[Discuss] Activity (was: The state of the game)

[Timothy Collett]

On Jul 11, 2006, at 10:29 AM, Robert Croson, Jr wrote:
> Then perhaps we should limit the amount of messages people can send.
> Someone who can log on a lot can send many more messages than  
> people who
> log on only once a turn. That makes unlimited, instant messaging an  
> advantage
> that people who can log in a lot have over people who can only log  
> in once a
> turn, or once a day.

That has actually been contemplated, in a few different forms.

But the particular point that makes late-turn moves so different from  
language barriers and player intelligence is that it's gaming the  
system.

We have the following OOC constructs:
- Turn change at 0600 and 1800
- "Time pool" of 8-12 hours per turn (ignoring priests)
- Cancelling travel or misdirection to do something else costs you  
only an hour out of this time pool
- Scout reports which show a picture of what the *players* have  
decided to do at that point in the turn

Combining these you get the following effects:
- Even if it takes 8 hours to get from point A to point B, you can  
scout 2 hours before the turn, and see no one moving to point B, but  
everyone at point A can still get to point B by the turn
- Or you can have everyone at point A appearing to be going to point  
B for 11 hours and 50 minutes, but then actually end up at point C,  
because they could cancel their movement and still have 11 hours in  
their time pool

The OOC constructs are there, in general, to keep the game  
lightweight.  However, the combination of all these OOC factors  
*built into the game* gives an advantage to certain people who are  
willing to play BattleMaster as a *non*-lightweight game--or who just  
happen to be able to log in briefly at certain times.

Because the problem is created by several of the OOC constructs that  
make up the game, I believe it is reasonable to attempt address it by  
changing the game, while other OOC advantages (such as language  
barrier or intelligence) are beyond the scope of the game to address.

Timothy Collett
Anaris Family

--

I just think it's rather odd that a nation that prides itself on its  
virility should feel compelled to strap on forty pounds of protective  
gear just in order to play rugby.
--Giles, "Buffy"