[lokken]

Regarding prelaunch, I think there are some interesting arguments here.

From the attack point of view, I think there's a good argument to remove prelaunch for attacking. It would indeed force alliances to adapt to the needs of their members and encourage a more 'round the clock' approach. It would also stop gluts of attacks, and encourage more hitting on the counter and pinning opposition fleets down.

However, I think removing defending prelaunch would be a drastic and unnecessary step. First of all, it's the people who launch attacks who always have the impetus; they dictate when fleets move. If you remove prelaunch from attacking, then you have exactly this. Secondly, defending is a largely reactive activity, unless you're in a position of storing defence and asking people to come online at certain times to check in. But even so, once you've spotted an incoming, it's pretty obvious that you should be able to defend it, then go do something else. You're asking for a commitment that no one really wants and will just put people off, which is why you need prelaunch for defence. At the very bottom level you're asking for players to do more than they want, at the very top, you're asking for DC's to destroy themselves to actually defend their alliance effectively.