love the double pps are u really that funny or was it just a slip?

jiff has always advocated draconian retals for LGs
four sets ago he was part of a PR campaign to essentially turn express into a netters' fauxtopia

deerhunter
u claim to hate cheaters
but your deafening silence
in the midst of the greatest cheating scandal
since the black sox
belies that claim

if u truly want to fight evil on this server
u 2 can become a gregg

so the forces of truth and light
stop Hs on two straight sets
and now we have an H defense league?
after they won tons in a row?

i dont think we need an hdl

this set?

enshula told me to try this server
so i will

i need allies who are going to be researching weapons/mil strat/sdi

i will stop teching at the half way point
if interested please let me know

no

i just do not think that parents want their kids reading this stuff

if you think mothers will not react harshly to this you are wrong

this is a disaster waiting to happen

foreseeability on this problem is very high and a flippant reaction to impending litigation is dangerous

i feel like Laocoon

watch and learn ivan
watch and learn

like the new rule change
guess that concludes this thread

guess i need to start harping on improving spy ops)))))

good job game developers

DISCLAIMER: express only

in combination with the dictator change,

I LOVE THIS RULE

DISCLAIMER: applies to express only

congratulations on improving the game

maybe now i wont have to post around the clock with new ideas

this is a good start
next time reduce ghost acres to 0

i have posted my thoughts on the announcement page
as usual enshula has proven to be a knowledgable thoughtful commentator

DISCLAIMER- comments apply to express only

CONGRATULATIONS on improving the game
in combination with the dictator change
there is now a new strat to go with the old
techer/casher/farmer strats
it is the wargainer strat

i agree with the posts that this change helps efficient LG players
i also agree that efficient LG play has declined game wide
anything that improves LG yield is a welcome change

however

i expect greater elasticity of demand than the other posters
because
1) the limited number of turns on express does not allow most cashers or farmers to maximze tech so they will absorb the additional tech without a big drop in price
2) theos have been given an increase in their use of tech since this formula was in place as a result their minimum price is higher than it was in 2001
3) players are accustomed to certain prices at certain times and will pay the usual price for several sets at least


so i do not predict a dramatic fall in tech price on this server
i predict that this change will aid theos unduly
but cashers should easily max tech and i am in favor of a more competitive strat balance
commies have also had an increase in their use of tech since 2001 so we may see a research commie strat arise where the tech is used rather than sold
i would welcome that

with more tech and consequently more cash and more food in the game, PS for money rather than land will increase
the no drop land rule becomes even worse than it was
the dictator change mitigates this complaint for that gov
but since a high weapons/milstrat C or F can not drop land acquired at set end for tech/SPAL purposes there is still a problem with the no drop land rule for those countries

i definitely understand that express is the most friendly stockpile stealing server that i have ever played

eighty seven countries played last set

six had a billion or more dollars in cash on hand or food x $32. as u say not a lot of countries but a large % of the field
the server lends itself to stockpiling for reasons u can elucidate better than i but that stockpile friendly nature of the server is all the more reason for the original rule regarding land

and as u say dropping land late makes much more sense than dropping it early. i think anyone can see that if i drop land with only two turns to play in order for my tech to let me grab 1400 acres that dropped land is of no consequence

make dr 4 hours then if somebody sleeps for more than four hours during express weekend they deserve what they get)))))))

-30 hours to -4 hours is what i call hunting season that is when the stockpiles are large and the defenses small

but u can carry 400 turns into -30 hours

as to your suggestion for a complex change
the admins are extremely busy and we have not seen a lot of complex rule changes initiated mostly simple stuff like nobody can drop land they grabbed ever under any circumstances on any server
so requesting a complex change is probably a no go

as far as psing somebody five times every two hours
thats my favorite tactic

enshula, thx for your thoughtful response
i know you to be a smart experienced winning player
so when i disagree with you i do not do it lightly

but first lets go over the ground we agree on
the timing of some things in express needs to be adjusted to better fit the compressed schedule
you mentioned DR i totally agree
it does seem to be on 24 hours
some people say it is on 4 but that has not been my experience this has to be changed
nothing we can do about multis and clans taking each other into dr but we can make them do it more often

the same with spy dr, it should be four or fewer hours not 24

ending alliances has to be shortened from 72 hours
during hours eight to 36 i am the best research ally you could ask for, after that i am a total leech. i have usually been ABed fifteen times by then and have no interest in teching
i should be able to drop my allies so they dont resent me or they should be able to drop me. same with defensive allies
this timing needs to drop to 12 hours or fewer, if i am in dr and likely to stay there why do i pay for defensive allies?

the set does not have enough turns
i propose adding 120 turns at one fell swoop during the food peak to aid farmers, say 36 hours prior to set end

its just not the right strat choice for the server
that is a flaw in the server not the strat
this flaw is easily fixed



now lets get to our disagreements:
the I advantage is grabbing and KEEPing land
qz seems to share this view
this is just flat wrong especially in express
your stats are correct of course but they disregard the opportunity costs of building
when you are building you are not capturing more booty

in order to make land worth keeping, you have to be able to build on it in an expeditous fashion
50 buildings at a bare minimum per turn
anything less is just too turn costly during prime growth time
so instead of using 200 turns to build cs an I has to use 260 turns to get the same ability to build that is 60 turns
and that sixty turns only catches you up to a monarchy not to the faster growing strats
in express that is 3% of the total turns on nongrowth activity
that does not count turns spent building on land that you keep. if you capture and build on 4000 vacant acres that is another 80 turns that could be spent elsewhere
and those 80 turns are spent during hunting season

those 80 turns could capture a lot more than 4000 built acres not counting the cash, food and tech

your biggest mistake is assuming that it takes a 5m jet PS to capture $100M plus land tech etc.
we are talking the express server
all i play is express, i have spied on every top 25 player for the last six sets, i have never seen a 5m jet air force in express maybe somebody on the last day gets there but i seriously doubt it

other than mine the largest air force i saw last set was 1.4M
again maybe somebody got bigger on monday afternoon but not during hunting season

last set on my $116M hit the net was $100M plus land
but after four or five hits the land so reduced my weapons tech that i could not hit the next target up the line
express is a target rich environment

let us make this simple
suppose there were four players each with $1B, 10k acres and no defense
you have 600 empty acres and can build at thirty a turn
you have twenty turns
do you spend twenty turns hitting or twenty turns building?

express is like that, it is a target rich environment with stockers galore
if we just return to the original rule that you can drop land it is a humter's paradise
if we have to make up a new rule that dropping land is illegal let us at least drop the timing on our made up rule to fit the server, say eight hours

enshula i look forward to your response

HUUUGE advantage?

compared to theos?
compared to Fs?
compared to Cs?

then why cant anyone take one into the top ten?
in any set? on any server?

any I that builds is only hurting itself
the analogy would be an R that runs an oiler strat
or a D that engages in a large GS campaign

trying to run an I in express is like running a D with no public market

the liability of dictators is their slow pace of building


why cant i get you to see that?

why the inordinate emphasis on land??
frequently the winner does not have the most land
very often in E2025 the relatively small land size Ds managed to come on and win despite the fact that other countries had a lot more acreage

in express this set i had hits of $116M, $100M, $67M, $54M and a ton of smaller hits, grabbing cash and tech you do not need vacant land

you only drop vacant land

no government type has tons of vacant land

ok

no dictator will ever win express in its current rule set because the server interferes with gov's ability to efficiently use its specialities, while other gov's specialties are not restricted by the server

in order to win a gov has to be able to efficiently use its specialties on a regular basis. The R, F, H advantages come into use on every turn, a D should buy and sell repeatedly to maximize their advantage and express does not interfere with this specialty. if d's had to wait six hours for goods to get to market, their advantage on this server would be diminished.
the dictator's specialties are spy and military
anything that interferes with repeated efficient use of these specialties hurts the gov

TOP TEN WAYS EXPRESS RULES HURT DICTATORS

1) 72 hour no drop land rule
vacant land reduces SPAL and tech improvements reducing this gov's use of its specialties
72 hours means it is a set long hindrance
if the I spends time building up the vacant land it is maximizing its weakness not its strength


2) ghost acres
when the government is trying to max aggression tech this rule handcuffs him with added vacant land

3) spy formula is substantially weaker than e2025
one of the benefits the I has is % stronger spies but since the current formula does not adequately reward high SPAL, the specialty is compromised

4) no aggressive attack like e2025 had
this reduces benefit of military strength

5) no ability to raid jumpers before they jump
by raid i mean the first post on this thread
again reducing both military and SPAL

6) DR on the server is too high, should be adjusted to be equivalent to primary
this inadequtely rewards repeated hits on vulnerable targets
limiting I's use of its military specialty

7) spy op does not allow for stealing cash only blowing it up
where the cashers are benefitting every turn the I has no similar ability
cyber ops should be an alternative means of acquiring goods

8) commit espionage is not set high enough
it should result in more yield for Is since their spies are supposedly better than ordinary spies
while the techers are advancing every turn the I has no such ability
thx enshula for this idea

9) when dictators LG they should get less land and more goods than other countries
thx again enshula

10) the number of allowed spy ops is too low
in primary u get 50 x 30 spy ops but in express u only get 1000 this unfairly restricts the gov's specialty

a dictatorship should be doing tons of spy ops and lots of raids or LGs or it has no real advantage
because vacant land interferes with using that specialty
and building on that land maximizes the liability
no dictatorship can win express in this environment



8)

allies had a lot of forces

allies say they actually did lose forces

and i spent the whole set in dr so yes my losses were usually small

but even the first hits showed your allies lost nothing

of the dozen or more times i was LGed this set in express ny defensive allies never lost a thing

is this an error?

the admins know that i have posted many times arguing for the equalization of war govs to the netter govs

in express i tried to report a message for content

when the screen came up asking if i was sure i wanted to report this message

the number of the sender was correct but the name was wrong

just like theo has a lower private market sell food price
and just like tech can lower that price further

you could balance some of the strats
and particularly the end set strategies
by adjusting the private market food price
say an hour before set end

alternatively u could give other govs like say dictatorships)))) a private food price of 36

until then what??

i have enjoyed reading this thoughtful thread

in response
i propose a variable food floor

it could vary by gov type
it could also vary by time in the set

ivan,

please refer me to a server and set where a dictatorship won
or a server and a set where dictatorships made up three of the top ten

the following statements refer only to individual games

this game can be tweaked so that war strats win

inherent in MrFord's post is the assumption that netting strats should always win
that assumption though widespread is a flaw in the game
war strats ought to have at least a 40% chance of winning

on earth2025 you could win a tournament with the best military
i advocate balancing the game

those rules make at least as much sense as the rule on express that you cant drop land for 72 hours

yes one can dream of a game where dictators can stage raids, where dictators can actually compete to win against the all x theos, and where land is not an anchor around your neck

the reason this is the appropriate place is because this is where rule changes are born

not whining just having a blast playing a war game

)))) that is fun especially when u still had $1.3 billion left and can do anything you want to me)))

if i could drop the 5000 acres u just ABed my weapons would be at 150%, my mil strat would be maxed out and i would probably finish in the top ten
if i could have raided you i would have finished easily in the top 5
attackers can finish strong when they grab $100M an attack unfortunately because the admins do not understand the strat it is illegal((((((

that was only the 2nd time i picked up over a quarter of a billion dollars in two hours
and it is a real kick

without giving away too much

i loved capturing $100,000,000 in one hit

suppose that the little baby girl no drop land rule were not in effect

i could hit anyone in the game

but the netter protection rule kicks in again

the admins dont understand it either diez so lets look at what happened today on express

oh lets wait until tuesday so that ur country's stats r not discussed

the post that prompted this suggestion was made by the gay clan's HOW whose signature is sexually explicit and who posted on the express forum

he used his (gaytool) to write on someone's forehead

i brought the post to the mod's attention and waited days and days for a response
only when i could not handle this privately did i make a public post

i brought the graphic nature of the signature to the mod's attention months ago
while we may be mostly adults now, if facebook accepts this site then teens and tweens will be attracted to this site
the thought of some of these clan leaders spending hours on line talking to tweens is scary

graphic homosexual contact is not appropriate for facebook

teens and tweens should not be subjected to daily graphic sexual posts

until the leadership of the homosexual clan stops engaging in this practice, until the mods who regulate the forums stop encouraging the writing of homosexual forced contact posts, and until the graphic posts of the homosexual clan leadership are deleted, this site has no business being on facebook

i previously posted my concerns about this site's suitability for facebook but the response was that facebook does not care about morals and the thread died with that response
I have complained to slagpit several times about the graphic sexual content of the leaders of the homosexual clan but he has never responded to me nor adjusted the content

given this ongoing situaton, this site is R-17 at least and not facebook appropriate

when a mama grizzly checks on the sites her kid has been playing and she finds graphic homosexual LaE postings both facebook and the admins who run this site are going to be in a legal battle

i know that some people will say i am being overly moralistic but i just dont think this site is appropriate for teens until graphic sexual content is not celebrated on the forums

dicts can be made competitive despite the bpt penalty if when they hit they dont grab land

if they grab land and then have to hold it they are now and always will be meat

how about letting dicts drop land?
see how that works

a lot of guys dont do anything
all x
hit research button a bunch of times
and "win"

i was not talking to now3p or fordy or even llaar there

i was speaking to the gentlemen of the server who have to suffer with LaE's lack of honor

i deleted the allegation of cheating because that is what gentlemen do when their evidence proves to be errant

i have never failed to apologize if even the tiniest iota of evidence arises that the allegation is false

no one can say i have ever falsely accused anyone of cheating and not apologized if the allegation were not absolutely true

if LaE wants an apology just show one tiny shred of evidence that pang is wrong when he says no one in LaE is above suspicion, that they cheat every set across multiple servers and they whine like five year olds. if any evidence ever arises that that statement is not entirely accurate i will apologize immediately

this purpose can be served by allowing raids that capture goods but not land