Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Prelaunch should be removed, the game just isn't hardcore enough.

Bring back 3 tick battles, would be much more interesting and you might actually be able to kill anything again and not just run fleets every time you get 6 waves of incs. Also FCing would be of much more importance again.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Prelaunch rocks.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

I'm not sure whether removing the features of the game that many rely on to still play whilst doing other things (like working), will do anything to increase the playerbase and/or improve the level of fun/enjoyment that people (may yet still) get from this game.

Further, some more elaboration on why prelaunch should be removed might go a little further in explaining your reasoning, motivations and desires for such a steadfast feature of the game to being removed.

6 waves of incs suddenly = 18 ticks of being roided though. You'd have to reduce roid cap to maybe 10% per tick so over the course of 3 ticks you'd get roughly 25%. Yes, it would add some more depth to the game insofar as it benefits those who are able to be online when landing/being landed on, and providing more choices to combat (*sings* should I stay or should I go?!), and/or bluffing as to whether you're going to get 1021012093 battleships out for the second tick, or not.

However, 3 tick battles make the game significantly more complex, as no longer can combat be explained by "attack someone xyz with a ships, and you'll get b roids", you'd have to describe the whole dynamics of multi-tick combat, which is more complicated obviously. This may not be a bad thing, as there are so few new players, but then it might not be worth all the extra effort either, especially as people will regularly have attacking fleets hovering over their planet for 12 hours of every day. Which isnt as fun as it sounds. imo.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

3 tick battles were fun tho in the past.....

For those who didnt lpay for that long: in the past you could attacks for 1,2 or 3 ticks, and defenders could defend for 1-6 ticks. Roid cap was as if i recall correctly, 15% per tick, leading to 40% roughly over 3 ticks. The fun was that you could defend 6 ticks, so sometimes (often) you could defend against more 'waves'

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Remove prelaunch and I would probably never have played and never play again.

If sufficient people share this opinion, then I strongly feel it's a 'bad' thing.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

If prelaunch had been removed i would have never come back for another round.
Now all i need to do is get rid of those ****ers calling me at inhuman times i didn't even know excisted (5am? WTF?)

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

We all know that prelaunch has its problems - one of them being that it allows (encourages) attackers to go to sleep while defenders are forced to stay awake and active at ridiculous hours in the morning.

Of course, some attacking players still remain active and are around to offer their defence fleets when they're needed - but many don't. As a result there are few defence fleets available to DCs when they have to try to cover the inevitable (mainly prelaunched) masses of incoming fleets at 04:00 GMT and later.

No wonder we have many burnt out and demoralised (ex)DCs - and no wonder we're playing in an ever-shrinking universe.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Prelaunch is inimical to the idea of planetarion as a game where it is desirable to hold your roids as opposed to gaining new ones. I've never been entirely sure if this is a good thing or not.

Prelaunch also leads to the insane situations like today where 3:6 (pardon the co-ords) got bummed by 4 (?) major alliances. While this does show a lack of imagination on the part of BCs, if prelaunch didn't exist you'd wouldn't have had the majorly piggied fourth and fifth waves launching that we saw because the relevant players had set their fleets at their alliances' targets, prelaunched and gone to bed.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

i'd be interested in this too. i've heard suggestions before that prelaunched fleets should show the total eta (10+3 for instance) instead of just the fly time (just 10 in this case), but i'm not sure whatever happened with them.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

prelaunch makes the game playable

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

people try and explain 'the main reason' people don't want to play PA anymore. i don't think prelaunch is that big of a factor really. it's because PA is an old and outdated game that doesn't hold much interest to gaming audiences.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

remove prelaunch and a whole lot of players wont be bothered to play ever again... sleep ftw

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

remove prelaunch and people will just start attacking earlier... DCs get their work finished earlier. All in all - people can go to bed earlier.

prelaunch is a useful feature, sure... but it's to the detriment of the game. It's like giving a retard and gun... the noises will make him giggle but he's going to hurt somebody eventually.

with prelaunch gone it will favour the people who are willing to stay up later to launch attacks... i.e. the people with the most commitment to the game.

At the moment nobody defends anyone any more. People pre-launch their attack fleets then bugger off to bed. Then they wake up in the morning and complain that they get incoming that goes uncovered. It's the ultimate hypocrisy, complaining that nobody else is putting the effort in that you can't be bothered to.

As the game goes - PA is now all about gaining roids. You've always needed to gain roids to win, but there was at least some balance of gameplay before. Personally, I think prelaunch should be removed because it encourages non-committal attitudes to the game and rewards people for being lazy.

Alternative: Limit the prelaunching feature to just 2 ticks - that should easily allow people to still team up with different eta's without one having to stay up later than the other, while not letting somebody go to bed at 10pm and have their fleets launch at 4 in the morning, while expecting some poor bugger to stay up and make sure your planet doesn't die.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

kenny described it perfectly.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

No they weren't?

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

:up:

would still probably need +3/4 on defense though, else you'd very rarely ever see anyone defending probably.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

i've no problem with bringing back multi-tick attacking for a rd , games already dieing but leave pre-launching the f**k alone i enjoy my sleep

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

adding 3 tick attacks or removing the prelaunch option would b the worst thing to do at all :P.. about not defending anymore.. alliances need to do something about those members that dont defend, make some motivation systems or what so ever and kick the member out if he/she dosent defend as much as needed. simple as that i belive and if still the ally has problems then its something hc`s need to deal with(why else are they hc`s?).. this is ofc only my opinion tho im quite sure that i wouldnt ever pay that much attention to this game nemore after pa-team did ne of those moves.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

in most 'traditional' alliances, the members do not defend because they are tired of seeing 10% of the alliance receive 90% of the defense. some people see more defense fleets in 1 night than others do an entire round.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Is it really that difficult to understand?

Nobody's saying that without pre-launch you can't sleep. We all managed fine when there was 10k people playing and no pre-launches.

Just attack before you go to bed! If you're going to bed at 10pm you're not going to need 12 hours sleep... the ONLY reason people launch at 3am (via prelaunch) is because that's when everybody else attacks.

Take out pre-launch and the standard would fall back to 10/11pm launch times and everyone would still be on a level playing field. And if people do launch at 3am - and you've gone to bed at 9pm because you were tired, you'll be up in time in the morning to cross-def ingal.

So basically the game is worse off because people are lazy. I wont support this - now or ever.

Unless I'm offered manloving by jer.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Kudos, good point. It'd be more applicable to ingal defense though... especially early on in the round.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

well i might b missing something important here, but this is how i see it..

(all the times mentioned in this post is game time)
atm:
u have tp around 21:00-22:00..
cord release about 2-4 ticks later (most of ppl prolly havin prelaunches now)
launches starting from 05:00 usually
ppl coming around since its gettin to morning 2 ticks or so later still leaves a great time to cross-defend in gal
also ppl should check in around 05:00-06:00 neways for ally defending as well.. (that is ofc if they have motivation to do so)

all done and happy.. and imo quite a big nr of players do so as well :P

whats the problem now then? if u remove prelaunch then its still the same imo, seriously doubt that ppl will start to send att fleets (ally attacks) out that early cos of that(bigger % of ppl online neways so bigger % of gettin defended against; also good to land on em after they have landed on their own attacks so u get to cap more roids)

this all ofc depends on timezones.. im +2 and its quite perfect for me at least - i get to tp, wait for cord release, prelaunch and go to sleep, wake up, report gal incs, offer ally def, go to work.. every day with 7-8hrs of sleep which is the time that normal ppl need :P

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

no, there will be a group of players that will have time/will to stay up and launch on weird times and gain upperhand by just having no life or regular day job, giving option to launch before hand, gives the working people a chance to use methods the others would and so hopefully receive less def on their targets. I aint saying I dont support supporting activity, keeping community alive and challencing, but I dont want the game to be a test of available time, instead of testing your "skils" in the game.

Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier if u wana def people. the pre-launch system allows it and all your partners + family are way more happy, when you have more reqular sleep pattern.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

That's BECAUSE scans aren't taken til around 8pm-9pm and that's because people are setting their fleets to pre-launch for silly-o'clock in the morning.

Hardly. Coord release is delayed to minimize the amount of information being leaked, and so that people don't prelaunch on their targets at 10pm at night, alerting their targets to the prospects of incoming.

Yes, because of prelaunch. As such, you can't use this as an argument for prelaunch because it's a direct result of aforementioned launch system.

A vast proportion of PA players are students in college/university. I can guarantee you getting up at 6 or 7am is a pain in the backside - especially if you're one of the poor few that have stayed up all night trying to coordinate defense for your alliance. (and/or have been out on the piss the night before).

This is EXACTLY my point. PA should reward effort - and if people are going to put the effort into staying up later to launch attacks, this too should be rewarded.


To be completely, honest - I'm not naive enough to think that pre-launching will EVER be removed from the game, but that's not to stop me being categorically against it and having damned good reasons for this.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

u think back in the days there were people launching at 10pm? they stood up till 3 am or set alarm to wake for it and launch... now u do the same, except u can sleep past the time and use the pre-launch. It simply will allow u to sleep, which when u grow up someday will prolly need a little more.

as I said above the game shouldnt measure your available time to make it hard for others, it should measure how well you use the tools/features of the game to compete others.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Ironic that you're trying to insult me on an internet forum by telling me to grow up. Am I immature for having an opinion that differs from yours? Would thinking that not just be a little naive?

I can argue my point while still accepting others will have their own preferences. You should try it some time, it will make you feel better I promise.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

back in the days skill was measured in time spent online. cuz the more active you were the more advantages there was. now with pre launching, queuing constructions and xp its basically about luck imo. anyone in the whole world can present a gal raid with scans being made for them and have an ally/bg claim targets. back in the days you _had_ to be here for tp, you _had_ to be around for launch times, you _had_ to set alarms to get a head start in research/constructions, you _had_ to do good in attacks to be able to grow in score. now you can suicide 3/4 of your fleet and still become #1. if xp should exist (off topic), there should be way better xp for defence and for killing ships.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

kk.. about the crrying here of ranks..
this is a war game.. one can actually have many ways to play it..

some go for xp (which normally means no considerable value but good score) and is also with that a good target to most of the players out there..

if u dont like that and like the quantity of ships and value coming with them then u dont suicide any of yer attacking fleets and keep your value up (score is maybe smaller, but value is high), which means there are alot less players that can actually attack you so you have less incs and more ways to defend mates..

and then there are scanners/cov-opers..

there are quite many players in top 100 that are there cos of xp (me among em), but as the rounds have shown (might b wrong, but i doubt it) then the majority of the top ranks still consist high value players.. so whats the whining about such thing heh.. wouldnt it b less attractive to play war game if there was basicly only one stradegy that u could use ?

ppl are whingin when there are cov-oppers blowing off and ripping other players and also whine when some play for xp.. imo its their own choice and thank god that there are still multyple ways to play this.. if u like value and dislike xp then play for value and thats it heh :P

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

No.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

stop trying to drive away players you imbeciles

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

yea have to agree with jerome.. this will just even more decrese the memberbase.. and considering the old times.. well .. ppl had like 20 multy accounts as well those times so they kinda dont count :P.. even if u didnt personally use farms then u had ally that was dealing with such things so basicly u still used em :P

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Oh yes they were, maybe you just couldnt cope with them...

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

to be honest, i used to take part in the morning raids, or even afternoon raids, and they were just as successfull as the nigth raids. But that was another time, with many more players.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

With the prelaunch function we get a massive percentage of incomings during the 03:00 to 06:00 GMT window. As most people are now sleeping at this time it's almost impossible to organise defence.

Without prelaunch we would have relatively few incomings at those times and we would have correspondingly more players online (having just launched their attacks) to offer defence. This would result in more involvement from the active players - and therefore more enjoyment.

But consider this - the game would also be more enjoyable for the "not so active" players. Why? Because they'd also be able to contribute by offering their defence fleets to cover the attacks launched at more "sensible" hours of the day (and night). At the moment, all they can do is sit and watch.

Bottom line is "I'm with Kenny on this one".

(And I don't say that very often). ;)

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Go on the prelaunch. but please no 3 tick battles...

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

If you play the game like a normal sane person tries to (play during the day and refuse to get up in the night), then the game is shockingly boring. Barely anything happens during the day!

I managed to get enough defence points last round by staying up as late as possible - 02:00 UTC, still quite late for most people.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

If u seek for effort to launch on weird hours, why it couldnt count to def also? wake up at 5-6 am to send def or stfu :)

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Random idea, haven't thought about it for more than half a minute.

How about allowing DCs to launch one (and only one) of your fleets for you? They would not be able to select which ships to put in the fleet, nor be able to remove ships from it.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Like a dedicated alliance fleet? That DCs could access through the alliance page?

Wouldn't work - it would just mean one person could stay up all night and coordinate defense. Therefore NOBODY would stay up at night and you're again rewarding inactivity.

edit: It would create an even playing field. It would simply comes down to who has most ships - let's not turn this into Command and Conquer!

Just think: InSomnia would actually be able to cover some defense calls!

Playing in an alliance is all about the teamwork. Add an 'Alliance Fleet' that somebody else can control, and it removes the teamwork. No teamwork = pointless* being in an alliance.


*i.e. no fun, which is kind of an important thing to look for in a game.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Is this what you want? Force people to either wake up in the middle of the night or stay up all night because it's activity?

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

We don't force people to stay up at night to attack (the general consensus is that prelaunch is a good thing). Why should we force people to stay up at night to defend?

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

hmm

what if jgps showed the total eta of pre-launched ships?

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

I don't understand how this has anything to do with my idea?

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

that wasn't to expand on your idea, but it could have similar results and wouldn't require a big change in coding.

it gives a chance for people to prelaunch def and get some sleep

and people that like to be extra active for an edge would have one by playing around with pre-launches all night. edit: it would also be beneficial for people to launch right before a tick occurs.

just throwing this out there :cool:

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Your idea is flawed. There is NO use to prelaunch if the eta's are displayed - you'd just as well increase every ships ETA.

And there's no point waiting til just before a tick to prelaunch, as if your opposite number's def misses tick, he'll just pre-launch with lower eta the next tick.

And mz, prelaunch is in the game because it opens up the playability to new players. But we can at least agree the game is less hardcore for it. Giving control of defence to 1 or 2 people for an entire alliance will make defense easier. Therefore, again, you're making the game more playable.

But dude, how sh+t are you willing to make the game just to try and get more people to play?

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

The first tick of combat was exciting. The second and third were dull as sticks. If I was staying up to see a combat tick, I'd go to bed after the first and second. If I was interested in knowing what happened in a combat, I'd look at the first tick.

The second and third ticks were boring.

Good riddance.

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

well i'll defend the idea to see if it has any use in it.

how many people are going to stick around every hour every night to get jgps on their planets to see when new people pre-launch or what pre-launches have changed? and then cover / recover when needed? (this type of activity is fun and should be rewarded according to you shouldn't it? :rolleyes:) pre-launches aren't displayed on the galaxy status and the eta can change at any time. there would be more interesting fake attacks as well as you can't tell when the attack will actually launch from a jgp. so it's very different then having higher eta ships.

the biggest benefit is being able to leave earlier for sleep. your chances of landing would be reduced, but it's hard to predict to what degree. to say there is NO use to prelaunch is wrong.

if anything, i could see dcs still waiting for attacks to actually launch before sending most def fleets because it's too uncertain otherwise. now in the case of people who don't want to wake up at 4am (most people don't find this type of activity fun and less and less are willing to do it btw) to send defence, at least they have some way to send some def out.

and there would be a big point in waiting just before a tick to *launch your attack

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

Then you probably didnt get into those battles where each tick some fleets went away, and others were added. Overall it was fun, for me and a lot of others.

Im not saying multitick battles should return, just that i found it to be very funny

Re: Prelaunch and multi tick battles
 

So browsed a bit and found something that fits the current flood of opinions around forums atm.

so now all of you frustrated ppl - primarily kai, can direct it somewhere fitting.

Oh and perhaps some of you could elaborate on earlier statements also.


----

For my part I do belive that this change isn´t all bad, as already mentioned it might actually move the current prime launch times from 03:00-05:00 - to 07:00-09:00 or 00:00-01:00

That only "hardcore" alliances can succeed with this new PL thing is worth debating also.

Example: If a 40 man ally (assuming all 40 are hardcore livelaunchers - which I actually doubt even exists toxday in PA) launch at 03:00 - but the remaining universe - due to new rules wait till 08:00. The attack is bound to fail due to available def fleets. Which actually means that they never would land anything.

One need to remember that attacking only works if the enviroment allows it. As it has been so far with the previous PL rules. forcing a new launch strat also means changes for everyone - also the so called "hardcore" (if they actually exists!!)

I belive that this game needs more options in terms of planning attacks and defence, and by limiting PL to 2 ticks - it actually does.

Being one of those who on and off been doing terrible DCing, I can only endorse some varity to the beyond lame and tedious - lets **** up X ally with eta 7,8,9 - landing tick x1, x2, x3 - all showing up at 03:00 GMT.

And honestly, that is truly what ****s up smaller alliances. and I know cause I´ve been on the recieving end plenty of times.

Just a view on the issue that isn´t all "terrible"

Now bring me some decent arguments

you too kai :P