Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Metaverse League (MVL) Recruitment Drive

I thought I'd open up this thread to bring up a few points about the league. This has all been discussed in many ways and in many places but I just want to summarize what it is we do and what the benefits of the league are for current and future members.

First of all the MVL (Metaverse League) is just a group of people that enjoy playing metaverse games and have gotten together to play a monthly game with randomly selected settings. All versions of the game are allowed and all settings are equally likely with the exception of galaxy size. Galaxy size is limited to no larger than medium basically to keep the potential time commitment to a reasonable limit. However all other settings are fair game.

The purpose for this is many fold. First off it encourages people to play settings and go for victory conditions that they might not normally select for themselves but once they've tried they may begin to realize that there are interesting challenges presented by these kinds of games.

Secondly by forcing people to play games outside of their comfort level you are actually effectively forcing people to improve their game. Strategies that are familiar and comfortable that work under one set of game settings usually need to be modified and in some case flat out don't work under different settings. Having to adapt and learn new strategies can only make your game stronger.

Also all levels of difficulty level are allowed. Basically people play at their normal difficulty level and expert players and beginners can play right along beside each other and in fact to a man the experts of the league have a great willingness to help out others less experienced and the GalCiv2 education that a less experienced player can gain from participation in the League is something that is really provided nowhere else.

Finally there is the camaraderie and good natured competition that the league provides.

These and other benefits of the league have been discussed many times and each point is worthy of a lot more detail but the purpose of this thread is to highlight a different matter.

The MVL is a team competition. The players in the league are drafted/assigned to different teams and these teams are periodically changed. However as a team competition there is some expectation of some level of commitment. Your teammates depend on you to submit your game because the teams score is dependent on the participation of the entire team.

This makes the MVL unique and adds to the benefit of the league but at the same time some folks can be put off by the implied commitment.

The thing is that we all realize that people have a certain amount of free time and that things change over time. This is the real point of this post. To encourage people to realize that everyone understands that the needs of real life change over time.

So to potential new members I want to stress that while joining the MVL does represent some level of commitment that there is no onus with having to leave the league. I also want to stress that having left the league due to real life pressures, whatever the cause, any former player is always welcome to return even if it may be only for a limited time.

To facilitate this we allow and encourage players to merely be considered on sabbatical while taking a break. But even some time after formally leaving the league, again for whatever reason, a player may find that his situation has changed and he may now again have time for the MVL. Such a person may feel reluctant to rejoin the league because they may feel that they somehow let down their teammates and that somehow having left the league may be held against them.

The fact that this couldn’t be further from the truth is the entire point of this post. Everyone realizes that people have real lives that put restrictions on their free time that change over time. Coming and going is only natural and I just want to make sure that; everyone that has left the MVL over time, and, anyone that has considered joining the MVL but perhaps is a bit leery of the commitment, realizes that everyone understands this.

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Mumble, would you mind changing the title of this post to "Metaverse League Recruitment Drive"? For those who don't read your post, they'll never learn what the acronym stands for. Just a thought.

Kryo, would you mind stickying this?

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I had a look at some of the other threads about the MVL sounds interesting enough, couple questions how much do people sit around just trying to amass a big score? I'm not really interested in score hoarding. Oh and I have mid year exams at the moment so if I do decide to join would there be any issue with me not posting any games for the next two weeks?

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

Mumble, would you mind changing the title of this post to "Metaverse League Recruitment Drive"?

Sure.

how much do people sit around just trying to amass a big score? I'm not really interested in score hoarding.

Well, being a competition there has to be some criteria used to rank games and score certainly does stick out as one of the rather more obvious ones. So to answer your question there are certainly folks that take scores quite seriously.

On the other hand we do acknowledge that score is not the only possible criteria that can be used to rank games. The number of game years required to accomplish a particular victory type is another criterion and we basically equate this as equal in importance to score.

Finally we also realize that the challenge of any particular game is as much a matter of simply accomplishing a randomly assigned goal with unfamiliar settings as it is to achieve the highest score or quickest game.

I can't really fully describe the intricacies of MVL scoring in a short reply like this but scores and game length are merely used to determine bonus points on an individual and a team basis. For example, a win of the correct type (all victory conditions must be enabled and each challenge specifies a particular victory) earn 2 points for the team whereas the highest possible score wins a single bonus point as does the 2nd through 4th highest scores. The same with fastest games.

So basically this reduces the extreme differential of potentially thousands of points in someone’s score to essentially half as valuable as simply properly finishing the game. Clearly the key to team success is the accumulation of bonus points so I'm not saying these things aren't important. I'm just saying that a simple win is twice as important as getting the highest score.

This is a common concern and to try to answer it as simply as possible I would have to say that while score (and speed) is important it's also realized that the concern you mention is not uncommon and that there is a lot more to the MVL than just a desire for the highest score.

Oh and I have mid year exams at the moment so if I do decide to join would there be any issue with me not posting any games for the next two weeks?

This is the primary purpose of my post to make sure people realize that we have the understanding and flexibility built into the league to accommodate peoples changing real life schedules. First off a round lasts a full month to play a single medium galaxy game (or smaller) and generally in the worst case most folks can finish these size games within a couple of days. Secondly we realize that there will be times when folks will not even have this amount of time and will be unable to submit a game.

All of this is OK. We have spent a lot of time figuring out rules of how to deal with non-submissions in pretty much every possible situation. The best case is of course if people can let us know that this is happening and given notice we have a number of equitable ways for a team to avoid losing any points due to a non-submission. Again I want to stress that there is no onus on not submitting a game. Everyone realizes that it is a game and that real life takes precedence.

Obviously someone giving notice is the best thing but we realize that even giving notice is not always possible and have methods to deal with this. While repeated non-submissions with no notice would eventually be frowned upon we also allow folks to go on "sabbatical" when it's clear that they won't be able to play for a few rounds. We've had people go on "sabbaticals" for a single month to 4 or even 5 months. Again all of this is no problem.

Hope this answers your questions.

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I'm terrible at score-mongering, which is one reason I love the MVL. I'm reasonably good at completing games quickly (in game years that is), which is given equal weight to score (and takes a lot fewer hours of play in my experience). If you can't shoot high (score wise), shoot fast

.

The MVL is my favorite thing about GalCiv2 right now. I joined relatively recently and am very glad that I did! If you're considering it, why not give it a shot for a round or two and see how you like it? That's only a few hour commitment to something (playing a game of GalCiv2) you'd likely do anyway

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I've been thinking about joining. I also have a pretty busy life with work, kids, and I'm in the National Guard. I am able to play about an hour or 2 most nights. With the summer coming up I will be really busy with the National Guard in July and August. August will be the worst, but I will have few days early and late in the month. When is the next round for new players?

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Mumblefratz

Join Date 07/2006

+139

When is the next round for new players?

Very soon, but people can join up at any time.

As I mentioned above we do periodically go through and reshuffle the league so that different people get to play with each other and the teams don't get stale.

We are currently within a day or two of having doing this. Basically the time between this reshuffling is a "season. So now is a perfect time to join. As I mentioned above there is a certain commitment that folks make when joining that they will be able to play but also as I tried to stress above we are completely understanding that folks have a real life that may interfere.

This reshuffling is not something that can be fully described in a short reply but basically we have 4 and 5 man teams and each team captain will have the chance to draft 2 players and then everyone else will be randomly assigned a team. We'll then play a "season" which is an unspecified number of rounds but in the past we had a 3 round season and a 5 round season. FYI a round is a single game within a 1 month period.

So to more directly answer your question we will be starting a new round right after the draft, probably by the end of this week. Also people can join at any time, be randomly assigned to a team, and if they are able they can sumbit a game for the current round already in progress or they can wait until the next round. We've had people join in the last week of a round and have no difficulty submitting a game.

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Hello all, I'm Silverbeacher and I am the current Commissioner of the Metaverse League, and like my fellow MVL player, Mumblefratz, I would like to cordially extend a personal invitation to participate in the Metaverse League.

The "big" questions have already been raised, but let's take another quick look at them.

One of the strongest aspects of the MVL is in its flexibility for the player. While it does require a commitment, in that your team is counting on you to play a game, it is not a huge time commitment. Most, if not all, of the MVL games can be played in just a few short hours. As it currently stands all MVL games take place on Tiny, Small, or Medium sized maps.

Another aspect of its flexibility is that players of all playing capability and difficulty can play with ease. For example, Mumblefratz plays (and quite well) at Suicidal; I'm not anywhere as good as him, but have found my comfort level at Crippling/Masochistic; I had a teammate that had just reached the Normal difficulty. So whether Beginner or Veteran, you can still make a contribution without feeling penalized or at a disadvantage.

I took the time a while back to write a quick guide to the MVL that includes a few FAQs toward the bottom, check it out here: The Metaverse League

Please continue to post your questions, and let us know if we can get you in on the action. I know for sure that Mumblefratz (who is also Captain of the A-Team, and MVL Rulekeeper) and myself visit these forums frequently througout the day, as do many of the other MVL players.

Hope to see you soon
Silverbeacher

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Thanks for answering my questions before Mumblefratz. I have signed up so till we meet in glorious battle!

Ummm unless where team mates... in which case we should probably fight other people... yeah... so I'm going to be quiet now...

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Neilo

Join Date 04/2006

+128

Great to have you on board mate!! Also great write up Mumble, well done!!

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this may be a bit off topic but im new hpw do i play pepole over metavers i cant figure it out

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you can't play against people. you can click "metaverse" on the main menu and log in. then when you finish your metaverse game you can upload your score to the metaverse (it'll ask if you want to)

-Dave

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~pulls a hat off a dead Terran and tosses it into the ring~

Count me in on this for the next round if you will.

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awesome, LD, teams may end up getting a little shuffled in the next day or two- look for a PM from your team captain coming soon

-Silver-

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KzintiPatriarch

Join Date 05/2007

+95

Excellent....welcome Loupdinour!

Sentient species taste better...

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awesome, LD,

When I used this handle when I played WoW, some people called me loup, others used LD. OH the confusion that caused.

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well then I'll just have to call you "Dinour" and really mess with people's heads

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Well, in a MMO, LD = Link Dead, thus the confusion.

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Welcome LD, I'm DA

I see you've met SB. KP did say there may be new arrivals. Glad to have you on board

watch the two letter abbreviations fly woohoo.

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Neilo

Join Date 04/2006

+128

Whats confusing is when DA is playing DA not DL then KP talks about playing D&D and i think LA is now playing TA. So adding LD into the mix should'nt be too hard. It would be worse if SB worked for SD and broke DA, then DA, LD, KP and LA would all go play WoW....

All that leaves me is the broken MVL, trying to get #1 in the MV and running the ToE.

OMG what a mess!!

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KzintiPatriarch

Join Date 05/2007

+95

Well, in a MMO, LD = Link Dead, thus the confusion.

Verbally, that sounds a little too close to "dinner"

Whats confusing is when DA is playing DA not DL then KP talks about playing D&D and i think LA is now playing TA. So adding LD into the mix should'nt be too hard. It would be worse if SB worked for SD and broke DA, then DA, LD, KP and LA would all go play WoW....All that leaves me is the broken MVL, trying to get #1 in the MV and running the ToE.OMG what a mess!!

Sentient species taste better...

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OK y'all...Round 10 should be up and running soon

There WAS some movement for this round so pay attention

I DID have to move a Player

THEGREATEMPEROR was moved to the CRUSADERS

I would like him and NOCTILUCUS to have CO-CAPTAINCY until they can decide on who on the Crusaders wants to take the captaincy or until FireBender returns.

DYSTOPIC was added to the A-TEAM
welcome back buddy

LOUPDINOUR was added to the DOMINATION OF DEATH
Great to have you!

Each team now has either FOUR or FIVE players

-Silver-

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KzintiPatriarch

Join Date 05/2007

+95

The new round settings will be up by early evening today (EST) when I'm back home, so about 7-8 hours or so from now.

Thanks Silver!

Sentient species taste better...

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I thought about joining (might be too late for this round?), but there's the problem that I'm not familiar enough with the current state of GC2 to play at my average difficulty level Obscene under all settings. Do I have to or is it just a recommendation?

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In reality the Difficulty rating is given as a basic standard for us (ie the Admin and Scorekeepers) to help maintain a level playing field for all players (ie a veteran Suicidal-level Player not "playing down" at Crippling for an easier win)

That being said, we have had in the past, situations arise where a person's stated difficulty level was out of sync of their actual playing ability. For example, FireBender has a higher difficulty medal due to a number of Suicidal ZYWs, however, FireBender has stated that he is unable to compete against the AI in any set of "normal" situations, thus playing at a lower stated difficulty.

This would be an example, where it would be okay for a player to play below their stated medallion.

Pretty much, an "okay" from the Commish (ie me) is sufficient, unless there is reason of concern of malfeasance raised by other players.

in short, you should join up

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I would, if it's not too late.

I'd play at Crippling for a start if that's okay, Maso if necessary.

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