Message text You make some excellent points sir. It is quite true that e-mailing your team mates is not specifically forbidden and I expect that even if it were, it would not be possible to enforce such a ban. I do think that it should be actively discouraged, however if some players are comfortable doing this, then by all means let them do so. I do feel that players should be aware that other players are e-mailing their team mates to coordinate their moves as it may affect their willingness to join such a game.
As you say, the idea of a single player controlling an entire fleet is ridiculous, but at the same time, in a two player game, each player controls a fleet and the issue of communication does not come up. Within our own group, we play a number of WSIM type games. We allow a commander's conference at the beginnng of a game, but all communication after that must be in the form of pre-arranged signals. We use a card system. Commanders select the cards (signals) and place them on the table in plain sight. Enemy commanders may examine these signals (subject to visibility rules) and attempt to discover what they may mean. It is quite difficult to convey complex messages and in many cases the signals have been badly misinterperted, leading to chaos in the line of battle. The online sailing game Velmad, uses this form of communication and it tends to create similar situations.
In the end it is just a game. For my own part I will prefer NOT to employ e-mail communication between my team mates and trust to my intuition. (I even hide my moves from Tornade, when I am on the site, though at times I think she can read my mind anyway.) |
|
|