Don't know if this is the right place, or if the title is the right kind of description. This is just some observations and suggestions to whomever wishes to make suggestions on either making a change or including something into the mod. (Please correct me if I am wrong on some point)
There are, in general, 3 reasons to make a change to (or include something in) a game or mod, and there are 4 reasons (the three first plus one) why the change would not be made.
Flavor/Role-Play - This is what gives the game its' style and atmosphere. Being consistant with flavour and the role-play that is inherent in the game (or intended by the mod creator) is important. It makes the world realistic in its' own way and makes you put real effort into the charactors, places, and events. Things that go against this can break the suspension of disbelief, and instead of being in another world with the charectors you know and love, you're just playing a game.
Balance - This is what prevents abusive behaviour and exploitation. Balance prevents players from going with one strategy alone; it promotes variety. This is the structure necessary for the flavor and roleplay to flourish. A good balance is integral in the suspension of disbelief inherent in a good game. Good balance also gives structure to improving oneself and achieving things; examples include defeating a gunboat in a light fighter. Without the knowledge that the balance of the game makes that an incredible victory, it would be an inconsequential event.
Fun Factor - This may seem to be a reduntant aspect of a game, however, both of the above aspects of a game have one goal, to provide a fun expierience for the player. If the fun factor is lost do to a change that was implemented, even for one of the previous reasons, the change should be reversed. Without this, there would be no players, and eventually no game.
Practicality - This is the final aspect of a game that needs to be thought of, it includes limitations to the software of the game and the amount of work to implement a change outweighing the benefits of the change. Changes can only be made if the software will allow it, and frivolous changes should be avoided. If the impact of a change is only marginal and requires extensive work, one must ask themselves if it is absolutely needed.
Most people already think about these things when posting a request for either a change, an inclusion, or a removal. I don't know if this post was needed or not, but it is just something that has been boiling in my brain for a while. Suggestions for changes or your own view on this are welcome. The main point of this was to have people do critical thinking before giving their suggestions/requests.
Also forgive me for the large amount of text and poor grammer; I was never very good at spelling or writing something like this.
This was a very interesting read, indeed. But, is there a need for a drastic change in how things are now ?? Sure, there will always be minor changes that has to occur, but overall, I think all is well for now (excluding current issues that under discussion right now).
Quote:Things that go against this can break the suspension of disbelief, and instead of being in another world with the charectors you know and love, you're just playing a game.
With this I totally agree... some people really need to get a reality check and realize that this is only a game... nothing more.
for me , there is a hirachy. first of all there is the
fun factor - if a game is no fun, why spend an evening with it. then its just what is needed to make it fun.
roleplay/flavour - if its a roleplay game, and everyone is roleplaying, i wouldn t care much about balance. roleplaying activly prevents abusive behaviour. in a classic pen&paper roleplaying game ( for those that remember those ) its usually more fun to roleplay a character with strengh but also with severe weaknesses. playing an allround hero that is master of all trait is boring. so in my opinion its rather weaknesses that form a charakter before powers he has.
so reasons for a change including nerfs, buffs, additions .. in short a new mod version.
- increase the fun factor. new things inspire new ways to play. but in the end, its down to the roleplay. if a server offers solid roleplay, there is little need for drastic changes - unless its something like a chronological change. the term might be wrong, but what i mean is:
in large online games, i think a big factor of motivation is being influencial. some are by being extremele strong, overpowering other players, some are by being unique by the looks and their ways ( looks are a very important factor in an online game, cause its the most obvious way to be individual ) and the last way is to activly form the world you re playing in. the last point can only really applied to a community like that server. 100 - 150 active players is small enough to have a rather ... personal relation ship to the creator.
when you compare it to everquest or world of warcraft, there is hardly any personal contact between the professional GMs and the players. feedback is given, but its not from one equal to another. in this mod - well its not from equal to another - but closer.
players here might have a chance to really take part in what the world developes into. wars are faught. but the npc world wouldn t change. with a new mod version, such a change can be done. it IS possible to wage wars on a house system and possibly drive even the npcs out. players can gain and win, and the changes are sort of persistant.
with that said, i think changes are important parts of a game like that. player, strive to see consequences of their play. if they attack a system again and again, and drive the inhabitants out every time, but once they log off, its all back to normal - things become pointless, even for the best roleplayer. if changes are made after serious and well discussed attempts - such raids become vital part of a game, they start to make sense. its not fighting just to fight, but its actually fighting for a cause.
example:
if gaians were damn successful in terrorizing traders out of leeds and new london. - it would start making sense to replace both systems with a clearer version. if they keep doing so - maybe untill the systems haven t got any dust cloud at all anymore. - in the end - making the faction of gaians obsolete though.
all that has nothing to do with balance. as much as i dislike when a game is not balanced, its not really a problem when its about roleplay. i do not think that all factions must be equally strong. i do believe that a civilian faction like zoners does not need strong weapons - that means - compared to a warmongering faction like corsairs, its just natural that the zoners weapons are weaker - they simply don t need them so much.
in a pvp, i would allways expect a zoner pilot to be defeated by a corsair pilot. if it was the other way round, or even if the fight was even, the corsair pilot should be ashamed, cause the zoner dedicates his life to - probably anything else but fighting. while the corsair pilot spends most of his time practicing, fighting.
balance should just be applied when it starts to hurt the fun factor. fighting without a chance to win lowers a morale, as much as fighting with no risk to loose. i do exclude the people from that point of view that play only to "own" other players. i don t really consider them roleplayers as they don t care what role they play. ( there is no role that just wants to "own" others - everyone, even or especially terrorists have a reason why )
To clarify, I am not wanting a large number of changes. I believe an an argument for/against a change that includes all of the 4 factors I talked about is going to be more successfull and complete than an argument(discussion) that includes only one or two.
This is a RP mod on the RP server, but a dedicated PVP game on the PVP server. It is a lot easier to simply balance the game to work on both than make two seperate mods. Additionaly, making the mod itself balanced (note, I do not mean an even playing field, there should be checks and balances), will also lower the work load on admins due to less exploitations.