Some people don't like to fight and build an economy at the same time. They like having the economy all set, all the upgrades, a large army and a stockpile of resources before engaging. This is the classic Sim CityŽ player. They can try to justify it all they like, but the fact is they just don't have the ability to do the two things at once. Even DM players have to do eco and military concurrently. Either learn how to attack, play with people of your own playing style in non-rated, or quit. You'd be happier, all I'm saying.
There is no such thing as rushing anymore; it's called attacking. Even if Thor goes classical at 4:30 and Isis goes at 6:00, Thor isn't rushing, he's just trying to attack earlier (and most likely he'll fail for going so early, unless he's more skilled). There is no such thing as rated BF anymore. Even maps like Jotunheim, Erebus, and Acropolis can be easily invaded. Shifting sands, roc transports, forest fire, and underworld passage prevent any kind of sim city playing in rated. If you do not build any military before 10 minutes, you will lose to a competent, aggressive attacker. Not just experts, but against low inters and good rooks. Lose hard. Now to address some other points:
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There should be at least as many 1400s as 1800s, for instance, and as many 1300s as 1900s.
The problem with that is multiple accounts. Most 1800+ have at least three names at 1800+, so there are far fewer 1800's than it would appear. Sub 1500's do not make multiple sub 1500 names, and a lot of terrible players simply quit. In theory, you should be correct, but in practice, it just doesn't work that way. Still, if two honest players honestly suck, they'll be able to play each other in rated.
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Why don't people that always say rushing ruin the game go make some no rush custom scn (cast 30min ceasefire maybe)
Interesting idea. Problem is that the better player will just age faster while the Sim city player takes his time. When the ceasefire ends, he'll have a 5 to 1 TC advantage and the game will end 3 minutes after fighting begins. It could be set up to give each player equal starting TCs with no extra settlements, that's as close as you could get. But even then, someone could agressively wall off enemy resources and TCs without fear of reprisal (even on a walled Jotunheim, a roc tranport could send over a dozen workers to wall-screw the enemy). Sure, you could disable walls until the ceasefire ends, but most Sim city players just love defensive wall building. I can think of a number of other exploits for a ceasefire map, like building an 80 gatherer/40 dwarf civilian pop and then using ragnarok, having saved up tons of resources for rebuilding the economy and pumping troops. Any map like this would still have to be on the "honor system", and you'd be back to square one.
Edit: Norse and Egyptian players would be at a distinct disadvantage on this map, unless multiple Migdols/Hillforts were added to the mix (you can't build them during ceasefire, and that's where their best units come from).
"Yes, I would like to exchange this belt which I won as a door prize at the Star Trek convention. However, I find their choice of prize HIGHLY illogical, as the average trekker has no use for a medium-size belt"--comic book store guy, "The Simpsons"
[This message has been edited by Vulcano (edited 12-03-2002 @ 07:43 AM).]