Empires and Generals: December 2014

Friday, December 12, 2014

Chicago Cubs Ottoman Empire Comparison

Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds

Serving under Cyrus the Great, the Magi were Zoroastrian priests who were Mede in origin but, when incorporated into the Persian fold, developed well. Zoroastrian was a deviation from the old Mithras religion and Cyrus embraced it. Many of the main principles are reflected in Judaism and it's an all around cool philosophy on life. The main three principles are: "Good thoughts, good words and good deeds." I liked this symmetry so much and it was so important to the Achaemenid mindset that I've made it into an almost metaphysical reality in the game.

The three main concepts appear in the game as Act of God Cards with the sub-classification of "Circumstance" (which will be used again for time and seasons). They act as regular Act of God cards with the regular rules (you can find them here). Playing these cards correctly is going to be a little tricky. Remember, you must acknowledge and agree before the game if you want to use Act of God Cards! They are placed into your Supply/Resource Pile.

Besides that, it's going to be tricky to play them because they do nothing by themselves. You do not receive a Cultural Health if you have one. You must have all three in your Kingdom Area to gain three health. And since they are Ultra Rare, if two people are both going for the prize, then they may interfere with eachothers desired outcome. Remember, once an Ultra Rare card is played, it may not be played again in that game.

Play safe, play responsibly. GAME ON! -Pauly Hart

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Say MERRY CHRISTMAS to Pauly

Hi, I'm Pauly.

I work with kids every day at a wonderful camp out in the middle of Indiana. I teach skills for living successfully with your world around you to sixth, seventh and eighth graders such as: Large group logistics, Survival simulation, and Teamwork and collaboration skills. I also teach 1800's Settler skills to third, fourth, and fifth graders such as Pioneer cooking, Log-cabin building, Path finding, Candle creation, and several others.

I get paid a little above minimum wage for what I do. But it's worth it because I love changing lives. I'm forty four years old and have been working off and on with children since I was only a child myself, but more specifically, at camps since 1989. I love it, it's who I am, and it's what brings me fulfillment in my life. I've done a lot of things with my time that some might consider a J-O-B, but this one is the best.

Four years ago, I had a dream to create a game that would teach history for free to the larger world around me, but still including children, teens, and also adults. And I began to forge out the beginnings of Empires and Generals in Tulsa Oklahoma. I wanted it to be huge. Dynamic. Life-changing even. And it has. Within the first year of release I had email after email about how unique it was and how much it meant to people to have something affordable. Something to help educate. Something that was free. A teacher in Africa has been using the game to teach history in his classroom, A home-school group has been using it as well for the same purposes. I once had a young man tell me that it changed his life forever, knowing how you can only do so much with the resources you have around you. Its changing lives and I am proud to have made this game.

Since that time back in Oklahoma, my wife and I have found a lovely patch of wilderness in the middle of nowhere to carve out and call our own. We don't farm much but it's worth it to live here, surrounded by random animals, hearing the train every once and a while. We love it. I have worked on the game off and on, taking it to GenCon now twice in Indianapolis, and this last year we saw a tremendous interest in it, and the numbers have grown. I have continually thought of ideas that would make it better and have been implementing them as quickly as I could.

But working as a camp staffer has brought me lower into a lower financial state than I was originally intending. I have been writing books to supplement my income, with moderate success, and have done other smaller jobs here and there to bring in the cheddar. At one point, I thought about selling parts of the game while only having the Family Edition be the free part. That was fine and good, but I didn't own any of the artwork, so I could not charge for it, legitimately.

Now, as an EDUCATIONAL TOOL, Empires and Generals has seen incredible success in freedom and licencing. I can use photos, information, and ideas that are not mine, implementing them into the dough of what already exists in the game and see the fruits arise out of the congealed mass. The only drawback for an educational tool such as this, is that it relies on donors such as you.

To date, no one has donated any money. What this says to me is two things. The first thing is says is that people did not know that they were supposed to donate. I'll admit that this is true. You do not need to donate any money. I do this because it's hilariously fun. I am benefiting so much by having to do all the research for the game anyway, heck. I wrote By the Gates of the Garden of Eden with most of the information that I got from researching game stuff... But the second thing that it tells me is that I have not asked them to donate. And that's on me. I haven't asked you to give me any money in a long time. Probably because I am so happy to do this game for free anyway!

But the wife needs new tires on her car, I need a new exhaust system on mine, Our foundation in our house needs repair, and our roof needs replaced. Now my wife knows that I would rather live in a shack and be able to create, but she's moved us into this huge house and made me responsible for it... So here is me: Asking you to help me make my wife happy.

Surprise me by donating $5 to me. Help this Christmas to be a Merry Christmas Empires and Generals!

By clicking this link, you are going to be able to go to Paypal and donate five dollars!