Christmas Wishes

With Epiphany soon upon us, I thought I'd start a silly and/or serious thread on if you could have any wish for the game, what would it be?

Some of my thoughts:

Serious:

-For smaller positions, the options to not submit turns but still get the paper. For many small positions, I think you could play them effectively until you built them up a bit by submitting 3 or 4 turns a game year instead of every turn. It would save real-world costs, and allow players to join a game and see how a position went. Maybe if another person wanted the position, you'd have to commit to full time.

-Permanent alliances. I think it might make for an interesting game if you could opt for a "permanent" alliance (which perhaps turned into a 3 year one if one of the members dropped so the new player had options).

-a True Spanish Succession game. Perhaps to make it work, The game starts with 2 positions vying for the spanish throne with spain as being not played. But the kicker is that if the French pretender wins the throne, France gets some big boost or territory, and if the Austrian one does, the Austrian player does. Perhaps if another player wins the throne both France and Austrian lose something. Other ideas to make the Spanish succession much higher drama?

-a cheaper, pre-paid game. Everybody who joins has to commit to stay in the game for 2 years. No drop outs! (hard to make this work, but I'd love a player dense game)

Semi-Serious:

-A unified China. The emperor has died at the start of the game and china is in disarray. conquer it all, and you are the new emperor, and the world should tremble.

-A unified ottoman empire. see above.

-fast game. Turns last 3 months, so only 4 turns a year. You'll build up your position fast, but beware the fast marching army you didn't anticipate. Would probably require some contingency military orders to allow more rational responses.

-everyone gets 2 allied positions.

Silly:

-Steampunk/weird science/supernatural. Maybe something inspired by Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norell. Enemy army approaching? Better hope your court magician is much better than theirs! Or, dammit, why are we having another lycanthropy outbreak in wales? Are the irish druids behind it, again? Same time period/setting, just layering on 'fantasy' elements.

-Musical chairs. Once a year, you switch positions with someone else in the game. You keep your honour score, but otherwise get what the other position leaves you.


Hope you folks have other serious and wacky ideas!

Some nice ideas

Have to be honest, often play smaller positions and yet to reach the stage with any of them where haven't needed monthly terms...I do like the 'pre-paid' idea

In the semi-serious category

Micro-positions: representing the small states so either literally the City of Hamburg by itself or perhaps Lubeck-Hamburg-Bremen as the remenants of the Hanastaeic League, or something like the Pacific 'empire' of Tonga...or the North American Indian tribes

Just a united China (when I am playing China obviously) The division into provinces does seem a little unhistoric...and am sure Richard could work in a few quirks to make sure it isn't too easy a position for a player...but with something like 120,000 recruits a year...the world will come to fear Lord Fong

There are very good reasons why Richard runs the games as he does. He knows what works and what wil not work. Some of the serious ideas put forward cannot work.

A Spain split in two has been trialled before. It did not work. One of the players quickly dropped. Orders were difficult. Orders often contradicted each other for a city. Who's do you take.? When a player pays for orders and they are not acted on fully, how would you feel.?

A united China or Ottoman Empire at the start of a game would be too powerful and dominant. It would ruin the valence of power and could ruin and dominate games.

A smaller position not submitting monthly turns. Perhaps that can already happen. Nobody had to send a turn in each month. Players can miss. How would that be fun though.?

Alliances. Realistically they can always be broken and reneged on. No such thing as a permanent alliance in life.

I like the idea of a pre paid game. Many already do this. I usually pay for a few months in advance. But what about extra orders.? This price will not be factored in. Are huge nations going to be limited or is `Richard working for less pay.?

As players all our dreams are for a nice full game with players dedicated to staying and playing for many years. How can this be achieved.? Cannot unfortunately. Paying two years in advance would cost me over £1,000. What's two years.? A game needs 5 years to come to full life. Only the biggest European nations start fully developed. The rest of the world needs 5 years to get going and build up. That would cost me nearly £3,000. How many players could or would pay that in advance.?

Realistically i cannot see any of the above ideas working. Richard runs the game perfectly. Hard to see how it can be improved , yet still work as well.

I think it was helpful for Richard for Deacon to put his ideas up. It gives Richard the opportunity to take on board players views. Deacon - if you want steam punk, Scabble is the game for you, I am not sure if the game now is how Richard orriginally envisaged it, but flying balloons, vampire nuns, wierd science and the supernatural are all there. I am developing an HP Lovecraft thing going on behind the scenes (oops probably shouldnt have said that, I will end up with an English religous crusade marching on Berlin! The English prefer straight forward railway and empire building.)

Yes. Always a good idea to put forward ideas. I think Richard has adopted one recently. A modified version of the yearly trade report.

>>A united China or Ottoman Empire at the start of a game would be too powerful and dominant. It would ruin the valence of power and could ruin and dominate games.<<

My suggestion was for them to be unitable, not united to start.

I'd add that I think this may well be doable today. You'd just have to admit to yourself you're conspiring against your own throne to seize it for yourself and play accordingly.

Any player can unite any country. Simply create a reason to attack the others in your realm and away you go. Will not be easy, but already achievable. Could also achieve it useing a very high honour score.

I would have thought it a good idea for a Chinese player to attempt to unite china under his command. Same for the ottomans or Indians. For me, that would be the attraction of the positions.

Putting forward new ideas is great for the forum, Richard and us players. Keep up the ideas players.

Most won't work but now and again we will get one that we all like and will work well. For players and `Richard. The modified trade report is a classic example of this.

Anything in life can be improved upon. Any ideas are worth a mention and a chat about. Thanks go to Deacon for more ideas.

Basileus wrote:I think it was helpful for Richard for Deacon to put his ideas up. It gives Richard the opportunity to take on board players views. Deacon - if you want steam punk, Scabble is the game for you, I am not sure if the game now is how Richard orriginally envisaged it, but flying balloons, vampire nuns, wierd science and the supernatural are all there. I am developing an HP Lovecraft thing going on behind the scenes (oops probably shouldnt have said that, I will end up with an English religous crusade marching on Berlin! The English prefer straight forward railway and empire building.)

Please note that as well as playing railway rivals the main English players in scabble also seem to like dirty tricks, cricket, trade & girls............as per the Flashman Books.

But at least one of them (Charles Darcy) seems to be playing Charles Darcy & the Temple of Doom. Currently Charles seems to be taking on the Thuggee Cult while the forces of law & order plod in their wake trying to pick up the dead bodies etc Charles & the Thuggee seem to leave spread all over nice legal markets.

If the HEIC start to find sacrificed bodies on its cricket square or holding up trains there is going to be trouble!

You know, Stuart highlights something I've never understood about Scramble...the British Government (unlike some British-based trading companies) always seems to be a decent honourable bunch...occasionally sinking the German navy admitedly but it saves them doing it in Orkney I guess...but doing all those decent honourable things you expect of a decent honourable nation...and yet, never on the honour table...

But Deacon, if you want steampunk, go for Scramble...I'm still surprised martians haven't yet turned up in Surrey

Game 1 had a united Poland not the 4 positions now, he went on to conquer nearly all of europe a powerful position, hence 4 parts now.

Jason wrote:You know, Stuart highlights something I've never understood about Scramble...the British Government (unlike some British-based trading companies) always seems to be a decent honourable bunch...occasionally sinking the German navy admitedly but it saves them doing it in Orkney I guess...but doing all those decent honourable things you expect of a decent honourable nation...and yet, never on the honour table...

But Deacon, if you want steampunk, go for Scramble...I'm still surprised martians haven't yet turned up in Surrey

Ref the lack of any mention of the Most Honourable British Govt & the Honourable East India Company from the honour table.

This basically comes down to a outstanding campaign of lies, damn lies, slander and savage press attacks waged by the Opium Cartel (AKA the Albion Corporation) against the Govt & the HEIC mostly via the slander rags known as the Times & Punch.

For example in one month the HEIC paid a £50M interim dividend to shareholders.......who include Orphans, Old Ladies, Charities, The Royal Estate & 60% of the House of Lords. Paid all of its tax bills to the British Govt, presented a new weapon to our brave boys in the Royal Navy and built a Test Match Ground in Bombay. But due to some vile slander the HEIC honour score actually went down!

I suspect Lord Derby and his defence of Press Freedom & Freedom of speach may have done him more harm that good. As heading the pack of Opium dealers and Germanic Crackpots who dominate the honour list in scabble is "Czar Alexander III of all the Russia's, Khan of Khans, Supreme Hetman etc, etc" a man who allows Press Freedom.....to say nice things about him. And who's lackies tend to shoot anyone who says anything nasty about the Czar.

But I have to admit I do enjoy a lot of the Albion Corp stuff...........the problem is so does Richard:(

It is as if we should no longer be honourable... The last time the score went up for either of my positions is when we were at war. I certainly hate to fight a war just for that and perhaps that is indeed the problem. I am looking at this too much from the prospective of what I would like to see done and how I would have acted instead of how I need to act to win. Tough decisions for sure...

However, it should be noted that the trading prowess of the British rascals is something to behold! Based on revenue and taxes there must be near a quarter to half a billion in British trade going on each month.