Calling for AMPU Playtesters!!!!

[vcczar]

@Beetlejuice @Cal @Cenzonico @ConservativeElector2 @DakotaHale @Dobs @Edouard @Entrecampos @Eugene @Fbarbarossa @Hestia @jnewt @JohnGRobertsJr @jvikings1 @kelley05v42774750 @Kitten @Magnus Rex @Mishfox @MrPotatoTed @NYRepublican @Patine @pFzCXDHANyh @pilight @Pringles @Rezi @Rodja @Sean F Kennedy @SilentLiberty @The Blood @themiddlepolitical @Timur @TZMB @upandaway @vcczar @Wiw @WVProgressive @Zenobiyl

It's almost time for another playtest for AMPU. This will be conducted via the forum since the game is still in pre-development. I need to test the Era of Independence and the Era of the Future. Playtester space is limited!!!! Those with the most reliable, sustained enthusiasm can be playtesters, while the rest will be buried in a mass grave.

Let me copy+paste the intro that @MrPotatoTed wrote for the game: 

Introduction

For the first time ever, YOU can rewrite the entire history of the United States of America, from 1788 (Washington’s inauguration) to modern day – and beyond!   What if Alexander Hamilton had become President?  Or Henry Clay?  Or Oprah Winfrey?  Was there a way that we could have ended slavery without fighting a Civil War?  What if we responded differently to the attack on Pearl Harbor, or to 9/11, or to COVID-19?  What if John F Kennedy hadn’t been shot?  What if Lincoln had survived?  What if we’d made a much earlier commitment to manning a mission to Mars? 

What if, what if, what it…

But, of course, it will not be easy to steer the nation in your preferred direction.  Reaching the White House will be no easy task – and even if you manage to get there, you’ll need to wrangle your cabinet, balance an economy and budget, face foreign threats and internal forces…all while fighting Congress, the Supreme Court, and even your own political allies whose agenda will not always align with your own…

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was the United States.  Nor was it built by one man alone.  Through the course of American history, you will control the Representatives, the Senators, the Governors, the Supreme Court Justices, the Diplomats, the Admirals, the Generals, the Cabinet Secretaries, the Presidential Candidates, and the Kingmakers who helped create the nation that we know today.  Every single person in the game…thousands and thousands and thousands of them…was a real person who tried to make his or her mark.

Some achieved greatness, some went down in flames, most never made it into your history book at all.  But they could have, if they’d made slightly different choices, if time had been on their side, if fate had played out just a little bit differently for them.

What if, what if, what if….
 

What if you'd been there to guide them?

You will control a "faction" -- a continuously evolving team of approximately 100 individual real-world politicians who each had their own interests, areas of expertise, and goals...but found value in working together to achieve them.  Half the players will be banded together into the "Red Team" (Federalists, Whigs, eventually Republicans) and the other half will be banded together in the "Blue Team" (Anti-Federalists, Democrat-Republicans, eventually Democrats).  

You'll want to work with your fellow party members to achieve your goals, as there's always strength in numbers...but there will be times when their goals do not perfectly align with your own.  How will you manage that inner-party strife?  

And when there's a crisis, will you band together with your brothers across the aisle against your common enemy -- whether it's an invading military force or an economic crisis or a global pandemic?
 

Or will you sit idly by, stuck in your ways, as the nation is torn asunder?

 

[Cal]

I would love to participate again. I’m happy to help with running elections and updating the attribute changes from those as well. I’ve not read over the revised rules so I may need to familiarize myself with any changes but overall I feel confident I can help keep that aspect of the game running smoothly and on time.

[MrPotatoTed]

I’d love to get Mark_W back, he was a wizard at automating stuff on the excel sheet.

As I recall, whenever we needed him (after he left the game), someone knew how to ping him on discord.  Does anyone still have that way (or any other way) to contact him?

[Hestia]

10 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I’d love to get Mark_W back, he was a wizard at automating stuff on the excel sheet.

As I recall, whenever we needed him (after he left the game), someone knew how to ping him on discord.  Does anyone still have that way (or any other way) to contact him?

I can try, I haven't seen him too active on there. 

[MrPotatoTed]

1 minute ago, Hestia said:

I can try, I haven't seen him too active on there. 

Thanks!  I’d love to have him play again, but if he’s not interested I’d still welcome his occasional tech support with the excel as he’s much smarter than anyone else I know at that.

[Cal]

45 minutes ago, MrPotatoTed said:

Thanks!  I’d love to have him play again, but if he’s not interested I’d still welcome his occasional tech support with the excel as he’s much smarter than anyone else I know at that.

If nothing else, I’d contribute like 10$ to help bribe him to help automate some of the excel sheet 😛  

[themiddlepolitical]

Count me in!!! You can ask @MrPotatoTed for my number, or I can send you it. (Since I know you both via zoom haha)

@vcczar

Edited June 30, 2021 by themiddlepolitical

[Hestia]

I sent the message, by the way haha. We'll see if I get a response 🙂

[vcczar]

Would like @Dobs to give this another shot but I remember he didn’t like the slow pace. 

[Dobs]

4 minutes ago, vcczar said:

Would like @Dobs to give this another shot but I remember he didn’t like the slow pace. 

If I’m being tapped my liege, I shall serve with vigor. I look forward to playing the updated game.

[DakotaHale]

5 minutes ago, Dobs said:

If I’m being tapped my liege, I shall serve with vigor. I look forward to playing the updated game.

Bless his heart 

[MrPotatoTed]

53 minutes ago, vcczar said:

Would like @Dobs to give this another shot but I remember he didn’t like the slow pace. 

I’m happy to make it fast if the players are making their moves. ;c)

[Cal]

1 hour ago, MrPotatoTed said:

I’m happy to make it fast if the players are making their moves. ;c)

24-36 hours between moves from each player, right? And if someone doesn't respond their teammates have 24 hours to designate someone to make their move for them, and then that person has 36 hours to officially make the move. After that, the missing player has 24 hours to make any objection to the move and then we can continue to the next phase of play. 

Really, it's all quite quick when we go by the system.

[MrPotatoTed]

1 minute ago, Cal said:

24-36 hours between moves from each player, right? And if someone doesn't respond their teammates have 24 hours to designate someone to make their move for them, and then that person has 36 hours to officially make the move. After that, the missing player has 24 hours to make any objection to the move and then we can continue to the next phase of play. 

Really, it's all quite quick when we go by the system.

Usually I stick with 24 hours.  I sometimes give 48 hours for elections because (especially as you get closer to 50 states, the elections are a lot of work for everyone).

If somebody misses 24 hours without communicating with anybody, I’m more inclined to skip them than to give another 36 hours to somebody else to take their turn.  
 

i think asking folks to communicate if they’re out for 24+ hours isn’t a big ask.

[Cal]

1 minute ago, MrPotatoTed said:

Usually I stick with 24 hours.  I sometimes give 48 hours for elections because (especially as you get closer to 50 states, the elections are a lot of work for everyone).

If somebody misses 24 hours without communicating with anybody, I’m more inclined to skip them than to give another 36 hours to somebody else to take their turn.  
 

i think asking folks to communicate if they’re out for 24+ hours isn’t a big ask.

Don't worry I was just joking. That's a ridiculous timeline I outlined 😛 

[MrPotatoTed]

19 minutes ago, Cal said:

Don't worry I was just joking. That's a ridiculous timeline I outlined 😛 

Phew, good.  Haha.  Honestly, I’d prefer a 12 hour turnaround, but I try to be a benevolent GM.  ;c)

[Timur]

I really would like to join, but what do I have to fill out?

Also, what do I have to do with 100 politicians?

[MrPotatoTed]

7 hours ago, Timur said:

I really would like to join, but what do I have to fill out?

Also, what do I have to do with 100 politicians?

For now, just fill out the survey.  VCCZar and I will make our selection of players based on survey results, and any known history of the player's commitment level (have they played the game before and been a reliable participant, do they frequently quit games just a few days after joining them, etc).

As for what to do with 100 politicians: it's a large game!  There's the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet, the President, Generals, Admirals, Governors, influential kingmakers, a Supreme Court, various career tracks to build up skills for future political roles...

Not every statesman will have a job at all times.  But you have a wide pool of candidates to make your plans and build your strategy.  Do you have someone in your hand that could build up to challenge and defeat that troublesome Senator from Kentucky?  There seems to be a shortage of worthy generals in the game right now...can you take advantage of that power vacuum?  Iowa should be a swingstate on paper, but there seems to be a shortage of worthy Senate, Governor, and House candidates from your party -- can you draft someone who will rise to the occasion?

[Timur]

Just now, MrPotatoTed said:

For now, just fill out the survey.  VCCZar and I will make our selection of players based on survey results, and any known history of the player's commitment level (have they played the game before and been a reliable participant, do they frequently quit games just a few days after joining them, etc).

As for what to do with 100 politicians: it's a large game!  There's the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet, the President, Generals, Admirals, Governors, influential kingmakers, a Supreme Court, various career tracks to build up skills for future political roles...

Not every statesman will have a job at all times.  But you have a wide pool of candidates to make your plans and build your strategy.  Do you have someone in your hand that could build up to challenge and defeat that troublesome Senator from Kentucky?  There seems to be a shortage of worthy generals in the game right now...can you take advantage of that power vacuum?  Iowa should be a swingstate on paper, but there seems to be a shortage of worthy Senate, Governor, and House candidates from your party -- can you draft someone who will rise to the occasion?

I already filled out the survey.

[vcczar]

I'm going to wait another day, and tomorrow I'll announce who the players are.