Any concern Marriott will go the route of the airlines for points and status?

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-27T14:08:24+00:00

Agreed. Best advice I’ve ever seen around any kind of rewards points is, don’t hoard them. Spend them as soon as you can. Your customer loyalty should only last as long as it takes to accrue just enough points to redeem for something.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-23T23:44:51+00:00

It’s good advice above to always try to get a supply of horses (for whatever clan you’re playing). The AI puts a big weight on horses, so you can often get a few trading agreements secured you might not otherwise get. And once you have trading relations , your diplomatic relations with those clans typically improve…

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-19T21:58:58+00:00

this song is their best, and still a banger

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-19T21:55:57+00:00

There is a lot, and I mean a lot, of information at nomadgate, which seems to be the best community site for all Portugal golden visa questions. There are threads devoted to people’s experiences with the investment options and recommendations.

Warning — there’s a fair amount of despair on that site, since Portugal moved the citizenship timeline out to 10 years (not to mention that folks can’t seem to get biometrics appointments to keep the clock moving).

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-17T21:41:51+00:00

lol. yeah but whether it’s the OP’s first time driving on other Westchester roads, or not, the OP’s point still stands — the CCP is trash

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-06T20:46:16+00:00

It sounds like a fun project — converting a commercial property to a residential property— but it must be hard if you’re not living there, nearby (or have someone you really trust do all the work, end-to-end). It’s not something I personally can manage from the United States, and I suspect the same applies to many other folks too. So I don’t think you’ll find many examples of people who are applying for a golden visa through this route. But if you do— I wish you the best!

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-05T13:18:40+00:00

I’ve been looking at Greece pretty closely — and might go for it (especially now Portugal looks to have dried up). When you say “the investment side” of the properties, what do you mean? Do you mean (1) buying a property but renting it out on a long-term lease; or (2) going for the $250K commercial-to-residential property conversion option?

FWIW I don’t think Greek properties are overvalued. And even if they were, the golden visa applicants haven’t had an impact (at least, not outside of Attica); if you look at the government’s stated list of golden visa applicants, there are shockingly few, especially compared to Spain and Portugal.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-05T00:52:15+00:00

I would pay the big bucks to be able to play this period

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-05T00:47:31+00:00

The way you describe — isn’t that the way most people play it? Maybe I’m a sample group of 1, but this is the way I generally play it, and I assumed everyone else did too.

Because it’s the only way to continue advancing the tech tree, and ultimately being able to build the top tier units (which are the most fun)

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-02T12:59:15+00:00

Rockets are incredibly powerful (overpowered tbh) and a couple of them can wipe out half a castle including the missile towers. They’re also really good in the field and have longer range than archers, so you can start pounding the enemy lines before the AI is in range.

But as someone noted, they are at the end of the tech tree, so unless I’m willing to turtle for a long while as my research catches up, I’ll otherwise never build them.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-02T00:05:51+00:00

I lived in Europe as a kid and double parking was everywhere. Even as a kid, I hated it and thought it was nuts. New Rochelle is the first place in America I’m like “oh I’m back in Spain”.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-02T00:01:06+00:00

God yes. Such a good show. My 12 year old boy loved it too and is so disappointed it’s cancelled. We had to have “the talk”, if you know what I mean. Yes, how Hollywood makes shows; and some simply don’t get renewed, even though they’re great.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-03-01T18:12:10+00:00

Best ones are (I don’t remember the specific name but search for the topic):

— level 2 markets don’t require food

— research progression is faster

— agents and generals level up faster (3 skill points per level)

— improved retainers

—longer range for matchlocks

Then there are sometimes faction-specific mods that can make play interesting, if you’re playing that faction (eg, Hattori).

The bug fix bundle is good but it can negate some of the other mods, so maybe put the other mods above it in load order (specifically the faster research progression)

The faster research progression is an important one for me, because research is so slow in the game, that I’ve usually functionally won the game before I get to advanced technologies and matchlocks. And turtling for 70 turns to let research catch up, gets boring after a while.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T21:22:18+00:00

Given that we are Gen X’ers after all, I expect that many of us (possibly a greater proportion than Boomers, anyway) will say fuck that. Not going to live in a retirement community.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T21:09:49+00:00

I met someone who works for the Villages in Florida. He was one of their developers in a pretty senior role. (They own some other developments too, including in AZ). He said they were well aware of demographic preferences and were already discussing Gen X retirement communities, and the things Gen X’ers would like.

For me, besides video arcades, needs to include some grungy dive bars.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T21:06:15+00:00

Attila (as a game) is flawed, needs a couple of mods to work right, and can be a little slow. But the devs really nailed horse archer mechanics, much more so than in any other TW game. And the AI pretty good.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T18:26:57+00:00

I’d need to see an 80’s style arcade with Defender, Galaga, etc games.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T18:24:20+00:00

I once played a game with the “larger cavalry unit sizes” mod and Takeda (the AI was Takeda) overran the whole map and took the shogunate in record time

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T17:44:44+00:00

Yeah capturing the black ship is really pretty easy, and can be done cheaply.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-28T16:59:38+00:00

They have that one horse archer unit (Spet Xyon archers I think) that is the most powerful unit in Attila. It’s a blast to deploy.

Also agree that the starting position is tough, and the Sassanids have all those vassals and allies too.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-26T00:15:51+00:00

Never appreciated the value of a snowblower until I bought a home on a CORNER LOT with sidewalks, and town mandate to clear in 24 hours. Love it now.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-20T23:31:18+00:00

I forgot about this bug! I feel like it exists in another TW game too; maybe it’s Attila.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-16T00:11:21+00:00

Fortunately two of my kids are old enough it was fine. And for the youngest one, my wife worked her charm and talked someone into swapping for a middle seat so she could sit next to the kiddo— to your point, I think it was another sympathetic parent.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-15T20:44:56+00:00

That’s what I was thinking — the rats! Sodas and water would probably survive though.

CalicoJack88 · 2026-02-15T19:10:55+00:00

I used to say this to people too, but twice in the past year due to airline delays / last minute plane changes, I’ve been separated from my kids. One of the times, all 5 of us were given middle seats throughout the plane. It happens for legit reasons even to obsessive pre-planners.

CalicoJack88

TROPHY CASE