Campaign thread for Foreign Ministry - Page 2

jdd2007 · July 30, 2002, 18:27

we shall see, apocalypse...

Spiffor · July 30, 2002, 18:38

Cool, some competition !
I have 3 questions for both candidates :
- In which situation will you consider giving gifts to the AI (not giving into their demands) ?
- In which situation will you give in to AI's demands ?
- In which situation will you offer favorable deals to the AI (I mean, not haggling to the measliest penny) ?

jdd2007 · July 30, 2002, 21:45

i would give gifts to other civs if we needed that country to stay out of our way during a war

same for giving in to demands.

i will always get the last gold coin from a civ. why not?

i will take it case-for-case...

Apocalypse · July 30, 2002, 22:07

Hmmm, so I know why each of you would be good...but I don't know about the bad points.

jdd2007 · July 30, 2002, 22:09

just curious. in your eyes, what reasons make donal a good candidate?

Apocalypse · July 30, 2002, 22:15

A lot...wars with goals, get into AI's head, maintain good relations, be economical with military. Common sense stuff. You both have it.

I want to hear about character. Work ethic. Ability to think on your feet and come up with new ideas.

Harovan · July 31, 2002, 05:05

Quote:

Originally posted by Donal Graeme
500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well then...
Then I guess I will have to change plans. Perhaps what we need is an official seal of Apolytonia. That will work with my idea as well.

As if it would be hard to spam up 500 posts in this forum

. The prove - this post

.

Apocalypse · July 31, 2002, 09:47

Trip must have gotten at least 1000 from this forum by now.

GhengisFarb™ · July 31, 2002, 10:46

I'm kinda new here, so have either of the candidates held a position in our government before?

If so, which ones and how did they do?

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 11:14

no, neither of us have held positions in the government before. however, i was voted chairman of the hawk party and have run for FAM once before (i lost)

Donal Graeme · July 31, 2002, 11:30

Quote:

Originally posted by Apocalypse
A lot...wars with goals, get into AI's head, maintain good relations, be economical with military. Common sense stuff. You both have it.

I want to hear about character. Work ethic. Ability to think on your feet and come up with new ideas.

I will try to answer that as best as I can:
First, I am a lifelong Civ player who has learned the hard way that there is no single tactic that will yield victory in the long run. How does this apply to this job? Simple, because of the delicate nature of our position we will likely have to balance friendships with competing powers, and tried to avoid getting involved in their disputes. Russia and Rome are almost certainly going to mix it up, and the same will likely happen between the Aztecs and Germans, and the Persians and English. And America is of little concern at the moment. The French won't be around long enough for it to be practical to worry about them and the Greeks. We are going to play a balancing act, all the way to the end game. Because We don't want a uber-empire to emerge to the north, south or east of us at all. I have become fairly proficient at playing the AI against each other, and if elected, will use that ability to try to survive the perilous times ahead.

And Sir Ralph, While that message was almost worthless, it wasn't complete spam. That is easy enough. I don't have much reason to hurry either, because my artistic skills were never that great. So that pic will be a long time coming.

Harovan · July 31, 2002, 11:50

Quote:

Originally posted by Donal Graeme
And Sir Ralph, While that message was almost worthless, it wasn't complete spam.

Yours maybe not, but mine was

.

Donal Graeme · July 31, 2002, 11:54

oh wait... Did I just create a spam answer to somebody's spam?

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 12:47

Donal and Ralph, lets keep this relevant.

I would give gifts to other countries, or give in to their demands, to avoid war when we dont want it. needless to say, i would not give in to french demands...

Donal Graeme · July 31, 2002, 12:54

It will not be the French, but we, who will be making the demands.

As for the unprofessional posts, I apologize if I offended anyone.

Remember, we are not really playing against a computer. We are playing against some guys in Firaxis who coded as much of their cleverness as possible into this game. The key is to get inside their heads, and try to figure out the AI's goals. There is often a method to their madness. I have noticed an opportunist strain as of late in the AI, so a strong defense is something I would whole-heartedly support. My goal as FM is simple: to stay ahead of the game, to out-think the programmers.

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 12:57

yes, you must predict what your enemy does, so you can plaan to defeat him

there is some quote for that, but i cant think of it...

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 12:58

as for french demands, i said it theoretically.

Donal Graeme · July 31, 2002, 13:02

I know, but I really wanted to say that. It is an almost word for word quote from some movie, but which one I am not certain...

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 13:03

ok. it does pretty cool sound cool.

*Strength and honor!*

Spiffor · July 31, 2002, 15:49

I have other questions for both candidates :

- Do you consider appointing ambassadors ? If yes, how many ?
- Do you intend to summarize all our intelligence in a comprehensive and available document ? (somehow what I'm trying to do with my Economy site)
- More generally, how much time do you intend to play the DemoGame per day ?

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 18:54

ambassadors, you mean real people? yes, if people show interest, i will see how many qualified people would like to become ambassadors, and then appoint them. maybe 1-3 civs per person, depending on how many people apply.

i do not intend to open a FA webpage, but i might consider a list of other civs with detailed info like you made. this guide, updated maybe weekly, would be where the ambassadors would be a great help.

currently, i spend a lot of time everyday on apolyton, and some on CFC. i will continue being very active as long as im minister.

UnOrthOdOx · July 31, 2002, 20:10

I would liketo respond to Apoc. Work ethic and character. I am sorry that I do not know Donal Graeme much at this time, and hope that will change in the future.

Jdd, however, I have come to know quite well. I can tell you that he is quite devoted to this demo game. And that once he gets his mind made up, he works diligently towards his goals. He did not create the Hawks. Frankly I do not rememer who did. He did, however take over when the afore mentioned left for whatever reason. Jdd has opinions, strong ones. He will make them vocal, much like most Hawks make their voices heard, sometimes to the dismay of others, we are a bolsterous bunch. But he also listens to suggestions. The last the public at large may not know, but I assure you, he will listen, he has before, just not anything the public knows of. I voted for him not as leader of the Hawks, but because I know him, and know he would do a great job at this position, and it is a shame that he was not put in before.

Donal Graeme · July 31, 2002, 21:22

That last post made me want to cry Unortho. It was so...touching.

To try to respond to some of the questions: At this point, I think that ambassadors may not be necessary, at least in the sense of keeping track of the various differing civs. I think that rather than have one person keep track of several civs at once, there should be assistants to the FM. I would call them Deputy Foreign Ministers. They would help the FM if the workload got too large, or if he/she needed someone to check out something while he/she was busy. Managing tech trading perhaps. I believe this would be superior to having designated ambassadors, because this allows for a more fluid and responsive handling of the workload.

I understand that the biggest problem I face right now is that no one really knows me. Jdd has been here a long time, and thus has name-recognition. Apprehension at voting for the new guy is completely understandable, and I would probably do the same in everyone else's place.

Also, I never meant to insinuate that Jdd was going to be a raving warmonger, I am sure that he is completely rational. However, I just wanted to point out that the FM is rarely involved in Offensive wars, mainly as an advisor to the prez. Rather, it will be the FM who must handle aggressive neighbors effectively. Given our poor industrial base, it is neccessary that when we go to war it be on our terms, not somebody's like Bismark. I just want my fellow citizens to understand the leanings and inclinations of the two candidates. At this point, I would rather be bullied and have to accept material loss than to risk losing a war.

Lastly, I happen to be good at off-the-wall suggestions. The Deputy Minister idea being one of them(I do hope that no one else mentioned a similar idea beforehand!). As FM I would devote my full creative attention on advancing the postition of our nation above all others.
Thanks to anybody who actually read this.

edit: I should be able to participate fully until my term ends without problem.

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 21:35

i read the whole thing.

. i am very sorry to tell you, but i suggested an idea similar to your deputy foreign minister when i was running before. i remember saying i would offer the job to Sn00py [my opponent] if i won. lemme find the link.

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...5&pagenumber=2

halfway down the page. hmmm. i call the position 'senior ambassador.' somewhat like you described.

*Strength and Honor!*

jdd2007 · July 31, 2002, 21:37

i found some things i wrote that still apply to our situation.

We should nurture friendships with certain countries, rule vassals with an iron fist from the start, and keep track of our enemies. I dont believe in kissing @ss, but gifts to our allies should be a regular expense. They will pay themselves back twice-fold should we enter a war.

*Strength and Honor!*

Donal Graeme · July 31, 2002, 21:45

I read the previous campaign thread. Actually, it was kind of eerie to read... Cuz I had just joined. I don't remember who I voted for either... oh well. Do you remember the average number of people who vote in the polls during an election?

edit: I suspect it will be lower than normal, as it is an unusual election time.

UnOrthOdOx · July 31, 2002, 22:11

With the exception of president, the last election averaged around 100 votes. Though this will likely be lower due to timing. I would expect 50-70 personally.