-Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

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1326 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

-Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

-Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2-
This is a continuation thread of Blitz Tournament 0056: Discovery of Blitzworld, made in response to the recent archival of the activity feed, and also the fact that the previous thread was extremely long.

Main link: http://sites.google.com/site/csplanets/legacy/tournaments/blitzworld

--Recap so far--
At first, there were 32 combatants seeking for the champion. Now, there are only 9.

Almost everyone has made it to Round 3: The Quarter Finals. Players can start their games here at any time while the final pairing from Round 2 is still in progress.

Per-round highlights were considered, but there was not enough feedback to steer it in a direction. Highlights will probably be saved until the end of the tournament.

1325 days, 20 hours, 49 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

subscribe

1325 days, 15 hours, 38 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

In for replies.

1325 days, 15 hours, 36 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Round 2 has come to a close: @Marklein has won the third of our hard fought battles delivering another Lizard victory.
Congratulations @Marklein! It was a challenging fight! All the best in round 3!

A big thank you to all the other players in the tournament for you patience! The third installment against @Marklein was another 65 turn battle - not quite a Blitz... ;-)

1325 days, 14 hours, 57 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thanks for epic final game throughout Round 2! I have given the bracket an overdue update to reflect this conclusion. We have a full lineup for Round 3: The Quarter Finals.

Still, since we have recently endured some technical issues, I will be giving the survivors time to regroup for now. If this means I have to remake the games I previously stockpiled, then I will do so.

Good luck to the remaining players! Come to think of it, due to the interesting lineup, I am tempted to poke some fun into a potential nickname...

1320 days, 17 hours, 8 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Poke @Theduke, @Geoffles, @Twogunsbob, Iso--T (Sadly, not possible to tag due to dashes), @Joshua

1313 days, 22 hours, 12 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Poke take 2: @Geoffles, @Twogunsbob, Iso--T, @Joshua

I see that the ID assigning have been restored. Updated front page to reflect this. Hopefully the PM system is not too buggy...

1311 days, 17 hours, 50 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Sorry for a little delay guys. I can not pick my race before 13.2. Because have no time to play properly. I have my final exam for 12 year studies in 3 weeks... so.. after that I am ready again...(!)

1311 days, 17 hours, 36 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Good luck, Iso-T! Your test is about economy? We have to fear to be outproduced by Dr. Iso-T in the near future?

1311 days, 17 hours, 30 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

No... more like from the subject of survival or death... ;)

1311 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thank you for keeping us updated. I have marked you as away.

It is quite some time away, but it could be worse.

1311 days, 16 hours, 30 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

CSY, I guess players like 2G-Bob didn't subscribe here so don't notice your pokes. I wrote him a PM some weeks ago but got no response.

1311 days, 16 hours, 27 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

That is unfortunate. I could have sworn tagging a player got them subscribed, but it appears that this applies only to the first post (as happened to me back when differences between VGAP3 and Nu were being documented), and/or it could have been plugged since then.

1311 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Good luck with the exam Iso-T and take your time to celebrate as well.

1292 days, 17 hours, 14 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

It took breaking a vicious cycle, but I finally remembered to poke the remaining players via PM.

Hopefully, we can finally get this show (or, at least a fraction thereof) on the road once more!

1291 days, 7 hours, 5 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Have all the games in round 1 and 2 been lost?

1291 days, 0 hours, 3 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Yes, they have all been deleted from the server. My "hosting" tab is quite barren at the moment.

I acquired local copies of as many games as I could, but I could not quite preserve them all.

1289 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Is the round III starting soon? I think it would be nice to start all at once!

1289 days, 21 hours, 1 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

While it would be nice to start all at once, I am not certain how feasible this is given that, even after poking the remaining players, I still have not gotten one race pick.

Thus, I will be readying the games as I receive complete pairs of picks.

1289 days, 20 hours, 55 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I think 0 of the round 3 games are going, since all races have not been chosen

1289 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Yes, none of the games can start with the current race picks I received.

1289 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Come on chickens, choose your race.

Otherwise we ask Big Beefer to set your homeworld surface Dur to -100. Players in question are:

@Geoffles
@Twogunsbob
@Iso-T
@Joshua

1289 days, 17 hours, 22 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I have received word from Twogunsbob and Joshua indicating that RL is proving to be tough for them.

Still no word from Geoffles. While Iso--T is posting here, I still have not received a pick from him. Could his PM attempt failed?

1289 days, 17 hours, 21 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

My balls are shrinking!!!! I need to do something!

1289 days, 17 hours, 17 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Iso, your opponent has chosen his race already. So post your race choice here to get things going and save your balls.

1289 days, 17 hours, 10 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I just put my balls in a boiling water... (race pick sent)

1289 days, 17 hours, 3 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

The barbarians have been repelled. Despite Iso--T's morale being shaken, we must press on.

JoeSnoffy of the Rebels will duel Iso--T of the Privateers in game 1: http://planets.nu/#/sector/170814

1289 days, 16 hours, 56 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Argh, finally someone risked it and got a Rebel with pants down. Go Joe, the plan needs a complete revamp.

1289 days, 16 hours, 16 minutes ago

olegboleg

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

now thats going to be an interesting one.

1289 days, 15 hours, 47 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I was hoping to come up against something else than Rebel or Fascists, but Priv was not exactly what I had in mind. Nevertheless, I do look forward to the challenge and wish Iso-T good luck.

Now I will spend 1 minute praying for a large ion-storm before joining the game:-)

1289 days, 3 hours, 58 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

What witchcraft of Joe is this Molybdenium denial in our game?

1288 days, 20 hours, 28 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Well... it was only a matter of time before the generation system gave us another game with low resource level(s).

1288 days, 20 hours, 10 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

subscribing

1288 days, 19 hours, 50 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Witchcraft says me. Not know if it is good or bad for me. But definitely witchcraft!

1288 days, 16 hours, 11 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Even more witchcraft...

1283 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hey guys!

Start the round 3!

1283 days, 17 hours, 40 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I wanted to chime in to state that NU once again stopped sending me email notifications some unknown time ago (mad). So If anybody PM'ed me and didn't get a response that's why, and could be why for other people too(?). I only happened to see this thread activity, otherwise I would have never noticed that this tournament was still "active". I thought it was abandoned.

FYI, if NU stops sending you email notifications just go to your account properties and "change" your email address to the same one over again. I've had to do this three times over the last year or two. >:-|

1283 days, 16 hours, 46 minutes ago

codo der dritte

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Will it be possible to review the game between Priv Iso-t and Rebel Joesnoffy after the game is finished or will it be auto-deleted?

1283 days, 14 hours, 23 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Finished blitz games are usually available for quite some time. They are typically deleted when both players "resign" from a finished blitz, although I have seen them be cleaned up through other means.

1277 days, 11 hours, 28 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

So easy to forget this tournament when the activity level is minimal...

Reeling it back to the top!

1277 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Where are the other round 3 games? Come on guys!

1277 days, 3 hours, 5 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I appreciate that the tournament has respect for RL issues of the participants. But somehow it has to go on. Maybe a deadline in March for starting the next round?

1276 days, 20 hours, 32 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Yes, there needs to be a deadline soon... even if I aim to remain conservative.

Either way, I have set a target date of March 11, 2016. I have poked the outstanding players as well.

1276 days, 20 hours, 7 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I'm not "outstanding", am I? Wait... I want to be "outstanding" in the way that my mother would describe, but not "outstanding" in the way that the tax collector would describe. Can I have my mom vouch for me?

I honestly have no idea what's going on with the tourny at this point.

1276 days, 20 hours, 3 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I still have your race pick from January 10, @Marklein, so you are good to go.

I agree this whole tournament has been a mess. Between the activity feed being trimmed, illnesses roaming around, and even RL keeping us busy, it has been very difficult to keep focus on this.

Arguably, even my side project (Matchmaking Pool) is doing me no favors, either.

1276 days, 18 hours, 42 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hey CSY, don't worry. The games were very exciting and big fun. The pauses between the rounds are a bit too long for my taste but that's a minor thing. Great tournament again and I'm looking forward to the next round(s). The skill of all remaining players is so high so that every game is a high level challenge without clear favourite.

1276 days, 18 hours, 20 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hey CSY,

hey all. I agree on Emorks opinion having a great tournament so far.
I´d like to add my retreat, if we do not end before your deadline.

I planed for some weeks after the planetscon :)

Nevertheless: Fantastic format! Thanks @Emork for collecting me.

Duke

1269 days, 2 hours, 20 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

With another challenger having successfully prepared themselves, I am ready to announce another blitz.

The first duel between Joshua of the Rebels and Marklein of the Lizards has been set up: http://planets.nu/#/sector/172667

1264 days, 14 hours, 20 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

As I poked around looking for some information about @Geoffles, the last player I did need a race pick from, I took a look at Geoffles' profile, and I noticed something rather suspicious of his history...

He appears to have vanished shortly after he finished his pairing with @Randy+Smith. I hope he is safe...

Does anyone have any information regarding our friend, Geoffles?

1264 days, 12 hours, 1 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

He is not on the google map of planets players.

1261 days, 18 hours, 23 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I got word that @Geoffles is under extreme RL stress, and relief does not seem to come his way anytime soon. Understandably, he officially resigned from this tournament, allowing @TheDuke to advance to Round 4: The Semi-Finals.

Also, for the convenience of everyone involved or interested, I have provided an active game list: http://cssolexp.mygamesonline.org/blitzworld/games.php

1261 days, 18 hours, 6 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Perhaps if Joshua fails to check in for my game that @TheDuke and I could be re-shuffled to face each other for this round? Winning a round by default is pointless IMO.

1260 days, 21 hours, 21 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Swapping players like this could have catastrophic effects on the tournament. I prefer to keep it as stable as possible from here on out, even if it means allowing two potential advances to Round 4 by default...

1254 days, 14 hours, 33 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

What a struggle the first blitz between JoeSnoffy and Iso--T has been. Despite the sheer amount of pressure Iso--T prepared throughout the blitz, he was too slow in executing it.

Since both players inflicted so little damage at the time the clock expired, I have ultimately ended that blitz in a draw. A game 3 has become unavoidable at this point, as a score of 1.5 will not be enough to win a best of 3 pairing.

Here is the blitz that has drawn out: http://planets.nu/#/sector/170814

In response to the new strategy I ended up crafting on the fly, I have added an update to the regulations. We will see how this works out... if necessary.

1254 days, 6 hours, 45 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Oh. That game was suffering after I asked Joe to surrender, he refused, and I understood what is he aiming at, and succeeded.

I disagreed with the decision, and still do. But because we had no rules for this kind of situation I must take what CSY decides. And actually am now happy with it. And ready for next match!

Short analyzis: I try to speak it out fair, not black-mailing Joe who did good Job, and succeeded what he planned to do.

MY analyzis: Joe made decision from the beginning to not try to win, but slow ME and THE GAME down and build military score and beautiful scores to achieve a draw. I recognized this too late and was not able to cause enough damage for a win, regardless of fact that when game ended, Joe had zero chances to win or even enter any planet his own or mine.

What Joe did, was: Kept on minecover, built bases and some ships. He drove in deep space with merlin + rush and built fighters to make more score. When minecover collapsed, he even built a couple of more bases colonizing freighters to planets. I saw no reason to prevent this, since he could do nothing with his new bases. (Now I see, i should have sacrificed a couple of ships to make scores look better and kill those bases).

Result was. At turn 41 I had 3+ cloakers over every planet of the map. Ready to rob or tow anything that comes to planets. Also i had bloodfangs + br boats ready to take out 4 bases in 1 turn. I thought this will grant me a win with the fact I had 70 warships, Joe 8. I had also minecover, mines at turn 41 + 2 ships laying max without fear of counter mining or sweeping.

From turn 41 Joe could do nothing but drive around deep space building fighters.

BUT. Game ended, and CSY decided that "future predicitions" what would happen in next turns do not matter. Joe had over 40% of military score because of fighters, more bases than me, and he achieved a draw.

Result was: Rules need clarification

1254 days, 5 hours, 19 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Joe developped a great game plan for this unwinable constallation. Good show!
Iso-T could have been a bit faster but as long as the Joe has a few Rushs full of fighters in open space it takes a long time to get 9 times this military score and win. Iso would surely have won in the long run but the limit of 30 days was mentioned in the rules since the beginning.

What I'd like to know: How was the game ended? Was there a warning that it will happenin X turns if there is still no winner or came it all of a sudden exactly 30 days after game start?
It would be very good if the procedure is crystal clear to all players.

1254 days, 3 hours, 57 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Actually, i did believe that day 30 is only limited if there are other people who is waiting us. I thought blitzes will always be played till the end if possible, or if other is clearly winning at day 30 it will stop. I was wrong and that was my fault not the read rules.

Warning came 7 days before end. But I thought decision of the winner will be made according to real situation at day 30. (who is more likely to win...and I think there is nothing unclear about that). But. I was wrong. Draw is ok for me, and we aim for next game.

1254 days, 2 hours, 24 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Foxy win-draw tactic of the 30days rule to finish a game. I think Joe might also play time based chess because there exist also different time based tactics in this case :)

1254 days, 1 hours, 48 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Is the implication of this that survival for 30 days is sufficient to force a draw, no matter what the situation on board?

Because from the description it sounds like Joe was facing loss with 100% certainty if the game was allowed to go on.

1254 days, 1 hours, 36 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@SMN

As i see so far, @Iso (Pirate) controlled the warp wells while Joe(Rebel) controlled the area between the Planets! :) Iso-T "mistake" was not to take over all starbases (what is of course not easy as pirate) to drop the military power to win by this condition. So Joe could force the game to a draw what seems ok since all reasonable games should have a time based rule to end. With this move, the military power of the Rebel did neutralize the at this time stronger rob power.

1254 days, 1 hours, 21 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Rebel did not control the space between the planets. He just drove around the map with rushes + fully packed merlin to build fighters. :)

Turn 39 was last turn he could go to any of his planets get more stuff for this score building. Turn 40 and from that on there was no way to do anything reasonable anymore...

But. That was too late

1254 days, 0 hours, 41 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hey Ted, it’s absolutly clear that if player A has access to planets and player B has not then player A will win in the long run. In our example Iso-T can produce endless Bloodfangs and destroy all Rebel bases and Rushes while Joe can't replace a single loss. Even if Joe would have been a Colonist with Cobols and could avoid starship combat by flying off the map it wouldn’t hinder Iso-T to finally reach 90% military score.

I think it’s a pity for Iso-T that it was not clear before this game how the game evaluation will be done. No blame at all for CSY - it's a new situation. CSY now added a rule clarification:
“Eligible games which have not been resolved before this will be put up to the CSY, who will measure each player's ability to win given their _current_ empire.”

But I fear this still leaves much room for interpretation. What are measured parameters then? Military score, planet/ship/base count? It can‘t be an evaluation who will win in the end because this would have been very clear in the game we discuss.

1254 days, 0 hours, 30 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I suggest clear rules. One example: If no player has more than 70% military score at day 30, game will continue another 20 turns. If after that no player have more than 60% military AND both players still have a STARBASE. Game will end to draw.

1254 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

The problem is that there could still be many variables. This is the reason I personally requested the data from the Nu Staff.

In the previous game I judged, one player's ability to win was minimal given his empire. I used the lack of trit throughout the map to "finish" that player off.

Here, there was too many variables that could come into play. Despite the resource problems JoeSnoffy faced, I realized that he could still make a surprise comeback despite the pressure.

It does not help that I have discovered that Nu Replayer is plagued by crash problems. It appears that I could be going out of bounds on one (or more) of the arrays, but I cannot yet discern what is causing it...

1254 days, 0 hours, 19 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@Emork

In this example Iso had access to the Planets aslong Joe had no ion storm on his side. Mean, of course Iso did make a good surprising move to set the Pirates against the Rebels in this match. I can feel with him, but i personaly see also the clever answer of Joe against this move. Inside the current host rules he found a tactic to compensate rob. Mean, a draw is a draw and why not games can end with a draw? :)

1254 days, 0 hours, 14 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I think even ion would have not mae any difference. Ok if it would have been grade 4+ and 200ly radius Then maybe, when i can not do move in, move out thing...

But I really think Joe had zero chances to recover anymore. If you look my turn, you notice that. But that does not matter, if there are clear rules for draw in future

1253 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Iso-T and I interpreted the conditions for a draw differently, but based on the 30 day duration of the blitz game mentioned on the webpage, at that time, I still feel that my interpretation was the most correct one as the decision should not depend on guesses about what will happen in future turns. Granted, how could I feel otherwise:-)

For more information regarding the blitz game please have a look at the activity on the game webpage where I have expressed my opinion regarding this question.

I do fear that the new and improved winning criteria are even worse than the old one.
The winning criterion has to be something fixed so that when the last turn is played the players know who the winner was. The conditions for a draw is not required to be completely fair as long as it is clear.

My own suggestion would be that the game duration is fixed at 40 to 50 turns (it has to be independent of how much time is available before other players are ready to continue etc.) and when the game is finished a predefined range of military score is a draw.

Discussing victory conditions after a game is finished is wrong and feels bad especially since both players did well (patting myself and Iso-T on the back) according to their individual interpretations of the rules.

As soon as CSY have decided on the new victory conditions I'm ready to select race for the next match.

Will Iso-T select privateer again................

Regards,

JoeSnoffy

1253 days, 23 hours, 31 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Ted >> In this example Iso had access to the Planets aslong Joe had no ion storm on his side. Mean, of course Iso did make a good surprising move to set the Pirates against the Rebels in this match. I can feel with him, but i personaly see also the clever answer of Joe against this move. Inside the current host rules he found a tactic to compensate rob. Mean, a draw is a draw and why not games can end with a draw? »

Ted, please read my prior messages carefully. I congratulated Joe to his excellent game plan and I never argued against this game being a draw. I just said that it is clear how it would end in the long run.
As Iso-T showed great sportsmanship and is ok with the draw the only important thing is that for future games it is as clear as possible how a game is decided.

Side note about the storms: Sure, a certain constellation of ion storms would indeed give Joe a chance for a comeback. But it was not mentioned that such a constellation was on the horizon and Iso-T probably could have finished the job in 10-20 turns.

1253 days, 23 hours, 15 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I second Joe’s argument that the victory condition has to be independent from how the other games of this round are going. I also like a victory condition that allows a draw because this gives the unlucky man in the race poker a small chance. And the race poker should not be decide much more than actual playing in my opinion.
The game is called Planets and military is just a mean to conquer/defend planets. I’d suggest to define a maximum number of turns (something between 30-50) and if a game is not decided by military score until then the one wins who owns nn% of the planets (something between 75% and 90%) in the final turn. In none does it’s a draw.

1252 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Joe said "the decision should not depend on guesses about what will happen in future turns."

Then what on earth should the decision depend on? This blitz tournament is starting to feel as fishy as last time. I don't know what kind of jedi mind tricks Joe is pulling on CSY again.

1252 days, 15 hours, 44 minutes ago

obazda

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

what happened in the other tournament?

1252 days, 15 hours, 11 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

The previous tournament attracted controversy because of the contested (at the time) legitimacy of a particular intercept-hyperjump combo.

1252 days, 12 hours, 13 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@Juuso, nice to see you again.

The answer to your question must be a combination of common sense and logic:-)

Applying both you will find that the decision should be based solely on the score after the last turn has been played simply because anything else will cause problems for CSY and the players.

Regards,

JoeSnoffy

1252 days, 8 hours, 39 minutes ago

captain storm

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@JOESOFFY

Well said and I agree 100%!

1252 days, 7 hours, 25 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I still disagree with the decision for me vs Joe game because we did not have rules for a draw, so the judgement should have been based on real situation on map, not on "fake military" in merlin + rush wandering around in deep space. That was fiasco, and we should have had a new game with same races at minimum. (with clear rules)

The fact I disagree most, is what the decision was based on:

It was clear Joe could not enter any planets in map. What he could do at turn 40 -> was wandering in deep space waiting my cloakers eventually to catch him or he running to my minefields. (many hits already because no counter mining or sweeping power). ( no mineral mines or natives in deep space). We were just waiting me to kill all his bases while he was spacezeeing (sightzeeing). I had even ships ready for that. (did not see reason to sacrifice these ships last turns to make scores look better, because the game had been decided already at my point of view).

Now comes the thing I do not like. I was told that game is a draw, because we can not make decisions based on what would happen in future. (Joes bases would be killed in a few turns). I was told there are still multiple variables, and Joe could do a comeback. Huge ions appearing or something like that. WTF? I controlled the whole map, and still decision was based on "Joe could have done comeback". Yes, he had 0,1-1% chance for that.

So, the decision was not based on what WOULD happen. No, it was based on what possibly COULD happen. And that I disagree most. And if the decision is not based on real situation, I had more scores. That is a fact

Before we continue the tournament, we MUST have clear rules for a draw. Based on something else than different opinions, so this fiasco can not happen again. I never want to see this again. I want to lose or win, OR get a draw with rules that are clear from the beginning.

1252 days, 5 hours, 13 minutes ago

obazda

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I am still new to nu, but i have experience with planets.
I started a test blitz and one side got 2 direct neighbouring planets, the other side got 6 within 81LY.
This alone is totally unbalancing the setup.
And imagine one player has Rebels and the other Privateer.
Or a pairing Evil Empire versus Lizard.
This game will never have a fair setup and it is not unlikely that the better player will lose in the long run.
So there should be at least a chance for the player who got a bad start or a bad race and this is the escape into a draw. But of course the rules for a draw have to be defined. As they were not defined before i suggest you restart with the same race constellation and with a clear definition of a draw. But on the other hand, who would like to RE-play a rebel vs. privateer game as Rebel. Playing this one time seems to be punishment enough.
Unfortunately i can't find the game you are discussing about (but i would be very interested to have a look at it).

1252 days, 4 hours, 55 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

@Joe: My common sense and logic says that if there is a winner based on judge, the judgement should be based on the overall situation. This is because rules didn't clarify any emphasis on anything specific. And it doesn't seem fair to change the rules after the game just to accommodate one player. If the rules don't say that the judgement is based on e.g. military score after the game, then the judgement should be based on everything.

1251 days, 23 hours, 0 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@Juuso, good luck with creating such a that takes everything into considerations including human errors and random event. When you are done we just select a race and the system will inform us who the winner is.

What I'm trying to say is that since such a system cannot be created we should all be satisfied with having some simple and easy to understand criteria for deciding the outcome of a game.

Have anyone even considered that since Iso-T and I played our blitz game with two completely different ideas about how the winner would be decided then this alone is enough to call it a draw.

Anyone interested in more details please follow the link: http://planets.nu/#/sector/170814/activity

This discussion, where everybody seems to have an opinion, is proof that we need a simple way to decide the winner of future blitz games within the tournament.

Regards,

Joesnoffy

1251 days, 22 hours, 53 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

So Joe. Do you think you had a good chance of winning that game?

1251 days, 22 hours, 48 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I think it's @Challengespaceyard task to complete this time based rule. As @Joe point out, a proper criteria like score (point, military, amount of planets) IS a formal criteria what work in all time.

1251 days, 22 hours, 45 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Coulda woulda shoulda. There was no formal criteria when the game started.

1251 days, 22 hours, 4 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I reflected upon the situation more closely, and it is clear that the game hit a point where it was pretty much impossible to do a proper analysis. Thus, I added the ability to extend the clock on a case by case basis.

While I do agree that I need to be more dependent on the current data, I will not be absolute with this. If I can use a little bit of the potential data (a few turns worth) to "finish" someone off, then I will.

Despite standing by a draw, something does not feel quite right about the first blitz between JoeSnoffy and Iso--T... I will keep this in mind in case the second blitz also times out.

1251 days, 21 hours, 44 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hey, let’s have a clearly defined and easily verifiable criteria. I made a suggestion already, see above.

I personally would prefer a turn limit of not more than 40 turns and a planets score of 75% for the win-or-draw evaluation in the last turn - means you'd need 12 planets for victory given the current Blitz setup with 16 planets. This tournament suffers a bit from going too long so a limit of 30 turns would even better in my opinion. I don’t like so much defining the maximal duration by days because then it’s reasonable in certain situations to play as slow as possible (1 turn per day) to raise the chances for a draw. And if you have one such pairing in every round the tournament will take 1,5 years. If the duration is defined by turns there is at least the option to play a whole game in one weekend if both want and without a strategic disadvantage for the one who aims for the draw.

Such kind of win-or-draw evaluation would cover the situation in the game of Iso-T and Joe nicely. Purely floating military is no mean for victory but if it’s enough to hold enough planets in the last turn you get the draw.

Draws are not so common but without clear rule the players can plan with they will often cause trouble. Of course it's up to you, CSY.

1251 days, 10 hours, 55 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thank you for an inspiring post, Emork.

I could use this opportunity to set up a multiple (preferably an odd number) objective system.

Say, if I offer three (or five) DIFFERENT objectives that players can take and hold, then whoever holds more than half of them when time expires wins.

Of course, players can still shoot for 90% military score (a.k.a. Autoscore) to achieve an instant win!

Right now, I have ideas for the following:
* Planets (75%)
* Autoscore or PTScore (75%; the latter reduces the value of minerals, and counts ammunition differently, but includes resources spent on economy)

1247 days, 18 hours, 30 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Ideas have been hard to come by, lately. However, I believe I can add income as a potential bonus objective, calculating it as if this game was an Academy game (even though Academy does not yet support blitzes).

Still looking for more ideas...

1247 days, 11 hours, 42 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

A new blitz has been created. Joshua of the Rebels and Marklein of the Lizards will play game 2: http://planets.nu/#/sector/174850

1245 days, 19 hours, 59 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

More blitzes!

Twogunsbob of the Privateers has overcome his largest hurdles and is ready to challenge Emork of the Lizards in game 1: http://planets.nu/#/sector/175031

I also have found another blitz that I felt was a bit unsuitable for the tournament (moly level only 0.57), so I am opening it to the public instead as a bonus blitz: http://planets.nu/#/sector/175030

Finally, since I can't seem to come up with any more goodies for players to try to shoot for, I have integrated the ones I have into the regulations, to be used in case the clock expires again.

1245 days, 1 hours, 4 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

good picked Emork.

Seems at the end we will be on schedule, due this game will finish soon ;)

1244 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@CSY

I greatly appreciate your effort in the highly entertaining blitz tournament.

To me it seems that you are a bit too resolved to use proxy markers to decide the winner. There is nothing wrong with using proxy markers, but I find it a bit unusual to use them when a simple and direct marker is available – planet count or military score. Some may say that the latter is simply another proxy marker, but to me that is more a question on how to define the victory condition as either planets or military score.

Should you decide to continue with the proxy markers I hope that you will create and make public an algorithm taking all your proxy markers into consideration?

Including income in the victory conditions is going to be extremely difficult, as some races have economic advantages e.g. Lizards and Fed just to mention two.

Finally, I find it problematic to use income as a proxy marker, as the players has no influence on the neighboring planets.

The important thing is not the income, but what the individual player has achieved with the income within the duration of the game.

As a consequence of this I am also skeptically of having a floating endpoint, as this will leave the players guessing/gambling on how to proceed. This will also happen if players are not informed about your algorithm.

Regards,

JoeSnoffy

1244 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I agree with Joe.

1243 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

It appears that income does not work too well as a potential model. I have been seeking additional models, and I have been having a hard time getting my limited creativity to cooperate.

Could destruction (amount of kT destroyed in combat) make a good alternative?

1243 days, 22 hours, 19 minutes ago

captain storm

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

What exactly do you want the model to do?

1243 days, 21 hours, 54 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I am trying to come up with a trio of tie-breaking models.

1243 days, 20 hours, 58 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Whast is the downside of the method I suggested?
1. military dominance during the game
2. planetary dominance at end of game
3. neither 1 nor 2 means draw

1243 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Always have been a big fan of keep it simple and transparent.

Most planets at turn 40? If there is a tie on turn 40, it goes into sudden death and first person to have +1 planet wins.

1243 days, 20 hours, 1 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Yes, simple and transparant is good.

But as sign of planetary dominance I suggest 75% of the planets - means 12 of 16 (if all are populated). There should be a chance for a draw so the one with the unlucky race choice is not completely without hope.

1243 days, 19 hours, 40 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Come to think of it, simpler really is better sometimes. The third condition has now become the only player with starbase(s). I am considering still requiring at least two conditions be met for a win by decision.

The proposed conditions at end of game are now:
* 75% of the planets
* 75% of the military score for 5 turns in a row
* The only empire with starbase(s) still standing

And the what-if analysis if this proposal is accepted: Neither player has met any of the conditions, resulting in a decisive draw

1243 days, 19 hours, 27 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

In my opinion the second condition isn't needed. In the last turn the military will be used to either attack or defend planets to meet the planetary victory or draw condition. Having those 75% in mind for 5 turns makes it just complicated and distracts from actually playing Planets.

About the starbase condition: what if only one player has a starbase in the last turn but the other player has 75% of the planets? This is not so unlikely if one player concentrates on destroying the enemy homeworld and the other player concentrates on the 75% planets condition.

1243 days, 19 hours, 7 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Destroying the homeworld is not enough if other starbase(s) are still standing.

Otherwise, if we remove military score from the conditions, then I may have to add the time extension back in as a possibility if BOTH conditions are met, but by opposite players.

1243 days, 18 hours, 58 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I think it is not so complicated.

Rule 1 - as usual: If someone has 90% military then he wins immidiatly.

Rule 2 - applied only after T40 was hosted and there's still no winner: The player with 75% planets wins. If no player has 75%, it's a draw.

1242 days, 18 hours, 8 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

After some contemplation, I agree that this tournament has enough complications. The proposed tie breaker is now whoever controls at least 80% of the owned planets AND at least 45 turns have been played.

1237 days, 17 hours, 36 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Excellent decision.
I have just submitted the race for the next match.

Regards,

JoeSnoffy

1230 days, 2 hours, 59 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hello!

I am SAFE - but in a hurry..:) And actually I did not 100% understand the conditions for a draw in a next round? Could you explain them once more... how many planets I have to keep to get a draw, for example as a lizard I could hold planets quite easily...achieving nothing else

By the way. I executed my Final Exam for best points this year. So. I am free to give some more time for planets... uah, i really need that in DH16

When conditions are clear, I will choose the race against Joe

1230 days, 2 hours, 17 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Iso, on the tournament page the rules now say:

Most games may last a maximum of 30 days.

* Stabilized! If a game's clock expires before the victory condition has been achieved, assuming the game has reached turn 46 or later, whoever controls at least 80% of the owned planets wins.
If fewer turns were played, then the game is extended until 2 days after the quota has been reached. If neither player controls enough planets or achieves military supremacy when the game expires, the game ends in a draw.

* "Final" games and subsequent games are not subject to the 30 day constraint.

1229 days, 23 hours, 7 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Yes, I believe the conditions are fairly simple now... took me long enough :/

And yes... you only need to keep 4 planets to allow a draw. You still have to have a large enough Autoscore (at least 10%) to prevent your opponent from instantly winning.

Congratulations on the final exam, by the way!

1227 days, 19 hours, 39 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Bob, ready when you are.

1226 days, 18 hours, 18 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

ok. Give me three days and I will pick up the race. Thanks.

1226 days, 17 hours, 4 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thanks for keeping us updated.

Meanwhile, time is running low to sign up for the optional blitz challenge. Who has the courage to test their strategy against a low molybdenum blitz?

Game link: http://planets.nu/#/sector/175030

1216 days, 2 hours, 58 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

New game prepared!

Emork and TwoGunsBob have both opted for the tried-and-true Rebel race for game 2: http://planets.nu/#/sector/176318

1216 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I will make my pick after weekend.

1212 days, 23 hours, 19 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

We now have another game prepared.

JoeSnoffy of the Lizards will duel Iso--T of the Robots in game 2: http://planets.nu/#/sector/179179

1212 days, 22 hours, 34 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I thought this could be the matchup. Lizard is hard to beat with new rules. Maybe we get an another draw. Or maybe i get beaten badly. Or maybe the Liz eats iron enough. Lets see, let the blood flow!

1212 days, 18 hours, 29 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Extremly interesting matchup between Joe and Iso. I pondered about the strategies for both sides when preparing for this tournament. But that was just theory. I'm curious to see what's happening in a real game. Have fun, guys!

1211 days, 19 hours, 0 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Do I understand right, 46 is the minimum turns now?

This phrase I do not 100% understand: "If fewer turns were played, then the game is extended until 2 days after the quota has been reached."

Please clarify

1211 days, 17 hours, 32 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Basically, if too few turns were played before time remaining hits 2 days, then it is frozen at 2 days

1180 days, 0 hours, 9 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

The second blitz game between Iso--T (Robots) and JoeSnoffy (Lizards) has ended with victory to the Lizards after 45 turns.

@Iso--T,
Thank you for a very exciting and well balanced game. Luckily for me I had a pretty good starting position. Even with my starting position you managed to apply so much pressure that for some turns I was speculating whether or not I would survive to the end.

Looking forward to our next game,

JoeSnoffy

1179 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I have a question for somebody with more knowledge than me in the queue (blitz game).

Can anyone explain how it is possible for the building queue to change it starting point from lowest ID planet to planet 7 or 8?

Let me explain, for 22 turns my SBs at planet #2 and #6 built the ships with the lowest available IDs with SB #2 always building first. However, after turn 22 it never happened again. Instead the SB at planet #14 was blessed/cursed with building low ID ships, at least until a new SB was built at planet #8. Now planet #8 built the low ID ships followed by planet #14, #2 and then #6.

Based on my experience the queue has always moved from the SB with the lowest ID to the SB with the highest ID as long as the ship limit was not reached. No PBP was used in this blitz game.

JoeSnoffy

1179 days, 23 hours, 18 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Fantastic creative game plan, Joe! Risky, but in this matchup you have to take some risk to have a chance to win.

Iso, well played but hesitation killed the cat.

About the queue question: I would expect the same behaviour as you, Joe, so I have no explanation. I'm sure you took into account the destroyed ships and their IDs. I take a closer look at my match with Bob if I find something similar.

1179 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thanks Joe!

There is 3 facts that killed me. (one of them was already mentioned by Emork).

1.
In my opinion map was very lucky for you. I wondered how the hell you was able to keep up with me building fighters from turn 3, but as a lizard 6000000 insectoids participatory at first planet was... a BLAST!

2.
You got very tight cluster, where my minefields did not actually hamper your eco much. And for some reason I got only 1 warp 7 connection.. oh... my cluster was bad

BUT. the fact 3 is, that you also played a better game!

You made brilliant moves, and I made a couple not so brilliant ones. Ofcourse you needed also luck, but good commanders have also luck with them! Turn 19 turned the game for you. That move was a kill. I Thought I had still 1 turn time to drive carrier to defend my only money planet... and i thought you did not have fuel to overwarp 9. Oh... That was a good and brave move.

After that, I did not have money or molybdenium... so, the game was decided

But, after all. That was a good game. And I got beaten by one of the best!

...still amorphs instead of insectoids would have been... different... :) Very much luck in so small map

See you in next game! :)

1179 days, 21 hours, 11 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Joe, Emork and anyone else interested:

The classic queue stops looping through the SBs when there are no more builds in the queue. As long as SB #14 had a ship queued, the queue would stop there and start from #15 next turn. On T21, SB #14 did not build and the queue stopped after #6 had built. Thus, the starting point of the queue was #7 from there on (assuming #6 built something every turn).

1179 days, 19 hours, 59 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Interesting info, Oho. thx!

1178 days, 19 hours, 54 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Finally I got time to went through the last blitz from Joes perspective. Actually that gives me good feeling. At some point from my perspective I thought it was just insane luck with natives and planets that made game impossible for me to win. Joes resources seemed endless. But that actually was not true...

Now when I have seen the game from Joes perspective, I see, that with different choises I could have won. Actually, the choises I made between turns 16-19 were disasterous :)

So much easier to see now, when you have seen what your foe was doing

What a lesson indeed

T

1178 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Can you share the link of the game please :)

1178 days, 18 hours, 29 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Here you go :D

http://planets.nu/#/sector/179179

1178 days, 16 hours, 43 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Very interesting information Oho and thank you for sharing.

Basically it allows you to reverse the build order in most blitz games at the cost of not building for one turn. Just too bad that the early ships are extremely important:-)

Regards,

JoeSnoffy

1172 days, 1 hours, 52 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Game 2 between Emork and Twogunsbob has ended in victory to Emork: http://planets.nu/#/sector/176318

Congratulations goes to Emork for surviving to the Semi-Finals. I hope @TheDuke is well prepared for his new challenger, after having been granted a lucky break due to his opponent resigning.

1172 days, 1 hours, 29 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Awesome game guys! Waiting to look it through (can not view it yet)

Joe is also close to round 4. But still atleast one more game to go. :)

1166 days, 19 hours, 4 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Good news. Game 2 between Emork and Twogunsbob is now viewable to the public: http://planets.nu/#/sector/176318

1165 days, 13 hours, 42 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Very interesting game to view with many intense conflicts.

Well played by both players.

Congratulation to Emork with the victory, but also much honor to Twogunsbob by achieving so much in a suboptimal position mineral wise.

1165 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

i feel like i should be involved in this....

1165 days, 1 hours, 25 minutes ago

rkious

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

As many games as you have piled on, you might burn out before the next one!

1162 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

That was one of my most exciting Blitz games. Don't think the Rebel mirror match is boring.

I had the better minerals but a little fuel problem. In T21 I had 3 Rushs over Bob’s homeworld but threw away victory. After that I thought the game will end in a draw unless one is very lucky or makes a big mistake. Avoiding the later wasn’t easy when an ion storm passed the battlefield, stayed at 147 voltage for 3 turns and made all calculations quite difficult. Especially because we had added a little minefield war to our carrier duel. I spent nearly an hour every day to think about the pros and cons of each move.
Near to the end of the game two battles ended surprisingly well for me and I saw a small chance to win by conquering and defending 80% of the planets. In the last turn I threw all forces into planet defense, scored a lucky mine hit (yeah, lucky once again) and two brave Falcons sucked up 5 m7 of Bob’s Iron Lady which ensured that a crucial planet stayed in my hands. The game could have ended in a draw as well.

Thanks to Bob for the great experience!

1156 days, 20 hours, 27 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

It has been quite some time since JoeSnoffy and Iso--T have finished game 2. I still am missing a race pick from Iso--T for game 3.

Time is running low. I have a game prepared in advance, but it could be deleted soon due to old age.

1150 days, 10 hours, 43 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

By this point, it has been roughly a month since JoeSnoffy and Iso--T have finished game 2. I STILL am missing a race pick from Iso--T for game 3.

While I would rather not eliminate Iso--T if I can help it, I would like to get this tournament back on track. If I do not hear from Iso--T before 00:00, July 7, 2016, I will be eliminating him and clearing JoeSnoffy's path to the Semi-Finals.

1150 days, 8 hours, 12 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

That would have been too easy. I am in master-hurry between 2 works atm. But. I will grant Joe the third game. So. Race pick sent

1150 days, 6 hours, 41 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hi CSY, I take the opportunity to report my current status: The length of the tournament was unforeseeable. Now it's summer (mountain activities) and a lot of my other gamnes grew big or are in the final phase. I'm not able to play the half-final at the moment. The last Blitz game was 46 _daily_ turns and the last 30 turns took 30-60 minutes each.

Summer break?

1149 days, 23 hours, 17 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

@Emork: Fortunately, you and @TheDuke are currently "ahead of the curve" at this time. I highly agree that the length has gone extremely long. It has lasted almost a calendar year, and we still have not made it to the semi-finals.

Anyhow, Iso--T has sent his pick his. Game 3 is ready to be played between JoeSnoffy of the Lizards and Iso--T of the Robots: http://planets.nu/#/sector/185235

Considering how little time the previously created blitz has remaining, I decided to just rebuild it. Also, it appears that I can no longer change the 'public' flag of a blitz, which gums things up if I create a third blitz I feel is not suitable for the tournament.

1149 days, 23 hours, 13 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Did I understand right. Our blitz has no turn or time limit?

1149 days, 22 hours, 59 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I will certainly assume that this game will follow the same set of rules as our previous blitz game, but please confirm CSY?

It cannot be the final, because if Iso-T wins this game we will both have a win and a draw.

JoeSnoffy

1149 days, 22 hours, 55 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Joe

That is why I asked. It is stated on the game page...

T

1149 days, 22 hours, 47 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Even though this might not be the true final game thanks to a drawn game 1, this game still will not be subject to a 30-day time limit. It is the final game with normal instant victory conditions either way.

If we have a game 4, it will have a major starbase-related twist in order to open a potential quicker path to victory. The rules are actually somewhat complex to accommodate the occasion where BOTH players lose ALL of their starbases on the same turn OR before turn 11.

1149 days, 22 hours, 38 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Clear. Orders set

1143 days, 1 hours, 56 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hello everyone!

Game 3 between me and the Joesnoffy is over. I have surrendered at turn 16 due to IRL reasons.

I have problems playing my turns at LW and Die hard 16. I just do not have time to do all this stuff. I owe my fellows in DH, I must concentrate on that. In LW, I can hardly do my turns.

Just do not have time to play intense blitz against Joe now. After many rushed bad performance turns, Joe is performing better. I see my win very unlikely, and because of IRL things, I raise the white flag and give deserved victory to Joe!

Well played Emperor!

As an overall note. Should have taken the Lizards, to compete the Lizards :)

1142 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

That is unfortunate to hear. Fortunately, the instant deletion upon resign bug has been fixed for quite some time.

Well. We have made it to the Semi-Finals considerably faster than I expected it to progress. As per Emork's request, I will be making progression optional until September 1, 2016.

1142 days, 12 hours, 32 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

A race with no happiness and no planetary structures should be immune to RGA. Hmmmm ...

1142 days, 11 hours, 11 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Is that Horwasps I see. Activate emergency planetary shiel-

What do you mean I have no neutronium to shield the planet with?

1093 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

August 2016 is almost over. This organized event needs to be defrosted soon. I wanted to post this roughly a week ago, but I had forgotten it.

Overall, I will be likely giving the semi-finalists until September 12 to send in their race picks. For your convenience: http://sites.google.com/site/csplanets/legacy/tournaments/blitzworld/bracket/round-4

On a side note, emergency planetary shielding has been activated and is supported by a recently found rich neutronium deposit. Horwasps will be unable to penetrate the shielding while it is active. In short, Horwasps are off limits this tournament, because I want to keep a stable environment.

1093 days, 6 hours, 57 minutes ago

crimzonzun

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Well Considering you started the Tournament with out the Horwasps it only Fair they not put in half way.

1092 days, 13 hours, 22 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Marginally. Instead, I have planned a "topic" for a potential weekly system where you would be matched only with opponents of the same race as what you picked.

Needless to say, I intend the potential system to be flexible. A player will be allowed to queue and play as many games as they can be matched in each 5-day period (with 2-day cooldown periods in between), assuming they wish to play that many blitz games.

Since I am defrosting this tournament, I can not give an estimate as to when the potential system will be ready.

1082 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Time is running low to send in race picks. I look forward to seeing how the first games of the Semi-Finals will roll out around September 14. Hopefully I did not catch anyone with "frozen sickness" :)

1081 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hi CSY,

I just PM'ed you my race choice. I'm looking forward to some exciting Blitz games.

1081 days, 1 hours, 28 minutes ago

elian

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Can you play any race in these games? What are the best races and why can't I find any games on record? Is it too late to get involved in this? I can't tell if you are setting up a new torney or just doing the finals of an old one with current players. Thanks!

1081 days, 1 hours, 13 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

The site link posted at the top contains details of the tournament that is late in its lifespan.

Regrettably, blitz games do not persist in the databases. Additionally, we endured an extended outage that rendered the original tournament/banter thread no longer accessible.

1078 days, 19 hours, 36 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Something seems a bit off: I wonder if the Planets Nu PM system has a few bugs left that causes PMs to sometimes not be delivered.

In any case, time has almost expired and I still have received only a single pick. Seems like a multi-edged sword, where anything I do is wrong...

...I might be able to do myself a favor if I can craft an auxiliary race pick mechanism, if I also do not mind making it related to the Matchmaking Project also featured in my profile... I am wondering if it is worth a try, given that we are late into the event with just 4 of 32 players left.

1078 days, 19 hours, 13 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Keep up your good work, CSY. Announcements in the activity feed are easily overlooked if people unsubcribed and I also have the impression that the profile message are not always delivered. Getting no confirmation on pressing the send-button adds to this feeling.

Commanders @TheDuke, @Joshua and @JoeSnoffy, choose your weapons!

1078 days, 19 hours, 11 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Indeed. I do not even know if Joshua received my poke, since he requested that I PM him information from here on out...

1077 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Well, we are moderately past the recommended target. I have no idea what the feelings are of the players who have sent in their picks (only 2 out of 4)... Come to think of it, I have not seen @TheDuke post even once in this new thread, so that is my bad for not personally poking him.

I am still contemplating a strategy for the auxiliary race pick system... One element is certain: I have an uphill challenge to overcome.

1077 days, 6 hours, 41 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

If someone does not want to continue - I can take the replacement spot! ;)

1076 days, 18 hours, 33 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Finally, we can get the Semi-Finals on the road. TheDuke of the Robots will duel Emork of the Rebels in game 1: http://planets.nu/#/sector/192506

Good luck players! You will need every bit of it in these very difficult matches.

1076 days, 17 hours, 53 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I can confirm, that I do recieve personal messages. I did not look into this thread for ages.

@Emork: Gl&hf

1076 days, 16 hours, 12 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Good luck, Duke! I'm looking forward to exciting games. I join tomorrow morning.

1076 days, 0 hours, 20 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Go Robots go! ;)

In my games against Joe, I I made good(?) strategy against the Rebels for Robots - but faced Lizards I was not prepared for - and got beaten!

1071 days, 20 hours, 19 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I gave a try for a mid to longterm win - with two rush (flying through 200ly mines) on my HW on turn 8, I lost :(

Emork 1:0 Duke

Next...

1070 days, 21 hours, 8 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

It has been a week since the recommended date, and I still have seen no word of Joshua, even with a couple of PMs. Something tells me that Joshua is preparing for the upcoming PlanetsCon 2016, which is likely occupying a huge chunk of his remaining time.

As much as I would rather not eliminate Joshua, I am having a hard time resolving the situation in any fashion...

In the mean time, good going for Emork and TheDuke for finishing the first game. I look forward to seeing race picks for the second game.

1070 days, 17 hours, 29 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

For me it's no problem to wait for the other semifinal to happen.
My race pick for game 2 against TheDuke comes soon.

1056 days, 7 hours, 46 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Joshua has recovered from the convention, and will battle JoeSnoffy in a mirror Rebel blitz for game 1: http://planets.nu/#/sector/192507

As for game 2 between Emork and TheDuke... could the PM system have eaten Emork's race pick? I suppose things could be worse...

1056 days, 6 hours, 2 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

CSY, I haven't picked yet. I was travelling until last weekend and have an event this weekend which hinders me from doing daily turns. As the other semifinal hadn't started I didn't feel to need to hurry. I'll send my race pick and will be ready for the next 1-2 games of my semifinal at Sunday.

Rebel mirror match between Joshua and JoeSnoffy? This can be a very thrilling experience. Have fun, guys.

1055 days, 21 hours, 45 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Sorry for pushing it, Emork. I wanted to get both of these pairings set up while I still have power. A tropical cyclone is approaching my area. It will likely knock several areas out of commission for quite some time.

Anyway, Emork of the Rebels will duel TheDuke of the Fascists in game 2: http://planets.nu/#/sector/194781

1055 days, 19 hours, 32 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Good luck for you and all the other affected people, CSY.

1054 days, 13 hours, 47 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Weather status update: The tropical cyclone has passed through. I have held steady.

Now to tend to another project that I have been neglecting since the month started. Not good

1046 days, 16 hours, 55 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Joshua won the first Rebel mirror blitz game against JoeSnoffy.

The next game will begin in a couple of days.

1002 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

While we still are waiting on Joshua (whom I have poked once), I will post my reflection so far on this tournament. It has been a significant trial of attrition. While it is nice to see combatants fight tooth and nail, seeing it drag on this long conflicts with one of the long term goals I have established, which was to establish a regular period for opening.

Thus, as nice as it is to have a wide variety of players in the tournament, I will try scaling back to sixteen (16) for the next tournament to see how it plays out.

990 days, 22 hours, 16 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thank you Emork for a fantastic fight.

Due to personal reasons I will retreat from a third battle, I´m sorry.

@ CSY Thank you so much for supporting the community with this fantastic game format!

990 days, 22 hours, 7 minutes ago

fred vom jupiter

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Where can i watch Joshua vs. JoeSnoffy game?

990 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Regrettably, even after two months, I still have not received one player's pick yet. Seeing as they are now the only road block to further progression, I will be sure to give them another poke.

Thanks goes to @TheDuke for playing. Congratulation goes to Emork for advancing to the Final Round.

990 days, 20 hours, 20 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Awesome Klingon performance the duke! Sorry to see you leave. Congraz to Emork!

989 days, 13 hours, 11 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

We have a new game about to start up soon.

Joshua of the Rebels will duel against JoeSnoffy of the Privateers for game 2: http://planets.nu/#/sector/205920

989 days, 5 hours, 3 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Race poker created a clear favourite. But who knows ...
Have fun, commanders!

989 days, 4 hours, 32 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

YEAH! Awesome!

Joesnoffy has an advantage - he knows what NOT TO do as a Privateer, against the Rebel ;)

I am watching this closely

T

988 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Seriously, that Duke vs Emork match was a work of art. Highly recommended viewing: http://planets.nu/#/sector/194781

Eagerly awaiting for Joshua vs JoeSnoffy

988 days, 20 hours, 0 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Smn: Definitely agree about the Duke vs Emork!

980 days, 11 hours, 33 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

JoeSnoffy of the Privateers has become victor over Joshua of the Rebels for game 2: http://planets.nu/#/sector/205920

Seeing as the scores are tied, we will have a game 3 after a Christmas break.

980 days, 2 hours, 4 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Interesting game. The Cygnus strategy was a good idea, Joshua. Against a commander not so excellent as Joe or with a little more help of the ion gods it might have worked indeed. T12 was really unlucky for you when your Cygnus was 1 m7 hit short from destroyng Joe's second base.

I find Blitz against a cloaker always very exiting but also somehow exhausting. After turn 3 you have to expect a bad surprise every day. It's like a horror Advent calender. :)

This game showed why the Blitz format is so great. There are still new strategies to discover. And the resource shortage caused by the instant war makes it worth to think about every KT. A battle decided by running out of ammo is no exceptional event.

961 days, 19 hours, 50 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Hi CSY, Joshua and Joe,

it wasn't an easy decision but I withdraw from the finals.
The tournament was absolutly fun and a big excitement. Thanks a lot for organising it, CSY. Before your tournament series I had no clue that Blitz Planets could be so interesting. Also thanks to all my opponents for the exciting games.

To explain m decision: This tournament takes longer than expected. Since long I plan a creative pause from Planets and therefore start no new games. My mottos for 2017 are "more ourdoor, less online" and "more cooperation, less competition". A best of five Blitz final means 3-5 months of _daily_ high level online competition. This is obviously not fully compatible with my plans. :)

I won my semifinal because TheDuke resigned the third decisive game due to lack of time. I don't mind if the semifinal of Joshua and Joe (currently at 1:1) is promoted to finals and the winner gets the crown.

Best wishes, Emork

961 days, 16 hours, 28 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Although unfortunate, I humbly respect your decision, Emork.

As noted about a month ago, and further reinforced by Emork's resign, I am convinced that 32 players is not the ideal size for a blitz tournament.
* Out of the 32 players that signed up, we had four (4) that have resigned due to personal reasons.
** The first resign occurred in the first round, but the latter three resigns occurred late into the tournament (Ro8 and beyond).
* So far, this tournament has lasted 17 months (almost a year and a half) from when it first opened for sign ups. The first month was spent on gathering sign ups, which still leaves 16 months of attrition.

One question still remains to be asked. It is likely that I will be saving that question for when the third game between Joshua and JoeSnoffy is created, seeing as Joshua is not part of this thread.

859 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

As it has been 21 months since the opening of the tournament, we will finally declare this tournament ended. Although I have uneasy feelings in how the semi-finals had rolled out, JoeSnoffy has survived the trials of extreme attrition.

The other combatants either resigned, or (in Joshua's case) did not respond despite several attempts at contact. As a result, I close this tournament by declaring JoeSnoffy to be our champion.

859 days, 5 hours, 34 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I look forward to the next Blitz tournament.

It would be nice if this kind of ladder/tournament could be handled automatically by the website software, instead of requiring a human to organize the whole thing. (*HINT*, Joshua) :)

858 days, 22 hours, 2 minutes ago

challengespaceyard

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

I would not be surprised if this is extremely difficult to pull off, given that only two programmers are working for Planets Nu... not to mention they seem to be constantly trying new content for Planets Nu.

If the Planets Nu Matchmaking Pool (from the add-ons topic) had a larger player base, I would not mind supporting the occasional Survival mutation while cooling off. As it stands, there are multiple issues that make me wonder if I should continue supporting that project.

858 days, 17 hours, 11 minutes ago

emork the lizard king

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Many thanks, CSY, for another great tournament. It was a thrilling experience. Round 1 was the only which was quite easy for me. After that all matched were close. The Rebel mirror match against TwoGunsBob was awesome and TheDuke's Klingon strategy against my Rebels might define a new standard.
Well, as the overall Blitz skill gets higher the games get longer and more demanding. A single round can mean 3 months of daily high-level planets. No one should think that in such kind of Blitz games a turn is done in 5 minutes. Of course you have less ships but this also means that a wrong move can be deadly. This makes you think really deep about every detail. The tournament took longer than expected and now summer is near and this year's outdoor activities make daily turns impossible. This was the reason why I resigned.

Thanks to all who participated and made this tournament great fun!

C U in space, Emork

858 days, 16 hours, 12 minutes ago

RE: -Blitz Tournament 0056 P.2- This is a continuation thread...

Thank you for your great effort to host this tournament CSY.

Regards,

JoeSnoffy