Adding clearly identifiable Neutral Players? "+N" matches?

[periwinkle]

Another interesting play is team games where you have a neutral player on each team and you can deploy and reinf them for defense....just a thought.....we can also use the neutrals to get games to start quicker as well.

 

[SgtPatton]

Another interesting play is team games where you have a neutral player on each team and you can deploy and reinf them for defense....just a thought.....we can also use the neutrals to get games to start quicker as well.

>> we can also use the neutrals to get games to start quicker as well. <<

now that's a thought that has potential ... I haven't seen them for a while but there was a time when there were 24 player games that were just a few players short of launching. It seemed like those 'awaiting' games hung around for months on end, and in the meantime some of the newbies who joined those unopened games had long since departed the MC active ranks.

Adding neutral players to those deadwood games to trigger the game launch may be another good use of neutral players

 

[SgtPatton]

@periwinkle, another option would be to offer a 'real-time' option of 10 or 20 minutes.

5 minutes is too tight for an old man like me who has frequent interruptions to his day.

The advantage of the much shorter 'real-time' turns is that it wouldn't take long for the neutrals to go AWOL and then the real battle would begin much sooner.

 

[SgtPatton]

@Daniel7, let me know when you are good to go. I'll launch another +N match and inbox you the link

 

[periwinkle]

Hello everyone! ok, we have a standard set of neutral players now......the usernames are as follows:

neutralplayer1
neutralplayer2
neutralplayer3
neutralplayer4

Just to keep in simple. Let me know if you want some neutral players in your games by messaging me and the game link and I will add them in for you! Good Luck and Cheers!

peri

 

[Stormcat]

i've asked peri to add 2 neutrals to this (1v1 active players plus the 2 neutrals) nukes game if anyone wants to experiment with me:

Play Risk Free - Major Command Risk Online Strategy Game

www.majorcommand.com

 

[bilsi]

I made bilsi_tester for this reason. Let me know if you need me for a neutral...

 

[periwinkle]

I made bilsi_tester for this reason. Let me know if you need me for a neutral...

@bilsi , we decided to use standardized neutrals. If you want some neutral players feel free to use the standard ones.

Neutralplayer1
Neutralplayer2
Neutralplayer3
Neutralplayer4

 

[SgtPatton]

an added bonus with playing against neutral players - when, (at some future date when the point counting system kicks back in), a victory in a +n match will include the victory points for taking out the neutrals.

 

[SgtPatton]

Feedback? What is your feedback so far?


I had hoped that adding the neutrals would level the 1st to play advantage somewhat. So far I am not seeing that makes any difference.

However ... I am finding that adding the neutrals creates a whole new game dynamic ... and I am very much enjoying exploring the new game dynamics.

What is your feedback?

 

[once]

an added bonus with playing against neutral players - when, (at some future date when the point counting system kicks back in), a victory in a +n match will include the victory points for taking out the neutrals.

so those should thankfully not be a lot depending on your own rank, but imo this is a bit of a problem? not that i see this as a sensible strategy to pretty up one*s score, and it remains to be seen how many of these games are actually going to take place. but it still seems a bit .. untidy. i dont see how anything could be done about this though.

What is your feedback?

1. adding neutrals generally makes it harder to complete commands, blocks more paths, and can create protected pockets. so far i think this is mostly good news for 1vs1 games, as a favourable drop is just less likely to offer easy commands - which is imo a problem on most maps and can really cement a 1st turn advantage.
it may also bring a bit more variety to the games, as certain standard manoeuvres make less sense if neutrals need to be attacked for it.
having to use neutral players for effectively generating more neutral territories is not really elegant though. having to go through a mod to request the players, then having to wait for the neutral players to go awol, is not ideal. it would be nice of there was a way to just determine the percentages of neutral territories when setting up games. i think this could bring loads of variety to the maps.

2. adding neutrals creates a lot of options for more complex teamgames around the assassin principle. masterjskyes targets games are an excellent example for this.

 

[Daniel7]

Being able to adjust the neutral tert percentage is a great idea! We cld skip waiting for Awols, and add more game strategy without taking neutral players points. Where are the target game rules posted?

 

[Stormcat]

Interested in trying out a neutral player game or two? I'm enjoying the fresh air and the variety and the new challenges that the neutral players add.

I'm looking to set up more 1x1+n's, and 3 or 4 players +n's, and one or two team games with each team being 1 active and 1 neutral player.

Reply here if this interests you.

i think trips with one neut per team might be super fun

 

[Stormcat]

while we of course do not have points atm, it occurred to me that someone COULD gain points by putting a bunch of neutrals in their games to "beat."

 

[once]

while we of course do not have points atm, it occurred to me that someone COULD gain points by putting a bunch of neutrals in their games to "beat."

which is why it makes sense that use of neutral players requires mod approval. in terms of gameplay, i think there is definitely a lot that can be gained by tweaking the number of neutral territories. so i do hope that one day it would maybe be possible to implement an option that allows to define the number of neutral territories relative to the players during game setup, making the use of neutral players unnecessary (except for special setups like target games).

clans are in hibernation atm, but once they return it might make sense to create a clan dedicated to neutral player games. should make point exploitation a bit harder if such games could only exist in a dedicated space. and would be nice to have a group interested in continuing to experiment with neutral player variations. at some point in the future.

 

[SgtPatton]

<> Game now up and running, all 4 slots are filled <> Euro Massive - 4 teams doubles, each with 1 neutral player.

> https://www.majorcommand.com/beta/60213

READ CAREFULLY before taking your 1st turn.

Welcome to this 4 team doubles with a neutral player for a team mate. This is a variation of this map and the rules are NOT coded into MajCom.

**Know and play the Rules. Breaking the rules and all 4 neutrals will be activated for the sole purpose of removing rule breakers from the battlefield.**

Round 1: This round is a Truce. NO acts of aggression. This round is to position your troops to your best advantage for the upcoming battle.

Round 1 will take at least 4 days for the neutrals to cycle. At the end of Round 1 all 4 neutral players will be AWOL.

Round 2: War is declared. The Battle begins.

TIP: Keep your neutral mate in the game. **This is a Team event and if either you are your neutral mate are defeated, your Team is defeated. If your neutral mate is taken out then you are out of the battle and you must pass on any future turns.**

**Know and play the Rules. Breaking the rules and all 4 neutrals will be activated for the sole purpose of removing any rule breaker from the battlefield.**

Enjoy.

 

[SgtPatton]

<> Game now up and running, all 4 slots are filled <> Classic (Global) Massive - 4 teams doubles, each team with 1 neutral player

> https://www.majorcommand.com/beta/60214

READ CAREFULLY before taking your 1st turn.

Welcome to this 4 team doubles with a neutral player for a team mate. This is a variation of this map and the rules are NOT coded into MajCom.

**Know and play the Rules. Breaking the rules and all 4 neutrals will be activated for the sole purpose of removing rule breakers from the battlefield.**

Round 1: This round is a Truce. NO acts of aggression. This round is to position your troops to your best advantage for the upcoming battle.

Round 1 will take at least 4 days for the neutrals to cycle. At the end of Round 1 all 4 neutral players will be AWOL.

Round 2: War is declared. The Battle begins.

TIP: Keep your neutral mate in the game. **This is a Team event and if either you are your neutral mate are defeated, your Team is defeated. If your neutral mate is taken out then you are out of the battle and you must pass on any future turns.**

**Know and play the Rules. Breaking the rules and all 4 neutrals will be activated for the sole purpose of removing any rule breaker from the battlefield.**

Enjoy.

 

[SgtPatton]

check out this > https://forum.majorcommand.com/threads/3-vs-3-tourney.9780/post-105089

Players Wanted: for a 3 vs 3 match, or a 3 vs 3 vs 3 match, with 2 active and 1 neutral per team. elimination rules, any one team mate, active or neutral taken out and that team drops out of the battle.

Onboard so far, SgtPatton and Bilsi

 

[Daniel7]

which map and settings? Also, any update on the 24 player-sixers-neutrals game or the retrieval of the original Targets game rules/ scenarios?

 

[periwinkle]

which map and settings? Also, any update on the 24 player-sixers-neutrals game or the retrieval of the original Targets game rules/ scenarios?

I will be setting that game up soon sometime next week. Stay tune!