I'll sign to that. Just after, i'm all through with modding the complete and final versions of X-Worlds & CoSH!

It should take me what... a few months or less?

What i found interesting though about working on customized Races is the fact that the process in itself is a steep but efficient learning curve about most gameplay features. Thus, the design stages are forcing me into a gaming mode which i wouldn't otherwise get simply by going for a 'standard' setting - indirectly.

Conclusion; i learn through personalized context(s) which makes it, somehow, easier.

I'll admit to be a beginner strategist for GC and would certainly gain key-knowledge along the way via playing the darn games -- if only, i had more time.

Bof, it's okay.
What matters is that i enjoy giving my stuff to others while sharing gameplay experiences. Even if i'd play round-the-clock for years on end, i doubt i will ever fully grasp the whole extent of GC's features. Hey, but that's where the fun is.

After all, playing is a leisure. Almost free.

- Zyxpsilon.

My alliance is on the board. This shows that we are strong and not messing around. So join me and bring our empire to glory!

Hey namekino, I'm a new player too and I've found it very useful to be part of an already prominent empire, instead of simply starting one right away.

I'm not saying that new players aren't capable of having their own empire, I'm just saying that they are simply too new. What  I mean by this is that  if you truly are a new player, you probably don't have a couple key qualities required of an empire leader.

1. Experience: You probably haven't played enough games to really make yourself know on the scoreboards, and you simply don't know enough about GalCiv2 strategy. Strategy is one of the keys to posting higher scores on the MV.
2. Prestige: Being a new player, other players simply don't know you well enough to join your empire. They feal more comfortable joining an empire that has some of their friends already in it, and they also feel more comfortable joining an empire that has a prestigious and experienced emperor. It's not that you're a bad person or that nobody likes you, it's just that you're too unknown.
3. Age and Wisdom: There is nothing wrong with being a young player ( by the looks of it, you say that you're 15 yrs. old ). Other people just feel more comfortable joining an empire that has an older leader or some older players because, to put it simply, they have had more years in life to get better at the game and simply have more natural knowledge and wisdom that can prove useful or comforting during general conversation on the forums.

When I first visited the MV and the forums, I really wanted to create my own empire right off the bat, but I did a little research on many of the lesser empires on the MV, and found that they only had 1 to 10 members. I also realized that these people rarely ever make an appearence on the forums, or haven't played a game in months. Judging by that information, I quickly realized that if I went off and created my own empire, I would be the only person in it.

My solution was this: I have three character places available, so I decided to use one as my startup character. With this character, I would learn how to become a competitor in the GalCiv2 MV, and I would become more well known on the forums. Someday, I may decide to create my own empire, but only when I am good and ready. Who knows? Maybe I'll like playing with the empire I'm on right now so much that I'll just decide to have that one character be my only character, and have that empire be my only empire that I'm connected to. You just never know.

To conclude a very long post ( sorry ), here's my word of advice: Find a prominent and active empire in the MV and on the forums and ask them to let you join. Most of them are open, but it's just more polite to ask. I'm sure that someday you will be a great player and maybe even have your own thriving empire.

Now for a bit of advertising. The empire that I decided to join was the Tyranny of Evil. These guys are incredible. They are ranked 2nd on the MV behind the Kzinti Empire. Why that's so incredible is because they only have about 60 players, while the Kzinti have about 400!!! In my opinion, for the ToE to have such outstanding scores with so few players ( comparatively to the Kzinti ), those few players must be really strong and wise. And believe me, they are.

If you decide to do what I did and join another prominent empire, I highly recommend the ToE. They are a great group of guys with alot of knowledge and are willing to help you whenever you need it and give you some great strategy hints as well. Like I said though: it's up to you.

~Cypher~

Hey Seth! Sorry I keep forgetting to mention the ToE's ally in my posts and recommendations. Let me fix that mistake: namekino - the Geckodon Alliance is also a great empire to join up with and they are a great group of people, too. They are  very helpful and active in the MV and a great empire to join up with as well.   

I second that emotion... As one with great difficulty already reading the white on black the use of the 'impact' font makes it impossible for me to read anything in your post. (I see a mass of white that kindof looks like letters and makes my eyes hurt...)

You put all that effort into typing it, please to let us actualy read it!

T

Hey guys, sorry about the font size. I'm changing that now so hopefully you can read this:

namekino, I'm not going to write another long post like that last one (hopefully your young eyes could read it), but here's my shortened version. It's not that new players can't have their own empires or be major competitors in the MV, it's just that they aren't ready yet for such roles. If you look at all of the major empires, their emperors are all older and have incredible MV stats. Just take KzintiPatriarch and Neilo for example (leaders of the Kzinti Empire and the Tyranny of Evil, in order), they are very experienced players and they have stats on the MV that would simply intimidate any new player.

I, like you, am also a new player.What I have come to see is that about 90% of all empires ever created on the MV were created by people who hardly ever made an appearence on the forums or the MV. To rally people to your empire, you need to be somewhat popular on the forums. You've got to make some friends who will be happy to join your new empire. People won't go and join an empire that has a leader that they've never heard of before.

I'm not saying that you can never have a successful empire, it's just that you need to start out somewhat simpler, instead of going for everything right away. Join an already prospering empire and gain some experience and friends. I joined the Tyranny of Evil, and I have been just amazed at how helpful their experienced players have been, and how friendly every player has been. These forums are here for two reasons: Talking about GalCiv2 (duh) and just simply talking with some friends.

To wrap this post up (sorry it got away from me again), I would consider joining an empire that is already prominent; you'll gain valuable knowledge right away and you'll make valuable friends, too.

If you are going to join an empire, the top choices would be either the Kzinti Empire, the Tyranny of Evil, or the Geckodon Alliance. There are more than just those three, I just can't think of their names off the top of my head. All three of those choices have experienced players and they are all in the top ten on the MV.

Like Talesine said, I joined the ToE because they are amazing. They have been able to maintain 2nd place on the MV, just behind the Kzinti, even though they only have 60 players (the Kzinti have about 400). That is some real dedication. The Geckodon alliance is our ally and has been able to maintain 8th with only 14 members, as well. Basically, all of the players on both empires are either really good (and friendly) or they are new and they're going to be really good.

But, as always, it's completely up to you. I probably should add that all of the points I made in this post are of my opinion (and apparantly Talesine's, too). If any more experienced players come along and want to correct me, feel free to do so.   

~ Cypher ~

Much.

Thank you, kind sir.

While we're at this, could you please use a larger font, Talesine?

LOL, sure thing. I think the metaverse isn't working with my text layout, i'll increase the size.

IS THIS BETTER?

Cypher, do you realize in our last 4 posts combine you and I have been going on about the same thing just worded differently? Ironic

I can't be certian. but I know we are enjoying the font size.

 

We are the Tyranny brothers here to cause havoc on the forums and drink fine wine on a tuesday night.

Ahhh - sorry antracer - wasn't trying to make fun of you at all - I'll always try to make my font a little larger whenever you're on the post site - Again, I apologize - No hard feelings - Best Regards

~ Cypher ~

Just for the record...

The normal text is ok. It's a little hard, but not horrific. I choose to make mine blue so it's a little easier on my eyes, and like the font I have cuz it's pretty...

Lowering resolution actually makes it worse, making everything pixilated. Same with a browser that zooms. I can zoom in with my mouse, and sometimes have to, but it looks like el crapola. You can simulate it by taking a small picture in a paint program and zooming in. There's only so many dots, zooming just makes bigger dots, not more of them.

I only say something when it's in a topic I am really interested in so I can read it. Sometimes they all tell me to go jump, sometimes they don't.

I do appreciate the posts that have bigger letters... It allows me to be just another normal poster in a topic instead of what we're talking about now...

Cypher- You're fine. It's hard to know what people are thinking when you read a post. It's why I added the bit about the wine, hopefully to let you know everything was fine. (except for the rhyme, which I won't do next time...)

I appreciate your effort, and my eyes thank you from the bottom of my retinas...

T

That empire is dead. Choose  an active empire, it's much better, you'll have people to talk to.