Here goes nothing...

[reldnahkram]

Who's up for Adv. Civ by e-mail?

Logistics are non-trivial, but I've got most of the details more or less worked out.

Comments

[think-too-much.livejournal.com]

Oh, my.

*I do believe there are various programs for PBEM boardgames, including Civ, that exist and would be helpful. I am fearful that some might be Windows-only.

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

There are some marginally helpful Windows-only PBEM helper programs, but I can't find a file for basic Civ and can do everything but the trade cards with my map and an Excel spreadsheet, distributing via PDF, and I'm planning to hack together a program to handle distribution of trade cards.

[think-too-much.livejournal.com]

I assume the trading bazaar would take place over IRC, I can't think of any other way to do it.

It would also have to be significantly longer than ten minutes per round.

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

I was thinking do everything via e-mail, so scheduling isn't a factor. Trading rounds would take something on the order of a week.

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but if you can schedule an hour per week to do it over IRC, it would be a lot easier to deal with, and the bot would probably be a bit simpler, too.

I'm probably out, unfortunately, since the next couple of months are going to be busy for me.

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

There's no need for a bot for trading itself, only for distributing cards.

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

Without a bot, everyone has to keep track of what they have in their hands, which could be really annoying. And you definitely need a bot for turning in cards and shuffling them, so you may as well just let it keep track of them at every stage.

Also, having it on IRC means that there's no chance of trades happening while someone is "away from the table". With email, it's too easy for a trade to happen before anyone else even knows about it.

[uncleamos]

Fuck no.

[greebsnarf.livejournal.com]

How hard is it to pick up for the first time, and how welcoming would you be of a total n00b?

/me likes PBEM strategy games more than is strictly good for him

[reldnahkram.livejournal.com]

There's a lot to keep track of in Civ, and it's a lot easier with the cards and things in front of you to fiddle with it. Then again, considering the overwhelming response so far...

[orawnzva.livejournal.com]

I'm interested. You've probably got something shinier already, but... will this help?

I second tirerim's suggestion of IRC trading.