So my question here is: how go the diplos? I see ME Games is working on different administrative methods. What kind of workload is this turning into?
Cheers,
Brad
A real pain… but we’re managing. 3 1/2 hrs last time… We’re working on different systems to spread the pain, but not reduce it.
I can’t comment on who is sending nor how many though.
Clint (GM)
Clint,
Feedback: I much prefer this turn’s method of individual emails for each diplo to last turn’s, i.e. pasting all the diplos to a nation into one email.
Drew
Okay we’ll go with that for a few turns and see how it goes…
If you guys fancy saying nice things to Rob, he might appreciate it… 
Clint
Really? I think it’s not only horrid but a single email sourced from a single file per nation built up as they’re recieved seems to me to be one of the easier ways to manage the whole pile, from both MEGames and our…er, my… perspective…
Good thing “make them all happy” wasn’t in the scope document… 
Clint,
what ever is less work for you guys is best.
To that end, is there any automation possible?
for example:
we could adopt a file naming convention that was similar in nature to the naming convention you already use for .pdfs and .xmls. the files could be uploaded to the turn server, or sent in via email in a .zip.
g075n01n02t04.txt or .doc would be a text file for game 75 containing the diplo from nation 1 going to nation 2 for turn 4. then a simple script could be written to read each file, dump it in an email and mail it without saying that it was from nation 1 (i.e. the recipient would just get the text in the diplo as the contents, thus preserving the subterfuge possibility)
I’d be fine with following any convention that you set up if it makes the job easier. i can see that it’s a ton of work.
And… THANK YOU ROB!!!
Dave
DC:I agree with that. I was stating personal preference, but if the other works better for Rob that’s the way he ought to go.
Huh? I think that’s way too complex for us all to follow Dave. Simplification is good, but I don’t know about automation.
Let me ask this: If I am sending the identical diplo to nations A and B, would you prefer that I send two separate emails, or one email with instructions? Seems to me it would be simpler to have nothing in the text of the email other than the exact wording of the diplo. Check with Rob and let us know how we can ease his work load!
Drew
PS Good job Rob; keep up the good work!
Brad:
There was an instance where I really had to decipher where one diplo ended and the next began.
No fault on Rob; one of the diplo writers was a moron. <g>
Drew
gosh Drew, I don’t think it’s hard to come up with a naming convention and follow it. You already do so for your .xml file that you send in with your orders…
No I don’t; Automagic does it for me.
well, you know I think very highly of you Drew, but this is silly. Everything about learning this game is learning a set of conventions and then applying them. The complexity of planning a turn is many orders of magnitude greater than following a simple naming convention for files containing diplos… And you are a master at the complexity of turn planning. I am confident that you could easily master following file naming conventions. <wink>
All that said, if it doesn’t help Clint/Rob, it’s a mute point.
Dave
Hi all,
I prefer one email with all of the diplo’s in it. Whatever works best at HQ will work for me. Speaking personally, automation is very bad for me in the real world right now. I like Dave’s idea, but would ask that it not get implemented in this game if HQ does find a way to make it work.
Keep with it as we’re going for now.
If I am sending the identical diplo to nations A and B, would you prefer that I send two separate emails, or one email with instructions?
For just this example two emails. If you’re doing lots the same then 1 email, CLEARLY marked as to who it is intended for.
Dave - nice idea, but I think it would take us more work to implement it than we’d save. I can see some solutions, web-based etc but they’d all taking a lot of coding/work to sort out…
Clint
Well, put a web-based “chat” type communcation vehicle together and you’re another step towards a fully-automated web-interface… 
Dave,
I’m playing a bit of devil’s advocate here. I, personally, would have no problem naming text file diplos in the proper convention. You are so much more of a tech guy than me (more so than most of the people we play with actually), I think you overestimate the average player’s technical ability. I’m confident some of the people writing diplos to me in G75 would not be able to get their text files out correctly in the manner you suggest. Communication would therefore suffer.
Clint says he doesn’t think it would help their workload so alas, it is a moot point.
Drew
Being in this game I have to say I prefer the one email with the diplos all set up for me as to an email for each diplo. It makes going through them for turn review and responding much easier. That being said I understand my convienence is a small matter when dealing with 24 others.
Well, put a web-based “chat” type communcation vehicle together and you’re another step towards a fully-automated web-interface…
Yeh it’s something I thought of too.
Clint
Reminder 50 words max. We’ve had to stop some diplos due to them being too large. HC = TWO words.
Clint (GM)