Nothing Beats Real Life (and Real Game) Experience

[Earthmichael]

There have been a lot of discussion recently on various threads about best strategies for various things, and whether something or another is overpowered or not.

The problem is, many of these issues require a lot of real game experience to fully understand.

I am the Chief Software Scientist in a company with over 40,000 employees.  (No, I will not say which company; I am sure they do not want their company name associated with a game, and if you figure it out, don't post it!)  Our company has a policy that even the highest level researchers and fellows on staff must have at least 50% direct project responsibilities. 

The reason for this is to avoid "Ivory Tower Syndrome".  It seems once a researcher is disconnected from direct project responsibilities, that is, all they do is research, advise, and teach, then after two or three years their advice becomes less and less relevant.  They may think of all kinds of clever ideas in the lab, but they have fatal flaws preventing actual implementation in the field.

But if they have direct project responsibility to see their ideas into implementation and into alpha and beta test in customer hands, and deal with the bug reports, then their ideas get tempered with the practical realities of the customer environment.

In SMAC, I am currently the best active player in the game, the Grand Master if you will.  I have not lost a two player game on a balanced map in over 5 years.  Sure I could lose a multiplayer game if everyone ganged up on me from the start.  And I could certainly lose on an unbalanced map that would be the equivalent of a chess master starting without his queen.  And I am will to defend my assertion in duels on a balanced map if anyone wants to "put me in my place".

Now there are some really, really good players out there, like Roninscg and Kirov, who have taught me a thing or two; which is good, because as much experience as I have, I am still learning about the game, which says something to me about the richness of strategy of SMAC.  And I really wish theses experienced players would chime in more in these discussions, so that these discussions are more achored in the reality of how the game is actually played at an expert level.

I am not trying to get people to feel intimidated about posting, but I do wish that posters would consider that perhaps there are real game realities that their Ivory Tower analysis is not taking into account, and be a bit more thoughtful.  Certainly, if I were to question the stategy of a chess Grand Master, being only an A level player myself, I would pose the question assuming that I was missing something, not the Grand Master.

So when I choose to share advice about some strategies that I find useful, think twice before thinking that I am wrong.  It is fine to ask questions, but ask them in a way that indicates you are missing something.  If your question indicates something I have not thought of, I will be the first to congratuate you on your insight!

But a lot of the discussion seem to me like they end up in an argument.  And the problem with a wise man arguing with a fool, is that the listeners can't tell which is which.  So I am simply not going to respond to this kind of argument anymore.  If someone wishes to question my opinion, I am more than happy for them to do so; I may be wrong, and I may learn something.  But if the question is not posed respectfully, I will not respond any longer.

[Lord Avalon]

You ivory tower intellectuals must not lose touch with the world of industrial growth and hard currency.  It is all very well and good to pursue these high-minded scientific theories, but research grants are expensive, and you must justify your existence by providing not only the knowledge, but concrete and profitable applications as well.
- CEO Nwabudike Morgan  , "The Ethics of Greed"

Sorry, couldn't help myself. 


Earthmichael, I can understand not suffering fools gladly, but IMO this board would miss your input if you stop responding.

[Earthmichael]

That is a great quote!  I love it; it fits perfectly!   

[BFG]

One of the biggest problems with anonymity on the Internet is that it gives equal footing to the scholar and the fool.  And, typically, the fool is louder.

I can understand your position on this, Earthmichael!  As nothing more than a casual player myself - one that hasn't even won on Trascend level yet - my only contributions involve throwing ideas out and letting the more experienced such as you decide if they have any merit.

[testdummy653]

Every time I read one of your posts... This is image is in the back of my mind.

[Yitzi]

If I've been a bit overconfident or disrespectful, I apologize.  I'll try to do better from now on.  (Although when it comes to situations that don't come up in actual games, such as the effects of a mod or the stages to which games never reach, real game experience does become substantially less significant, so there I think the theoreticians might have more basis to argue with experience.)

[BFG]

(Although when it comes to situations that don't come up in actual games, such as the effects of a mod or the stages to which games never reach, real game experience does become substantially less significant, so there I think the theoreticians might have more basis to argue with experience.)

I'd agree with that.

On another topic, earthmichael - do you or any of the other expert players make records of your games?  I suspect a casual player such as I could learn a LOT.

[testdummy653]

On another topic, earthmichael - do you or any of the other expert players make records of your games?  I suspect a casual player such as I could learn a LOT.

I would love to see AAR from earthmichael.

[ete]

Unfortunately he lost all his previous saves, so we'll probably have to wait until he finishes his next MP game for a full demonstration in a non-scenario/AIs getting brutally slaughtered way.

[Earthmichael]

I did publish an AAR for the Nomad's GOM.  It was highly restrictive, in that I could not build colony pods, so this does not reflect my normal play style.  But it does show how one can adapt for the situation.

http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=2663.msg14745#msg14745

ete is right, I lost all of my previous saves, so I can't do an AAR on any of my older games.

I am doing Morgan's GOM "Market Forces" right now, but it is an incredibly long scenario, and I am forcing myself to stick to Kirov's vision of winning by Economic Victory means that conquest cannot play a role.  So I limit my miliary force to defending myself, and to destroying bases immediately encrouching on my area, i.e. with 3 squares of one of my bases.  This is actually much more difficult; it is much easier to seize the enemy bases than to operate defensively.  I don't think I will do a full AAR on this scenario, but I might hit a few of the high points.  But once again, my play in this scenario does not reflect my normally much more aggressive playstyle, due to the Kirov accord.

I have several multiplayer games going.  Once one of those reaches a conclusion, I may provide somewhat of a one sided AAR on how I saw the game progressing.

[Yitzi]

This is actually much more difficult; it is much easier to seize the enemy bases than to operate defensively.

Definitely; IIRC, Prima's strategy guide (which has its flaws, but also its uses) notes that the high level of aggression on Transcend pretty much forces a quick-kill (their term for momentum play) game.  To go against that advice would naturally be very difficult.