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The Official Thread of Catan
- Thread starter pilonv1
- Start date
platypotamus
Member
chapel said:
Well I guess tomorrow night is out...
Thursday I'm available almost all day, 10 AM PST on... with an hour or two missing around 4 PM PST
Friday I'm available between 10 AM PST - 2 PM PST
Saturday I'm pretty much out of action all day this week
Sunday, on the other hand, I'm pretty much free all day.
Alisdair or Pththisis?
Phthisis said:
I can play Friday any time between 5pm and 11pm (GMT), which I think is 9am to 3pm PDT. So, say 8pm GMT/midday PDT? Do we have a date?
Man there has got to be an easier way to organise a game. I think using something like this might help, as long as we standardise on a timezone: http://doodle.ch/df?s=A&l=en
Man, I love this game.
I just played a 4 player match (1 human, two super jerk AI) where I had to implement a ridiculous strategy. My initial plan was to hoard Sheep and trade them in for better stuff. So I stuck my first settlement between 3 sheep squares, one of which was #8, and stuck my other settlement near a sheep wild card. Sadly, the map evolved so that I couldn't really build any roads or settlements. My only strategy was to surround the number 8 with buildings. I got 3 cities around it, collecting 6 sheep every time an 8 was rolled, and was actually doing alright. I eventually lost since the Robber always ended up on that 8 spot and no one would trade with me, but it was a valiant effort. Nothing quite like putting all your eggs on 8 showing up on the dice.
I just played a 4 player match (1 human, two super jerk AI) where I had to implement a ridiculous strategy. My initial plan was to hoard Sheep and trade them in for better stuff. So I stuck my first settlement between 3 sheep squares, one of which was #8, and stuck my other settlement near a sheep wild card. Sadly, the map evolved so that I couldn't really build any roads or settlements. My only strategy was to surround the number 8 with buildings. I got 3 cities around it, collecting 6 sheep every time an 8 was rolled, and was actually doing alright. I eventually lost since the Robber always ended up on that 8 spot and no one would trade with me, but it was a valiant effort. Nothing quite like putting all your eggs on 8 showing up on the dice.
Open Source
Banned
The winning strategy in this game against human players is to take the 9 and 5 spots so you don't get robbered on the 6 and 8's. The slightly lower frequency of rolls is more than made up for by the extremely high frequency that robbers are put on the 6 and 8s (not only does that shut down a high percentage roll, it often does so for multiple players camped on them, with cities built on them, etc.). It also means you are a little less likely to have to discard resources because the chances of getting a ton in a single round before you have the chance to spend them are smaller.
The AI, however, does not give a crap and will robber you regardless.
Also, what's up with people trying to do even trades on their own turn? If you're trying to trade for something, that means you are about to build something, and if I am going to let you build something, you will have to give me a better deal than 1 for 1. Especially since I could lose whatever I trade for before I have the chance to spend it and you don't have that risk. Of course, the other players and the AI aren't smart enough or are too greedy to realize that the 1-for-1 trade they are doing probably hurts them in the long run.
The AI, however, does not give a crap and will robber you regardless.
Also, what's up with people trying to do even trades on their own turn? If you're trying to trade for something, that means you are about to build something, and if I am going to let you build something, you will have to give me a better deal than 1 for 1. Especially since I could lose whatever I trade for before I have the chance to spend it and you don't have that risk. Of course, the other players and the AI aren't smart enough or are too greedy to realize that the 1-for-1 trade they are doing probably hurts them in the long run.
Silicon Knight
Member
Who's up for a game at this moment?
One for one is a good deal for both traders, though. I mean, you shouldn't trade for something that you don't need, obviously, and you shouldn't trade if you think it's going to let your opponent get too far ahead. But if you are the only player not trading with other players throughout the game, you are probably going to get left in the dust.
Open Source said:
Fixed.
There are plenty of reasons not to put the robber on the 6/8 spots (wanting certain resources, controlling the supply of certain resources, limiting the targetted players to those who don't have soldiers etc.)
Open Source said:
You need to understand that not all resources are equally valuable in the game, and in particular they're not all equally valuable for all players, because of which resources they have access to and how likely they are to be generated. It's perfectly possible for a 1-for-1 trade to be beneficial to both players, or even for a 2-for-1 trade to be better for the player giving away two cards.
Next you'll be telling me you don't understand why I might want to offer you three sheep for a sheep.
iapetus said:
Heh, yeah. I've had players place the robber onto a 6-wheat tile, and then turn around and want me to trade wheat to them on the very next turn. Maybe I'd have some extra wheat to trade you if you hadn't dropped the damn robber on me, dumbass!
Sometimes people just don't think.
If there's 1 or 2 of a resource that's hugely in demand, I do like sniping for it with a robber.
If there's a robber on your six and you need it off, would you generally use your soldier prior to roll or check for the 7? I know it depends on the situation but sometimes it sucks to have to re-place the robber if there's a prime target.
If there's a robber on your six and you need it off, would you generally use your soldier prior to roll or check for the 7? I know it depends on the situation but sometimes it sucks to have to re-place the robber if there's a prime target.
platypotamus
Member
alisdair said:
Noon Friday sounds good to me, I'll PM Chapel since he doesn't seem to check this thread as obsessively as the rest of us
GDJustin said:
If it's a common number, then you might move the robber first in case it produces (especially if you get multiple resources from that tile, or if you have more than one soldier, etc.). You can always get more soldiers, there's not a huge incentive to hoard them.
platypotamus
Member
GDJustin said:
What trade off, exactly? I see no reason to hold onto the soldier unless:
1. You have some other development card you want to play that turn.
2. You want a "surprise" largest army to keep the AI from hating you for being ahead in points (which may backfire, as the first to the target goal gets the credit)
Beer Monkey
Member
GDJustin said:
If my buddy is sitting on an 8, there's a darned good chance that I'm going to roll an 8 and give him resources...
GDJustin said:...I don't understand why
...unless you're worried about a 7 coming up? But there's still statistically a 1 in 6 chance that every role will be a 7...
Why does that make a difference? If I've got nine cards - three rock, two grain, three sheep (which I gain on a regular basis) and one brick (which is a difficult commodity for me to get hold of) then it's definitely in my interest to get to the seven-card safety limit, because otherwise I will lose a vital city-building resource or a rare brick resource. The loss if I roll a 7 is high. The loss if I trade down is low. It's even worse if I hold eight cards - the city building materials and three sheep - because then I definitely lose the ability to build a city if the bandit is rolled. Here it certainly makes sense to trade two sheep for one to protect those resources - I definitely lose a resource by doing so, but if the bandit strikes I lose four resources and worse, I set my building back by a turn, which could lose me even more in missed opportunity. Again, that becomes more significant in Cities & Knights.
platypotamus
Member
@Pththisis and Alisdair:
Chapel is in. Noon Pacific Friday .
If any of your other league folks play one of your games be sure to post the final score so's I can update the scoreboards.
Chapel is in. Noon Pacific Friday .
If any of your other league folks play one of your games be sure to post the final score so's I can update the scoreboards.
Cant wait, been trying to play more to get better. Never played the board game though.
What kind of setups do you guys play on? A friend of mine tried it on his CRT HDTV and it had an overscan issue and chopped the bottom where the option icons are. As well the text was really small and hard for him to read. I personally use a 20.1" Widescreen LCD monitor, through VGA. (BTW the new update with vga fix is awesome!) I have no issues, looks great plays great.
One thing I was wondering, when you get victory point cards, do they add to your score that you see and not others? Just wondering, since arent those supposed to be a secret until the end?
What kind of setups do you guys play on? A friend of mine tried it on his CRT HDTV and it had an overscan issue and chopped the bottom where the option icons are. As well the text was really small and hard for him to read. I personally use a 20.1" Widescreen LCD monitor, through VGA. (BTW the new update with vga fix is awesome!) I have no issues, looks great plays great.
One thing I was wondering, when you get victory point cards, do they add to your score that you see and not others? Just wondering, since arent those supposed to be a secret until the end?
I kind of wish the achievement was to beat the computer 20 times on hard or something as I actually find playing the computer quite fun and especially nice since you can take breaks when necessary (the GAF games I've been in have all been around an hour long) but I would just need that totally arbitrary meaningless goal to really get into it.
Anyone who has a game or games with me let me know as I'll be up to play tonight and tomorrow night.
Anyone who has a game or games with me let me know as I'll be up to play tonight and tomorrow night.
Son of Godzilla
Banned
I finally took the plunge and grabbed some points. I don't know why I couldn't bring myself to buy this, I've been feeling really frugal lately. $10 is really good price, but still feels expensive for some reason. I guess I've just turned into a giant tight ass.
Who wants to feel the wrath of my beginner's luck?
Who wants to feel the wrath of my beginner's luck?
Silicon Knight
Member
I really hope so, the "disconnecting issue" has made the game practically impossible to play online for me.alisdair said:
Silicon Knight
Member
No, sometimes you don't have to. I've had hands of 8 cards or more multiple times now and for some reason I didn't had to discard any.QVT said:
Hey guys rushed this group friends list thing togther for the halo 3 beta but hopefully it will help with getting some more games of catan going over the weekend and then later I'll put togther the torney for the GAF catan cup 
http://www.assemblehere.com/group.php?id=3
http://www.assemblehere.com/group.php?id=3
platypotamus
Member
And the first game of the Europe/Pacific conference is over.
With a last second victory: Pththisis!
Score:
Pththisis: 10
Alisdair: 9
Platypotamus: 9
chapel: 3
Which gives:
Pththisis 7 points
Alisdair 4 points
Platypotamus 4 points
chapel 0 points
I'll update the scoreboard as soon as my stupid server goes back up.
Looks like the next game in our conference is myself, alisdair, gowans, and orodreth. I think you three are all on european time, so let me know when is good and I'll join you.
With a last second victory: Pththisis!
Score:
Pththisis: 10
Alisdair: 9
Platypotamus: 9
chapel: 3
Which gives:
Pththisis 7 points
Alisdair 4 points
Platypotamus 4 points
chapel 0 points
I'll update the scoreboard as soon as my stupid server goes back up.
Looks like the next game in our conference is myself, alisdair, gowans, and orodreth. I think you three are all on european time, so let me know when is good and I'll join you.
Son of Godzilla
Banned
Ya'll have a league going? Too late to get in on that? I'm in love with this game, I can't believe I didn't pick it up immediately. GT: Kater SoG
Son of Godzilla said:
Same boat. I picked it up a couple of days ago, and I'm loving it. I was deciding between Carcassonne and Catan for a board game a few months ago and ended up picking up Carcassonne. Looks like I got both
Anyway, if you guys find space in the league, I'd love to join in. Gamertag's Doytch.
iapetus said:
Statistically the 7 will come up one out of every 6 rolls. So five times that you give up two sheep you'll be doing so for nothing (on the average). That's 10 sheep lost, compared to the one time when the 7 comes up, where you're actually hurt a little worse (but not too awful).
So either I'm actually good at this game (doubt it since I'm still learning how to play) or the cpu is freaking DUMB.
I was playing them on hard and really, all you have to do is get the longest road but don't connect the middle (so you don't get the 2 points until you finally connect it) and make ~3 soldier cards but don't play them. Now you have 4 points you can just throw out pretty easy at the very end. Then you just build settlements/cities until you get to 6 points and throw out your soldiers and then build a road and viola you have won.
OTOH I think even though they are dumb AI the game still cheats on hard. When I was in the lead they'd roll at least 2 sevens (robbers) between my turns if not THREE and would all steal from me. Also they aren't supposed to see my victory card, right? Well when I'm at 6 w/victory card (so it should be showing 5 to them) and they are all at 5 (so we should all be tied), none of them will trade with me and say I'm too far ahead (BUT I'M TIED WITH YOU ALL). So yeah, I feel abusing the road/soldier is justified against the cheating AI on hard.
Hmm...I think I might almost be ready to attempt to play this online against crafty humans...
I was playing them on hard and really, all you have to do is get the longest road but don't connect the middle (so you don't get the 2 points until you finally connect it) and make ~3 soldier cards but don't play them. Now you have 4 points you can just throw out pretty easy at the very end. Then you just build settlements/cities until you get to 6 points and throw out your soldiers and then build a road and viola you have won.
OTOH I think even though they are dumb AI the game still cheats on hard. When I was in the lead they'd roll at least 2 sevens (robbers) between my turns if not THREE and would all steal from me. Also they aren't supposed to see my victory card, right? Well when I'm at 6 w/victory card (so it should be showing 5 to them) and they are all at 5 (so we should all be tied), none of them will trade with me and say I'm too far ahead (BUT I'M TIED WITH YOU ALL). So yeah, I feel abusing the road/soldier is justified against the cheating AI on hard.
Hmm...I think I might almost be ready to attempt to play this online against crafty humans...