User Name
Password

Go Back   Planetarion Forums > Planetarion Related Forums > Strategic Discussions

Reply
Thread Tools Display Modes
Unread 7 Jun 2009, 20:45   #1
budious
Egoistic Warmonger
 
budious's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 109
budious has a spectacular aura aboutbudious has a spectacular aura about
Ship Stats for Upcoming Rounds - Debate?

No reason to state the obvious, I think most of us were thoroughly disappointed with the ship stats last round. In fact it bugged me so much I spent hours at night thinking of ways it could be made better. While I do envision grander and more expansive ship stats that rely on multiple dimensions of characteristics (e.g. weapon type, and shield type) it was the notion that K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid) was a better idea in the short term. What I mean by this is to eliminate the overlap of ship classes, the additional pod types, and design stats that work in solo (ala Paper-Rock-Scissors) or work in tandem with a companion race. I propose a return to a two pod system, centered around two main offensive ship classes and a single defensive ship class for each race (the exception the bastard race of ETD ofc).

The details of my PA fantasy league ship stats can be viewed through google documents spreadsheet available here:

hxxp://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rP2YvexllM14uPw2Y3u_5BQ
(replace hxxp with http and paste to address bar - there appears to be a limitation on my posting the actual link - "You are only allowed to post URLs to other sites after you have made 15 posts or more.")

The real question though is how to ensure quality stats for every round because even the perfect stats are boring after two or three times through, progression and design should be reflected in community oversight because a few hundred eyes is better than just a few. My idea is to create a community group that could filter through submitted proposals for future ship statistics, find the best proposals and in a cleanly revised but not finalized way, select a few of the outstanding proposals to be presented for public scrutiny. Through the use of topic polling all registered members could submit a single vote or perhaps available through an in-game menu to ensure fair one vote per member voting occurs to pick from the candidate statistics. In the end the extra effort of picking the next round, or perhaps two or three rounds in advance, would give each incarnation of ship stats the time to be polished and perfected by the time it's intended round of implementation arrives.

- Budious
budious is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 7 Jun 2009, 21:09   #2
Mzyxptlk
mz.
Alien Invasion Champion, Submarine Champion, Tiger Punch Champion, Barts Watersports Adventure Champion
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 8,587
Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.Mzyxptlk has ascended to a higher existance and no longer needs rep points to prove the size of his e-penis.
Re: Ship Stats for Upcoming Rounds - Debate?

You might want to take a look at this topic.
__________________
The outraged poets threw sticks and rocks over the side of the bridge. They were all missing Mary and he felt a contented smug feeling wash over him. He would have given them a coy little wave if the roof hadn't collapsed just then. Mary then found himself in the middle of an understandably shocked family's kitchen table. So he gave them the coy little wave and realized it probably would have been more effective if he hadn't been lying on their turkey.
Mzyxptlk is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 8 Jun 2009, 04:08   #3
budious
Egoistic Warmonger
 
budious's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 109
budious has a spectacular aura aboutbudious has a spectacular aura about
Re: Ship Stats for Upcoming Rounds - Debate?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mzyxptlk View Post
You might want to take a look at this topic.
Fair enough, I overlooked this sub-forum but the methodology of creating stats deserves it's own thread anyways.

Just to flesh out my latter point a bit further, I would propose assembling three groups of four members. Each group would be responsible for selecting candidate stats during stage one, presenting final picks for a community vote in stage two, and polishing and fine tuning the chosen stats for an upcoming round during stage three. Development of three sets of stats would be concurrent but development cycle stages would be staggered to create a three round cycle.

PA Game Round | Group C (R35) | Group B (R34) | Group A (R33)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 32-----------| Stage 1------------| Stage 2----------| Stage 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 33-----------| Stage 2------------| Stage 3----------| Stage 1 (R36)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 34-----------| Stage 3------------| Stage 1 (R37)-| Stage 2 (R36)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Round 35-----------| Stage 1 (R38)--| Stage 2 (R37)--| Stage 3 (R36)
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The crude layout above should help illustrate my idea, basically this way the work load of developing stats is laid out roughly in six month cycles and does impose a non-stop workload upon developers. This setup also allows members to organize groups according to stat direction philosophy, Group A may lean towards three pod statistics, while Group B prefers more traditional two pod statistics, etc. I think this way you also get a fresh approach to stats every round by interleaving the responsible parties. Also if a member choses to leave a group at any point, it's fairly easy to find a replacement, or to assemble a new group of volunteers at the end of a cycle if they so desire.
budious is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 9 Jun 2009, 06:06   #4
budious
Egoistic Warmonger
 
budious's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 109
budious has a spectacular aura aboutbudious has a spectacular aura about
Re: Ship Stats for Upcoming Rounds - Debate?

I wanted to elaborate a bit more on this topic after having a bit more time to think about it. I don't think it does the game or the players justice to treat ship stats as last minute design decisions, planning ahead and having a proper development cycle would add a lot play value to a game we spend countless hours with, which depending on round characteristics, can be a rewarding experience or an exhausting challenge in futility.

I previously suggested "put it to a vote" but I'd like to change that to only "public scrutiny" because those that care are going to voice their opinions and everyone else probably just can't be arsed to look.

Regarding the formation of groups, I suggested four members because if you ever worked on a joint project, you find the more voices the more disagreement, four tends to be a good number for these type of design forums. Ideally, since there will be multiple groups, it may be more efficient and easier to reach consensus by sharing similar design philosophies in picking core group membership. However groups should in no way feel limited by their core members, consultants or junior members should be given consideration, but rely on the four core members to find a general consensus for designs.

General Example:
Alpha Team > 7/2/1 Ship philosophy (7 Combat, 2 Pod, 1 SK)
Beta Team > 10+/3/1 Ship philosophy
Gamma Team > *** thinking outside the box ***

Stage 1 Goals:
> Formulate 2-4 sets of candidate statistics

Stage 2 Goals:
> Post candidate statistics for public review
> Chose a candidate based on feedback for final development
> Close examination of stats and initial tweaking and balancing

Stage 3 Goals:
> Speedgame with alpha quality candidate stats
> Feedback, discussion, and additional tweaks and balance
> Speedgame with beta quality candidate stats
> Finishing touches

Each stage occurs over the period of a round of gameplay, so 7-8 weeks plus any downtime in between. Next stage should ideally begin when the next round begins.

Example of Group Design Time Line:
Alpha Group: R32 > Stage 1 (R35); R33 > Stage 2 (R35); R34 > Stage 3 (R35)
Alpha Group: R35 > Stage 1 (R38); etc.
Beta Group: R33 > Stage 1 (R36); etc.
Gamma Group: R34 > Stage 1 (R37); etc.

The rewards of this system you may ask? I know it may appear a bit excessive but I believe that by delivering well polished and thoroughly developed stats each round that the player satisfaction will remain strong. Also, by having multiple groups and design philosophies interleaved and providing unique ship stats on a rotating cycle, subsequent rounds will feel less repetitive and appease different demographics of the player base more often. If you managed to read this far you might as well let me know what you think about this proposal, so ... lets hear it.
budious is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 10:30.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2002 - 2018