Well, that was a waste of time

My C-19 project came to naught, but it did occupy my mind for a wee bit o time, and considering that I have had no interest in miniatures, it did fill some empty hours.
Above you can see what the world would have looked like had the players been able to fully explore the land. There had been 28 barren hexes, only a few of them explored before the game collapsed.
Mighty Empires is a very random game, but so long as it is not taken too seriously it can be quite entertaining.

We started with six players, gained one, then rapidly lost two.
At five it worked fine, but one player was never present (virtually or otherwise)
So then we were four. At four I needed to redraw the world somewhat as the south west was now without a player. A volcano eruption provided the spark of inspiration, so embellishing the destructive impact of the volcano and voila the barren lands were created.
Then we were three as the Chaos player encountered...challenges.
So at three we were done, not even a full year completed.

I had hoped to conduct a social experiment throughout the game.

I attempted to run it as a double blind game.
All group emails were sent as BCC so that no one was to know who was in charge of any given nation.
Players were not to talk to each other outside of the game about the game, certainly they were not to reveal which nation they were (that did not work out)
I wanted to see what impact this anonymity might have on the players actions and reactions.
Free of baggage would they act the same way they normally did in face to face games?
Would player figure out who was who, would they be more aggressive, or more passive, or their normal style of play?

Well, after only one turn it is not possible to produce any test results.
The espionage phase promised some interesting results, and paranoia did run high.
However in the end not much was going to happen, at least in the first turn.


In the end the biggest lesson learned from this was not something that I ever thought that I would be testing. The game did become a test of the players reactions and or attitudes, but not so much in their interactions in the game per se, but their reactions to the game. However the challenge for me is that I still do not know how to report what happened.

If you are going to shoot, shoot...don't talk.

 People were invited to play the game, no one was forced into it. Some were enthusiastic, about the game, all seemed happy to play, and yet by the end of it, we had lost 2-4 players. I say 2-4 because some never really got involved in the game for whatever reason. One of the most enthusiastic players left very early on. At the time I was disappointed, as they had been quick to prepare their nation, and I was able to run them through a number of phases very quickly. Then suddenly they dropped out. In retrospect, I now appreciate the fact that they realized their commitment level and got out before they caused too much disruption for the other players.

Do or do not, there is no try

A tale that one of the players is wont to relay to me,:
When someone is asked if they will be attending a lunch (for example), it is of no value to the organizer if you say maybe.
Maybe doesn't tell the organizer how many reservations to make.
It offers no commitment, and often is an indication that it is unlikely that they will attend.
Often it also creates the impression that they might attend, unless some better offer comes along.
Frankly, it seems that these maybe people are trying to avoid a flat no, possibly because they  somehow view it as the more polite way to say they will not attend.
Whatever the reason, it is far better to have never played than to drag out the rejection process.

A mans got to know his limitations.

So, I am not without blame. I tried to be nice, tried to be understanding. This was for fun after all, so I did not apply the pressure that I should have. At one point I was running the Empire and the Blazing Sun nations, based on next to nothing. I also took over Mordor when the Mordor player took of the Eastern Orcs when that player left the game. At least I had a guide for Mordor as that player had essentially mapped out his movements for the entire campaign season. Chaos also needed assistance, as things were slow to develop there too. I ran them as if they were a non aggressive nation, so did not launch any attacks, but did seize as much territory as I could for them. Sort of a holding pattern awaiting their return to the game. However this was not sustainable. New players were suggested, but rejected by me, for good or bad, why subject others to this torturous experience, even if we could bring them up to  speed with the game. In the end better to pull the plug, and chalk it up to lesson learned.

But that leaves me with the question, what lesson did I learn from all this?

I am left with the simple fact that I am, and will continue to be, confused, befuddled, and mystified, by some of the actions/inaction/reactions of certain players.

In the back of my mind I still wonder if I will someday receive a response from one player with their orders for the winter, I never did get a response back with instructions, or with a resignation from the game...