Game Balance Poll

[Gen]

Is balance within the game important to you? Balance being defined in three categories (Building, Invading, Fighting).

[omlow]

obviously game balance is incredibly important to the whole enjoyability of the game. especially seeing as invading entirely relies on building, and without planets as an incentive, fighting is stupid.

[avitohol]

Game balance is important to all games. But there's to many factors employed in defining a balance in a game. For example:

-The different game types, such as mod, no-mod, blitz, rebangs and Big bangs. I think this is more important than any aspect since each type has different rules. And universal rule introduction is something very complicated, which needs excessive testing. They need to be defined first before talking about the second criteria.

-As Gen and Omlow stated, there are three main player defined elements to the game. Those need to be discussed.

-Finally there is players who play. Example of this is having an isometric map on a fps, all with the same weapons. Only one team can win depending on the abilities of those players. Same goes for starport but on a larger time scale, with time invested being a major factor. Therefore someone who plays more than another can un-balance the game.

Thats just a few concepts of balance that come to me off my head.

[Luna]

Balance is needed to keep people happy. Invaders need to have the thrill of invading while not making it impossible for newer players to keep pace with the steep learning curve. Invaders need builders to build so they can invade.

Builders need to have less boring functions, and be reasonably able to keep what they've built safe from invaders, while not making it impossible to lose your colonies. Perhaps slightly longer UN time would give people not experienced an opportunity to build planets properly so they don't lose them. The additional time could be automatic, or purchased with credits. Properly defended colonies would give builders and invaders a plus. Invaders will have a challenge and builders will be more confident in keeping colonies.

Fighting is a mainstay in this game, and you have to make fighting balanced enough to make it enjoyable, but not making it so overpowered that you can only win in certain ships. All beginner ships should have something that makes them not so much of a target to experienced ships.

In the end if it's not enjoyable to build/invade/fight then people get frustrated and leave. Finding the right balance is the hard part. You won't make everyone happy all of the time, but lets just try for making "most" players happy.

[Orange]

no.

invading is pretty much too easy.

i think the solars should drain more energy or do more damage.

i usually play by myself and prefer to build.
but im forced into invading as there is no point in building. apart from where i save fuel while building.

also tokener's make the game so unbalanced.
i cant wait for a perma with 1 corp teams no contractors and no tokens

[Luna]

You'll NEVER see a perm without tokens. Tokens pay for the game, and people run out of fuel, and buy tokens. Tokens = Profit for Toonces.

[Dark.Cloud]

Building needs a buff, a strong one. Maybe like cut 30% build time on all structure, and cut resource need by like 40-50%. Get rid of surface missles or make it only available on "specialized spaceships" that do not include, ISC, Seth, IGS, or ceo.

EDIT: also maybe make cloak for a specialized ship like the avenger..

So you take out SM from all ships, take out port negs, and increase the ability to produce weapons on colonies.

[Luna]

I agree 150% with Dark Cloud.

[D-Tox1]

150 % agree with Luna AND Dark.Cloud.

The gap between Building and Invading has NEVER been wider and so unfair .
Dark.Cloud has come up with a brilliant solution : lose the dreaded Port Negs and decrease colony Build times and increase the ability to mass produce Nukes / Negs and Turrets.
The aim isn't to kill invading and make it painful - but it seriously needs to be slowed down !!
Invading a colony SHOULD take a little time, if you think its hardcore invading taking 2 minutes to cap a 10k Arctic DD then your'e sadly mistaken.
The new Perma ( can't remember its name ) is a huge failure to be honest i mean it doesn't seem the advice and opinions are sinking in !!!

Poor Fuel regeneration, awful Pollution issues, Port Negs, Mods - i mean it couldn't be any worse.

This Perma will be dead and gone within 8 weeks = due to the fact Pollution is so high - nobody is cleaning their colony of pollution.
Ok i get the fact that Permas are required to get people to buy Tokens etc - and thats all well and good but if i may ask a question :

would it really be so bad if a Perma was created which had no Port Negs, No Mods and Standard fuel regen , standard Pollution and perhaps faster missile production ?

At least it would allow the game to build before all out War started and Corps could establish Build areas and Nuke production colonies.
The way Toonces has it at the moment is - soon as a colony is out of UN pro it gets invaded by Scanning players using Port negs or Surface missiles with 2 days of coming out of UN !!>

feedback ?

[BardockSGE]

Respectfully disagree with the building buff. Building is strong where it's at and serves it purposes for what it's ment to be. You can fully build a colony 100% complete in very well under 2 days by prison building and spending no more than 2 mil on the colony with very minimal touching the colony, if ever.

I do however believe an uranium and equipment production increase across the board would be nice.

[Dark.Cloud]

Respectfully disagree with the building buff. Building is strong where it's at and serves it purposes for what it's ment to be. You can fully build a colony 100% complete in very well under 2 days by prison building and spending no more than 2 mil on the colony with very minimal touching the colony, if ever.

I do however believe an uranium and equipment production increase across the board would be nice.

You can fully build a col in UN time frame, but it takes some effort, 2m maybe, but what about the fuel cost, and it takes 2 days, you know how many colonies can be invaded in 2 days? Why should i bother building 20 colonies in 2 weeks if someone can take them all over night?

150 % agree with Luna AND Dark.Cloud.

The gap between Building and Invading has NEVER been wider and so unfair .
Dark.Cloud has come up with a brilliant solution : lose the dreaded Port Negs and decrease colony Build times and increase the ability to mass produce Nukes / Negs and Turrets.
The aim isn't to kill invading and make it painful - but it seriously needs to be slowed down !!
Invading a colony SHOULD take a little time, if you think its hardcore invading taking 2 minutes to cap a 10k Arctic DD then your'e sadly mistaken.
The new Perma ( can't remember its name ) is a huge failure to be honest i mean it doesn't seem the advice and opinions are sinking in !!!

Poor Fuel regeneration, awful Pollution issues, Port Negs, Mods - i mean it couldn't be any worse.

This Perma will be dead and gone within 8 weeks = due to the fact Pollution is so high - nobody is cleaning their colony of pollution.
Ok i get the fact that Permas are required to get people to buy Tokens etc - and thats all well and good but if i may ask a question :

would it really be so bad if a Perma was created which had no Port Negs, No Mods and Standard fuel regen , standard Pollution and perhaps faster missile production ?

At least it would allow the game to build before all out War started and Corps could establish Build areas and Nuke production colonies.
The way Toonces has it at the moment is - soon as a colony is out of UN pro it gets invaded by Scanning players using Port negs or Surface missiles with 2 days of coming out of UN !!>

feedback ?

Thank you for elaborating on my statements, I had thought up this big rant I was gonna go on while at work the other day but then decided not to because I was tired and didn't see the point..

But I was going to sum up a few solutions.
But you've gotten the gist of it.

I dont think building should be faster than invading, that would be ridiculous, but the current spread is defintely unbalanced. It's not even worth it to fully defend a colony, it takes more time and effort than it does to invade it.

Toonces if you need some help as far as guidance, how about you grab up some of the older players( I dont even have to be included, though I would like to) and have a conference about some changes that should, or would like to be implemented.