Recommended turn order based on play times:

OK so I admit I do lack an extensive AoW3 PBEM games experience yet from the games i've played up to now it seems that 1vs1 games are a bit like russian roulette where the initial class+race choice can have a big influence on the final result, all other things (e.g. strategic development) being equal.

I don't think there is any way to fix this in the PBEM mod though, but from a tournament point of view I find this frustrating. Maybe an option would be to select the victor by playing two games instead of one, where the race+class would be swiched in the second game ?

@Hiliadan, yes, I could make that map you requested.  Tell my what sites, quadrant, etc.

Hoy guys, 

are you aware that Triumph is planning on making water forts part of a game?
http://aow.triumph.net/the-v1-8-poseidon-patch-in-steam-open-beta/

Tasslehoff quitted!

I also just had an issue with the debug mode, updated one game with debug on and now it´s not playable for others without debug mode on. Same goes for debug off. So better turn the mode off before you update any game.

Triumph released its official v1.8 on the Steam open beta. Please note that you should NOT run on Steam open beta for your PBEM games except if all other players involved agree, because it can cause big issues, like games being blocked because one player with a GoG copy cannot use the Steam open beta and so cannot play his turn. Using the open beta will cause your game to say that you are using a different version of the mods as the ones used for the game, but the issue is not with the mods, it's with a previous player having used the open beta.
PLEASE REPORT any such issues so that we can help you and identify potential other problems.
My personal advice is to not use the official open beta for any game, except games created specifically to test it, as it is likely to cause troubles.

Please also remember to vote in the ongoing poll: What are your difficulties when playing Necromancer?
And please note that a new article was published, check it out: Interview of Skuns453Lirik902 - finalist of the 2015 PBEM Duel Tournament

@Gilafron & other map makers: the idea of organizing a "tactical battle challenge" has been discussed on the chat recently and we would need someone to create a map with 7 similar areas with about 15 sites to clear for each of the 7 players. The idea is that 7 players clear sites that are exactly the same, with exactly the same army, and an 8th player is allied to all of them to see what they do and do videos and comments their actions, to share with the wider community. Would someone be interested to help create the map?

mauvebutterfly quitted!

3 slots still free in FFA with 4 players:

there can be only one

The community expansion is designed and implemented by a team open to everyone and Eomolch was involved in it at the beginning but then he decided to leave and he didn't agree to modify anything in his mod to integrate them in the SR expansion so he won't agree to bring any balance or otherwise change to his Archon Race to integrate it. But even without this issue, the Archon Dwelling has been ready for months, well before Eomolch started working on his Archon Race. Why should we waste the hard work of Dr_K, who implemented the Dwelling, and drop the Archon Dwelling? That would not be fair.
We already have a new Race, the Shadow Elves, and they are also almost ready. The expansion has an internal coherence, a lore background, a dedicated team who has been working on it for months. There are many great contents on the Steam workshop but we are not going to integrate all of it into the expansion just because it's great, there need to be coherence and implication from the modders into the team effort. Also, you must not underestimate the work to merge mods, make them interact well together (including in terms of balance) and polish them to a sufficient degree of quality. Our resources are limited and I think bringing 1 Race, 2 Dwelling, 1 layer, new units and strategic structures is already a lot.

Regarding Shadow Demons, they will be roamers and defenders in the new structures, they won't be a Race or a Class because of our limited resources.

Written on 2017-04-17 19:22:09

Gilafron If you are planning to incorporate the Archons as a Dwelling, why not incorporate them as an entire Race?  I suggest seriously thinking about it since a lot of work is completed for adding them as a race.  Perhaps all that is left is balancing.  To me, it seems a new race is preferable to a new dwelling.Â

+1 for Gila's comment. 

If you are planning to incorporate the Archons as a Dwelling, why not incorporate them as an entire Race?  I suggest seriously thinking about it since a lot of work is completed for adding them as a race.  Perhaps all that is left is balancing.  To me, it seems a new race is preferable to a new dwelling.

Are there any plans to incorporate Shadow Demons as a race as well? or will it be more like an additional class? (ofc, if it is possible to do that with the mod tools)

We'll actually soon have 1 new Race, 2 new Dwelling and 1 new layer. See the 4 articles about the Shadow Realm expansion on the Battlefield's news section, starting with the latest (you have links to the others in it): https://www.the-battlefield.c... />The (living) Archons will be one of the Dwelling so it would not really make sense to include the Archon Race mod into the balance mod. Eomolch knew that perfectly well but he still decided to go it alone and do the Archon as a Race, which means his mod is in direct competition with the community expansion, it's a shame.

A picture from the Archon Dwelling in the Shadow Realm expansion:

Hi Guys,

wonder if you had time to check the Archon mode out?
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=897959715

if this mod can be incorporated in the balance mod, we'd pretty much have an exra race (dreaming) 

Gaslov joined !!

Some updates on recent activity on the site!

Two articles have been published recently:
- Interview of Fistandantilus - final phase of the 2015 PBEM Duel Tournament
-PBEM and Single Player Balance Mod v1.21 released on its beta branch (this article includes the changelog of v1.21)

Remember you can comment these articles ("Write comment" button at the top or "Give your opinion by commenting" at the bottom).

A new poll has been launched to understand better the potential difficulties of everyone when playing Necromancer: What are your difficulties when playing Necromancer?
You can cast your vote there.

For all our new players (but also for our veterans who may have forgotten), please have a look at this article which describes also the functionalities of the Battlefield and will help you benefit more from what it has to offer.
One of the most useful function is its chat, which you can access through the link "Chat with xx players" in the bottom left corner, or through this link: https://www.the-battlefield.c... You can have private chat with other players and you have a dedicated chat box for your team (if you are in one). Chat messages are saved for 72 hours so it can also act as a kind of forum.

And finally the results of two previous polls:
- What direction should the Balance Mod take in the coming months?

The table shows the % of voters that are registered users who voted for each option, the ranking among BF users (#1 has the most votes, #17 the least), the % of general voters (BF users or not), the ranking among general voters, and then the final ranking that I made based on these results. It means that our priorities for the near future for the balance mod will be: 1/ Make all heroes and their abilities more interesting (e.g. boost Dreadnought’s late game abilities) - we made great progress on this already (see associated post on the official forum), 2/ Make currently rarely used units more useful (e.g. non-cavalry units produced at War Halls) - discussion will start soon, and then 3/ Balance Racial Governance (make all choices interesting and races more equal).

- Do you think the mod that removes rapids (blocked water) from the Random Map Generator should be used for tournament games to help classes/races that cannot cross these rapids?
52% yes, 43% no and 4% no opinion (not 100% because of rounding issues), 23 voters. Conclusion for the Duel Tournament: we keep rapids because there is no strong majority to change the status quo.

Frozentape joined !!

Hey if anyone wants a challenging 1v1, please private message me !

@Gilafron: There is an updated Westeros Map now? Amaaaaazing! I've been waiting!

Hi, guys!
I didn't get a chance to turn on my pc these 2 days due to the 8. march event - please halt games with timers, where I am participating until today evening!