Get some damn tanks is a reasonable response for every server but Express. ABs in Express should have a small chance of taking out a CS. Maybe 10% chance of destroying a CS per successful AB.

Lots of countries this set with lots of missiles and high warfare tech. I always just stay away from those countries because even if I destroy all of their missiles, they'll make a lot more. Spy before you grab, people!

What would buying their tech one point at a time do?

1) Don't blindly undercut the current market price.
2) Don't blindly undercut the current market price.
3) Don't blindly undercut the current market price.
4) Check the market news before selling.
5) Check eestats before selling.
6) If you're going to ignore my advice, at least don't undercut the market price by hundreds or thousands of dollars per unit! Try just a few dollars less. Dantzig says only you can prevent market crashes.

What's your #? do you like long walks on the beach?

How about just reducing the military expenses for commies (at least in some games) since that seems to be the bigger issue? That fits with the lore since communist governments pay their citizens poorly (unless the citizens are corrupt and exploit the system which is a good enough reason not to remove corruption for commies) and produce cheap weapons.

And then

"i am not a big fan of that 76 military tech but if it doesnt get any higher we dont have a problem

why not just get R tech and spped on your merry way"

ROFL

You want hilarity? Check out the message he sent me!

"hello

i see you are playing a democracy
you are of course welcome to play any gov type you like
however

i have a high SPAL
numerous missiles
and an interest in protecting my little niche strategy
so if when i spy on you i see that you have a lot of military tech, we are going to war starting with a missile frenzy
if on the other hand i see very little military tech
i will just watch shoot on past me and will wish you the best of luck
this strat will not work well i suppose but i am not willing to share it with others
i used to get Fs in grade school for plays well with others"

Dead already? How did you manage to piss people off so quickly?

So when are these changes going to be implemented? Will the implementation be gradual or all at once?

No food on the market=I can't/won't play my turns. Someone start an F and sell food for $40 or under, please!

-If countries make a SS or PS their DR immediately falls to 0.

The more I think about this, the more I think it could be horribly abused. Two countries could start with zero/little defense and land trade indefinitely. Someone could also have a land farm that they hit multiple times then have the farm do a single attack to reset the DR whenever they want. They could claim the farm with 5+ attacks without resetting DR then reset the DR the next day when they're ready to play turns. If the admins are going to watch for and address that type of abuse, I guess the change is fine but it seems like it would be easier to just reduce the DR period to 4-6 hours.

--Countries in GDI will only be able to do standard strikes, planned strikes, steal tech, bomb banks, burn oil, or burn bushels to countries which have done at least 2 attacks or offensive spy ops towards them.

This is an error, right? Shouldn't the word "unless" appear in there somewhere like the rules for non-GDI countries attacking GDI countries?

I'm excited about all of the changes! The extra 2 days is really going to change things, too. It will be fun to see higher NWs.

Like this http://wiki.earthempires.com/index.php/Technology

Theo cashers do quite well in Express. D and R cashers will rock them in games long enough to max tech.

All-X republic tech seems like it could be decent in Express but otherwise I don't know why you'd want to do it. The exploration bonus is useless if you're LGing and the PCI boost is nothing compared to the H and D bonuses. Add in the increased tendency of Rs to get grabbed and it seems like a horrible idea.

I know of people running H indy starts--seems like a bad idea compared to a cash start but maybe I don't know WTF

Land farm cheating does not occur in Express due to DRs. That's the only danger of reducing DRs that I can think of.

He seemed lucky but he had to do something right to avoid retals. Running the same strat earned me a dead country. He picked the right people to hit 2-4 times and must have built a country with few weaknesses.

I fully agree that the last minute casher strat is BS. The simplest way to fix it would be to change the game mechanics to require more frequent play (less max/stored turns). It really seems backwards that playing a minimally involved game trumps actively playing.

The top 10 was very interesting this round:
4 x H
3 x C
2 x R
1 x F

3 countries over 20 mil, including a commie indy (nice job)!

With the poor tech market this reset, I'd guess that the top 10 had 6 cashers, 3 indies, and a farmer.

It's been a very fun reset. Most fun I've had in Express so far :)

I have no idea what 3 is doing this set but I have observed him sit around with nothing but a bunch of tanks and tech in previous sets. The tanks scare people off while the tech accumulates from research alliances. He only played the minimum amount of turns not to lose any and had perfect timing. Even if someone were to hit him early or in the middle of the game, it wouldn't hurt his final NW much because of DRs and how he plays his turns.

I'd really like to see a CI win Express again but that probably won't happen either. It's just a matter of time before someone goes apefluff on the biggest commie because of how he's been triple LGing everyone.

3 has a good chance, especially if he was able to scam research alliances to leech off of as he has done in previous resets. It's a brilliant strategy if you really want to play that way.

There are at least 2 groups of 4 techers in Express this set. Tech prices aren't horrible but they are much lower than last set. I predict that a last-minute casher will win Express yet again.

LOL, are you ButtSexVille or Buymybushelsfluff?

I like these ideas. With the random DR, another option would be to have a spy op that shows the current DR percent.

What are the worst strats you've seen other than rainbow? I've actually seen two players in Express playing Republic Farmers this set which seems pretty bad. I've also seen Republic Indies :(

Yeah, the spy one might be overpowered. Maybe a "free" limited spy op that could include a few random pieces of info from the full spy op? That way it could be a complete waste of a special move or it could be incredibly valuable. It could be called "interrogate enemy informant" or something.

I only play Primary, Tourney, and Express so I was not thinking about the implications of these additions on the other game types. Other players would have to comment on that.

Other ideas:
*Focus on weapons development (increased or guaranteed missile development in/for X turns)
*Surprise strike (opponent's defensive allies do not have time to respond to next SS. Could exclude player's offensive allies too if this is too OP.)
*Lewis & Clark (increased exploration rate for next X turns)

It would be incredibly helpful to have a shortcut to view allies' news vs having to do individual searches by country number. Any chance this could be added?

Not sure what's gotten into me but I've been thinking outside the box more recently . . .

We currently have several random positive and negative events: earthquake, food boom, oil boom, drought, and oil fires. What about adding some events that can be activated by the player to give temporary bonuses? Player could get access to events on a timed basis (e.g one per 24 hours) or as a bonus (e.g. for fb activity or site voting). I would propose that players not be able to save up these "special moves": only one would be available at a time. These could be a lot more interesting than bonus turns or acres. Examples:

*Institute draft (increased troop/military production for X turns)
*Give speech to increase military pride (boost military strength for X turns)
*Activate national guard (increased defense for X hours)
*Focus on homeland security (increased defensive spy effectiveness for X hours)
*Give speech to increase economic production (boost PCI for X turns)
*Bribe market officials (next market sell is immediate or market fees are reduced/eliminated for X hours)
*Obtain a free spy report on 1 country (not sure what to call this one)

I'm sure others could think of a lot of additional fun "special moves" that could combo with smart thinking to result in interesting outcomes and more versatility in play styles.

Change troops to 1/1, tanks to 2/2, turrets to 0/8, and jets to 8/0 and adjust prices and all formulae accordingly.

Yes, it's "dantzig". Dantzig is the last name of an important mathematician: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig

I like the points idea, too but thought it might be more complicated to balance than adding a few pre-determined customization options. If the balance issues can be addressed, it's certainly a better option to allow players to tweak their countries to best fit their play styles.

I was trying to stay away from stat adjustments already specified by government types and tech as the user already gets to choose those and they're pretty well balanced.

The adjustments provided to each government type are, in general, very mature and work well. However, it might be fun to further spice things up. What about adding optional user selectable stat adjustments (aka specializations) in addition to government types? The user would have the option to choose one (or none) at the beginning of the set. The adjustments could be relatively minor ones and could apply to play style vs. government type/strategy. They could allow players to play slightly more or less extreme strategies.

Examples:

Market fee discount specialization:
-50% market commissions (3% instead of 6% for most gov't types)
2 turns to place goods on the market, 4 turns to recall

Anti-nuke specialization:
+20% SDI protection (or +50% SDI tech effectiveness)
-country will not produce any missiles

Offensive specialization:
+10% offensive military strength
-10% defensive military strength

Defensive specialization:
+10% defensive military strength
-10% offensive military strength

etc.

Will Hs still start with 20% lower PM sell prices?

Who was the farmer? I'm pretty sure the D was tech->cash. Did someone run a farmer and switch to H to jump and I just missed it?

I played a techer and would have won if I didn't get nuked and lemminged down to the tune of 8-9mil NW. I finished in 3rd anyway. My experience does not support your argument.

However, you do propose a convincing argument for decreasing the max turns available to play. Cashers tend to wait until near the end of the set to play all of their turns and greatly benefit from cheap tech and goods while avoiding the main challenge of playing the game--avoiding getting attacked while growing. The winner of the last set was my ally and did exactly that--he proposed alliances to me early on, played very few turns all set and leeched from the research alliance I foolishly accepted from him (he had purchased just enough tech to make me think he was teching and to benefit from my research), then played all of his turns when he had max turns stored.

I love this idea!

Increasing time on market and turns to recall will encourage undercutting even more than we currently have. You're absolutely screwed if your stuff doesn't sell and 192 turns will accrue while you're waiting for your goods to come back. Compare that with 96 turns for Primary and 115 for Tournament.

Maybe a better solution would be to encourage Express players to play more frequently? 4 hours of Express = 1 day of primary. 4.8 hours of Express = 1 day of Tournament. Players are encouraged to play Primary and Tournament at least once daily, perhaps encouraging play every 4-5 hours in Express would help? Decrease the number of max (stored) turns and/or give bonuses at 2, 4, and/or 6 hours instead of 12/18 hours. Players playing more frequently would help to stabilize market supply and demand and encourage more even growth among countries. Of course this would reward the people who can afford to play multiple times throughout the day (students, the unemployed, or those who can play at work) so I'm sure that many would object.

Any decrease to Express DRs would make me very happy. It's currently very difficult to find a good LG target not in DRs and if single grabbing is strongly encouraged with the new rules, it will be even more difficult.

On second thought, I think the new GDI will fix all of my concerns about small countries being able to rip apart much larger countries. As a new player to EE (I played E:2025 way back in the day), Express is frustrating because a 3mil NW country can cause disproportionate amounts of damage to a 15mil NW country. That has been my experience so far.

Are you accounting for gov't bonuses, tech, and offensive/defensive allies?

It seemed strange for someone to sign their name to that country's behavior. Glad it wasn't really you.

Something else that might be worth considering is DRs based on size for attacking larger countries vs just smaller countries. It's currently much easier for a small NW country to harm a large NW country than the other way around. I understand that there needs to be a balance but things are currently way too much in favor of small countries.

#49 pretty much convinced me that the new GDI is a good idea, too. 13 missiles from someone I never touched. His reasoning was that I deserved it for doing a single PS on his ally. It sucks when a poor player can cause significant damage to someone who put more work into their country and managed to be more successful at growing it to a leading size.

-Remove oil.
I support this change. Oil has been $30-50 this set which makes it meaningless. Fs should get another gov't bonus though.

-Countries start with 72 (0) turns maximum.
I also support this change. It hurts cashers a little but cash starts should be very weak.

-Changing around public market constants.
I DO NOT support most of these changes. Raising max sale % is fine but changing time on market, time to market, and recall turns will hurt indies, farmers and techers and help cashers. The time on market change is the biggest nerf to producers but the combo of all three is really nasty. REDUCING time on market to 4 hours or at least leaving it at 8 hours should be considered.

-The scores update will be every 15 minutes instead of every 5 minutes.
As long as this doesn't apply to search, I don't care about it.

-Increase starting resources.
Why do you need to mess with starting mechanics in addition to all of these other changes? It appears that this change would help cash and food starts and hurt all other types of starts. I'm sure you've done the statistical analysis and can confirm. This doesn't seem necessary.

-Decrease maximum daily spy ops to 100.
EXCELLENT IDEA!!! This will make it much more difficult for idiots to kill netters via spy ops alone.

-Minimum ally time will be 24 hours and sending foreign aid will be impossible.
Both make perfect sense.

-Reduce the "unable to drop land window" from 72 hours to 24 hours.
Not being able to drop land has never been a factor for me. Maybe my gameplay isn't advanced enough. I don't see a problem with this change.

-Declaring war will be removed.
Fine with me.

-Completely changing the GDI system.
A lot to digest here. Making GDI a turn 1 choice and reducing the cost to FREE would be more interesting but I think that I'm still in favor of these changes.

However, you've neglected to consider the biggest change needed to Express: reduce DRs for SS and PS! A few early grabs basically results in some countries having immunity to attacks for the rest of the set--they can then go crazy grabbing with little concern of retaliation. However, a country that plays nice and manages to avoid getting retal'd for most of the set is punished later by attacks hurting a lot more. DRs in Express should last for 4 hours, not 24 hours. That along with the GDI changes will make things MUCH more interesting.

Another fun change would be awarding bonus turns differently: 3 for staying logged out for 2.5 hours and 6 for staying logged out for 4 hours.

Thank you for realizing that something needs to be done to fix Express. The current version is best suited for idiots and saboteurs, not those who simply want to play a fast paced version of EE.

Allowed or prohibited? I thought it was prohibited.

Got rocked by a number of countries that I never attacked this game. Explanation:
Message from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) sent on 08/08/2010 22:36:58
You decided to farm my ally.

The attacks were well done. They definitely ruined my country. However, this seems like odd behavior for independent countries.

Countries that attacked me that I never touched:
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40)
The Immigra (#49)
1 ring 2 rule them all (#5)

After the hits, I received some weird taunting messages from Immigration Reform (#9) that may or may not be related but the similarity in country name to #49 makes me suspicious.



5.6 hours ago
A cruise missile from 1 ring 2 rule them all (#5) was launched at your lands, destroying:
24,013 Military Units

5.6 hours ago
A cruise missile from 1 ring 2 rule them all (#5) was launched at your lands, destroying:
24,013 Military Units

5.8 hours ago
A nuclear missile from The Immigra (#49) was launched at your lands, destroying:
294 Acres

5.9 hours ago
A nuclear missile from The Immigra (#49) was launched at your lands, destroying:
310 Acres

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 2846 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 2899 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 2953 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3008 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3064 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3117 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3175 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3235 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3296 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
A chemical missile from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) was launched at your lands, destroying:
3863 Civilians
23 Buildings

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3353 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3416 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3481 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3542 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3609 enemy spies.

5.9 hours ago
A nuclear missile from The Immigra (#49) was launched at your lands, destroying:
326 Acres

5.9 hours ago
A nuclear missile from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) was launched at your lands, destroying:
343 Acres

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
14 Buildings
Your military lost:
76 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
15 Buildings
Your military lost:
82 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
16 Buildings
Your military lost:
75 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
16 Buildings
Your military lost:
52 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
16 Buildings
Your military lost:
68 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
17 Buildings
Your military lost:
72 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
17 Buildings
Your military lost:
75 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
17 Buildings
Your military lost:
63 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

5.9 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Your defenses held against the invaders and forced them away!

Your military lost:
109 Tanks
Their military lost:
80 Tanks

6 hours ago
A nuclear missile from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) was launched at your lands, destroying:
361 Acres

6 hours ago
A chemical missile from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) was launched at your lands, destroying:
4440 Civilians
33 Buildings

6 hours ago
A chemical missile from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) was launched at your lands, destroying:
5103 Civilians
34 Buildings

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
20 Buildings
Your military lost:
127 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
20 Buildings
Your military lost:
95 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
21 Buildings
Your military lost:
100 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
21 Buildings
Your military lost:
105 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
21 Buildings
Your military lost:
111 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
22 Buildings
Your military lost:
117 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
22 Buildings
Your military lost:
97 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
23 Buildings
Your military lost:
128 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
23 Buildings
Your military lost:
107 Tanks
Their military lost:
240 Tanks

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
24 Buildings
Your military lost:
170 Tanks
Their military lost:
400 Tanks

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3748 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3820 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3893 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 3967 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4043 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4115 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4184 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4259 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4336 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4419 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to demoralize your forces! You killed 4494 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
Enemy operatives caused a drop in your readiness!

6 hours ago
YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) attempted to spy on your military! You killed 4571 enemy spies.

6 hours ago
A nuclear missile from 1 ring 2 rule them all (#5) was launched at your lands!
It was stopped by your defenses! Your SDI has been slightly weakened.

6 hours ago
An armoured division from YOU FARM I MAIM (#40) has invaded your lands!
Their forces broke through your defences!
They destroyed:
24 Buildings
Your military lost:
149 Tanks
Their military lost:

There is an LG problem: there are not enough countries for the grabbing countries to feed off of without doing 2x-10x grabs. If I find a good LG in express, I'm going to take full advantage of the situation. Don't want to get farmed? Get some defense or at least a few spies! BTW, defense doesn't have to be turrets. Tanks or troops can be a good lg deterrent, too if you have enough of them. I'd also think twice about grabbing someone with a ton of nukes since that's just going to be counterproductive. point is, if you're running a low-d country and get farmed, that's your own fault and you have no room to fluff lol

I thought it was pretty much a given that most countries would shoot their missiles at anyone who LG'd them. If you spy before a LG and see a bunch of missiles, you know you're taking a risk.