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As a GM for five years now, I have seen as many players come and
go as milk and cookies come and go for Santa Claus every year. There are
five points I'd like to make to new players that warrant some thought, they
are:
1. Play to have fun
2. Diplomacy and public works
3. Work within your country
4. Consider options before empire building
5. Don't piss off the GM.
Lords of the Earth, like other games is just a game. Remember that.
People play Lords of the Earth for different reasons. Some play for the
power, some play to take pot shots at their friends, some play to pass the
time, and some play for fun. Generally, if you play to have fun, you will
usually succeed at some level.
As a new player and one not familiar with the ever-growing basic rules
and individual rules for each particular game, it can be and is overwhelming.
Many new players quit for that reason alone. If you can wade through the
130+ page rulebook to get a vague understanding of how Lords of the Earth
works you have won half of the battle.
You need experience and wits to win the other half of the battle. Experience
will happen over time. And, wits, well... either ya got 'em or ya don't!
One thing I can suggest to new players is to conduct diplomacy and build
public works. Neither action will be bad. Yes, yes can have bad diplomacy's
happen, but if you spend a little bit of time and money on the region for
the leader, I can virtually guarantee a positive result. And, going from
"neutral" to "claimed" is a positive result, albeit
it will take long time to secure the region, but a positive result none-the-less.
A couple things need to be said about diplomacy. When you conduct diplomacy,
send your best diplomat there. "1" is the worst rating and "B"
is the best. Conduct diplomacy in one region for the entire turn as opposed
to conducting diplomacy in many for very little time. The longer you stay
there, the better the diplomacy bonus you'll get.
Negatives that need to be overcome are the resistance value of the region,
the terrain of the region, the religion of the region, and now, the language
of the region. Those are big negatives to overcome. If you do those two
things, send your best diplomat and conduct diplomacy slowly and methodically,
positive results will happen.
Building public works at first seems like a negative because you spend
10 GP or 5 NFP to get 1 GP back. Quite the rip-off if you ask me. However,
if you approach PWBs this way, spend 10 GP or 5 NFP per PWB to get 1 GP
to build another PWB in the future, your income will sky rocket. Remember
you can build 20 × the regional GP value in PWB if it is an intensely
cultivated region. Most regions are either cultivated, wilderness, or steppe.
You can basically ignore the steppe regions, since hordes tend to control
those. But cultivated and wilderness regions can provide good income. Cultivated
regions can house 15 × the regional GP value in PWB and wilderness
regions can support 5 × the regional GP value in PWB. If you can get
a look at someone's stat sheet (either a friend or the use of Intel) who
makes a lot of GP in a particular game, you'll see that fifty percent or
more is made up from PWB.
Working within your country's framework is much better than going outside
of it. To coin a phrase, "Build up, not out." Granted you do have
build out somewhat, but if you maximize every region you control, they can
provide a solid, wealthy core of regions to build an empire on. If you have
one homeland and two leaders, send them out to conduct diplomacy to each
region adjacent to your homeland. Get the regions to become Friendly. Max
out the PWB in the regions. Build a city in every region. Max out PWB in
every city. While you are doing this, AQR's and government stats will increase
as well as your ranking with your competitors. They will envy your position
in the game because you built up and not out.
Once you've built your income up to more than 100 net GP per turn, you
can consider starting to empire build. Choose a direction you'd like to
push your country toward when you empire build. Once you've decided, make
a conscious effort to get to the point you want to be at. This can mean
many things. There may even be a point the GM may have to arbitrate for
you. Empire building is fun and if you can get to the point you want, it
really is a great deal of fun to run a large empire.
When you choose your direction, you can use historical references or just
make one up yourself. For example, let's say you are playing Egypt in a
new campaign. After you've built your economy up and can afford such things
as royal roads and megalithic structures, you decide that the Pharaoh system
the ancient Egyptians had is stupid and you want to run an empire that elects
its government officials and these government officials can only be from
a certain religious group.
So, you convert the country to your new religion and change the government
type to your new elected government. (Constitutional Monarchy is one example).
Now that you've done that, how do you spread the newfound fame and fortune
in Lords of the Earth? Remember to ask the GM if your option is a viable
option.
Lastly, when you are a new player, you are not aware of all the fragile
personalities in the Lords of the Earth realm. Some belong to GMs, but many
others belong to players. If you butt heads with a player, you can rectify,
maybe. Trade regions or stop attacking or whatever to pacify the other player.
But, if you butt heads with the GM, he'll simply throw you out and spread
the word about your bad name.
Believe me, I have done this and so do other GMs. The main way to rub a
GM the wrong way is to not pay him or her. This will result in dismissal.
The next way to irk the GM is to be consistently late with orders or phone
calls or emails or whatever. The GM will ask him or herself if it is worth
waiting for this player and eventually dismissal will happen. And, lastly
the conflict of personalities will occur with everyone. Just hope that it's
not with the GM.
Most GMs are pretty fair and even-keeled, even if they are gluttons for
punishment. They put 20-60 hours of work into each turn for maybe $200.
And that's being optimistic. GMs take the time to be considerate to their
players, [there has been exceptions, and those people are no longer GMs]
so new players take the time to be considerate to the GM. "Please"
and "thank you" will get you everywhere.
To wrap up this advisement to new players, please pay the GM. Turn orders
in on time. Build public works and conduct diplomacy. "Build up, not
out." And, above all else, HAVE FUN!!! |
