I've been thinking about this problem recently and have an idea... (too bad there won't be a MAN 3 )

How about a country-selection system different from the secret allies system? As Morn pointed out, the secret allies has its drawbacks, namely that (a) you could be unlucky and given a "no-win" situation, and (b) (maybe more importantly) your strategic decisions are largely dictated by the allies you're randomly given - it's one of the aspects that makes MAN a very tactical game.

i think it would be cool to see some ability to select your starting countries. there are various ways this could be implemented, each with adv/dis-adv:

1) simultaneous selection of all countries - before the game each player selects all of the countries he wants (of the proper size, i.e. 3 small, 2 medium, 1 large). if both players select the same country then either they have to reselect w/o choosing that country or each is given another random country.

2) simultaneous selection of one country at a time, no disclosure in between. each person selects a single country to become their secret ally. if the players select the same one then they reselect or are assigned randomly, as above. once all secret allies are selected the game starts as usual (or each person's secret allies are automatically disclosed in the order they were selected, one country / turn).

3) simultaneous selection of one country at a time, disclosure in between. same as above except selections each turn are disclosed before the next round of selections. I like this method least.

4) a "bribing system" - all countries start out completely neutral (no allies). each player is given a set number of bribe points per turn. there is a new "bribe phase". during that phase the player gives his bribe points to any neutral country. when a player has given a neutral a certain number of bribe points more than his opponent has (8 for small economy, 12 for medium, 16 for large), then he wins that country as an ally. a similar approach would be for each player to be randomly given one country (the largest one, presumably) and then each player uses the bribing system to determine the rest of the allies.

number 4 is by far my favorite. of course the challenge is to keep game play simple, like the rest of MAN.

mull on it a bit before shooting holes in the idea. i think it could be very interesting. if it's not too hard to implement it might be at least worth testing.

No responses to my "bribing system" post . Must not be that interesting of an idea.


Another question I have: can someone provide more details on why the two maps posted by Morn are losers? I don't see it and would love to learn more. Thanks!

Я продолжаю пока ратовать за совместное "творчество" в изготовлении новых карт, с учетом равновесия баланса.Пока мы не выложили патчем ни одну карту такого вида, нет необходимости, на мой взгляд, паниковать и кардинально менять игру.Надеюсь, Бамбр, сделает карту, которая уже яве, играбельной и на обычной версии.Пусть это будет в красках и дизайне демоленда или авроры, но зато мы сможем понять, утопия ли сбалансированная карта или нет.

Перескажу идею Пикарди на свой лад -

на момент начала игры все страны нейтральные, но у каждого из игроков есть бюджет на "взятки", например 50 $.На эту сумму, игроки "подкупают" нейтралов по своему усмотрению - 4 шт*8 =32 бакса на 4 двушки, и 18 баксов на одну четверку, один игрок.Второй решил -2 шт*12=24 на 2 трешки, 18 на одну четверку и 8 на одну двушку.

Кто играет "красными" подкупает первым.Но как быть, если игроки оба "умные" и выберут одинаковые комбинации?Опять же, выходит, за игрока решит все рэндом в этом случае.