[Discuss] Mid round break

[demiGOD]

Originally Posted by arbondigo

No. You take a break you begin to lose all motivation from the war. It will benefit the losing side only as they get a chance to regroup whereas the winning side will get bored not being able to play.

oh ok!! so when a 1-day break or a 2-day break is over, those roids arent as attractive anymore like it was 1-2 days ago? no more motivation.. thats it... last friday those 25% of roids i'm capping were so pretty.. today its just not that pretty anymore after that break.. ill recall my fleet...

-man, give me a fcking break!!

Spot on, we don't need these breaks.

oh yeah, we dont need cars because we can always walk and take the train to work
c'mon
i said we dont really need it, it will just be something good for everybody in general

most of the suggestions here on these forums are not needs - most of them are for convenience.. sort of upgrading for more quality gaming - the needs of the game are already installed, so that's that..

[noah02]

Originally Posted by arbondigo

No. You take a break you begin to lose all motivation from the war. It will benefit the losing side only as they get a chance to regroup whereas the winning side will get bored not being able to play.

Not really because I would be planning a mass attack for when ticks come back myself
a 2 day break doesnt mean were all going to become peace loving hippys especially when someones just roided you when you had 2k roids is gonna piss you off some not go ooohhh lets be freinds coz we had a nice weekend with the missus.
Why don't we try it for a round (don't be scared) just the one round and see how the feedback is?
Would that make you feel better arbondigo? Or are you afraid of change?
But I really could'nt imagine loadsa ppl leaving PA if we try it.


p.s as for the dig about my social life my answer would be that I am in the Army I have no choice but to have an excellent social life hence why I am great at speedgames and ok at long term ones.

[demiGOD]

Navy here - the military has given me loads of social pleasures - whatever that means lol - im assuming youre british army? i'm us navy, heh

[noah02]

Originally Posted by demiGOD

Navy here - the military has given me loads of social pleasures - whatever that means lol - im assuming youre british army? i'm us navy, heh

Yes british army

[CrazySpoon]

The break actually means I will be forced to spend 2-3 days with my GF

[noah02]

Originally Posted by CrazySpoon

The break actually means I will be forced to spend 2-3 days with my GF

Hehehe can't be that bad?

[CrazySpoon]

Lol, I prefere to drop by, drop it like its hot, and go away again

Hahaha. Nah. The break will be a nice idea. But its never been done before (Xept for PA being down in the past) so why would we do it now. Hehehe.

[lokken]

A key issue is what time such breaks would take force. I would suggest a midnight to midnight tick stop - this means any break would come into force before the bulk of general incoming actually gets launched and prevent anyone who thought of the idea of launching early, meaning the effect overall is minimal.

I for one think this is a good idea - there are periods when the game is hugely frustrating for some players who could well do with a break, and i think a well timed short break would do quite a large numbers of players the power of good. I don't see what's wrong in PA being a bit more rl friendly when it has a minimal effect on play itself bar suspending it for 48 hours every month or so.

[aNgRyDuCk]

in the game "Star Trek TNG: Birth of the Federation" there are anomolies that occur in the universe that disrupt warp drive from time to time, thus, fleets cannot move... So let's say, there are pre-arranged periods in our universe where "sunspot activity" adversely effects travel.......scientists can predict these spikes in solar activity, thus, we know about them ahead of time, let's say 72 hours every 3-4 weeks or something, and do them on a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday time frame

[The Seal]

/me enjoys endurancerace

[wakey]

Originally Posted by The Seal

/me enjoys endurancerace

Thats fine but the endurance is probally part of PA's current problem. The game just isnt that compatable with a real life for such long periods and while this idea is a long way off sorting this problem it does give a small restbite thus increasing the chance of those with RL commitments completing a full round and not quitting as its just too much

[Chika]

If you want a break use vacation mode. The i-net does not stop for individuals.

[Banned]

Originally Posted by Chika

The i-net does not stop for individuals.

This has to be the single most hilarious thing I've seen posted the last month.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Chika again.

:\

[wakey]

Originally Posted by Chika

If you want a break use vacation mode. The i-net does not stop for individuals.

Yes vacation mode is an option but the problem is for most people dropping into vacation mode makes their problems worse and can really screw over their alliance. Theres the hardcore players at the top whom seem able to put in 3 montsh of late nights and early starts but these people are in the minority. The majority of the players arent in this situation, they have real lives to contend with and the strain is often too much and its one of the reasons why so many people drop out mid way through, many whom never come back again. Without losing what PA is about we are never going to have a game which is totally compatable with RL but this would go a little way to making it slightly better in a way that would be fair to all and a way that doesnt instantly screw you and your alliance over just so you have the energy to continue playing the game.

[Rikard]

midround breaks has happened before in certain other games and it did not interfere with the war on hand. i personally think the breaks are a great idea

[cypher]

tbh once again i think having midround breaks is silly, surely if you do 1 for 48 hours and every 20 days or something... that's WAY WAY WAY too much, and as someone suggested why not use vacation mode for it? it's what vacation mode is designed for. PA has never had midround breaks since it started as far as i know (apart from rollbacks) and never needed it. it's always been fine, why would you change it now? because it's easier once again? Haven't there been enough changes to make things easier for everyone? if you want a top planet you can't sleep too much.. it's always been like that... and if you don't have a top planet you can easily sleep often enough.

doing a midround break will only ruin things imo, pa is all about a WARGAME. how often do you get 'mid war breaks?' just because some people would enjoy some sleep? it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the game and has no real benefit to planetarion itself but to make the game slower, besides that people will always want different days. and 2 days of no pa is just boring in the middle of the round, sleep after the round is finished ffs instead of some lame arse midround break. not to mention the fact that having a 2 day stop will mean 3 day stop effectively as you can't really launch fleet 10 ticks be4 the break and you can't send em straight out because everyone is online and the risk of fleetcatches and all.

once again, if you can't hack it an entire round, USE VACATION MODE. don't do silly breaks.

[Kal]

just becuase something has allways been a certain way does not mean that is the way it should be

[Goatsemaster]

Originally Posted by Kal

just becuase something has allways been a certain way does not mean that is the way it should be

A pie in the face is worth two in the bush.

[Chika]

Originally Posted by Kal

just becuase something has allways been a certain way does not mean that is the way it should be

Kal, the only reason we see stupid suggestions like this is because current PA team is gulible. You guys are to easily influenced, and you reward laziness.

[cypher]

Originally Posted by Kal

just becuase something has allways been a certain way does not mean that is the way it should be

which is why i gave other reasons not to do it aswell. but i didn't hear any reply on those from you.

[jupp]

maybe u think a break of 2 or 3 days would be nice etc now but i dont think u really enjoy the break when u have it because u hang around at ur comp anyway :P

2nd point is that i dont think we need an enforced break for everyone at the same time .... usually i decide when i relax / rest / go out / vacation on my own and not with 2000 other ppl together

all in all - for top/addicted players it's just annoying & for normal players it's not needed

[Anakin]

No...no...no...

How about ... No?

[wakey]

Alot of you clearly dont like this idea BUT lets just look at the current situation. We have a top player who has quit his alliance and somewhat screwed them over. No no matter what people think his real reasons were one of the reasons he has given is the drain the game has ona RL. Some of you might be lucky and not realise this, you can goto bed at a good hour knowing full well that if you get attacked it will be reported and defence will arrive but some people dont have this to fall back on or are the people people whom are responsable for ensuring you can do this (HC or BC's) and a whole round is a real killer.

Myself for example have rarely been in bed before 3am this round and I've been up by 8-9am. By this point in the round i'm really feeling the effects, even a day off to recharge my batteries would would be a god send but as much as id like to go into vacation mode I couldnt really do so. I have a responcability to F-Crew's members to put in the hours and theres probally many others in the same situation.

Everyone could benifit from a small break and it could even help keep the round intresting throughout because winners could be announced at each break, kind of like getting a stage win in the Tour de France

[Tietäjä]

Originally Posted by wakey

Alot of you clearly dont like this idea BUT lets just look at the current situation. We have a top player who has quit his alliance and somewhat screwed them over. No no matter what people think his real reasons were one of the reasons he has given is the drain the game has ona RL. Some of you might be lucky and not realise this, you can goto bed at a good hour knowing full well that if you get attacked it will be reported and defence will arrive but some people dont have this to fall back on or are the people people whom are responsable for ensuring you can do this (HC or BC's) and a whole round is a real killer.

Does your head ache? How often do you need mild pain killers (aspirin level) just to shake off the headache and to get sleep? Do you have troubles staying awake on daytime? What if you miss your afternoon nap?

Yes, while I expectedly get a lot of flame for it, it's exactly as described: I go asleep after taking care of target pickings, at this time it's after 01:30 (being +3 game time) my time. Next time, I wake up at 5:00ish my time. Then, if there are no incomings, I'll go back sleep, and wake up at 6:00ish my time. Then, if there, by some miracle, is nothing to attend to, I go back and wake up at 7:00ish my time. If I manage to ignore my very rigged alarm clock, I usually get promptly woken up. Usually, by 7am my time, there has been something that has required a while of attention, and then requires further checkings for successive waves. I was getting tired to the point where I was having trouble typing and I was pooping up coords, so to say -- not that I haven't been doing that for a while already, especially on late (early, eh) hours.

I'm more of a walking dead nowadays, and I need some energy and time for especially studies and relationship -- what's left of it.

Depending on the group you play with, and depending on your responsibilities, a round can be very draining. For this round, it was anticipated early on and there was a thread discussing potential burn outs. At that point, I must have mentioned myself as a candidate for such a burnout. While I get grief (expectedly) for having taken the vacation after leaving Wolfpack, you should be able to make two conclusions of this: I felt I needed to leave in order to perhaps find an alliance where there are other people to do the work I have been doing, and I needed to recharge my batteries. Really: by lack of alliance support I mean I would have loved a Wakey around sitting through the night phoning people awake and sorting defences, as I usually felt that it's not going to get done unless I'm on it personally.

Either this game doesn't suit me, or I'm doing it too intense.

Even though it's highly unlikely to concern me in the future, I'm all in for a midround break. 72 hours makes wonders, three good nights miracles.

Even so, I'm back to my bed now, and I feel glad I don't need to touch my alarm clock.

[Appocomaster]

This brings back quite a few memories. The HC / BC always have to push harder than anyone else (imo if they don't they're generally not doing their job very well) and morale often gets low, and it gets to be a "who has enough people who can be awake at night and cope" compeition. I'm in agreement that a break is probably needed.

[NotALegend]

I can't remember the last time I had a good night's sleep (ie. 8 hours), and it shows. I've had a minor cold for the last few weeks and seem to be unable to recover. A couple of mid-round breaks would've done wonders, so I'm all for it. At least if I'm playing again. Actually, I can't imagine going through the same for another 10 weeks without any breaks.

So why don't I go into vac mode? Because I don't want to quit on my alliance, with only a few weeks left of the game (being one of the top defenders and all). :/ I also play to win, so I could never take a break if everybody else were playing. Not that I ever win of course.

[Alki]

vacation mode.........

[Banned]

Originally Posted by Alki

vacation mode.........

But then you get flamed on AD

[wakey]

Originally Posted by Alki

vacation mode.........

The point is that Vacation mode isnt an option in alot of peoples cases. For example the command staff of alliances who's role require them to put in the hours that often normal members simply dont understand. They dont have the option to go into vacation mode yet are the cornerstone to this game. Without these command staff alliances fail and without alliances much of the games appeal goes. As Appocomaster any HC/BC who at this stage isnt feeling completly knackered clearly isnt doing their job right and its hard to keep our moral up which is going to have an effect on everyone else.

[Makhil]

Originally Posted by wakey

Some of you might be lucky and not realise this, you can goto bed at a good hour knowing full well that if you get attacked it will be reported and defence will arrive but some people dont have this to fall back on or are the people people whom are responsable for ensuring you can do this (HC or BC's) and a whole round is a real killer.

so you're saying that the purpose of the break is to make attacks more difficult ? because catching people when they're offline (having a shit, sleeping or whatever) is the key of the game.

Originally Posted by wakey

Everyone could benifit from a small break and it could even help keep the round intresting throughout because winners could be announced at each break, kind of like getting a stage win in the Tour de France

Now you're saying something interesting but you should go all the way : make breaks, announce winners and reset the score. Atthe end of the round you add the scores of the 'stages' and see who wins.

[Wakko]

b0g b0g b0g b0g b0g

[Rocko]

obviously some people dont like this, but i think the majority of people would.
Downfall, is that people might like the idea of sleep to much and not come back :P

besides that, it might help KEEP those people who join the game but struggle with the constant commitment all the time,.. players burning out, has caused alot of players to leave, i know it was a factor with me a few rounds back.
a break every 3 weeks is what we're looking at here,.. and that sounds about right.

Plus! the servers could be used to run a speed game for those who Want to play through this time. Thus PA makes more money which can be used to improve the game (like get a better graphics card put in ). This is the point in the round alot of people start to wain and drift away,.. by giving breaks throughout at this 500 tick interval, that aleartness has more chance of staying, and so more people playing, which is what everyone wants,.. isnt it??

So to you people who dont like the idea,.. think about the mid round speed game u'd get to play
those that do,.. well, .. good

[Appocomaster]

Originally Posted by Makhil

Now you're saying something interesting but you should go all the way : make breaks, announce winners and reset the score. Atthe end of the round you add the scores of the 'stages' and see who wins.

I don't think this is a good idea. This would basically create lots of mini rounds, which are far too short for a proper round. I'd prefer a sort of 48 hour break where people can sort themselves out, maybe even a friday/saturday so they can have something to drink and not care and go out . The fleets are all reset to base (to avoid squabbling), and everything is just frozen. People can get sleep etc, and relax for a couple of days, and then throw themselves in anew. I don't think that most people will loose the will to play, but it'll give them the strength to make the round last longer and be more competitive, as opposed to some alliances that are more reliant on key figures just drooping and collapsing.

[Ultimate Newbie]

Originally Posted by Appocomaster

maybe even a friday/saturday so they can have something to drink and not care and go out .

There is another thread lying around started by hellsmurf where we argued - at length - the pros and cons of declaring a specific time of the day/week for having a break. granted, it was with regards to always having weekends off, but my argument still holds - what might be conveinent for you may not be for someone else (indeed, alot of people) who due to differences in timezone, demographics, employment and a range of other things would be advantaged/disadvantaged over others.

I'm in favour of blind justice - every 500 ticks have a total lockdown. that way there can be no claim of bias or favouring the bloody europeans again .

[Gate]

I like the idea of a break, hell, even just a 12-24 hour one, once or twice a round would be good. I'm absolutely exhausted, and the universe revolves around me.

It should give a chance for politics to change, and for those on the receiving end of a bashing to recharge and thus encourage wars and prevent stagnation. Worth a try IMO...

[snra]

I can't express with words how much I like the idea of even 1 day break during a long round, to sleep without phone ringing.

So I will let the bananas do the talking:

[coffee-]

I'd be fine with, or without the breaks.

Though to be honest, I thought this is what vacation was designed for.

Also, if PA has lasted for 13 rounds, including a couple .5 rounds without breaks why add them now?

[Jackie]

Im in for the idea. Sleeping is always nice, especially if you dont have to wake up in the middle of the bloody night.

A little break every ' xxx ' ticks would be extremely convenient !

[Razgriz]

/me slaps wakey.... coz i can

i'm all in for a short break but you could argue; "all's fair in love and war" in regard to lesser players not being able to endure like the hardcore pimp daddies of PA.

[Lilleman]

As it seems, only some of the hardcore players seems to dislike this, and most favour it. This discussion have been going for quite some time now, what is the results? Any poll? Will this be tested?

As for the "PA haven't had this before, why do it now?": ffs, with that attitude we don't need a PA Team that do their best to make things better.

I vote 48hrs breaks every 500th tick, with ticker stopped, but loggin in enabeled.

[Remy]

but WHY

there is no real use.

[demiGOD]

Originally Posted by Lilleman

As it seems, only some of the hardcore players seems to dislike this, and most favour it. This discussion have been going for quite some time now, what is the results? Any poll? Will this be tested?

Actually, most of the hardcore players that posted agreed to this idea.

Oh, and polls suck, btw.

[Lilleman]

Originally Posted by Remy

but WHY

there is no real use.

Because it gives you a break. A break where you don't have to worry about nothing. In vac you always worry about everybody else outrank you.

Originally Posted by demiGOD

Actually, most of the hardcore players that posted agreed to this idea.

Oh, and polls suck, btw.

Why does polls suck?

[noah02]

Originally Posted by Lilleman

Why does polls suck?

Not a true refelction of what everyone thinnks in the game as you can tell from most votes out of 3000 players usually around 200 bother to vote.

[Remy]

Originally Posted by Lilleman

Because it gives you a break. A break where you don't have to worry about nothing. In vac you always worry about everybody else outrank you.

It gives those a break who at that point can enjoy it. Every player cud use a break at somepoint. But most player dont need the break when it wud be there: they wud say: i dont need a break NOW, i needed it last week.

So its use wud be very limited.

Also, it wud almost certainly result in less activity in the universe after the break. We don't ant that.

[Kal]

If we had permanent roudns of 8 weeks in length, i'd advocate a break in the middle. I think regardless of whether I was really tired then and needed a break, havijng a break might prevent me form being really tired and needing a break if you see what I mean. It would also give us an opporunity to do any server mainitence etc we might need to do without interupting the game.

[wakey]

Originally Posted by Remy

It gives those a break who at that point can enjoy it. Every player cud use a break at somepoint. But most player dont need the break when it wud be there: they wud say: i dont need a break NOW, i needed it last week.

So its use wud be very limited.

Also, it wud almost certainly result in less activity in the universe after the break. We don't ant that.

Yes the break times wont suit everyone BUT thats why in my idea theres more than one break after every x number of ticks. As long as it isnt a number thats divisable by 24 (or 7) the break period would fall on a differnt set of days each time and with 48 hours for the break its going to help everyone in some way or other.as everyone will be able to spend two days where more normal sleeping hours are an option allowing people to recharge.

A couple of example

Based on Break every 500 Ticks

Break 1 (500 ticks)		
Start					Mon 17:00			
Finish					Wed 17:00		
				

Break 2(1000 Ticks)
Start					Wed 13:00
Finish					Fri 13:00		

Break 3 (1500 Ticks)
Start					Fri 09:00		
Finish					Sun 09:00	
	

Break 4 (2000 ticks)
Start					Sun 05:00	
Finish					Tue 05:00

or

Based on Break every 400 Ticks

Break 4 (400 Ticks)		
Start					Thu 1300				
Finish					Sat 1300			


Break 1 (800 Ticks)	
Start					Tue 0500			
Finish					Thu 0500			


Break 2 (1200 Ticks)	
Start					Sun 1300		
Finish					Tue 1300		


Break 3 (1600 Ticks)		
Start					Fri 0500		
Finish					Sun 0500			

Break 4 (2000 Ticks)	
Start					Wed 1300			
Finish					Fri 1300

You get a pretty good spread of days with both those figures, although times arent as random on the 400 as the 500. But basically any number can be used and PATeam could mess around with the figures till they find a period that works best.

As for people being less active after them, does this happen when the game breaks. I certainly havent noticed it but I have noticed round after round the core in a number of alliances getting lower and lower activity and this could be something which lowers the burn out rate. I know last week when I had to reduce my activity for a couple of days has had me come back feeling refreshed this week

[lokken]

With the current round length, i think one mid round break would be sufficient.

If one thing, it's a lot healthier for the playerbase as people to have a weekend off from pa. I think freshening people up mid round is a good thing.

[selmac]

I think the whole Idea of having a break is stupid. I cant think of any other tick based game stopping mid round for a break. If you want a break, go play Anrachy Online or other similar games, where if you want to have a break, log off and nothing will happen to u. I am not paying for a game that stops mid round just so ppl can have a break, if i wanted that, I would go play something else and pay for it.

And as for ppl saying they would love a break, so they get one day off without their phone ringing, well you can simply turn your phone off. PA doesnt run your life, if you want a break, take one, theres nothing stopping you.

[Kal]

Originally Posted by selmac

I think the whole Idea of having a break is stupid. I cant think of any other tick based game stopping mid round for a break.

all tick based games are suffering from a decrease in players, so we are all doing something wrong, perhaps it is allowing people to burn out.