Payola

[Lola]

I finally got around to reading the rules (though not the detailed examples... yet) for the Payola variant, and now I'm dying to try it out.

In short, instead of submitting orders for your units every season, you submit a set of bribes to any number of the units on the board, and the individual units choose to follow those orders for which they are most heavily compensated.

So, you could, as France, spend all of your cash in Spring '01 to make sure F LON moves to WAL instead of ENG or NTH, for example. But then your own units may be vulnerable to a low-cost bribe.

Details of the variant (not a trivial read):

http://devel.diplom.org/Zine/W1995A/Payola/

[Vidmer]

I would be interested. I think they made some of the bribe offers needlessly complicated but I will try it anyway. I like the zero-sum variant a little better.

[Lola]

Yeah I'm not sure if the six different types of bribes translate to making it more interesting, or just more convoluted.

Classic and Zero Sum are certainly a whole lot simpler, that may be a good place to cut our teeth.

[Aalenu]

I'm game.

Aal

[Lola]

Now THIS is cool:

http://www.floc.net/dpjudge/?game=storm

A cut n paste of the game description, for the lazy:

The first hybrid Payola/non−Payola game. This game is played on the crowded map, but the powers that are not common to the standard map are not played. The seven players −− playing the powers on the standard map −− will issue orders to their own units as normal. The units of the other powers (Balkan, Lowland, Norway, Spain) will move Payola−style, in reaction to bribes offered by the other players. Additionally, these powers will randomly retreat and build if entitled to do so (rather than disband or waive). Also, if any power is eliminated but finds all of its home centers empty during a build turn, it becomes eligible to build a unit. The game may deteriorate into standard non−Payola (if all the non−standard powers are eliminated), but maybe not...I mean, maybe one of the minor powers will solo!

Now check out the PDF history. I especially love the spanish and lowlands fleets convoying the french armies into England. Brilliant! Although the non-player powers were eliminated rather early.

[Lola]

Ok so who wants to do us a favor and GM a payola game? :)

Here's my suggestion for settings we try out.

- Normal Payola Rules
- Crowded Map
- NO_PRESS
- CD_DUMMIES (and SMART_CD)
- HIDE_DUMMIES
- HIDE_LATE_POWERS
- GARRISON (will make it more interesting when the dummies start to drop)
- ONE_TRANSFER

Of course, we won't get 11 people, but it doesn't matter! Set all the non-player powers to DUMMY, and their units will just accept bribes. In fact, if it's no press (and HIDE_DUMMIES) then we won't know right away which powers are dummies and which aren't.

Comments? Who wants to play, besides me and Aal and Vidle? =p

[Lola]

Heartless bastards! I'll even set it all up for you, and transfer GM'age over. You don't actually have to DO anything!

[Kattoo Tacit]

Heartless bastards! I'll even set it all up for you, and transfer GM'age over. You don't actually have to DO anything!

I don;t want to play it but i'll GM it I guess... not really good at it so if you want it set up right.... setting up for me may not be a bad idea.

[Lola]

Bah, nothing to be good or bad at!

But, thanks :) I'll spare you as much work as possible.

Why don't you want to play, by the way?

[Kattoo Tacit]

Bah, nothing to be good or bad at!

But, thanks :) I'll spare you as much work as possible.

Why don't you want to play, by the way?

My mom is still dead and it bothers me a huge amount every day. My dad is having some very serious problems(Costing me shitloads of money) and he may not be far behind Mom. I have resignation in hand for my job that costs me 10 to 12 hours a day. I have an interview monday with a company willing to pay me twice what I make now. I am already in 3 games for diplomacy. It is all I can do to make the EQ raids that I still make, and manage to keep my life afloat and maintain a happy wife. More stuff I can put here but imo that pretty well covers it.

[Lola]

Good reasons! Good luck on your interview ;o

PMing you the info now, you don't actually have to do anything with it anytime soon, unless I fucked up something.