Once more, I pass my time with an Age of Wonders game by playing it "wrong." Less wrong than I've done in the past, in my defense, but still an ass-backwards way to play the game.
I set up a random map of the largest possible size, and then I set the number of players to 2. It's been six hours on the same game and I haven't even seen my opponent yet. It's kind of nerve wracking, because I can only assume that the AI has been expanding far more ambitiously and energetically than I have, but I won't know for sure until I make contact.
It probably won't come down to a final confrontation, though. I've had enough time to build all the possible buildings in a city, unlock all the possible units available to my race and class, and research all the spells available to my initial character setup. There's no other goal I went into the game with. Thus, playing it out to the end would be a waste of time that could be better spent seeing the cool stuff associated with the five other races and five other classes.
I'll confess, it's a dull, pointless way to play the game, but that's what I like about it. More map-filling, less thrilling fantasy-themed battle for martial supremacy. I've enjoyed the tactical battles against the "independent" monsters, so it hasn't entirely been pacifistic thumb-twiddling. However, seeing as how these barbarian-equivalents don't have a coordinated strategy and thus haven't posed a serious threat to my holdings, it has been a relatively stress-free experience so far.
If I start over with a new race and class, I should probably drop the size of the map down to something a bit more reasonable (either that or fill it up with AI opponents), though "should" is a long way from "will." I like tromping through the wilderness, leveling up my heroes and seeing all the different spells and units in action. Why should I stop enjoying myself just because it makes a mockery of what Age of Wonders III is supposed to be about?
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