Hi Fistleaf - I was pretty confused about the MV myself a fews months ago but I am very glad I started playing there. There are basically several groups of players who clump together as teams. you may also form your own team if you like. You still play an individual game, but your scores are recorded both individually and as part of your group. The best part of the MV is that there are a lot of experienced players there who will help you up your game a lot and it is a ton of fun to belong to one or more of these groups. There is a strong sense of camaraderie and a lot of interesting people to banter back and forth with. I'd highly encourage you to join the MV. You might also want to read some of the Kzinti empire thread and the Tyranny of Evil thread...these are the two most active empires currently although the Geckodon Alliance is coming on strong. Also be aware that the tyranny guys talk a lot on the Kzinti thread and vice versa because even though we are on different "teams" we all enjoy bantering back and forth.

All games affect the MV more than you think. The way the MV works is that scores age and depreciate over time...so a mediocre game played today might have more of an impact than a superlative game from six months ago. However, the true fun of the MV is the collective bantering between all the players there and the incredible tips and strategies you will learn. Before I joined the MV I was averaging 36,000 points a game. Now I regularly score over one million. You'll learn a lot in the MV, but the best part is the camaraderie of the players there and just having other people to talk to about your gaming experience. If you are like most of us then your children/spouse/significant other/friends etc could care less about the neat things that happened in your game and the stuff you figured out...they might even hit you if you start talking about it because they already resent the time you spent on the game, lol. In the MV there are people you can talk to about the gaming experience. The sharing of ideas and experiences is a lot of fun. It's like the difference between drinking by yourself and drinking with a bunch of good friends at your favorite bar. One is a heck of a lot more fun than the other.

Hallelujah and praise be! GW, nice to hear from you even if you are feeling snarky! I shall not take umbrage, only delight in hearing from you once more (Snark is a fine fellow indeed once you get to know him, even if he is a Kzinti.) Please see my new post in the Gerontocracy thread. I felt quite lonely there; in fact what I felt was all alone as opposed to merely lonely. Seeking convivial company I wandered off the porch and found these TOE fellows. I would be absolutely delighted, nay, I would be enthralled, to sally forth with my fellow Gerontocrats.....are there any? Let's take a roll call and see who is there and determine if we have enough geritol to make one last charge.

The General