battle report. turn 243: 1270 AD We no longer want to be 4th in this world, and will try to get to 3rd place... therefore we declare war on Lego. Sorry guys, you're just in our way [insert pic of our first victory] DD attacks IR [insert Lego name]. DD 2/4. (IR dead.) DD attacks Sub [insert Lego name]. DD promotes 3/5. sub attacks sub [insert Lego name]. sub dies. Lego sub 1/4. 2 DD attack stack of 2 transport [insert 2 Lego names]. DD 1/4. DD promotes 5/5. ....

Something like that. Very dry, so no-one will take offense... and with the minimum of effort those damn battle reports require.

DeepO

	13-10-2004 00:21									#3
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1. yes, perfect. I agree 100% with this.
   
   
2. OK, that limits the trash talking a bit...but I suppose, after the last two wars, that it does have it's good points. from me.
   
   
3. A definate yes, if we are going to follow post number 2.
   
   
4. yeesss, I can understand that. Maybe congratulations to the other teams if they played it well. To show our "good, human side" that the other sides seem to think GS lack...
   
   
5. All this goes out the window if GoW or ND backstab us. If that happens, this game is over for us, so we might as well go down in a blaze of glory at the least...
   
   
6. This carries on to the attack in GoW (if we get that far...)

	13-10-2004 00:28									#4
	Get a bigger avatar today!

And you have to rename the first tank in action "Grog on Tracks" or something similar.


RE: The Post:

Perfect, except that I would name each SoD, just to make it easier to foolow, even if it was something like "Legopolis Assualt Stack"

	13-10-2004 00:37									#5
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Krill:

5. I wouldn't say this goes out the window. The same thing applies: we need to give the battle reports to our enemy anyway, and we can be sure they are distributed amongst all our enemies... it doesn't matter to us whether we do it publicly or private. We can gain one thing: and that is that we get to see the official battle report of GoW, so we know what they're doing, instead of sending us a dummy file, and preparing to back stab us.

However, we'll be able to follow that on the Lego troops anyway.

6. Of course


And naming SoDs: yes, but we need to do that every turn, as they can change. If we can put a screenshot up without problems, we can simply name them with numbers, and say:

quote: 2 DD attack stack #1. DD(1/4), DD(3/5) 3 DD bombard stack #4. 2 hits, one fail.

etc.

DeepO

	13-10-2004 00:43									#6
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Sorry, RE: (5) I meant that the "No posting trash talk" goes out the window. I understand and accept posting the battle reports, even though several people don't like it...I know for a fact that Bongo hates playing with them. in Iron civer B, he went so far as to construct a whole strategy around it, and when he realised that he could not do that almost quit the competition.

	13-10-2004 00:53									#7
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No, I don't agree, Krill. No trashtalking whatsoever, please. We saw that last time, this team nearly collectively left because of it.... There is only one option, which is to ignore it. The moment you fuell the discussion by answering, it can't be stopped, and will escalate to the point where this game is not fun anymore.

The moment it gets personal, back off. And this can best be avoided by simply asking all our members to keep quiet on the public forum. I'm not saying I've got to be the voice of GS as I'm sure others can keep their emotions better in hand as I can, but I know that I want to be as dry as possible, ignoring every comment that might go awry, and do all I can to keep this from becoming a bashing contest. I'm sure many of our 'old' members / lurkers will agree on this.

DeepO

	13-10-2004 01:09									#8
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OK, OK, point taken...

	13-10-2004 16:24									#9
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Spot on, Deepo No trash-talk, no responding to provocations. Just news.

	14-10-2004 17:45									#10
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quote: Originally posted by DeepO No, I don't agree, Krill. No trashtalking whatsoever, please. We saw that last time, this team nearly collectively left because of it.... There is only one option, which is to ignore it. The moment you fuell the discussion by answering, it can't be stopped, and will escalate to the point where this game is not fun anymore. The moment it gets personal, back off. And this can best be avoided by simply asking all our members to keep quiet on the public forum. I'm not saying I've got to be the voice of GS as I'm sure others can keep their emotions better in hand as I can, but I know that I want to be as dry as possible, ignoring every comment that might go awry, and do all I can to keep this from becoming a bashing contest. I'm sure many of our 'old' members / lurkers will agree on this.

Yes.

	25-10-2004 21:12									#12
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Very much agreed.

	25-10-2004 23:17									#13
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Okay. This is what I would like to post in public. In case nobody complaints within the next 24h (and please, all comments are welcome!), I'll post it on forum 164.
example of our first post:

quote: Please don't post in this thread unless you are submitting an official battle report. Keep discussion out of this thread, to keep it clean. As we are required (and don't like) to submit battle reports to our enemies, we thought it would be neat to publish them here. Not only will battle reports be shared amongst friends anyway, but we think it would be fun for the outside public to see what's going on. Some kind of news flash, if you like. While we are required to give battle reports, it might not always be easily recognisable what's happening... Whereever it doesn't compromises our security or give too much intelligence, we will provide screenshots so it's easier to follow. These are never doctored, but might be cropped, and blacked out in certain regions. To be able to assure we don't post wrong things, we want to have a 24h-36h communication stop. This should normally leave enough time for the team being attacked, so it can plan ahead before needing to play its turn. Those 24-36 hours will be used to review the report in our team, and see we don't leak vital information. Unless otherwise noted, all units are considered veteran. Also, in case a unit is not full health, it will be mentioned. Further, let's use the following abbreviations, as otherwise we'll type ourselves silly: C: Cavalry I: infantry T: Tank M: Marine A: Artillery MI: Mechanized infantry E: explorer S: settler W: worker F: fighter B: bomber IR: ironclad DD: destroyer BB: battleship TR: transport Sub: submarine Others defined where needed. Separate units are named (in case they have a name), pointed out on a screenshot, or indicated where they are compared to a city (e.g. 1111111113 from Hurricane). Stacks are done in one line, named if you want, screenshotted or situated if possible. Attackers don't need to be named, as that won't be visible in SP either. After the action, the result is displayed. E.g. quote: DD attacks Ir Southfork. DD1/4. means that a destroyer attacked the Ironclad Southfork, destroyed it, and was left with 1 out of 4 hp remaining. All special things are also mentioned here (e.g. the DD could lose, promote, generate a leader) We're hoping more teams will follow our lead, and publish their battle reports. I'm sure this will not be the last fight we will encounter... So... let's start with our first battle report. turn 240: 1250 AD Gathering Storm declares war on Legoland. DD attacks IR ... . DD 4/4. (forgot its name. Was on Hurricane 66699) DD attacks IR Southfork. DD 1/4. DD attacks DD Achilles. DD 2/4. Sub attacks DD Poseidon . Sub 2/4. DD attacks DD Argonout. DD 2/4. Sub attacks Sub U-Q2. Sub 1/4. DD attacks DD Athena. DD 2/4. DD attacks IR Dagger. DD 2/4. DD attacks IR Sledgehammer. DD 3/4. DD attacks IR Maul. DD destroyed. IR Maul 3/4. DD attacks IR Maul(3/4). DD promotes to elite 4/5. DD attacks IR Iron. DD 3/4. No final screenshot, as it would give too much away apart from the battles fought here. Sorry Total: 12 attacks, 11 won, 1 lost, 1 promotion. We lost 1 DD. Lego lost 7 Ir, 2 Sub, 4 DD.

DeepO

	26-10-2004 00:48									#14
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I am ok with it, giving I do not see any need to give reports anyway.

	26-10-2004 05:27									#15
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The small talk already starts in public. It's hard to keep responses minimal and unprovocative...

Vondrack does have a point, though... Once upon a time we talked about having 1-turn cancellation notices on lux when declaring war. I'm not certain if we promised that, or not, even if I was ambassador to Lego at the time. It's just too long ago.

At any rate, it shouldn't be a problem. I hope Lego doesn't want to create one.

DeepO

	26-10-2004 23:31									#16
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published

DeepO

	27-10-2004 01:08									#17
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I think you counted one Ir twice (Maul). We only sank 6 Ir right? Also, did we sink 1 or 2 Subs?

	27-10-2004 02:27									#18
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Been lurking here for the last month or so and I have to say the build up is hugely impressive and really illustrates what can be achieved with thorough planning and careful forethought.

Looking forward to seeing how things turn out.

In terms of wild speculations about Vondracks response, he's not giving much away but is possibly a bit shaken up by things in particular the immediate battle report showing they've already lost units.

	27-10-2004 02:37									#19
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If that shakes him, and if GoW comes in on time, he will really have something to be worried about.

	27-10-2004 03:12									#20
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Well they've never really been at war in this game so this is a new situation to them. Lego/Vondrack have, more than any other team, nurtured their nation and watched it grow into a great empire, having it threatend and having to fight to preserve what you've spent 2 or so years building up is going to be emotional. I hate it when I loose a single city in after a few hours of SP

Wars in games like this are very different but GS is experienced in them whereas Lego is not. Alot of lessons from the bob war for sure. That's a serious advantage to have especially with things being so precarious with RR's.

Interesting times to come, stay tough and stand firm guys

	27-10-2004 03:51									#21
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I'm not entirely sure of the situation, none of us are, but would it be tacky or insensitive to inform Vel's friend Gil of this forum? If he has the strength, I think he would like to hear of our stories, might take his mind off things. But otherwise....

	27-10-2004 03:59									#22
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I corrected the public post. Damn... it seems I can't even count anymore, I'm certain that I added everything together to total 11.

OPD, I agree completely that this is going to be more difficult for Lego than for us, regardless of who wins. We tend to have a more pragmatic view on things, certainly after the Bobian experience, and after the turmoil of Beta's public announcements. Did anyone notice that around that time, we stopped naming units? We barely have named cities, we didn't even bother to rename the captured Voxian cities? All this is a sign of detachment. Of course, I would personally prefer to win, instead of to loose... but if we have to sacrifice half our empire in the mean time, I wouldn't care. I don't think Lego shares the same views.

But let's see how their public postings are going to evolve when the war progresses.

DeepO

	27-10-2004 04:01									#23
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If it would take Vel's mind off of things, I would certainly welcome it! However... how involved has Vel been here over the past year, is he still so much interested? Aren't there other things he would be more interested in?

DeepO

	27-10-2004 04:03									#24
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Good point. I remember him posting, but not the quantity.

Probably just a message from GS in his thread would be good enough, and if his friend inquired, we could go from there...

	27-10-2004 04:15									#25
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I'm going to wander off topic in a thread that seems suitable for my idea for a little bit...

Since I've got this demogame news correspondant spot, is it acceptable to write up a neutral news update annoucing the beginning of the war? You know, to rouse a some renewed interest in the game, etc.

	27-10-2004 04:24									#26
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Newz item: That was part of the intention of the Battle Report thread... to be a more of less objective source of information in case anyone would come looking.

I would be very careful with neutrality issues, but I would say to go for it!

DeepO

	27-10-2004 04:50									#27
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quote: Originally posted by asleepathewheel I'm not entirely sure of the situation, none of us are, but would it be tacky or insensitive to inform Vel's friend Gil of this forum? If he has the strength, I think he would like to hear of our stories, might take his mind off things. But otherwise....

I did it last night... sorry for not posting such.

Here was Gil's response:

"Thank you! I will absolutely tell him all about it, and print out some of the forum discussions to read to him all about the big fight!

And thank you for the note of concern also. I had no idea Chris had so many friends here but I can tell you that it really helped out alot when I printed out the thread about the illness and read it to him last week. It will be awhile before he makes it back home, but he is getting better!

Gil"

	27-10-2004 05:20									#28
	Inflate your Upload Space

That is good news T.

	27-10-2004 06:45									#29
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cool

	27-10-2004 20:22									#30
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Oh ****, I think we *did* promise the 1 turn warning for luxury cancellation. It was a loooong time ago, but I'm pretty sure we did. What the hell were we thinking?

-Arrian