Shanghaid, the port for hijacked threads

[Actionjick]

The Agony At Arnautovo thread was very interesting, involving elite Italians and a rather rare 10-2 Italian leader. Looked to be very interesting. Then it devolved into sea stories about Naples, Italy, a great port city. After a while it was correctly and politely pointed out that the thread was drifting off topic, as they sometimes do.

Unfortunately sailors are not the most disciplined lot and after a brief course correction the thread started to drift again. In our defense I will point out that Naples is in Italy, a connection to the OP but not a good one. Sort of wanting to continue the sea stories I decided to start another thread continuing the discussion started on Agony At Arnautovo. Thinking about it I thought that a thread dedicated to hijacked threads could be an interesting idea so here it is.

If you're involved in a thread that's wandered off and you would like to continue in that direction this might be the place to go. Feel free to dock your wayward ship at this port. After all, any port in a storm.

 

[Actionjick]

Pensatl1962 mentioned we could swap sea stories if we met at a tournament. That would only be at ASLOk if I make it there again but if we meet there swapping some sea stories sounds fun. There are some that really can't be shared on an open forum!
Pensatl I was born in Altoona, not too far from you. Still have tons of relatives there. Spent summers at my Grandparents outside of Hollidaysburg, playing in the crick.

 

[Actionjick]

The Attention Mapmakers Soviet Villages thread sort of veered off course into European signs, signs as Los obstructions and similar non related topics. I wanted to respond to von Marwitz's story about his grandparents in Italy and decided to shift over to this thread.

The time I spent in Naples was one of the most enjoyable in my life. Couldn't speak Italian, learned to say please and thank you, and found the people to be very friendly. They were always willing to take a sailor's money!

Shipmate and I decided to go to Pompeii and took the Circum Vesuvio Railway to there. We saw some very attractive girls and wanted to chat but they didn't speak English. A charming Swiss gentleman who spoke five languages translated for us but the young ladies were not interested in a couple sailors so that went nowhere.

As we walked around Pompeii another group of girls who were in front of us turned into one of the ruined buildings. As we passed and glanced in there they were, naked, changing clothes! Quite a treat for a young sailor far from home!

 

[Actionjick]

Continuing sci-fi authors from Space Force thread.

Read a lot of Bradbury and Asimov also.

I highly recommend Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Some heavier scifi. Read it multiple times.

Wasp by Eric Frank Russell ( fyi not what you may be thinking ) another light one read several times.

The Wiches of Karres. I can't recall the author.
James H. Schmitz.

 

[Actionjick]

Got into a discussion of Balance and A 26.4 on the Maximum Agression thread. I made the point that as written A 26.4 was not meant as a fix for a skewed scenario but as consolation, as Tuomo put it, for the player losing the dr when both players want the same side. Tuomo and I both agreed that Balance is generally viewed these days as a fix for an " unbalanced " scenario.

I was wondering how modern scenario designers view A 26.4 and Balance. One would think that for the most part they would consider their scenario design as being well balanced. However not being a designer that's just a guess. I'd be interested in hearing from some designers about this but didn't feel the subject merited it's own thread. Thanks for any input.

As stated in the Agression thread we almost always used A 26.4 as written and intended.

Balance is an illusion, a balanced lunchtime doubly so.

 

[Actionjick]

A continuation of the Conscript Tournament thread. The discussion got into how TDs choose which scenarios are played at tournaments.

As an attendee I never cared how the scenarios were chosen. I wasn't partial to scenarios designed by the TD though. Bitd just because you could run an event didn't mean that you were a great scenario designer.

As TDs we became adherents of the " you guys play whatever scenario you can agree on " philosophy. Very easy on us and people got to play what they wanted. Other TDs and players like more structure to the process and that's fine by me. If people like how you run an event they'll come back, hopefully bringing a friend or two.

How do you like scenario selection at a tournament?

 

[Actionjick]

A continuation of the Conscript Tournament thread. The discussion got into how TDs choose which scenarios are played at tournaments.

As an attendee I never cared how the scenarios were chosen. I wasn't partial to scenarios designed by the TD though. Bitd just because you could run an event didn't mean that you were a great scenario designer.

As TDs we became adherents of the " you guys play whatever scenario you can agree on " philosophy. Very easy on us and people got to play what they wanted. Other TDs and players like more structure to the process and that's fine by me. If people like how you run an event they'll come back, hopefully bringing a friend or two.

How do you like scenario selection at a tournament?

Btw just because a scenario isn't a good tournament scenario doesn't mean it can't be a great scenario. Two different beasts, sometimes. Sometimes the same beast.

 

[johnl]

Format NA. I'll play anything. How about a "woofers" tourney with a catchy title like "Dogs of War" or "Laugh it up, fuzzball". Hard to come up with a way to score it, though.

 

[Actionjick]

Format NA. I'll play anything. How about a "woofers" tourney with a catchy title like "Dogs of War" or "Laugh it up, fuzzball". Hard to come up with a way to score it, though.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Actionjick]

Format NA. I'll play anything. How about a "woofers" tourney with a catchy title like "Dogs of War" or "Laugh it up, fuzzball". Hard to come up with a way to score it, though.

Nice attitude about playing anything and one I totally agreed with. I didn't put in the time, money and effort to go to an event just to disagree with the scenario selection. Going to a tournament was a special occasion for me and an experience not to be dampened by trivialities like poor scenarios. I was there to have a good time, meet people and see what I could do in a competitive situation. If I could do well with scenarios I didn't care for then so much the better

I think it's healthy for events to have different formats and approaches to what is played and how it's done. I also believe that more people should host an event. Good for the host and good for the game. I try to encourage it whenever I can. Jazzfest, nudge nudge. Toozapalooza too! Btw I think that's a great name!
Whatever you finally call it think about hosting an event. Try your own ideas for scenario selection or something else that you think might be interesting or fun.

 

[Actionjick]

Continuing the format discussion.

Both von Marwitz's opinion and Martin's are reasonable and both have merit. It's no fun going to a blind event and finding out that the scenarios are not to your liking or rules knowledge and experience. Nor is it fun to go to a published event where it seems as if everyone else has played the scenarios multiple times and you are barely familiar with them. I would add that non-published scenarios can have their own problems, ranging from balance to playability.


IMO the TD needs to define the objective of the event, then format and after that scenario selection. Objective really is key to it all. What is trying to be accomplished by the event? Determing a " champion "? Testing knowledge of a particular theater of operations or rules section such as Night? Getting people together to play and communicate? Important considerations.

The last one was ours with Oktoberfest. We weren't that concerned with determining a champion, the tournament was used more to give the event a framework. We just wanted people to play as much as they wanted and whatever they wanted. Simple concept and simple to accomplish.

The mini tournaments were sort of a nod to a more structured event. They were born of necessity as greater numbers of people showed up before the start of the weekend tournament and we needed something for them to do. Still a rather loose structure. We provided a list of themes with the players picking the scenario for whatever themed mini they were playing in.

Back to the TDs objective. While some attendees may not care what it is and just want to play others may find it helpful to know the objective in advance. All this assumes that the TD has an objective. I left out making a profit off of the event as an objective. In my experience if you are looking for a way to make a quick buck an ASL event is probably not the best place to start.

Btw IIRC most of the early events I attended had nonpublished scenarios with published becoming more common in later events.

 

[Actionjick]

As far as playing blind scenarios designed by the TD, well I'm not a fan. The main problem as I see it is some group of players are going to have to playtest the scenarios. These people are then likely to attend the event they playtested scenarios for. Obviously an advantage. That being said I would rather the scenarios were playtested by an extended group even if that means facing the playtester at a blind event. After all just because you have played a scenario doesn't mean somebody can't beat you. Even if it is new to them.

 

[bendizoid]

What is this ? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ExPys8QW8AETRLM.jpg
This is the route taken by the Evergreen in the Red Sea before it crashed into the Suez Canal.

 

[Actionjick]

What is this ? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ExPys8QW8AETRLM.jpg
This is the route taken by the Evergreen in the Red Sea before it crashed into the Suez Canal.

Looks like Captain Bacchus' nephew, Ensign Vino, was navigating.

 

[Actionjick]

In the Conscripts Tournament thread Sparafucil3 mentioned Pleva's bidding system for the Albany tournament and provided a link to the 2019 bids. I checked it out as I was unfamiliar with this system. It seems very interesting but appears to be a lot of work on Steve's part! Definitely something you would never have seen from us. Not because it's a bad concept or system, we were just too lazy to attempt such a thing!

How is Steve's system received by the participants? How long has he used it? Besides the Australian system are there other bidding systems that are used at tournaments? Any other tournament formats that are popular or unpopular?

Thanks for any input.

 

[bendizoid]

Looks like Captain Bacchus' nephew, Ensign Vino, was navigating.

Look again

 

[Actionjick]

Look again

Well perhaps there is a resemblance. I guess you have to make allowances for the medium and material that the artist is working with. A 400+ yard long vessel is not very maneuverable.

Full disclosure follows.
I had to check out the Google to find out what you meant, couldn't see it. I can't see Jesus either on those optical illusion pieces of art.

 

[bendizoid]

Well perhaps there is a resemblance. I guess you have to make allowances for the medium and material that the artist is working with. A 400+ yard long vessel is not very maneuverable.

Full disclosure follows.
I had to check out the Google to find out what you meant, couldn't see it. I can't see Jesus either on those optical illusion pieces of art.

Ok, you don’t see it, just as well.

 

[Actionjick]

Ok, you don’t see it, just as well.

Lol! I showed it to Actiondebbie. Her response: if you say so.

 

[bendizoid]

Lol! I showed it to Actiondebbie. Her response: if you say so.

And what did she say ?