gameID=102239

gameID=102239

This was basically a socializing fun game, so while the result will certainly baffle some, I can't say I don't mind it. (This is of course ignoring that I got rocked hard the autumn before the draw.)

Not much to say, I tried something less commonly seen (starting off in the east instead of the west by attacking Russia instead of England or France). E & F were ready to fight so I kinda played it noncommittal in the west. Backfired bad in A03 - they both insist it wasn't coordinated, but damn.

Then Italy rightly pointed out that there was a way to force a 7-way draw, and realizing the hilarious irony of short-circuiting France's strong potential solo by joining a draw coalition he started, I couldn't resist. Russia and Austria voted draw as well and the game was over.

In conclusion, @2ndWhiteLine
http://www.myfacewhen.net/uploads/3069-deal-with-it-dave-mustaine-megadeth.png

Waitwhatthefuckjusthappened?

You're welcome, ghug

+1 to both

I am so OK with this.

I think everyone but 2WL is welcome.

On a serious note for a sec, I've decided I most likely will not be participating in non-live games outside of this kind of format. I'm definitely down with a chill out, talk and play kinda game but otherwise the time investment's too much. I bring it up here 'cause I enjoyed this one and fully intend to do more games like it, so don't worry, this will still be around.

okay back to trolling 2wl

http://hugelol.org/i/28441.gif

Anybody want a rematch? Hey, abge, can you give up the special gameID=696969?

*give us

bump for 2WL

"Hope everyone learned a valuable lesson about voting draw as a joke."

Nope.

"You're welcome, ghug"

+10

My EOG:

When I am England I am usually down to attack either France or Germany. In this case I knew them both well and there was even talk of a Western Triple, but we all know that England doesn't really come off so well from those. I tried to get Germany to help me fight France, as I was convinced that France wouldn't be convinced to team with me against Germany and Italy wasn't being very threatening of France either. So I figured I had to fight France.

So I get Germany on what looks like my side but then he moves east and I get locked out of Belgium. So my plans are kind of ruined and to grow I am forced to look east with my army.

I really needed a build so I come up with this hare-brained scheme to convoy to Norway and move Norway to Skag to protect Norway and threaten Sweden at the same time, as well as make Germany take me seriously and not just write me off as France murders me in the background.

I tried to work things out with Germany, but since he wasn't offering me any opportunities for quick growth, and knowing that without that I would die soon, I had to take Sweden, partly to keep Russia out since Germany said I'd spooked him and he'd have to defend Denmark. So I took Sweden and things looked up.

So as it turns out I had ended up heading east with Germany as an uneasy partner even as I try to defend Britain from a French invasion. I originally thought Germany's moves east were more or less temporary, just for Sweden and whatnot, but it became clear when he attacked Warsaw that he and France had some kind of NAP.

By this time though I'm neck deep in the collapse of Russia and knew that I needed to keep building to protect Britain - it was after all the only way I had saved Liverpool, by taking Sweden so unceremoniously. So I went after StP since it was once again the path of least resistance to get a new build.

This whole time I am trying to egg Italy on to harass France and get him off my ass. He even does so in fits and starts and is partly the reason I wasn't just crushed, so thanks for that dub. And I was also asking France to stop fighting me and attack Germany, since it was obvious he wasn't paying attention to either of us. But he never seemed to take me seriously so I assumed he had it in for me.

However, some of this talk got around to other people and back to Eden, who then started talking about it with me. Our press got ever more distrustful and accusatory to the point that I assumed, since we had not resolved things and time was running out on the phase, that he would be attacking my vulnerable position in Sweden the coming turn, Autumn as it was. So I vaguely informed him I would be taking counter-offensive action in the vain hope that after the fact if it failed (which I was fairly sure it would, sure as I was of a counter-attack from Denmark), things could be salvaged.

That of course was not to be. Turns out Germany did indeed attack my position, and I was able to hold Sweden, but in the same turn it seems France had a similar revelation and executed a devastating attack on him. He gained, I didn't, that was a bummer. If we had coordinated perhaps I could have come out better. In that sense, hats off to France for a well-played stab you kept very close to the chest. Don't know if it was a last second idea or what.

Anyway at that point I saw that Eden was really pissed at me, and I figured talking about it would just make him madder so I just sort of stayed quiet and uneasily settled into working with France, but then Eden's disbands meant I had to stay on defense and would lose StP. Everyone noticed how much better France's position was, and how uneasy our peace was, as well as Italy and Germany's vulnerability, and started to talk about a France solo. Austria and I were the only other players not dealing with homeland invasions, so it was on us, but Austria was too far to help me and I too thinly stretched to effect a stab. So I began to worry, but at the same time Russia and Germany's continued resistance meant I would have to work with the French.

And then the fucking draw coalition nipped him in the bud and the day was saved. Owned. Lmao.

I love how that entire EOG read seriously and climactic, and then you get to

"And then the fucking draw coalition nipped him in the bud and the day was saved. Owned. Lmao."

It's like a dad reading a bedtime story to his kids and he just gets bored and goes "Nah fuck it story stops here night y'all"

well thats how i felt when i logged on and saw the message that game had drawn i leapt to my feet and thanked the lord jesus

My EOG, in <140 characters per season:
Spring '01: Got along good with everyone, made some anti-R plans with A and G.
Autumn '01: Austria decided to be a douchebag late, kind of fucked everything up. Then Russia built shittily. #fuckthejoker #fuckabge
Spring '02: Somehow I managed to not get fucked over completely, Italy did exactly as expected.
Autumn '02: Made peace with Russia, things still good with Italy. #thingsarelookingup #jokerstillsucks
Spring '03: Italy stops doing as I want. #seriouslywhatthehelldubmdell
Autumn '03: Plan to stab R with A, instead R stabs me with A. I fucks up, prolonging my fate. PE flips a hilarious shit.
Spring '04: A guesses wrong, F moves south, likely removing I's pressure. Hope to start making amends with R in fall.
Autumn '04: lololololol http://goo.gl/HkmkP #fuckthucy

This is my favorite moment:
10:39 PM (To: Global, from France) - FUCK MY DRAW ALLIANCE
10:39 PM (To: Global, from France) - Note to self: don't fuck around with the draw button
10:39 PM (To: Global, from France) - You dickholes

I wonder if 2nd's going to write an EoG. I'd be very interested in what he has to say. Specifically to abge.

calling 2wl

2WL called. He said "FUCK MY DRAW ALLIANCE" then muttered under his breath "Note to self: don't fuck around with the draw button" then he said really sneeringly "You dickholes"

what is he 12

http://imgur.com/CyLDD

I need to be able to +1 things repeatedly

Eh, I guess I can find time for an EOG.

01: Talks with just about everybody went well with the exception of England who I hardly communicated with. Russia and I pretty much spent the majority of the spring quarreling over Galicia. And seemed to agree to bounce only out of distrust and uncertainty.

Italy and I seemed to have a really good alliance, as he was pretty readily willing to do just about anything I asked. France and I seemed to have a decent alliance but pretty much stayed on a need to know basis as expected. Germany and I were good allies I felt at the beginning but I quickly found out that Germany and Turkey seemed to be really sharing information with each other. When I told Turkey I couldn't give him a support to Rumania in the Autumn, Germany knew within minutes before I even talked to him myself.

I offered Turkey support to Rumania immediately on the prospect of him allowing me Greece and we'd both go +2. He agreed to it without even any questions or further negotiations of future expansion which surprised me. I expected the negotiations to be long and drawn out. And then in the Fall, I sprung it on him late that I didn't feel I could give him the support because I'd have pissed off neighbors and a huge Turkey. I still had intentions of going forward with Turkey, just without giving him the second build. Russia's opening meant he could guarantee no builds for Russia and acquire the Black Sea. But Turkey was afraid to piss off Russia and took the conservative route.

02: The results of 01 looked great and I had plans to get Rumania and Bulgaria in one quick swipe. Russia having only fleets in Rumania and Sev meant that he was no threat to me. I felt like I had a strong Italian ally and I was meant for a quick explosion in growth. Russia and I were on the same page and he tried to help me into Bulgaria but Turkey played perfect defense. Realizing I wasn't going anywhere with Russia's help, I thought I patched things up with Turkey. But Turkey still couldn't trust me and had no desire to help me, and I don't blame him.

Germany informed me he'd be making a blitz on a free Warsaw. I forwarded this to Russia in the Spring and advised he block Silesia, but he was weary to do so just in case Germany didn't go his way, and avoid wars on every front. I told him I would move to Galicia to give him an insurance policy so he could keep Warsaw. Russia didn't really have much of a choice than to accept given his position and apparent lack of allies.

I feel like 02 is where I fucked up my expansion potential. France told me he would be covering Marseilles, which I forwarded to Italy just as something to share so he could decide what he wanted to do with Piedmont. Italy however read this in the extreme and said that he had to respond to France moving to the Gulf. He abandoned his campaign with me against Turkey and I was pretty much in a stalemate with Turkey. Sorry about that Dub, I feel like that screwed us over.

03: I've now thoroughly pissed off everybody. Russia and Turkey don't trust me, England and Germany appear to be really good allies and nobody appeared to be keeping Germany in check. I of course knew that Germany wanted to conquer Russia himself but I at the same time was pretty pissed that I wasn't getting any of the spoils. It appeared E/G had already agreed completely on how they were going to split the Russian centers. I asked Germany what he planned to do with all those armies and he responded with, "I don't know, probably swing them at England." Well, I had a feeling I knew exactly what that meant so I went to work trying to get England and France to stab Germany. I informed France that I'd make sure Russia kept both Warsaw and Moscow, and that if France stabbed into Munich, Germany would be -2. France claims to have had intentions to stab the entire time. But I got in Germany's ear about England and apparently that tore them down.

I was at this point, a bit nervous concerning Italy. He came back East and I just felt like his best option was to go against me with Turkey's help. However, Italy informed me that he really doesn't like working with Turkey as Italy. This turned out to be true which was a pleasant surprise. But in Italy's shoes, I would have pummeled me and allied with Turkey. France was getting strong so quickly that Italy needed to build himself up immediately.

04: I had thought Italy and I agreed on how to proceed with convoying Apulia - Syria or Smyrna but other people convinced him that France wasn't coming for him. I expected Italy to block North Africa with Tunisia but he tried to convoy it instead.

Was obviously glad to see this game draw for multiple reasons. For one, I'm tying so much time up playing Call of Duty that I didn't really have the time to commit to the game. And the obvious reason that France was about to just own face and I was kind of wondering where the hell I was going to go.

This was only my second full-press game as Austria so I naturally was pretty paranoid and not really confident in what I should be saying to everybody. But I feel like I did a decent job to get started in 01, but 02 pretty much negated all of that. This game will definitely give me confidence going forward for my next game as Austria.

And oh yeah, #fuckghug

Awwww, come on now, why the hostility?

I guess I'll write an EOG.

I wasn't really into this game after the opening discussions were so chill and laid back. I took the game casually (to the chagrin of Austria) and just had fun (except when I misordered and the Blue Giant was stomping my way).

I recall the opening discussions were rather tenuous at first. I wanted to do a key Lepanto, but Austria wasn't down for it (Austria is never down for it -_-).* Folks weren't especially talkative, but Austria and I came up with a fair enough alliance and France and I set the usual DMZs.

Because no one else has really explained how the draw alliance came to be, I'll take a moment to explain. 2WL posted a draw vote and I noticed and asked about it. He said "I believe in fair play, there's no fairer play than a 1901 draw." So I posted a draw vote. ghug joined us soon after and christened us the "draw fellowship" (yes, cue LotR references #ghugisgollum). And the best prophecy of the game goes to 2WL: "The Fellowship of the Draw grows to three! Soon my precious draw will be at hand!" Thucy joined it at some point (I don't remember when). Anyway, that was all in 1901 and how the Fellowship of the Draw was formed (and thank /gods/ the fellowship wasn't broken).

England was begging me to move on France in the fall, so I went to Piedmont and played it off as a misorder (#sorry2WLnotreally). At this point, I was leaning towards a strong Lepanto, but I also kinda-sorta wanted to let Turkey live (but only at 4 centers).

1902, Austria informed me that France would be covering Marseilles with Spain, which meant that Marseilles had to be moving into the Gulf in order not to bounce with himself. I took this advice the wrong way and went full steam after France. In retrospect, I probably should have stabbed his soft underbelly while England attacked from the top. Oh well. Maybe in the rematch (gameID=696969). France and I work out our differences, and I am in a keen position to stab Austria.

1902 is also when we talked about PE's and Thucy's sex lives. Or lack thereof.

I don't fully recall why I didn't stab Austria. I think it was something PE said. Also I didn't trust ghug to not build a third fleet. That was the big reason I went after Turkey. I did convince Austria and Russia to pretty please with sprinkles on top to stall Germany, at which time I chided Germany for not making his brilliant escape that he claimed he was so famous for. This was when EF formed and the world went to shit. Here were my thoughts when I logged in for Autumn 1903:

OH MY GOD I misordered. Crap crap crap crap CRAP!.

And at the same time OH MY GOD France is going to eat me. Shit shit shit shit SHIT!.

And simultaneously OH MY GOD Germany just gift wrapped all his centers for France. Fuck fuck fuck fuck FUCK!.

And in that moment OH MY GOD (#fuckThucThuc)

1904 wasn't better. The EF was moving forward (especially the F part), I saw my only option as a swift grab of Turkey and his schooling kept him from making deals with me that I could then use to grab a quick Smyrna. I did deviate from the plan that Austria and I had because I thought that France wouldn't move on me (everyone said so, all six of you - except ghug). ThucThuc logged on and said something about "It's never too late to draw guys." And so Jok3r and PE posted draw votes. It was a really stressful (and by "really stressful," I mean "not at all stressful") ten minutes while waiting to see if abge or 2WL would log on. Then another five minutes explaining why abge should draw instead of cancel (a cancel required 2WL's consent, and he has already consented to a draw as the Draw-bearer).

And somehow, we got out of that mess. I don't really like to talk about it.

*For the record, I am /always/ down for a key Lepanto.

See, Dubmdell, this is what happens when people listen to your "If you're really on my side, why not vote Draw?" speeches.

That's right! We got a draw in the game. We should have had one in that game. I'm not going to discuss it anymore or again or further.

Incidentally, guys, how does it feel knowing the draw was the same size as the pacifist games, except this one goes on GR? ;)

Oh god not THOSE guys EOG: or, How I Learned to Power of the Draw Alliance

Before I start, I'd like an opportunity to defend myself from those of you who choose to disparage the draw alliance. I was traveling all day Friday, on Saturday I ran and supported an ultramarathon in Maryland, and on Sunday I drove to Philadelphia for the Philadelphia Marathon, then back home, not getting back until 9, watched TWD and passed out. I don't have a smartphone. Had I paid any attention to the game, I would have canceled my draw vote and put up my spite vote.

HOWEVER, I don't believe I'm the goat here. This was an excellent game. It was fun, competitive, and most importantly, nobody took it too seriously. I hate League games for that reason. I'd love to rematch this game just because I actually went out of my way to have fun with it. That being said, fuck you guys for actually drawing.

This game was fun as all hell but was a complete mess. For the most part, I think everyone played well, which was a plus because we're all decent if not excellent players (Joker excepting - he's a filthy asshole). We all had our share of fuckups and bad diplomacy, but hindsight is 20-20. Actually, come to think of it, it's probably right that this ended as a 7 way draw, but not so soon.

Anyway, onto the brass tacks.

1901: I opened on friendly terms with G and actually convinced R to open north, which ensured me Belgium. Frankly, I'm amazed R actually did it. I build two fleets with the intention of attacking England. At this point, a WT was kicked around, considering the openings by Italy and Russia, but nothing ever came of it. I think there was too much antipathy over Belgium for that to succeed, but it would have been interesting.

1902: Italy was seriously a thorn in my side the whole game. The Russia opening couldn't have looked promising to you, since it meant that England couldn't devote his energy to fighting me. He calls off the dogs and I bounce in Marseilles, keeping my army in Burgundy to the dismay of Germany.

I sneak into the Irish Sea. HOWEVER, as I detailed in the global chat, Germany foolishly allowed England to get a build. I understand Eden was playing both sides, but at this point in the game, you were only going to get so much from Russia before having to choose sides, and I think we could have both been very powerful had you supported Russia back to Sweden. We might actually still be playing. Eh, whatever.

1902/1903: England and I fuck around with the Channel. That damn fleet in Liverpool that shouldn't have existed really changed the course of the game.

Skipping ahead...

F 1903 - sick of being stalemated, I swallow my pride, leave the Irish Sea, and stab Germany. He was simply getting too big for everyone's comfort. At this point, I need to give Austria credit for conducting some shrewd diplomacy. Everyone stabbed everyone, and Eden spite disbanded. Things are looking good for me. Everything's coming up Milhouse!

S1904: I send out rudimentary diplomacy to England and leave on my road trip. I take Kiel! Yeah! But fuck, we draw!

It would be interesting to see where this game would have gone. Russia was coming back, England looked like he was about to attack me, and Austria was going to be crushed. Also, Italy couldn't convoy to save his life.

TO SUM UP:

Why did we suddenly decide to hate ghug? I kind of like ghug.

Working with Thucy is annoying since he's on once a day.

I want a rematch. No draw alliances this time.

What's not to like about Ghug? He's always good for a draw. ;)

@Tas, every damn time.

@2nd, I think it was my use of insulting hashtags in my EoG.

I could go for a rematch, especially if I get a nation that doesn't have to ever make a convoy.

Have fun playing Austria.

I'd be down for a rematch too though.

Re: Rematch

I have one in the works starting after this semester ends. I intend this to be a semi-frequent chill-as-fuck series.

2WL you run marathons?

@PE, sounds good. I expect you to be getting your hands on gameID=696969 when the time comes.

Gen Lee, yeah, getting into ultras as well.

Very cool, how many have you done? I just did my 2nd, Chicago, in early October.

Nice! I did the Mohawk-Hudson in Albany on the same day as Chicago. Had several friends in Chicago, though. I've done six including one 50K and I'm signed up for my first 40 miler in May in Tennessee that will hopefully be a stepping stone to 50s or higher. How'd you do in Chicago?

The weather was amazing I got a PR of 8 minutes, it was the first major marathon I've done, so the atmosphere with the crowds and 30k plus runners was awesome. I've hadn't had the thought to try anything longer than then marathon, but I've got the book born to run on my nightstand and I hear it can covert people, lol.

I will monitor gameID=696969 like a HAWK. It WILL be mine.

Always feels good to smash a PR. I was trying to qualify for Boston but I stupidly forgot to eat breakfast that morning, ended up bonking at mile 21, jogged in the rest, and got drunk at the finish. Good learning experience though :)

Oh no, lol. Well I've probably gained 10 lbs. since the race and haven't run but a handful of times. I need to pick out my next one and get training/ motivated for it.