When I enter the MULE lobby, if there's another game already awaiting players, I'll generally join it (certain infamous hosts excluded, of course). If there's no open games, I'll create my own and host it.
This forum has seen many discussions about the various advantages the game host has. With his lower ping, he can better judge the actual bids in land auctions, he can click to grab plots during the land grant that he should lose to the tiebreaker based on current game rank, etc. There's no real way to eliminate the host advantages (until the next version of the game, with its new host model and potential bug fixes). However, feedback I've received during my games suggests that my network setup gives me even more of the host advantages than most.
I admit that it's hard for me to turn off my tendency to try and win. Sometimes I don't notice that I'm in the lead and am getting plots that I shouldn't. And sometimes even if I DO realize I'm in the lead, it's hard to know if a certain action is appropriate. For example... should I try to grab the "very high" crystite plot left by the asteroid if I'm in the lead? Or should I let the selection square highlight the "very high" square for a split second before pressing my button, to allow the 4th place player a fair chance to get it first? And sometimes, even if I KNOW what the "correct", fair action is for me to take... it's hard to turn off my honed impulses to try and fight and grab the plot anyways, since that's such an ingrained impulse in the gameplay.
Rather than put myself in the awkward position of having to be careful about not playing too hard to win, I've come up with this solution: If anyone ever sees me hosting a game that's awaiting players, feel free to join my game long enough to tell me that you're about to start hosting your own game. (Press space to get my attention so that I see your message). After you do so, I'll be more than happy to leave my own game and join yours. That way, I won't have to worry about accidentally exploiting my host advantage anymore.
And, of course, players who don't have the ability to host, or aren't worried about facing my rumored massive host advantage
, are welcome to just play in my hosted games, if they so choose.
Thanks!
-Kipley
