GC Discussion

Also if newbies stopped being newbies would make the game more active, just sayin

i agree, the more indepth the story the more world building the more people can get into the game.

6. With regard to graphical improvements... I`m not sure how much the game needs anything extreme. Art would be awesome (I love some good art). It adds depth to the game. Animations, not so much. This game just needs a little more to make it beautiful, but unless animations are an integral part of the game, they will probably just feel out of place or even cheesy.

7. More text/story details. A revamped manual would be helpful too (and I`d be happy to contribute to editing that during some spare time.)

8. With regard to functionality, this game should be made mobile friendly! Hoping my thumb clicks the right colony when I want to plunder one is terrifying. I have some web design experience, and it doesn`t have to be too terribly difficult to make the interface good for mobile.

9. As someone else mentioned, having this website as https would be very helpful. I use a password on this site that I use nowhere else, and I wouldn`t ever put my payment information on here currently (personally).

Now, the above list of improvements isn`t exhaustive of course, but I think some things like those would be helpful in preparing the game for new players (which should be the goal of all game improvements right now). But again, I voice this concern: While we all appreciate the admins work, I don`t like that they aren`t getting compensated for it (unless there`s something I don`t know).

Now, with regard to increasing the player base once some changes are made: I`m actually a digital marketer, so that`s my thing. I have lots to say on that - but as someone pointed out, the game has to be marketable first.

Let`s hear some more thoughts! I hope what I`ve posted inspires more discussion.

In order for their to be an increase in the player base, the game itself needs some changes.

1. It needs to feel rewarding. As it stands, after those first few infra levels, the game is a grind. The hours and hours I have to put into repeatedly clicking a button don`t feel particularly worth it to me (especially since I do have to get work done at some point during the day :P). This is coming from an RT player`s perspective. Maybe players should have something they can do in between turns - or something else they can do with their turns that makes the game feel like less of a grind.

2. Feds could use some work (to echo the sentiments of others). I love the idea of making fed wars more useful. This has already been mentioned (but I thought of it too!) that there could be a point system where Feds in a war with each other get points for victories and the winning fed gets something. I think it could be resources, but it could also be research points (to go toward infra of your choice).

3. Another idea: Fed research. There could be a set of research that everyone in a fed can contribute to. It could provide access to new ships, resource gains, planetary improvements, etc. for fed members.

4. Along the lines of fed research, there could be daily research options that grant artifacts or resources to all contributing fed members according to how many turns they put into it.

5. A federation fleet option was brought up. To add to that, you might could have a federation fleet that people could contribute to by building and donating ships to it. It could have a maximum power limit, and if could function like slavery where ships are sent to protect Fedmates, BUT only during a war. That way, members of a federation can still engage in normal combat with other players. Otherwise, this idea would require additional game rebalancing. This idea I`m personally more on the fence about, but there it is!

This is a big post, but it`s coming in bits.

So, I just caught up on this post. This has been a subject that`s been on my mind recently, so I`m excited to see it come up! That being said, below are some initial thoughts, followed up by more detailed explanation.

Some observations:
1. As many others have said, the biggest issue with the game`s sustainability is the lack of players. There needs to be an increase in player base.

2. As some have noted, one of the biggest reasons we don`t see an increase in player base is the game itself. That`s not to say this isn`t a good game - but it`s not the game most people are looking to play in this day and age. And it does have its issues.

3. I really, really, REALLY appreciate all of the work our admins do for the game (and I`m considerably impressed by it). But with that being said, I hate that we have an absentee landlord. Paid accounts are are great, but they should actually help those who work on the game and contribute to its growth (and if they are doing that, someone please correct me.) I hate that someone who won`t update the game is receiving payments, while those that are putting effort into keeping it alive are receiving nothing for their time. I really think that alternative options should be considered for the sake of the people who keep this game updated, so that they can actually get something for their efforts (and perhaps, so they can make more major adjustments to the game as needed).

With all of that being said, I`ll be addressing points one and two (with three just being left as a point for consideration/discussion).

I think that GC needs to vote on that there

Name R.Schooner
Class Destroyer
Weapon 1,150 ----> 1,200
Energy Damage 900 ----> 800
Kinetic Damage 0
Missile Damage 250 ---> 400
Chemical Damage 0
Hull 2,500
Range 9
Scanner rating 170
Power rating 2,136

Ship Specials
Capture Ship Ability
This ship has a 50 % ---> 75% chance of capturing ships in battle

Ship Attributes
Defense Modifier
Energy Shield - 50 % ----> -40%
Absorption Shield + 80 %
ECM - 30 % ----> -20%
_________________________________________________________________________
Name R.Schooner
Class Destroyer
Weapon 1,150 ----> 1,200
Energy Damage 900 ----> 800
Kinetic Damage 0
Missile Damage 250 ---> 400
Chemical Damage 0
Hull 2,500
Range 9
Scanner rating 170
Power rating 2,136

Ship Specials
Capture Ship Ability
This ship has a 50 % chance of capturing ships in battle ---> no capture

------> No defense
This ship can`t return fire if attacked.

------> No retaliation
Ships attacked by this ship cannot return fire.

Ship Attributes
Defense Modifier
Energy Shield - 50 % ----> -40%
Absorption Shield + 80 %
ECM - 30 % ----> -20%

Support the idea of 0% chance, like the ship ideas, however, Collective ships all have a capture ability, say you found a way to balance the capture ability and mods made, what would that look like?

Well with those changes PLUS no retal/no defense on schooler than I would say 50% capture ----> 0% no capture ability.

his ship has a 50 % ---> 75% chance of capturing ships in battle

just no.

I do have some tweaks to collective ships I would like to see:
Name R.Schooner
Class Destroyer
Weapon 1,150 ----> 1,200
Energy Damage 900 ----> 800
Kinetic Damage 0
Missile Damage 250 ---> 400
Chemical Damage 0
Hull 2,500
Range 9
Scanner rating 170
Power rating 2,136

Ship Specials
Capture Ship Ability
This ship has a 50 % ---> 75% chance of capturing ships in battle

Ship Attributes
Defense Modifier
Energy Shield - 50 % ----> -40%
Absorption Shield + 80 %
ECM - 30 % ----> -20%
_______________________________________________________________________________
SHIPS - H.Man-O-war

Ship Specials

------> No defense
This ship can`t return fire if attacked.

------> No retaliation
Ships attacked by this ship cannot return fire.
_________________________________________________________________________

Name H.Barkentine
Class Cruiser
Weapon 1,300 ----> 1600
Energy Damage 0
Kinetic Damage 0
Missile Damage 1,300 ----> 1600
Chemical Damage 0
Hull 5,000
Range 8
Scanner rating 300
Power rating 3,246

Yes! Please do. I hardly ever see an NPC in range. Even if I got rid of all my colonies I don`t know if I could get that low

For servers with low populations like fast and Ultra would it be possible to raise the minimum pr the NPCs can respawn as? On fast for example there is a bunch of NPC`s stuck at like 10k that no one can hit to reset.

All I want to say is Thank you to all those who wants to keep this game alive.. I maybe a newbie but I really appreciate the efforts.. Since I can`t redeem my UC account anymore, GC is all I have left to pass the time.. <3

Graphics, there`s only 1 main point that would have the most intensive scene which would be when you`re attacked or attacking.
the infra for each level (or 10 levels) would only be a change in the picture which represents your infra structure. I.E. a map you can look at (representing your homeworld) with zones dedicated to each infra that would change depending on research levels.
there needs to be some sense of accomplishment with rewards, instead of just a number increase, and another grind.
As for those who don`t want any graphics and would want to stay pure text based, i`m sure there could be an option for that..?

Agree with Sandstorm. I think missions can contribute a lot to newbies too. It does say:

MISSION

This Alien Race does not have a mission just yet

`just yet` being the operating phrase here. It is obviously an unfinished aspect of the game. Missions can provide a built in tutorial to the game. Special missions that can be completed for temporary bonuses and advanced long term missions for the lifers out there?

Agree with Sandstorm. I think missions can contribute a lot to newbies too. It does say:

MISSION

This Alien Race does not have a mission just yet

`just yet` being the operating phrase here. It is obviously an unfinished aspect of the game. Missions can provide a built in tutorial to the game. Special missions that can be completed for temporary bonuses and advanced long term missions for the lifers out there?

I`m always an advocate for improving the unexplorable races, but this is a serious thread for serious discussion, so this is a serious idea.

Introduce missions to every race. Give some sort of start up help for the harder races. Collective and Marauder are dry, and as much as people say it`s for the lack of scouts, I think it`s through a lack of understanding on how to play the race.

I agree with Fist. The appeal for me anyway was that it is text based without a lot of pointless graphics adding clutter. I returned to this game after being away for 15 years because there is not much out there like this. If we make graphics and animations for every little thing, and make it like all the apps that are cluttering Facebook we will lose what makes this game unique. I would like a few, but not too much.

Some random thought not 100% thought out so ....

1) Not really a way to improve the game but maybe adding HTTPS to the site? makes it look more current and up on the times, especially when asking people to pay for paid accounts. Also google ranks websites higher that use https

2) I agree I dont want this to turn into a graphics game but some graphics might help, look at O-game. Maybe a few images and graphics here and there might help. but no watched battles or moving graphics. Just images for the ships and tech and worlds and stuff nothing moving

3) Customization. By this I mean maybe at one point having the player pick between to classes of ships lets say class x and class z. X is better at range Z is better at shields or something if the player picks one he cant pick the other.

4) More tech, dont really know what tech but more of it :P

5) End game tech. By this I mean tech that maybe unlocks after maybe you been playing for a number of days or after a number of missions but something that makes the players have to get out of below 5,000 Protection and still have to recherche tech or ships or something.

6) and last more info. I play text based games and even graphics based space empire games (like eve and galciv) for the info and text I like looking at a screen and seeing lots of information about my ships, empire or what have you

yes random thoughts am sure I will have others sorry if they aren`t thought out better and presented more clearly