Large well-developed position on offer (maybe)

If anyone is interested in taking over France in Game 8 I'm quite happy to drop the reins in their favour. I feel as though I've done all the major stuff I wanted to and am now treading water, and thinking the game as a whole might benefit from a change of personality at the helm (I can't do schizophrenia) - while on the other hand I don't want just to drop. We all know it is large position, but I reckon to have done all the tedious build-up stuff; the economy and military are healthy, we have plenty of modernisations and cultural developments, but there is scope for expansion in trade and colonial exploration - not to mention political wheeling-and-dealing and/or skulduggery - so I reckon the position could be run on a reasonably low real-world cost in terms of time and money by someone with a different approach/emphasis. Anyone interested can send me a private message and I can go into more detail. Or feel free to comment open-thread on whatever comes to mind...

I will put my hand up for it. Will drop you a PM.

I hate to see you leave Game 8... I thought things would get interesting in the coming months.

Any good wars going or about to happen in G8 which France is involved with?

France's challenge in game 8 was the position was in limbo for the first 5 years. I _think_ somebody played it, but they never wrote or responded to letters or did any diplomacy at all. It made the early years of game 8 kind of surreal. Can you imagine a history where Louis had no opinions?

As a consequence, a lot of the game landscape politically was in place by the time the real Louis arrived without a French place in that landscape. Certainly France is a big dog and can always start something. But existing alliances can mean some of those choices are more dicey.

I would be also sorry to see our friend drop the position, but he is also correct I think that it's a good juncture since the position hasn't committed to any major course. A new player would have a lot of latitude on how they wanted to move on the political landscape.

revvaughan wrote:I hate to see you leave Game 8...  I thought things would get interesting in the coming months.  

They still might! it is the political potential I will miss most - but there feels like so much treacle to wade through to get there these days (or I'm just getting old and time-poor). Our twin "dancing on the edge" has been about the best bit of the game for me, what's kept me in as long as this. So thanks!

Stuart Bailey wrote:Any good wars going or about to happen in G8 which France is involved with?

Well, the situation with England is teetering on a knife-edge. Given the right provocation... Apart from that Game 8 is a very peaceful world (unless you're in India, or Ingria). The European power-blocs are about equi-poised, with no-one eager to start a fight.

Deacon wrote:
France's challenge in game 8 was the position was in limbo for the first 5 years. I _think_ somebody played it, but they never wrote or responded to letters or did any diplomacy at all. It made the early years of game 8 kind of surreal. Can you imagine a history where Louis had no opinions?  

As a consequence, a lot of the game landscape politically was in place by the time the real Louis arrived without a French place in that landscape. Certainly France is a big dog and can always start something. But existing alliances can mean some of those choices are more dicey.

I would be also sorry to see our friend drop the position, but he is also correct I think that it's a good juncture since the position hasn't committed to any major course. A new player would have a lot of latitude on how they wanted to move on the political landscape.

A spot-on summary. The initial player I think did not play for long, but long enough for folk to spot that the country was in play. Because he did no diplo or publicity no-one noticed when he dropped, which meant that folk were wary and uncertain, somewhat inhibited, for long afterwards. The one thing he did was to micro-name (in French) all his battalions and squadrons... I had fun re-building the position and establishing a public presence, but that is wearing off now. Hopefully a good time for new blood to take things in a fresh direction, without letting-down old allies.

I am not certain what the future in the game will look like, but I think that the economic and nation-building aspect can only hold our attention for so long. Perhaps I could shoot at you, if that helps!

Have personally long considered France the nucleus of the game, having an active France is key to having a good game, a lot of game actions are driven by France, or reacted to by the other positions. There is a certain fear/ respect balance for Franc ein the other positions, so I hope for the sake of other players in G8 that you are able to find someone to take up the baton & continue keeping the position active.

slightly diverting away from the main theme of this thread, totally agree with J Flower about importance of France, especially to other European positions. As obvious from other threads, I do play France in one of the games and I think its important for France to play a certain way....my own experience in G9 and what happened initially in G8 would seem to bear this out. To a degree, Europe feeds off a kind of belligerent France position. I needed to understand this a lot earlier than I have in G9 !

For G8 I hope the position is picked up if Real Louis does step down. It is a prime game position and the game world needs it. Good luck to whoever picks it up