How about a "conditional" random start feature?

[Parzival]

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Concise description:

• Create an equal distribution "Balanced" starting territories option

Specifics/Details:

• Every player will have at least 3 adjacent territories at the start of the game.
• No player will begin the game already in control of a bonus region.
• No player will begin with dominant control of a bonus region (e.g. greater than half of its territiories), if possible.
• Single territories will be equalized according to the number of players, so that all players have an equal number of "loner" territories.

How this will benefit the site and/or other comments:
At this point, the randomization feature can start a game so that one or more players either have a significant starting advantage or disadvantage with regards to the other players in the game. That's okay as a challenge for some games, but can create grossly unbalanced starts. I think it would be appealing to offer a modified automatic territory version that guarantees a balanced.

Here are my proposed conditional checks, which could be easily programmed into CC:

1.) The software would check to see if any player has control of a bonus region or holds more than half of its territories. If so, the software adjusts the drop to prevent either condition (allowing for the number of players in the game, of course). If bonus regions are unavoidable, the software attempts to equalize the starting army troops as closely as possible. (Of course, after the first move this may radically change, but that's the nature of the game.)
2.) The software would check to see if a player does not have at least 3 contiguous territories, and if so adjusts the drop accordingly so that each player does have at least 3 contiguous territories somewhere on the board. This gives a player a reasonable "starting base" to operate from, if he or she chooses. The software would also make certain that any large groupings of contiguous territories are equalized among all players (so if one player has a clump of 3 or more territories, so do each of the others, in equal amounts).
3.) The software would check to see that "loner" territories— e.g., territories which only border opposing players— are kept equal (or as close as possible), preventing any one player from suffering from the "scatter" effect that can currently happen in random drop games.

My proposal is that this option be a further selection choice in the "Start a Game" feature, like so: Initial Troops: Automatic (the current process), Manual, Balanced

I think it would be appealing to many CCers, and create an environment where the strategic challenge for all players is at the same level.

Thank you!

--- Parzival

[Woltato]

I'm not keen on this idea. I think dice, drop and everything else should remain completely random.

CC is a mixture of luck and skill. That makes the game what it is and in my opinion makes the game interesting.

I think the fact that lesser players can sometimes get lucky and win games gives CC a wider appeal.

Sometimes everything can go against you and it may seems unfair over the course of a single game, however good and bad luck evens out in the long run over many games.

[Parzival]

It would not be a replacement for the utterly random drop, just an alternative. If you don't want to use a "Balanced" game feature, you would simply select "Automatic" or "Manual" as your preferred Initial Troop choice when creating or seeking a game. So you would have the option of taking it as it comes in any game you choose, while others could choose whichever they prefer.

So players could still hope to get lucky at the lottery approach, while others could set up games that are more of an equal test.

Not a detraction or a change to good ol' fashioned CC, just an additional feature for those to use who wish to do so.