POLL: Nation Preferences

[K]

sum1lost said:
The multiplayer scores aren't a very good sample, either. Especially since Lanka hasn't been around as many of the other nations.

One thing about this game is that nations seen as strong get ganged up on, so their performance is hurt. But seen equally, lanka has a number of strengths over its opponents.

Is it their poor late-game magic, small numbers of expensive troops that die easily to magic, or their complete and utter dependence on province-destroying Blood Magic? Or is it that a person with a modest Pretender and decent research can summon better mages than they can ever make?

They have a great early game, but they just don't compete against a nation that has even a little research under their belt in either summoning or battle magic.

As someone who has played them a lot in both MP and
SP, I can vouch for that. Forgive me if this is rude, but most people who think Lanka is great are armchair quarterbacks who have played a game or two in SP on small maps and never had to deal with the problems of playing Lanka's late game against more than four players (human or otherwise).

I might be missing some killer late-game app, but for my money most EA nations are better than Lanka past turn 30.

[LDiCesare]

I tend to like Agartha EA. They can't hit an elephant in a corridor, but they have nice summons. I like the fire gnomes, earth elementals and umbrals a lot. Umbrals in particular.

MA is more mixed. I voted Arco though I play many and Pythium comes near too.

LA I like Atlantis a lot. It may not be powerful but it's easy to figure out. Death magic. Make everyone else age and die of old age. Probably not worth much in MP, though.

Marverni is definitely my worst. I played it once in a thematic MP game and it is the worst nation I ever played with. Ulm MA is weak too in the end game.

As for Lanka, I don't think it' that strong. I once tested a Kailasa vs Lanka 'Ramayana' game myself vs myself and the hyper strong demons just got banished (and otherwise killed) away by Kailasa's mage priests. I may have played it badly, but its mages and troops are probably far too expensive for an empire to produce as many mages as your opponents and the end game is not that easy because of that. Sure, they have nice summons, but it's not enough.

[Humakty]

I don't understand why Late ulm had so many votes for weakest.Do you have a problem with persons drenching their thirst with the blood of...hurm, no nothin' to say..
As for Lanka, I think that a wise player should go for the less rapid, but more reliable Kala-Mukha.
They have a good access to many paths.
Their only pbm is the fact everyone knows they are powerful, and that having 9F/9W on your god doesn't make for a great late game.(but maybe some people tried without?)
A big pbm with demons/undead is that by playing with a lot of them, you make your ennemy rentabilize is priests.(who are quite useless on the battlefield,apart from bless).I can imagine a ctis player would laugth a lot against a demon/undead storm.
As a rule of thumb, when you discover a good combo in this game, be prepared to the counter a 'minor' civ might have.

[Cor2]

LDiCesare said:

Marverni is definitely my worst. I played it once in a thematic MP game and it is the worst nation I ever played with. Ulm MA is weak too in the end game.

I am right there with you. Marverni+ MP = suck.

[Gandalf Parker]

K said:
People seem to think that Lanka is some kind of super nation, even though they've only ever won one Multiplay game, and that was a Newbie game. Heck, in just about every other MP game I've played they don't even make it to the midgame.

I didnt bother mentioning it this time to avoid the usual slam but....
Again, the poll says nothing about the type of game. The questions are such as "What Early Era Nation do you play with the most and why?". With more SPers than MPers in general, you cant take for granted that the choice was made for trying to win a multiplayer game. The poll-creator might have made it that way but we cant be sure people answered that way.

Maverni is a great theme. And Lanka is fun to play.

Just a possibility.
Gandalf Parker

[Meglobob]

Lanka is a great nation. I can't understand why K is saying its not. He has played them and played them well. His EA Lanka position in Perpetuality was simply awesome.

Lanka has a good early game due to good bless troops, reanimation and powerful air magic.

Late game you have blood/death/nature (for Gift of Reason) magic to power yourself victory.

Its a strong nation without being completely over the top like Helheim used to be.

Perhaps he is scared Illwinter will get out there evil, evil nerf stick again and spoil all our fun?

[Cor2]

Gandalf Parker said:

Maverni is a great theme.

I agree fully. I love the theme. I would just never take them again in MP.

[Frostmourne27]

Gandalf Parker said:

I didnt bother mentioning it this time to avoid the usual slam but....
Again, the poll says nothing about the type of game. The questions are such as "What Early Era Nation do you play with the most and why?". With more SPers than MPers in general, you cant take for granted that the choice was made for trying to win a multiplayer game. The poll-creator might have made it that way but we cant be sure people answered that way.

Maverni is a great theme. And Lanka is fun to play.

Just a possibility.
Gandalf Parker

Sorry, but I'm feeling belligerent right now:

What is it with you and this comment? Isn't it fairly clear in the question - which nation do you play the MOST! I think I'm echoing someone else here, but uhhh, doesn't most mean, with greatest frequency over a broad sample? Not, like, which nation do you play the most when you feel like stomping the computer in Early Era and can choose only from Hellheim and Lanka?

It's not that your point isn't valid - it'd be nice to see a poll or two with some more specific questions, but it'd also be nice not to have to read you griping and complaining about it all the time. If it bothers you that much, you can always create polls of your own. You have more posts than me by a factor of, like 40, and _I_ managed to figure it out. Really, it's not that difficult. I'd even vote, unless it was _really_ whacky.

/Belligerance off

[Wikd Thots]

RIGHT!

So it means that most of the answers are solo answers. With so many sales and so few people here then most players are solo. Even the MPers mostly play solo games.

If someone wants to add a note about how it rates in an MP game then that is just side comenting to a thot that is off question.
Where is Somber when we need him?

[Atreidi]

Who is Somber?