Quote:
Originally Posted by qebab
I'll just come with advice to people who post suggestions here. I don't think about PA often enough to have anything good, though there are a few suggestions that come up now and then that I support.
Game design isn't very easy. If it was, PA would be way better. I think everyone who posted suggestions here mean well. But very broadly, nearly all suggestions so far fall into one of three piles:
- Quality of life improvement. Things like asking for a Galaxy Defense view similar to the alliance defense one falls into this. You can do without, but it'd be great to have it.
- Limiting the current ways of playing in some way.
- Adding complexity without adding any depth.
The last one is probably the easiest to go into when you try to suggest something that genuinely would improve the game in some revolutionary way. Complexity does not automatically add depth, but it sure adds learning curve. It is an expensive thing to add to a game. To quote some random wise person:
|
I think when asking for ideas, its best not to try and limit them to any form. There will be mad ideas, and very bad ideas and all in between. And most ideas either way probably equate to masses of work, which is an unfortunate fact, and one that should not really be used to hammer the ideas being put forward.
I think its very good that Appoco asked for people to contribute ideas. I suspect most people know these have little or no chance to be used, but people willingly throw their ideas in.
Occasionally, Appoco or others might see a beatufully simple idea, or perhaps a long winded one that is ornate that might work, or might be doable. And if so, thats great.
In terms of game, I guess what great games have is complexity tied to simplicity. So, you are looking for simple ways of doing a very great deal, and presenting this in an easy to use way to an end-user/player. If you achieve that goal, the complaints about 'complexity' go away.
Although some people have said this, going back to one race and a very short ship list is for them a good idea, I think thats like taking cluedo and reducing the game down to 3 players, 3 weapons, and 3 rooms. Thinking the game would benefit from that step I believe is a mistake.