Serious balance issues and suggestions summed up

For what's not in 'Top Priority Game Design'. Post your ideas, visions, suggestions for the game, rules, modifications, etc.

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Vezzra
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Re: Serious balance issues and suggestions summed up

#76 Post by Vezzra »

biza wrote:Cant wait to see it implemented!
As much as I agree with you here, if there is one thing I learned by being a FO dev it's patience. ;) 0.4.8 will be about the proposed Imperial Stockpile mechanic, followed by 0.5.0 which will be about the Influence and Colony/Empire upkeep. So, expect it not sooner than second half of 2018. Hopefully... ;)

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Dilvish
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Re: Serious balance issues and suggestions summed up

#77 Post by Dilvish »

Oberlus wrote:I'm just not comfortable with it being named Influence because that is a narrower concept. As for what you say of it, the concept includes part of the general economy of the empire as well as social/political influence. But language is mutable. I'll be fine with it being named Influence.
You're "just not comfortable with it" but you are "fine with it"? It sounds like you are trying to get fine with it, but are not really quite there yet. I'd like to take my stab at making you a convert rather than merely a begrudging acceptee.

I'll just expand a bit on what Vezzra said -- we are abstracting empires with zillions of moving parts/factors into a small handful of general systems. We have some interaction/overlap of those systems within our game, and certainly there there must invariably be some overlap in the underlying subsystems/factors they represent, even if you just consider our existing Production and Research systems. When considering the term "influence" and our "Influence System" please also consider the breadth and variety of sources and uses of influence (and I'll that the term can be used quite broadly without any need to cite the mutability of language). It seems like you are particularly concerned with the proposals to handle fleet upkeep within the Influence system-- "the concept includes part of the general economy of the empire" and "I don't know how the influence of my empire can fill up my fuel tanks, keep ships on shape or pay the wages of the soldiers." Consider that whatever subsystems/factors you would consider to be more directly fueling tanks and paying wages, if not being used for that then they could be used for other purposes that you could more easily see as generating Influence, so fleet upkeep at least can be seen as acting as a drain within the influence system.

Also, for a real-world case, if you read up a bit on, for example, the US Naval base at Okinawa, Japan, you will see that in addition to probably generating some influence in the broader region, there are some significant ways that it consumes what I think you would easily consider actual influence within Japan.
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Oberlus
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Re: Serious balance issues and suggestions summed up

#78 Post by Oberlus »

Dilvish wrote:You're "just not comfortable with it" but you are "fine with it"? It sounds like you are trying to get fine with it, but are not really quite there yet.
Yeah. My English is bad, but you understood it. It ain't a problem not being quite there yet. It isn't first time I have to wait for my mind to open ideas that differ from my prejudices. I'm used to have a hard time with flexible meanings.
The thing is you've came up with a different concept (at least different than what I'm used to from the few other games I've played). That is so cool. And it deserves a name, and the more I think about it, the more I like Influence over Economy.
the term can be used quite broadly without any need to cite the mutability of language
True, true. I was in the way to convert myself, but you've got me here. Hell, one could even talk about electromagnetic influence (in the sense of strength or effects). Definitively, I'm voting now for the Influence term.
biza wrote:PS. Who cares how it is pronounced, stop arguing about irrelevant things and start coding :)
Aye!

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