FTF 5 now over....

mepbmlist
#1

There is a rumor going around about the MAPPER program. It not only maps new pops but displays intelligence data like armies at pops, their commanders, known strengths, characters present and even has a drop down screen with all nation messages.

One of the things that makes Middle Earth different from the also rans is the heavy emphasis on the "fog of war". Persons who can exploit it and penetrate it have an advantage. It is a skill that only a few have. The collection and collation of intelligence data is also a skill that few persons show. Many games have been won through skill in intelligence collection and the exploiting of the 'fog of war:.

This MAPPER program looks like it will make those rare skills obsolete or redundant. Once more art is replaced by science. No wonder GSI will not give the source codes to Harley. They know good and well that Harley will change this game (which we all love) into something that it is not.

···

From: "Middle Earth Games" <me@MiddleEarthGames.com>
Reply-To: mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com
To: "mepbmlist" <mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [mepbmlist] FTF 5 now over....
Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 22:34:28 +0100

...and t'was excellent - chatting to the guys on Sunday the overall feel
then that it was even more enjoyable on that day as well. :slight_smile:

Congrats to two time winners:
Rob Glass, Richard Farrer, Alan Jeffries and Ulrik Bisgaard

One time winners:
Terry Robinson, Michael Grazebrook, Shaun Walker, Mark Stuckey, Mike Sankey,
Andy Wright.

commiserations to the others. Special mention to Andy Wright for slowest
re-turn of turns; Lewis Morton and Mark Stuckey for tying on fastest
turnaround - next time we'll put you on the same team just to see who does
get the title... :slight_smile:

Provisional feedback means that we'll be running another event in March-ish
(I'll contact people near Christmas for the rough timetable of when is most
convenient with a list of 5 dates and see if we can arrange a date suitable
for everyone).

Average time for us receiving the last turn to printing first turn (after
receiving disk with XML and pdfs) was 12-15 minutes. A couple of minutes
per turn to print (two printers for speed). Generally players had around 50
minutes and I don't think we can get it down to less that that for both
moderating and planning.

Mapping program was THROUGHLY tested so thanks for that [can't wait to get
to work through the data on that... :frowning: ]. Nice to see Chris C managed to
keep his 100% record of attendance and equally nice to see some new faces;
Michael, Terry, Mike, Shaun.

Thanks to all who made the event the success it was. Where's my bed...
:-)))))

Clint

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#2

Ovatha Easterling wrote:

This MAPPER program looks like it will make those rare skills obsolete or redundant. Once more art is replaced by science. No wonder GSI will not give the source codes to Harley. They know good and well that Harley will change this game (which we all love) into something that it is not.

I'm going to have to disagree with your assessment here. There are currently several computerized mapping systems floating around, including using Photoshop to combine PDF maps, the Maetzing program, and the online mapping system that Andrew Jones uses.

If your team has access to one of those tools, or people who know how to use them, your team is at a huge advantage. This program will merely level the playing field for all teams, and make sure ME is a game about teamwork and skill, not about having someone willing to type in every army into a text file.

      jason

···

--
Jason Bennett, jasonab@acm.org
E pur si muove!

#3

--- In mepbmlist@yahoogroups.com, "Ovatha Easterling"
<ovatha88@h...> wrote:

There is a rumor going around about the MAPPER program. It not
only maps new pops but displays intelligence data like armies at
pops, their commanders, known strengths, characters present and
even has a drop down screen with all nation messages.

One of the things that makes Middle Earth different from the also
rans is the heavy emphasis on the "fog of war". Persons who can
exploit it and penetrate it have an advantage. It is a skill that
only a few have. The collection and collation of intelligence
data is also a skill that few persons show. Many games have been
won through skill in intelligence collection and the exploiting of
the 'fog of war:.

This MAPPER program looks like it will make those rare skills
obsolete or redundant.

Whats so "skillfull" about taking the time to go thru all PDFs for
your team and note down found characters, armies and rumors? Any
moron with 1 hour on his hands can do it. It's not a skill, it's
merely data collection.

The skill comes in when you *analyze* the data. And the MeMapper
will not analyze anything more than what you can do yourself, in
fact much less. It won't tell you what army went where if it doesn't
land on a pop-center your team own, or you scouted it out, even tho
you can with 100% guess it from the turns, instead it will show the
army icon on the map as "unknown".

If it makes players better, then good. Better opposition means you
get a chance to have a challenge, and a chance to better your skill
in the game. When you have to maybe think up new tactics instead of
everyone running with the same old opening moves and strategies.

Øystein