Messages

31

Feature Requests / Re: Starting Unit tweaks : Archers

« on: August 14, 2018, 04:05:08 PM »

I invite further discussion on this, and I'll see if I can come up with something good (or use something that comes out of the discussion) some time late next week when I'm no longer at a beach house in Florida.

I think two options sounds good- First seems quick and easy, eliminate all non R4 archers- all existing centres turn to R4.

Second option, somewhat more complicated, is to have maximum weapons caps on R4 (longbows) centre options to 65, R3 to 75, and R2 get 100 (crossbows). An alternative could also be to eliminate R2, have R4 with a maximum cap at 75 and R3 get max cap at 100. This also balances the archer/infantry game a bit.

32

Feature Requests / Under Debate: Improving World News

« on: August 14, 2018, 02:50:26 PM »

Title: Improving World News

Summary: When a noble or adventurer is executed, this information would be shared globally. When a region goes rogue (declares independence), this would be shared globally. When a region changes hands, this information would be shared globally.

Details: I seem to recall the execution of adventurers would send a global island wide message (Maybe on BT during the invasion...?). Was this removed? It was good to receive an Island update at sunrise, which now seems to only include huge battles or ruler elections.

https://battlemaster.org/testing/worldnews.php
This link only seems to include huge battles. It would be nice if it also showed the executions, TOs, and regions declaring independence, and ruler elections as well.

Benefits: Easier, global access to publicly available information

Possible Downsides/Exploits: None that come to mind at the top of my head

33

BM General Discussion / Re: Discussion on Monsters

« on: July 03, 2018, 10:23:55 AM »

Should probably state that testing islands are mainly for PvE until density is back up.

Or force people to at least create 1 character on EC since that is the only functioning island at the moment.

+1

34

East Island / Re: Magical Events in Bescanon & Surrounding Regions

« on: May 25, 2018, 09:14:31 AM »

I have to say that I am more than a little frustrated by this decision as well.

EC is the only normal server that remains PvP... Or so I thought until portals popped up. It is the only island where Old BM of interstate wars with is still happening. Heavy magic does not belong on EC. There is enough PvP interaction on EC without adding in these sorts of manual interventions.

That is to say nothing of the ramifications these actions - from what I have gathered, not only were walls switched between Bescanon and Troyes (as requested by the spellcasting advie), but additionally, recruitment centers have been also switched around in multiple regions, and Perdan City's level 5 walls also removed.

Why are the GM's making such heavyhanded manual moves on the sole PvP server? Can we please refrain from alienating the dwindling playerbase that remains and just wants to play a game with strategy and roleplaying, set in a low-fantasy middle-ages world? Portals belong on Beluaterra, where people signed up for them, and possibly Dwilight, with the Zuma. Not EC. Players are legitimately frustrated with such actions, and some are deleting/pausing already. I am sure this was not the intent of the GMs, but ultimately this is the result... I hope that the GMs consider taking back some of the additional effects beyond what the advie requested, which was already a big change, and remove portal stones from EC in the future.

35

Feature Requests / Improving Adventurers and Trade

« on: May 02, 2018, 04:13:42 PM »

Name: Improving Adventurers and Trade

Summary:
In the game currently, apart from BT with the uber rare portal stone hunt "mini game", the main advie activities are hunting monsters/undead, gathering items, and occasionally finding/selling/repairing uniques. The only one which requires some level of interaction with the second/main layer of the game, nobles, is selling uniques. So I propose to increase interactions with smelly commoners, by adding the trading game for advies- adding to the multiplayer nature of BattleMaster.

Details:
One the advie reaches a certain level of recommendations (or H/P), they unlock the merchant/trader sub class, and access to banks. They can't send gold to the family of course, but like traders, can travel around the world buying and selling grain in addition to regular advie stuff, and accessing markets further away. Adventurer-Merchants are taxed, and may have to spend gold on buying carts, guards, etc... They could be arrested by enemy realms and foods confiscated... Which generates potential for conflict.

With the 1 family per continent rule, this allows people to focus their noble characters on the meat of the game- war- While giving them a free advie character to engage in other activities. This also gives adventurers something to work towards, other than nobility- which isn't really always an option these days with the 1 noble rule.

I did a quick check of the trader class in the game currently:
There are a grand total of 6 traders between EC, Dwi, and BT. 1 trader on BT, 3 on Dwi, 2 on EC. This seems super niche, perhaps since it is forcing warriors currently to recruit about half their regular capacity- Most traders (4 or 5 of the 6) were courtiers. Trading also adds relatively little to the noble game, but it could be a game changer for experienced advies.

Benefits:

• Increases interactions between advies and the main tier of the game- Gives advies interaction with other players besides selling uniques once every now and then.
• Gives adventurers something to work towards besides nobility- relevant in a 1 noble per continent game.
• Gives adventurers something different to do besides grinding inhumans and gathering.
• Does not force players to trade off (pardon the pun) between the trading and warrior game.
• Improves trade dynamics by creating a pool of characters that are interested in buying/selling food- More traders will mean that realms with shortages can send out advies to seek out and make deals at marketplaces further away.
• Increases the chance for conflict by allowing enemy realms to arrest/steal/execute from the merchant, possibly leading to diplomatic crises!
• Probably room in this feature to improve the banker game- the banker could order around his merchant fleet.
• It is also in line with SMA, since you wouldn't expect nobles to be carting around food- thats for those suspicious merchants that count silver. Rise of mercantilism!

Downsides:

• Probably difficult to code? Not enough dev time? I am essentially proposing that the trade game be ported to advies- so the code for trader class may just need to be added for Advies? I don't know how easily it could be done.
• It may also annoy the 6 players who are currently traders.
• Players could possibly break character/abuse this to make trade deals for their noble characters realm while belonging to an enemy realm- using their citizenship to get away with traveling in enemy lands? Possible, but can also be auto regulated by bankers/judges monitoring their movements... Advies can already be arrested anytime, so they are not in a strong position.

36

Development / Re: Volunteer Task: Map Re-Creation Project

« on: March 23, 2018, 02:10:21 PM »

While it might be cool to see what some of the existing maps would look like done in the AoW2 (3?) or Shadow Magic editors, that's much lower priority than getting them re-created in the original AoW editor.

Beluaterra's southern peninsula has become very, very isolated since the catastrophe years ago.

I know this is an old issue, but I believe the map would benefit from a more interconnected landscape (one that allows realms like Riombara and its neighbors to interface with the north again).

Would it every be possible to invoke another change at some point?

Thank you,

This is planned, but not trivial to implement, and definitely requires some kind of RP buildup.

We also need to work out just what the change would be.

Finally, it would be significantly easier to implement if we had a re-creation of the original BT/AT map made in the Age of Wonders editor...

Hello Tim!

I've been browsing the forums after a bit of a hiatus from BM, and noticed that we are still discussing maps, which reminded me of something I'd been working on back in 2012.

http://i.imgur.com/ZAokl.jpg

Warning- Pretty large image.

Rough attempt to make part of a continent. Yes, i know, badly pasted together, and i added fluff and filler stuff.

Do we want something this scale, or smaller?

Goldpanda- is this what you want? http://imgur.com/a/gBLB6

I recall that I had finished recreating East Continent using the Shadow Magic Editor, and checking my old HDD, have discovered that I still possess some files from back then (for EC, AT, and Colonies) in the Shadow Magic format. The above image was a rough sketch of what this could actually look like (above is south BT)- the completed EC was much more thorough.

Thank you 

Here is EC. Warning- 180 mb.

http://db.tt/gA2ENQAe

I thus wanted to make the following proposition- I still have my copies of AoW and Shadow Magic, and the inclination to fire them up and spend some time mapmaking (particularly Shadow Magic, since it would mean much prettier and more detailed maps).

Given few free weekends, I can cobble together the maps for the remaining continents using the Shadow Magic editor. I can create a border layer to mimic the current dynamic map, and a third layer with regions names as well. If there is an appetite for making changes to geography, I can include geographic features to make the Beluaterra map more playable for the South. This would mean not only proper borders, no blue cities, but also possibly a land bridge/archipelago through Avalon.

The proof of concept is the East Continent Map posted back in 2012- much more detailed, fresher city graphics, and topographic features that aren't on the current maps to add some flavor- I need to screenshot it since the old link is expired, but I can try that over the weekend/next week. A side benefit of this project would also to have high res topographic and political maps for all the continents, which could allow interesting changes in the future.

Of course, I imagine there would be an effort needed on the dev side of things once these maps are set up. Is this something that would be potentially doable or considered for implementation? If it is, I would be quite excited to give this a shot!

37

Magistrates Case Archive / Re: OOC comments insulting another player

« on: September 10, 2013, 07:08:00 PM »

A verdict has been reached, and IG enforcement actions have been taken. For anyone who desires to cite this case in the future, the final verdict is:

"After consideration, the Magistrates find the defendant Guilty of violating the Social Contract. For reference, the Contract states: "Do not insult or harass other players." The OOC messages quoted in the complaint are clearly insulting and directed at the player of the Magdalen family. There are no exceptions to the Social Contract, and its terms are not open to debate. Frustration is not an excuse for behaving badly. It is acceptable to disagree with a character's actions. It is acceptable to start a conflict with characters whom your own do not agree with. It is even acceptable to insult those characters in-game, with as much or as little vitriol as desired. The moment the insults cross the line into OOC mediums however, the Social Contract has been violated. In light of the defendant's clear refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing and his continued attitude of derision toward the player of the Magdalen family, the Magistrates have decided on a 3-day lock.

Magistrates voted 5-0 in favor of a guilty verdict, unanimously agreeing on a three day lock.

This thread will remain open for any questions regarding the case, and off topic remarks will be strictly moderated.

38

BM General Discussion / Re: You then, vs You Now

« on: September 06, 2013, 02:10:04 PM »

Then, I was 13, in middle school, and had a ton of time to blow on online games. Used to spend hours on BM and IRC till around 2010. College took away some of the free time I could devote to the game.

Now, I'm 20, just starting with graduate school studying economic policy, with 2 characters basically drones because of lack of time

39

BM General Discussion / Re: stopping ForumMaster from destroying BattleMaster

« on: August 22, 2013, 10:37:38 AM »

Ever since the locals were frozen, I haven't made more than a post or two to the new forum (granted, it comes at a point where I am very busy IRL). It reminds me of the dlist, where I subscribed but hardly bothered writing to. I didn't consider myself very active on the forum, though I guess my post count says otherwise. I used to post about once a day, tops. I used to look forward to reading the locals, and not just for the islands I was on either, and they were easily the most fun boards. Now the only reason I log on to the forum is hoping some sort of consensus is being reached towards getting back the locals, and for the other games section.

Apologies if the thread has moved beyond this, I have been busy and have scant Internet access, and have been unable to read all 25 pages of this thread. I think the rules outlined by Geronus are good ones, something to build upon if the locals are brought back. I don't believe that freezing the locals will turn me away from the game, but it certainly lowers my long term interest and desire to participate in the game itself.

40

Other Games / Re: Any League players?

« on: August 15, 2013, 10:35:15 PM »

... GP spawns, and drops his ult on their last champ, and last hits him, denying me my penta..... So pissed.

Gotta love GP Usually go with Morgana these days though.

41

BM General Discussion / Re: Player Statistics

« on: August 09, 2013, 03:54:51 AM »

You can not spend all night playing Battlemaster the way you can with Alpha Centauri.

I once woke up in the middle of the night to check on the results of my rebellion, and spent the rest of the night consolidating my position

Fwuvoghor, how I miss thee...

42

BM General Discussion / Re: Mortality and Single Character ~ Discussion

« on: August 08, 2013, 06:18:57 PM »

Really, how many characters currently are 90?  I feel they are rare enough that I am amazed when I meet one.

Check the ruler roster on AT ^^

43

BM General Discussion / Re: Save [Insert Continent]

« on: August 03, 2013, 05:00:53 PM »

"click my egg so my pet will grow"

… This made my day 

44

Colonies / Re: Rouge

« on: August 03, 2013, 03:53:03 PM »

Lol, rouge.

So much blood… So many dead peasants...

45

Colonies / Re: So, if Colonies gets the chop...

« on: August 02, 2013, 03:28:48 PM »

What's evil about the Arcaean empire?

Well, lets see… a throne of skulls, a bloodthirsty religion, a network of spies, lack of respect for treaties, and a penchant for backstabbing allies… Shall we continue? 

That sound like a good idea. I do have a character in FEI, waitaminute. He is on Ohnar West opposing side. Did we fight each other yet?

Heh, what better time to defect than now