Ironing out the format

[Omega_Destroyer]

Man, I'm out of the loop. I haven't posted much today and I haven't had much time to play Heroes. The map I've been testing has been Great Divide I think.

Would you prefer us to use a specific map in our testing Corribus?

[Corribus]

Are you actually testing your strategy? That's great if you are. I have no preference in that case.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Seriously testing strategies, not yet. Haven't had a lot of time because of school getting in the way. I use Great Divide because I think it's a failry balanced map. I'd test Battle for Andora, but sadly there isn't a Fortress. I'll probably pick out maps of all sizes and see what I can get out of them. Additionally, maybe using random maps would be useful? I know they aren't of the best quality, but they seem to be fairly balanced.

Also as to ironing out the format, perhaps we could divide the faction threads into an overview section, early game, mid game, and end game sections.

[winterfate]

@Omega: I haven't played in a while myself...can't bring myself to reinstall it.

So, all that I've been writing is what I know by heart...which in the case of Sylvan is a lot.

And I like your faction thread division idea too. Organization!
Which reminds me, I have to organize my thread.

*goes to organize thread*

[Omega_Destroyer]

I don't plan to chime in on the various factions until we've agreed on a format. Don't want to add unnecessary confusion. Plus it will give me some time to work on the Fortress.

[Corribus]

Ok folks, we need some direction. I like what Elvin and Winterfate have so far submitted. Some great ideas. However I think we need both some sort of uniform “worksheet” for the starting articles and then some general idea of what’s going to happen after that.

For the starting articles, I suggest the following. You may be as brief or verbose for these sections as you want. I realize there may be some overlap within these sections. There’s no need for a lot of repetition, so you aren’t obligated to fill something out for every section, or even to use these section headings. The point is to (A) keep your articles well organized and easy to read and (B) make sure each article contains generally the same sort of information.

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I. General Strategies – written for a medium-sized map under normal difficulty.

1. Faction Overview. Here you will discuss in a general sense the biggest strengths of your faction, and also weaknesses you need to compensate for. Included here may be a brief highlight of skills unique to your hero, or what your army is good at, generally speaking. I would keep this section very brief. Paragraph or so.

2. Build strategy. What are the biggest-priority builds for your faction, separated by week. I.e., what do you go for first week, second week. You can outline it day by day or in a more general sense.

3. Creeping. What is the best way for your faction to eliminate neutrals while at the same time minimizing losses. Divide your discussion into flying neutrals, shooting neutrals, and slow walkers. Is there a priority you should give to mines/artifacts/treasure chests, etc.

4. Hero Development. Self explanatory.

5. Player versus Player. I realize that some of you may not play versus other humans, but you may want to address how playing against another human changes things. For instance – winterfate I like your sprites/hunter strategy for neutrals. I’ll have to try it! But… it would probably never work on a human opponent. Things like this should be discussed.

6. Tactics. Once you are on the battlefield, how do you win a battle against an evenly matched (human and AI) opponent? What creature abilities do you rely on most. Address this in a general sense. Faction-specifics will be discussed below.

7. Map-specific Strategies. Obviously, the type of map will dictate to a large extent what your strategy should be. Address how a small map or XL map will change your strategy. Also, difficulty setting: how do you win on heroic? Other things you could address are: terrain, time limits, etc.

II. Faction Specific Strategies.

1-7. In part II of your article, you will address how your faction matches up against other factions. You should address each other faction separately, under individual headings. I.e., a section for inferno, haven, etc., etc. You may also want to include a heading for your own factions (i.e., how would you play against someone also playing your faction!) How do you rely on your strengths and compensate for weaknesses against the strengths and weaknesses of other factions. You should speculate on what the weaknesses of the other factions are, and how you exploit them, both strategically (castle/town development, troop movement, etc.) and tactically (i.e., winning battles). In discussing battles, assume armies of relatively equal numerical strength. You can also consider different scenarios, such as whether certain terrains favor you or your opponent, whether you have tier 7 creatures, etc. In these cases, think about how you play against a human opponent.

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If you want to actually test your strategies, either against the AI or, even better, another human (either someone else in the debate or just a friend), that will strengthen your article, but it should not be felt to be necessary. Screenshots may also help color your article and make it more interesting, if you are interested in doing so. If you do not have time to make screenshots, I can help. Since I'm not going to be writing an article, I am willing to provide assistance in things like formatting or screenshots. Also, while it’s fine to mention exploits, try not to rely on them solely. Tactical exploits especially won’t usually work on human opponents.

Remember, try to keep your articles brief but informative. I don’t want to put too many limits on what you write, but be reasonable on your length. I would suggest that nobody posts their articles until everyone is finished. We can make an arbitrary deadline when we think everyone can be finished, and then post them on that day. Then everyone will be reading the strategies at the same time. At that point, we can start the discussions. In the meantime we can determine the rules for discussion. So, what do you think is a reasonable amount of time to have to write the articles? A week, two weeks? Infiltrator may lag a bit behind because he is away right now, so he may have some input here as well.

Anyway, please suggest alterations to this “worksheet” if you see room for improvement, or things that I may have missed that you think should be included. Once we have all agreed on a format for the articles, I will post a finalized version in a new thread so it’s easily accessible.

Thoughts?

[Omega_Destroyer]

Sounds like a plan.

[Corribus]

So how long would you like to do your article? One week? Two weeks? One month?

[Omega_Destroyer]

I'm not sure about the others, but a week to two should be adequate for me.

[Elvin]

Because there seem to be many sections I believe that the map specific strategies can be included in the other sections as building, skills etc. After all it affects them so it might as well be a part of them.
Player vs player can be included in tactics or faction specific strategies.

Yep, two weeks should be good enough for me

[Corribus]

Sure - there will definitely be some overlap. You may organize your article however you see fit. I added them as separate headings here to reinforace the fact that these topics should be covered at least, and focused on if possible.

[Caradoc]

I have two big grant applications to write, so I will need at least a month.

[Corribus]

Anyone have any problems with that?

Do you mind, just out of curiosity, if I ask what grant applications?

[winterfate]

No problems here.

Do you mind, just out of curiosity, if I ask what grant applications?

[dwarven accent]Darn, ye beat me to teh question.[/dwarven accent]

[Corribus]

Alright so maybe, given Elvin's suggestion, the best way is to make these "works in progress". That is, you post your article and we can have a casual discussion, and then, once the discussion ("debate") is done, you can make a final version which we post for the rest of the board to see?

[Miru]

We could also do each faction by time:

first week it's everyobody vs. haven, haven doing most of the talking, next week sylvan (order sdoesn't matter) that way we get good ideas of when we should be on how much, and can focus our thought. People like caradoc who need some time before they can start can go later.

[winterfate]

@Corribus: Sounds great!

Welcome to the forums, Miru!

[Corribus]

Hey Miru this is not a bad idea (and welcome, by the way). That way Infiltrator can go when he gets here in July, and Elvin since you have some finals coming up IIR then you can be one of the first ones to go.

What do you guys think?

[Elvin]

Yep no problem. We'll try to finish that part quickly.

[Corribus]

How much time do you want? And then we'll go every week after that? We will need to decide on an order.. and also finalize the faction line-ups.

Maybe people could post here whether they would like to go sooner or later, and then I'll arbitrarily make an order. Elvin/Miru, you will be first. I'll make Infiltrator last. Anyone want to volunteer for 2-6?