Tiberium Alliances

Facebook applications introduced a relatively new type of gaming; something I like to call "Time Based Games."  These games play in a real time manner, except you are limited by the amount of time it takes to accumulate resources.  For instance, in games like Farm Town you must wait a certain amount of time for your crop to grow before you can harvest it.  In other games like Castle Age, you must wait for a certain amount of time for action points to perform tasks, such as quests or battles.  There is also a maximum storage of points to encourage you to log in at least once or twice a day.  Most of these games also encourage coordination with other players, such has hiring them to harvest crops (with somehow makes your harvest better) or working together to defeat a dragon which no one could defeat alone.  This is ideal for people who log in to facebook every day but do not have time to play video games for hours upon hours.  These games are free to play, but they make money with advertizements and extras (for instance, perhaps I wasn't going to be able to get on for a month.  I could pay to upgrade my storage point capacity for a month enough to store all the points I would gain during that time.)  Of course, being the financially responsible individual that I am: I have never spent money on a facebook game, but I know there are a lot of people who do.

This seems to have culminated in a game that was released recently called Tiberium Alliances.   Designed by EA games, this follows the theme of the old Command and Conquer games designed by Westwood games and eventually bought out by EA.  This game follows the same facebook style, such that to get maximum efficiency, one would only need to log in every 10 hours.  Because this game is designed by professionals, we get some very good graphics and above par gaming (at least, for facebook style games.)  The battles are a simple grid based system: the attacker lines up his/her forces in up to four waves of up to nine units each, while the defense is set up (before hand)  on a nine by eight grid (with some terrain features to slow the attackers down).  The attackers move vertically, attacking anything in their path, but only stopping when they are in range of the target they are proficient at attacking (think rock, paper, scissors).  The defenders move horizontally, lining up with the closest attacker that they do best against. 

As the name would suggest, this game is geared towards interpersonal relations.  Early on, you are encouraged to form an alliance to team up with other players.  This has several benefits: bonuses from captured points of interest (such as resources per hour, or extra damage bonuses), the ability to work together to destroy a tough target, and the protection of a group against other players.  Unfortunately, none of my friends are interested in playing this game with me right now.  This means I am pretty much on my own, because I don't really feel like joining up with a bunch of strangers.  Well, to be more accurate there are some people who I became friends with, but they are part of a non-pvp (player vs. player) group, and that restriction doesn't interest me.  Now, usually I would prefer to leave other players alone, but every once in a while I come across a jerk that just needs to die.  This is a normal rule of thumb, right?  See a jerk, destroy a jerk.

Well, anyway, let me give you an example of how this game goes. my alliance is allied with the non-pvp groups, vypermax, so I'm not part of their group, but we are on friendly terms.  I consider myself their unofficial attack dog, seein' as I can attack players at will without besmirching their reputation.  Today, I got on to find that one of the vypermax guys near my secondary base had been destroyed and there were about three bases from Risen Phoenix had set up nearby.  Now, as I am a shamelessly selfish individual, my first thought was "Those guys are way too aggressive to be so close to my base."  So as I began to move my main base down from the north to rejoin my minor base, I went ahead and attacked the base closest to me (with my minor base's forces).  The defenses it had set up were uninspired at best: all they had were a bunch of tanks beside a wall all bunched up in the four squares closest to the left.  Far above them, in the upper left hand corner of the base, was my target: the Construction Yard, which is the heart of the base.  Destroy that, and the whole thing crumbles.

Now these tanks are all best used to attack vehicles so I came up with a diabolical scheme:  I sent in a wave of infantry followed by a wave of tanks: all on the other side of the base, like so:

The plan is to draw them away from the left side, while my bombers slip in and destroy the base.  As you can see below, it worked exactly the way I had planned.  Even though my infantry and tanks were all but destroyed, the bombers managed to end it all with almost no resistance.

Then, I sent out an email to about sixty of my allies to this affect:

Danyo-kun:
I see that risen phonix is attacking: I already destroyed one of their bases, but if we don't get more support here soon they'll overrun us. Are we calling troops or abandoning the territory?[coordinates of the attack]

(Yes, my name is Danyo-kun.  Shut up, at least it doesn't have numbers) 

As well as an email to the guy who roasted my ally's base:

As I'm sure you've heard, the vipermax clans are a bit, PVP starved. I recommend calling off your clan, before things start to get really messy.

~Daniel, Commander of the Shinigami

I continued destroying the enemy bases while I waited for a reply.  Of course, they did not remain idle and I soon found myself under attack by the commander of the Risen Phoenix.  Unfortunately for him, he wasn't even a match for my minor base, so I trashed his base too, then sent him an email (now that I knew who the commander actually was.)

We do not need to continue this war, though I am somewhat enjoying it. It's up to you: you can cease fire or I can just finish off your entire alliance. For your information, I am an ally to the Vypermax clans: do not attack them or me any more.

P.S. You've only been fighting my weak base. My strong base will be here shortly.

Yes, my strong base did arrive shortly after, and destroyed the original attacker.  I soon got this in response:

Hey man,

I wanted to apologize for this whole affair. We merely thought that the guy was inactive and was the only reason we went after him. It was mostly my fault. You have exacted revenge on me and i deserved it. It was my mistake. We wouldnt of done anything if we thought he was active. Again i am sorry. We did not want to start a war or anything.

Just wanted to apologize.

Total count: four enemy bases destroyed and five failed attacks against me.  I finally heard back from the vypermax commander too:

we got a NAP [non-aggression pact] with them now buddy..the cic said it was his fault and said sorry.. I still WANT YOU!! lol..your a feaking power house!! please brother come join us...i have to keep trying lolol ill never quit trying to get you on our team hahahaha

So anyway, this game can be summed up like this: low play-time requirement with decent strategy and interesting player interaction makes for a fun, free game.

New Tristram Times

The Fall of a Hero

For six days after the star fell, the dead laid siege to our town.  One by one, we watched as our valiant protectors fell to the unending masses. To our horror, our fallen dead rose to join the enemy.  Just when all seemed lost, the sorceress known only as "Crystal" came through our town like a whirlwind, scattering all before her.  No one had ever a fighter like her; in a matter of minutes she broke the siege and laid our friends to rest.

It grieves me to write that even the mighty sorceress has fallen in battle.  Her remains were brought back by the warrior of the Templar order, Kormac.  His grim account is as follows:

"I met Crystal when she rescued me from the local cult; I pledged myself to her service in return, and it grieves me to admit that I failed to protect her.

We were clearing out a crypt that was infested with scavengers, nasty little monsters that are hard to pin down.  I got away from her for a bit and ran into their leader: a nasty customer that had been imbued with unholy power from hell itself.  He knocked me to ground, cut right through my shield, and dove for my throat; only to be knocked back by a blast of force from Crystal.  It shrieked and ran off, disappearing into the darkness of the crypt, but only momentarily.  As Crystal was tending to my wounds, the beast came back and conjured a prison of stone, walling us in on all sides.  She tried to teleport out, but for some reason it moved her a grand total of two feet away.  That wasn't the bad thing, though.  Three beams of light sliced through the wall and into her, cutting into her armor.  She even turned her skin into diamond, but it cut through that too.  The damage was done: her midsection was a combination of charred guts fused with diamond.  She ignored it, and sent her own beam of energy through that wall, disintegrating it's legs.  With the last of her energy, she summoned a hydra of pure energy right over the writhing monster, which promptly tore the beast apart.  It is still there, the hydra; guarding the place she died.  I think it will stay there forever; perhaps she put her heart and soul into it.