Part time PA

[CrashTester]

I stopped playing PA a long while ago - it was too time consuming for the average player (like me). I work and could not be online playing games for 24 hours a day, hell I couldnt even be online consistently playing games for 12 hours a day!

But I do have a connection available to me for most of the day.

So, how about a part time PA universe for part time players?

With slight tweaks to travel times It could run from 12 until 12 each day, giving enough time to start attacks, organise defence, etc but over a longer period for those with busy working lives.

[Kal]

the problem would be that everyone would have a different 12 hours that they could play, so it would be hard to cater for everyone. Also the issue of servers and costs etc, but if there was enough demand i'm sure that wouldn't be an issue.

[CrashTester]

Cater for the majority to begin with, or perhaps not have it 12 hours continuous - maybe ticking between 6am - 12 noon and then again 6 pm - 12 midnight UK time (should give most time zones convenient playing times).

Use the same servers as the main game - if they arent being used to capacity through lack of subscription then this wont be a problem. I actually miss having a PA account, but I simply wont pay for something I cant make proper use of.

[Auro]

Your plan makes it so much of my sleep time and school time is when PA runs

Then I'll have to move full time to PA's free counterpart :/

[CrashTester]

forget the school kids, its the workforce Im bothered about!

[Jester]

Why not just register a free account in the current universe?

[Forest]

Ok so it runs from say 12am to 12pm.

That effectively removes 4 hours or so (depending on ship class) when ppl effectively couldnt attack because ticks would stop at a time when def is still possible.

[CrashTester]

Originally Posted by Jester

Why not just register a free account in the current universe?

Because you need to be available all day every day to make a go of the game, I cant compete in a game where I know other people automatically have an advantage over me because they can play more often than me. Hence a part time game for part time players.

[CrashTester]

Originally Posted by Forest

Ok so it runs from say 12am to 12pm.

That effectively removes 4 hours or so (depending on ship class) when ppl effectively couldnt attack because ticks would stop at a time when def is still possible.

Pretty much.

It would potentially make getting defence easier as you would have more time to rally it around before ticks start again.

But then you have to consider the type of player this type of game would attract, it generally wouldnt be people who are sitting there waiting to get a call for planetatarion defence, it would be busy people who still like to play Planetarion but at a slower pace.

[Forest]

Still would give someone 12 hours during game down to cover a call, and that would be silly.

Could take the game down so it cant be logged into during that time, but that would mean ppl would have to be online more (to start res/cons/attack) at certain times, so would make it harder in that respect.

[mist]

would seem much simpler just to tick every 2 hours

-mist

[Forest]

then u ahve an extended pa version, and hardcore players will play that also, meaning the game would get stale quickly as harder for everyone to attack, and those who are less active (those u try and cater for) would be hit twice as hard as eevryeon else, as those are only targets u could get through on.

[lokken]

shut down PA from sunday afternoon to monday evening.

[Jester]

There should be an ultra-hardcore variant of PA that runs 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.

[lokken]

Originally Posted by Jester

There should be an ultra-hardcore variant of PA that runs 25 hours a day, 8 days a week.

they replaced the blood in their veins with caffeine, clearly.

[CrashTester]

Originally Posted by mist

would seem much simpler just to tick every 2 hours

-mist

Simpler yes but it will not solve the problem a player like me has, bacause then you still have to get back to a machine every two hours to be able to play the game effectively.

I work 8 hours a day, travel for 2 hours and then have a homelife to sustain. I cant be online 24/7 even if I wanted to be so I cant realistically participate in PA.

If there was some downtime during the day that meant I could get on with life for a few hours knowing that I could log back in 6 hours later knowing my planet was still there I would be a lot happier. I am sure that I am not the only person who finds playing 24/7 difficult and yet still wants to play PA.

[CrashTester]

Originally Posted by Forest

Still would give someone 12 hours during game down to cover a call, and that would be silly.

Could take the game down so it cant be logged into during that time, but that would mean ppl would have to be online more (to start res/cons/attack) at certain times, so would make it harder in that respect.

You wouldnt need to be online more at all since you are only playing half the amount of ticks of a regular game in any one day. If you then get a contruction/research that take 24 hours to complete it means you dont need to come back into PA for 2 days of you dont want to or cant.

When I say part time PA I mean that while the game is not ticking you cannot go in and do things for when ticks do start. The game will close, you can view your planet and universe, etc, but you will not be able to set research/construction/attack/defend until ticks start again. You can effectively take 12 hours break without fear of being wiped out when you do log back in.

This would give a level part time playing field, i believe.