Initial troop placement

[quote=Matty - Nov 26, 08:55 AM]The FOG version (you don't see where others place) looks fair, but if you do see it, it's pretty unfair.[/quote] The non fog placement suggested I can't see as unfair. It would be visible sametime placement. (Sametime placement for time convenience) In this scenario, in a live game u would see all the other players placing on their allocated given random territories, either by looking at the game log or map. Some might decide to wait till the last 20 seconds to place all in one spot after seeing where others have placed, or players might do it fast to let others know their intentions, or just do it gradually. When deciding to place, you would consider factors such as, your turn order (consecutive), and where others have placed. It would be a strategy in itself and similar to actual risk (except the random initial drop placement & sametime deployment). The fog placement would be the twist, and for some interesting set ups, eg: 4 players (classic map) decided to all place in austrailia. :)

And for long term games?

And if someone deadbeats placement? They start the game with all 1's? I don't see this working at all...

well if they deadbeat. all ones wont be a big deal. they ain't gonna be getting cards, and then eventually turn neutral. Longterm I guess it would be a matter of how it is with longterm sametime mode games right now. You are either on at the right time, or not.

Vexer, I love this idea of player selecting their territories. It adds another dimension to the strategy. I would do it this way: When the game fills/starts, have a pop-up for territory placement. The order would be a snake-style draft. So for a 3-player game, the draft order would go A, B, C in Rd 1, then C, B, A in Rd 2, etc. Have the computer randomly select who gets the first overall pick. I'd give each player 10 or 15 seconds to chose their territory in each round (30 seconds seems like it would take forever, especially on a bigger map). If someone misses their pick, have the site randomly place their territory for that round. Also, maybe this could be an option in game set-up (random draft or player-selected territories) for players that don't want/have the time to spend on drafting territories.

Obviously, if a player does not choose howmuch troops to place where, their armies will be spread evenly accross all territories. Please everyone that tries to think up something: think about both Long Term Games (LTG's) AND live games.

I've got an idea for LTG and may work for live games. Each player lists the order in which they want each territory in their 1st turn. This is an example for Anchor bay. IE: Player 1: Raiders cove, Saratoga, Pirate landing, Rocky Shore... Player 2: Saratoga, Grayridge, Pirate landing, Ballston... So Player 1 would get Raiders cove. Player 2 would get Saratoga. Then because Saratoga has already been taken by Player 2, Player 1's next territory would be his next choice, Pirate Landing. Ect... The last territories remaining will become neutral. So what do you think?

[quote=Madagascarter - Nov 29, 03:18 PM]I've got an idea for LTG and may work for live games. Each player lists the order in which they want each territory in their 1st turn. This is an example for Anchor bay. IE: Player 1: Raiders cove, Saratoga, Pirate landing, Rocky Shore... Player 2: Saratoga, Grayridge, Pirate landing, Ballston... So Player 1 would get Raiders cove. Player 2 would get Saratoga. Then because Saratoga has already been taken by Player 2, Player 1's next territory would be his next choice, Pirate Landing. Ect... The last territories remaining will become neutral. So what do you think? [/quote] If I were player 1 and didn't get Saratoga, I may no longer want Pirate's Island. I may want another territory instead, not the one's on my list. On the Classic Map, because I and everyone knows it pretty decently, say I go for Aussie, and put countries in Europe next in my line up to try and have a strong central bonus region. But lets say some other player gets the smart idea to go for Europe first instead of one of the smaller regions. Then I would have no need for Iceland or Ukraine- and I would be defaulted to get those if everything worked out unfavorably.

I understand what you are saying but any working solution is going to have flaws in. Maybe if we can make this a base we can find a working solution that isn't to complicated?

@James ker: Sorry for giving the obvious concern here, but what if players figured out a list of territories that is the best for a certain map (say, everyone puts indonesia as #1 on the list. What then?

That's where tactics come in and it would be dumb if everyone went for Australia so you go for Europe or North America but What if you do want to take the risk of going for Australia in the hope that no-one else is doing it? It will become a game of bluff and double bluff.

I read this whole thread and it was an interesting reading, although i don't have any suggestion im afraid. Would be an awesome feature for the game, something I miss from off-line risk and me, personally, wouldnt mind to wait for the game to get started 20 to 30 minutes (I think people who really want that option wouldn't either). I see the thread hasnt been used in a time, but maybe there is some news in the future about this, so I thought I should post about it.

What about a quick timer. You choose your country in 4 seconds or it automatically chooses it. It shouldn't take too long that way and forces players to pay attention when they join a game, rather than joining a game and going to get coffee....

You do realise that the game refreshes every 5 seconds. That means you run out of time before you even know the time started...

ok 8 seconds, smarty pants.