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Surrender/Rebellion Options[ 5 votes ]
1.	The conqueror receives the conquered race's passwords, and these passwords can never be changed.	0 / 0%
2.	The conqueror AND a third party recieve the conquered races passwords, the third party "rolls dice" and if appropriate plays the conquered race as rebelling.	2 / 40%
3.	The conquered race can sue for "Protectorate" status, and if accepted continue to play the race, backstabbing when appropriate.	2 / 40%
4.	Same as above, but if the conqueror takes the conquered's HW, then the conqueror MUST grant "Protectorate" status is asked.	0 / 0%
5.	No rebellion. If you conquer a race you get to play it as your own with no nativist revolts.	1 / 20%

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I went (5). Still prefer a kingpiece idea, which isn't on the list, but vonkreeden made it clear these are just the options he wants to play... ... Personally I'd only be interested in playing with a clear, fixed game mechanic like a HW kingpiece, which doesn't involve arbitary thrid parties. I guess that means I probably shouldn't have voted, d'oh.

I can't see how playing with two people with upload access and competing desires can possibly work... It'd come down to game mechanic of 'who can upload last'. I guess (3) might work if the third party was the only one with upload access, and was email the desired order each turn, then made changes according to the roll. But I think that's a recipe for missed gens.

[Updated on: Tue, 11 July 2006 22:07]

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If option 4 means "two people get to compete on who uploads last", then I don't quite see its practicality. If it were me, the orders would be "upload all these rebellious shods and blow all ships to pieces"...

[Updated on: Wed, 12 July 2006 08:54]

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I voted for 2.
While I understand what Dogthinkers is getting at with "Clear Game Mechanics"
I was trying more to shape the concept. By fixing the victory conditions (see my previous posts) there is a benifit to being a protectorate if you feel you have no hope of winning (ie you cant have 1st - but you could help someone else to it and they may grant you 2nd as a reward).

You dont necesserally even need to give up the race password (although the conquerer could demand this as one of the conditions of becoming a protectorate). You just have to declare to the Host that you are a protectorate. You also would have to declare to the host when you rebel and stop being a protectorate.

The back-stabbing that this would allow (or even encourage) would be in keeping as terrorist acts are often the first stage in trying to regain freedom.

Think of it like this
You need protectorates to win (its a victory condition).
You need them to be fairly strong (so they can beat up your rival's protectorates)
But not too strong (as they may rebel).
If you treat them harshly they may rebel
If you dont treat them harshly they will get stronger and may consider rebelling.
If you start losing they may all turn on you (blood in the Water)

Also - if its a fairly big map (medium dense with 16 players??) You will need protectorates in order to not go mad from MM

[Updated on: Wed, 12 July 2006 17:58]

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[Updated on: Wed, 12 July 2006 21:57]

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Dogthinkers
If you became my protectorate (after I had attacked you a bit and taken your homeworld).
My first orders would be give me scrappers to take my tech up to yours in all the fields I am behind you. Evacuate these 3 planets that I want and set your research to prop sending me scrappers when ever you gain a level. (I would also ask/expect your game password so I could use your intelligence gathering and keep an eye on you ).

That would be your disadvantage for rebeling, the fact that you pay it upfront when you become a protectorate rather than when you rebel is just tough.

If you dont want to pay you dont become a protectorate and I try to damage you some more to the point when the deal looks good.

Also - those who did rebel and then found they had to sue for protectorate status again would find that the cost of the insurance they had to take out against rebelling again was Huge!

Of course you may find someone who wants to make you a protectorate at much more favorable terms, but the fact that they hold your homeworld would tend to mean they would be the ones setting the terms.
Also if you didnt obay the orders at any point there is nothing to stop them taking punitive measures (though this may cause you to rebel).

This is not to say that you wont find a HP that was made a protectorate by a -f suddenly finding they have been so protected they are now about to pass the -f in score/rank/ships and they may find they can do what they want and even ask for stuff as the -f is more scared of them rebeling than they are of punishment.

What can I say - the game is Empire building, make sure your provinces dont become so rich they feel they would be better off without you. Some players may even find themselves bending knee to those who they once ruled.

[Updated on: Sat, 15 July 2006 16:00]

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