If ever there was a game designed for lies, cheating and stealing it is this one. And, yes, it was deliberately designed that way. This fantasy game most resembles the 'real world' in its emphasis on the 'fog of war' and its ability to mimick the intellectual stresses and pitfalls facing a real world commander.
You can play this game on many levels. As always the Greeks have a term for it. I believe it is called a 'Proscution bed". One size does not fit all.
···
From: Middle Earth PBM Games <me@MiddleEarthGames.com>
Reply-To: mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com
To: mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [mepbmlist] Re: An overview on the art of the Backstab
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2002 02:06:55 +0100How would players feel about us implementing this?
Clint
>I have to agree with pretty much all of this. Aplayer should never
>send communications out pretending they are from any nation but his
>own.
>
>Anonymous messages, or deliberately leaked "red herrings" are fair
>enough, anyone in reciept of such will be justifiably cautious.
>
>I am positive ME could frame some house rules along these lines.
>
>David Everett
>
>--- In mepbmlist@y..., "Jeffery A. Dobberpuhl" <webguys@l...> wrote:
> > I guess I've played in my share of games, and there are two
>different things
> > that can go on:
> >
> > 1) Out and out lying and cheating, (NEVER ACCEPTABLE) and
> > 2) The Con (SOMETIMES ACCEPTABLE).
> >
> > On their face, there may not be a lot of difference. However,
>unlike chess,
> > this is a game of negotiation. Negotiation involves all levels of
> > communication, including misdirection.
> >
> > That said, I think here are some clear guidelines. If you disagree,
>then
> > work on this. I think it can form the basis of an FAQ
>on "Backstabbing in
> > Middle Earth":
> >
> > Sending stuff
> > 1) Do not set up fake email accounts, street addresses, etc.
>Another player
> > doing this ruined at least one game for me.
> > 2) Do not send actual emails, etc., to other players addressed as
>anything
> > other than your country.
> > 3) You CAN still send anonomous messages to other players through
>ME as of
> > last summer. This is a great opportunity to make up anything you
>want.
> > 4) Do send ACCIDENTAL emails to the other side. For example, I've
>seen a
> > player, say Northmen, send a fake email to the FP team, but then
> > "Accidentally" include a Neutral or DS, say the Rhun or WK in on
>the email
> > chain.
> > Bottom line, if you personally send it and sign it, keep your real
>name and
> > country. If you send the anonomous deal, then put in whatever you
>want. The
> > reliability drops, but there you go.
> >
> > Actual Deals
> > 1) Deals are made to be broken.
> > 2) Broken Deals will be remembered.
> > Bottom line, you can tell a guy: I will send my army to hex x to
>block. Then
> > you have to decide... keep your word or burn the other player. If
>you burn
> > the other player, they will remember it. You may have to do some
>fast
> > explaining about your orders getting messed up, but whatever.
> > Same thing with committments to turn Good, Evil, etc. on any given
>turn.
> > I will say that nothing irritates anyone more than thinking you
>have a deal
> > and then seeing it go up in smoke.
> >
> > The best Cons are those where you MAKE the other guy behave in a
>way they
> > don't want to by CONTINUALLY telling the truth. They have no one to
>complain
> > to but themselves. The best players I've bumped into never gave me
>false
> > information but still managed to hoodwink me...
> >
> > Finally, Neutrals.
> > 1) Don't cry if you threaten neutrals and then they break their
>word. I have
> > seen emails from DS and FP to Neutrals that was one step short of
> > threatening to go over and beat the guy personally if they did not
>commit by
> > x turn.
> > 2) If you are a Neutral and get PDFs from either side, don't
>circulate them.
> > If you want to repackage the info, fine, but I'm personally not
>impressed
> > when that happens.
> >
> > Jeffery A. Dobberpuhl
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com