Greetings Neptunites. Relatively new player here. I just started a new game where I was dealt a fairly weak and (more importantly) really boring position. I was tempted to quit. Another player, who had been dealt an excellent position, quit in the first tick. I would love to play that quit position instead of mine. What about a feature that allows a player to swap their empire for that of a quit player?
If a player quits in the first tick, that position can be claimed by any player, first come first served. The option to claim the position would only be available for a limited time. Maybe just the first tick? Maybe the first three?
This would ensure that humans get the more interesting positions in the galaxy. That in turn would prevent more players from quitting the game.
What say you?
I can see it being abused fairly easily. What if you send off all your (admitted small) fleets at a third player then swap to the better position. Or similarly spend all your money on economy on undefended stars bordering the empire youâre about to take over. Iâm sure there are other easy ways to abuse it too.
Just out of interest, what makes your position âboringâ for you?
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I see your point. HmmmâŚ
I think limiting it to the first tick or two of the game helps mitigate that. If carriers would be stopped at the first star they reach after the transition then it is extremely unlikely that they would reach any other playerâs territory. Or maybe you only allow the switch if the switcher hasnât made any moves after the start of the game? Or maybe the position is offered to the first taker, but anyone who makes a move after the offer is made is disqualified?
The boring position was one on the fringe of the galaxy with only one border, a handful of garbage stars on my side of the border and a long tail of stars leading away from the galaxy. I canât challenge the player with stronger side of the border. So Iâm sitting around waiting while a carrier drifts off in to the distance looking for something to build on. There wasnât even much point in diplomacy with other players because I wasnât really relevant to any of them. Boring.
For most players, being on the edge of the galaxy means that you only have one neighbor to contend with or against, while the other locations would have to contend with two or more.
Your neighbor does not need to know that your own nearby stars are boring. You have challenges that your neighbor does not know about, while the other players have challenges that you may not be aware of. What kind of star resources do they have ?
You could have negotiated an alliance with your neighbor, either for tech trades or for a line of stars to navigate around him to help him fight deeper into the galaxy.
You could decide to fight against your neighbor. He then has to divert resources away from his other neighbors toward the center of the galaxy. If you need more help, you could negotiate an alliance with the empire on his other side to crush your neighbor in-between.
Sometimes players may negotiate Non-Agrression Pact, for a number of ticks, how ever much delay time you both mutually think could be reasonable to help build up your empire.
Your ships should eXplore, to bring more stars into scan range. Your neighbors may not know the high resource stars that you might find.
I hate AFK too, but i dont know guys⌠swap positions is a huge out/supra-meta-game mechanical change, cant be taken lightly.
(i was whinning at the wormhole post because of huge in-game mechanics change to movement and its consequences/expectations etc⌠but this might be dangerous instead of appellative or boring due to abusive window it opens to afks/bots/multi-accounts/quitters, im pretty sure those are the same people specially when it comes to âout-gameâ options)
May i suggest a few (not necessary combined) âelegantâ (read less invasive/harmfull to the game itself) options here that might help (not sure)âŚ
1- CountdownâŚ
2- Comfirmation buttonâŚ
3- AutokickâŚ
4- Profile StatisticsâŚ
5- Vote/BanâŚ
Example: When the game gets full a 1-2 (not sure) hours countdown starts and everbody have to click a confirmation button before the actual game starts or gets kicked then wait until it gets full again etc. (not much i know, but might reinforce the players commitment with the match) During this countdown/confirmation/wait time you can issue orders as normal, and chat, if we have a profile with cool stuff like how many wins,2-3-4-5-etc places i get in life production stuff etc etc and how afk/quiter i am then might get more serious about it and other people could mistrust and ban you (by majority votes of course) in the countdown time before game starts.
Ok now you can Boo me hehehe! but before you do it, in my defense here, we should remember that humans are the stupidiest beings ever lived, we screw in and out of game we might never find a permanent solution to humans (not sure if we should lol) but improvment is always cool, one step per time xD!
I like the idea of a confirm button, Iâm not sure of the best way to implement it though. 1-2 hours is too short as people could be asleep. If its increased to something like 12 hours then games will take forever to start.
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You are very relevant at the start of the game to whoever is on his other bordersâŚ
Youâre relevant to everyone if your neighbour is in the lead or a strong positionâŚ
He can try and crush you all he wants but if you can persuade someone else to attack him then it should be no problem to split his empire in half. If no one will help you then heâs going to have a great shot at winning the game.
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You are right snorkelwanted xD! i believe the trick is to work around those issues without inserting too much burocracy in a already slow paced game or do it in a serious and/or creative/fun way (which is the main problem with my suggestions lol) but we will get there xD!
The AI was on the other side of my neighbor. So far, in my experience, diplomacy with an AI is pretty boring.
Something striked my mind today⌠keeping with ââprevent is cheaper than repair policyââ, when Jay finish solving the statistic issue might be cool to highlight the match average duration in game selection screen to make players aware of what they are about to endure (not enough but might give some polished/professional/austere aspect for the game = incentive/reward/inspire commitment xD !) or a sign that says ââfarmville players not allowedââ or ââsocial but not your kind of social game, people die on their sleep aroud here kid so man up !ââ huahuahehe !
Obs: Avoid the jokes, keep with the parenthesis stuff !
Obs2: The tutoring system will take care of the ââfarmville man up issueââ by transforming facebook soft players into hardcore tactical predators in a fluffy way xD !
Obs3: Im gonna research something in the âârepair intervention sideââ like the friendly administration thing that you authorize another people to play in your absence or a reserve bench etc⌠!
Obs4: reserve bench = you list x friends in your profile that are authorized to assume your seat in a maximum of 24hrs after you get declared AFK, so for them at game selection screen or my games screen will appear that game to join (with some warning tag whatever) and the reward for finishing what your afk friend started is to receive half rank/renown rounded down to yourself or less or badges idk something, a beer xD ! its external interferece enough to keep human playing the match, but not enough to change in-game mechanic rules xD ! (i know they will abuse with multi-accounts to get more rank etc⌠or everytime they feel losing they call a super pro friend, but those things happens anyways lets use these players character flaws in our favor, keeping the match interesting)âŚ