New Projects Idea

Eventually. And thats fine, Im sure the final product will be great. Im just saying fixing digging right now could be done quickly.

As far as badwolfs update, I dont see it coming for at minimum a year. He just doesnt have enough time in the day after his real job and sleeping to get it done any quicker

Just be patient... these updates are not going to be like what ste used to bestow upon us.. these will basically be a brand new game. Im not involved in it nor have the details, but rest assured, it IS coming.

Duplicating dig times every 6 hours or 12 hours (4x a day or 2x a day) would take like 20 seconds.

I realize that changing the game right now is sort of a waste since theyd have to rewrite any changes they make to current code into the new form when they get there, but for something as simple as this it seems like it would be nice just to do this.

It wasn`t really "shoing away" those type of posts, it was more the blunt truth as the access rights was not given by Ste for years after nagging and bugging him. I mean it took 2 years just to get the ability to modify/add/delete ship classes. If memory serves me it took about another 6-18 months to get further access to races and other core code of GC.

I get it takes time and honestly, what i wish many people would understand or need to understand that this game runs off old code and it is better and more efficient to start the code from a newer more modern code with the flexibility and ability to be flexible. Currently that is what I believe BW/EE and others are doing, however to build, QA, beta test, etc. will take months if not years as they get modules of the game loaded. So, as I say patience and you will be rewarded eventually. As the new game code is laid out, new projects or ideas can be added as they can be programmed as separate modules or items.

I`m pretty sure a modification to the dig times is on the change agenda, but there are other updates that have to happen first. BadWolf and EE are working very hard to bring about these changes, but these things take time.

The good news is that these changes will eventually, actually, BE possible. In the past we would sho away these sorts of posts by saying this would require a "Stephen" level intervention, which basically meant it wasn`t going to happen.

They would make artifact digging fair.

So put a cap on land size or something - I hate the fact that land has no limit anyways - When you can have one massive planet with a dozen border planets, you are effectively invincible. The only way someone can possibly take it form you is if youre inactive for a week or something without VM`ing.

As far as my idea goes, dont gordos require assimilated bases or something which you cant fuse? If thats the case, just make it so that the bases dont dig up that often. Problem solved.

@Ankaar -- all these ideas will make digging more effective and fair, but perhaps what we should be aiming for is to only making digging more fair.

If digging became more effective and gordos became easier to obtain, I think that would be bad for the game. Gordos are very powerful, generally permanent, boosts to an empire which is effectively unlimited right now. DeathKnight`s idea will keep one Uncommon dig time and one Rare dig time, which keeps the number of high tier artifacts (that may require artifacts that cannot be crafted, like Assimilated Bases) in check.

With DeathKnight`s idea, there will be an increase in the number of gordos in the game only because those who weren`t able to dig for them are now able to. However, the maximum number of gordos that an individual for his or her empire n a day remains unchanged because there is still only one Uncommon and Rare time.

I would suggest a couple things.

One option
Mirror dig times so they happen twice a day, not just once. That way its not just 3 AM for some of us, its also 3 PM.

2
Remove static dig times completely and have good dig times be random - a half hour or hour chunk of time every 6 hours where we get really good digging.

3 and my preferred option
remove dig times completely and increase regular digging to the point where its feasible to dig any time of the day.
Im not asking to have digging made so I get a common / turn like we do during common dig, but if I got an arti every 5 turns or so, thatd be cool. And thats on a good dig planet with any other bonus digging features. Just removing times completely seems fairest to me just because there are some people who will just never be able to get on for dig times, even if theyre mirrored. Without a dig time going, digging is pretty useless (at least on uc, Im assuming gc digging is also trash outside of dig times)

Interesting idea! Could be a money and turn sink as well, and it wouldn`t necessarily make higher tier artifacts any easier to get.