??????

Ratel · 12-20-2011, 07:56 PM,

I have also considered retiring from SP recently, but decided to stay on. The reason why I considered it was not because of boredom with the game. It was due to time constraints in real life. I went through a patch where it was difficult to play more than one turn per week with 5 games going on at the same time. Luckily I decided to push through and am now still hanging in there.
Looking at SP itself, it remains a great game after 16 (?) years. I bet none of the most popular games of 2011 will be around after such a long period. But then none of the mainstream games of 2011 is turn based anymore and I think that is where SP's and other turn based games' secret lies. In my opinion you can have much more control on individual units in turn based (TB) games than in real time strategy (RTS) games. Nowadays, RTS games are about being able to build units as fast and as much as possible and purely swamping the opponent with numbers. Individual strenghts of units are much more limited on the outcome of the battle than what it is in SP for instance. Take a 1000m dual between a Tiger and a Matilda for instance. In RTS games the Matilda would have to hit the Tiger a few more times than the other way round, but it would still be able to kill a Tiger with it's 2 pounder. In SP, the Tiger's crew would have time to make coffee, play a hand of poker and just out of pure boredom nail the Matilda in one shot to have a bit of peace and quiet to carry on with their poker hands.
The only concern I have with SP's declining (is it?) player base is that we tend to focus too much on the same type of battles. I can't remember how many of the PBEM's I have played since I joined has been a battle between the Germans and the Russians. Most of these German - Russian games have been around the 1942's where Tigers and Panthers are not yet available for the Germans, while the T-34's and KV1's are running around already. I suggest we start playing more UK vs German, USA vs German or even France vs German (early war). If you still feel like German vs Russian games, go for it, but consider late war years where both sides has some serious tanks and other weapons. What about USA/UK vs Japan? Japan vs China? Heck guys we canb be much more creative than what we currently are in terms of the sides we choose. And no, choosing Japan vs USA/UK does not mean that you will necessarily lose. You just need to play better to your strenghts and if you still lose, ....well somebody has to lose you know. LOL.

retired from gaming · 12-20-2011, 10:01 PM,

What made me quit was (apart of RL obligations) the fact battles in SP are totally taken out of context. I mean you can start the battle with battalion size force, end up with a company and still be a winner. You dont have (and in game terms you shouldnt really) think about preserving forces for battles to come. Maybe we lack loose/loose type of scoreing ? I dont know (and do not really care, to be honest).

Forum - for me personally basically site has changed way too much since I joined in terms what this forum was and what is now. I guess upper staff tried to influence traffic (with good intensions, I know from experience) or maybe the better expresion would be - take control over it. It is an old rule - more moderating equals less traffic.

Just a 2 cents from one of those called by Chris few posts earlier "hard cores" ;)

keep fighting, guys
Maciej

roman · 12-20-2011, 11:16 PM,

I think this game is a classic. As is for example the Panzer General or chess. But it is a game for a few and not for the general public.
I left a few months because of real life but also because it was full of games. I think I was more than 5 or 6 games.
Now I will play more relaxed.
I did not get to the point of boredom because I always learn something. But I looked and I am looking for alternative fun about the game. Not always play the same countries, test different campaigns, creating scenarios.
There are several ideas on how to find different types of fun. Sometimes there no are players who want to implement them:)

Regards

low_bidder · 12-21-2011, 07:52 AM,

I play mostly campaigns against the program. That is because my RL has become so unsettled tghat finding the time( I'm getting slower and it takes me a couple of hours to knock out a turn.
I have 2 or 3 games going now. i say or because one of my opponents is a greek who is involved in the political thingie in Greece. So his time and access to the internet is restricted.
Greybeard and I are into a game that we have been playing for about 2 years. we exchange a turn a month some months.
My last game is against an old timer who thinks he has found another way to game the system. He floods the map with helios, hundreds full of air mobile troops. I'm playing him in an effort to find a counter tactic. So far no joy. I've tried masive amounts of AD and it doesn't work. He can swamp any one part of the AD and then unravel it, bit by bit. Next game I'm going to buy 4 spotters and all the rest off map arty. See how much good those helios do him when all my stuff is off map.
That will be the most boring game I ever played.

Vesku · 12-21-2011, 03:06 PM,

LOL Dude, that really doesn't sound fun but I'd still like to hear how that went :)

gabeeg · 12-21-2011, 06:06 PM,

LOL...I want an AAR!

Ratel · 12-21-2011, 09:30 PM,

I am busy playing the long German campaign, together with my PBEM games. Sometimes I find it a bit boring, but that depends on the specific battle. I never find PBEM games boring though. The human opponent is just so much more challenging than the campaign AI. Reason why I still carry on with the campaign is that it allows me the chance to play with some awesome tanks/td's. That comes back to my point that we as players tend to stick to certain periods where many of these goodies are not available for selection. As I said before, we should be more daring with our battle setups. I am considering the following for my next PBEM's after I finish the current lot.
USA vs Germany 1945 with me as USA.
USA vs Japan 1942 with me as Japan
UK vs Germany 1940 with me as UK

Reason why I want to play USA, Japan and UK is that I am overkilled on playing as Germany or Russia. I find that I have very limited experience of these other countries. I think I have played USA only once or may twice since I joined, UK about the same and Japan definitely only once.
I can't start these games at the moment though. I have my hands full with the number of PBEM's that I already am busy with. I also need to look at MBT games again for next year. Currently I only have one MBT PBEM going.

low_bidder · 12-21-2011, 10:52 PM,

I prefer MBT because with all those countries to choose from, it never gets boring.
While ALL AI's are stupid (NO record of one asking for a raise or a weekend pass so how smart can they be?) You can pre-load the game to give the AI a chance. Try the recent R2P in Libya as one of the Ducks mercs. Give the AI a battalion of US Marines and try to keep them out of Tripoli.
With about 12 NATO airstrikes and only SA-7's for AD.
Or play Egypt in '57 and try to keep the Jooooos out.

roman · 12-22-2011, 12:39 AM,

Now I have 4 games. 2 with ww2 and two mbt. A game here and three games in WaW. For now suffice. I'm on vacation so that you may have some extra time.
This game is alive¡¡¡¡

Weasel · 12-22-2011, 03:31 AM,

I switched mainly to MBT for the reason stated, more countries instead of the same US/UK/USSR vs Germany....snore. But I found each game of SP turned into the same thing, a rush forward to contact, then destroy the others force and watch your infantry kick the crap out of every tank on the field, with 2 man units being the most lethal. The nice thing about CM is that you can play two or three turns of CM, with replay, in the time it takes to play a single turn of SP. I am currently playing 5 games of CM and to do all 5 turns will take me about 1 hour max.

Maybe one day I will come back to SP, but until then I will just keep visiting the boards to speak with old friends.