Distension discussion

[Stabwound]

Due to lack of interest in the 1-3pm time slot, we're moving it up to 3-5pm (EDT/GMT-4) for a trial run. This is effective immediately.

Also, for the weekend, there are usually weekend events hosting around 3-5pm, so there's no point in having anything scheduled around then. How about 7-10pm EDT Saturday/Sunday night (getting rid of the crappy 1-4am thing)?

[Sketch_hs]

please fix brick already....

[DankNuggets]

God I fucking hate it when you type an essay and it just dissapears on you

1- first off, i want to say that the no ship changes while rearming is pretty annoying to say the least. many times if i see we need a shark to rep mines, i'll just wait until i die and switch. too bad that i'm not used to having to rearm to switch, so i get spec'd, lagout, and then end up in the ship I tried to switch OUT of, only to end up hitting esc 8 too soon and repeat the process. Finally, i wait to rearm, and then BOOM, d/c'd for too many ship changes. I suggest scrapping this rule for a better one to address whatever bug it was intended to correct. If not, maybe don't allow people to attach until they rearm as well, so they don't mistakenly do what i did.

2- the schedule sucks, but i realize it's the best we could have done given the circumstances. I think the idea of moving the 1-3 slot to either 5-7 or 6-8 sounds better than just blocking off 8-12, which could stagnate and not allow europeans to play. I'm much more likely to play 5-8 area when getting off of work than 9-11 when going out with friends, sleeping, or w/e. There definitely needs to be a big weekend presence now that TWL is over. Another weekend event would be great, if it's feasible. The multiplier events sound like a great way to renew interest as well.

3- i think the flagroom is fine for now. we've got half the people we had in them in BETA (with everyone rank 50+) and it seemed to work ok then. if you do make it bigger, then i'd suggest adding some more cover as well. maybe even another "ear" on the sides or top. won't look exactly like TW base, but will provide another spot to hide in and recover.

we need to try to get more people playing again, and adding more time slots and possible weekend events are a great way to do it.

[dako]

My point was that if we had more people, it would be interesting to play the same ship, it would be more competitive. But we havent had a 14v14 in the 1-3PM host for at least 2 weeks now.

Also - back in november, qan said there would be special RP multiplier events (example - a 2x multiplier for the session for everyone). This would draw people in (if announced). Are these still a possibility?

[project dragon]

Is there a reason why the bases of distension has to mimic the base of TW?

Why not have a call for new base designs? Unless there is a reason for the TW base, in which case, I think the actual flag room is alright, but the entrance to the flag room could use some more breathing space.

[McVicar]

I was thinking of getting rid of the early (1-3pm) time slot altogether because that one seems to be pulling a pretty poor crowd lately. What about that and extending the later session to 8-12pm -- 7 days a week?

Meh, you really wouldn't be catering for euros would you, since 8pm is 1am in UK time, and that extends further for the rest of europe. I would say either breaking up the 4 hour session by an hour so say 5-7 and then 9-11 or 6-8 then 10-12.

And as for the fr, i think we could make it a little bigger, but we could try putting more cover i.e blocks and such in there as suggested.

[roxxkatt]

i like the frs how they are =/

if anything, more cover could be added...

[KuNi]

What about that and extending the later session to 8-12pm -- 7 days a week?

8-12pm sounds good, but people would play 2 hours a day more than previously. People will rank a lot quicker... schedule now isn't too bad(i know i said schedule needed to change a few posts ago) just add the 9-11pm slot on weekends as well as the 1-4am and remove the 1-3pm on weekdays
occasional 48 hour weekend host in future maybe?

Do you think it would maybe work better with a bigger flagroom?

People were talking about this earlier.. would be a good idea, levi emps wouldnt be so annoying, same with level 2 bombs, and bursts would be easier to dodge. Why is distension even out of beta? there's been so many changes.

edit: I'm so sad, posting things on spaceship forums during school -.-"
I officially have no life.

[Stabwound]

We can probably change the schedule, but I doubt there will be anything like 1-4am on weekdays. I've already had to shut down the bot early this week (and during a much better time slot) because it was like 6v6 and just a big pile of crap.

I was thinking of getting rid of the early (1-3pm) time slot altogether because that one seems to be pulling a pretty poor crowd lately. What about that and extending the later session to 8-12pm -- 7 days a week?

As far as abilities and whatnot go:

Bouncing bullets will probably never be enabled, not only because it would be annoying as hell, but because they cause server crashes in TW for some reason.

qan also mentioned adding some sort of system where you can restart your ship from rank 0 (like remorts if you've ever played MUDs) but with some sort of bonus/upgrade/whatever that's only attainable by doing that. I think that would be pretty cool, and it would give an incentive to keep playing ships after there are no fun abilities to look forward to.

As for 'lack of variety' amongst the ships, let's put it this way: there's only so much that can be done with the Continuum engine running from a subgame server. How would you recommend the ships be changed to make them more unique?

qan has good ideas in store for Distension when TW finally gets a new server running so that the bot can login locally. There is a lot of potential for new abilities and such if things can be done in realtime rather than with the lag etc. For example, warbird bullets could potentially engine shutdown/emp ships with their level 3 bullets if they don't outright kill them.

On the other hand, I mentioned before how I find that Distension is becoming more and more annoying as people unlock higher abilities and most people agreed. Do you think it would maybe work better with a bigger flagroom?

[Peace_Maker]

reply to Dako

2. The schedule should be better, especially on the weekend.
3. Qan has always said if the game can not sustain interest without leveling he does not think the game should exists at all.
4. I am not sure how you came up with the assumption that all ships are warbirds but I find that humorous. The ships are all based on ships in Trench Wars.

Bouncing bullets, no way, should never happen. There are more than enough bullets flying around as is.

I am not sure the majority of distension public cares about Tac Op to make it a priority for any change since less than 10% of the players have never played it or even have it.

[project dragon]

3. Lack of motivation to grind.

Grinding is fine to an extent, but when your next upgrade is about a week of constant play away, people get disillusioned and bored with playing the same exact ship.

4. Lack of variety among ships.

I would also think this obvious - spider eventually just becomes a warbird minus thor with faster firing, lancaster is just a warbird with multi shot, leviathan is just a lancaster with faster EMP bombs and a higher top speed. Weasel is just a slow warbird with multi and cloak.

So... you want ships to upgrade faster, but you hate that all the ships have all those goddamn upgrades all of a sudden.

Also, bouncing bullets would seem to be a good novelty at first, but people seemed annoyed enough with 'random burst killing them', so having wb's and terrs not care about aiming and just letting their bullets bounce wherever is probably not going to help with anything.

[dako]

Why distension is becoming unpopular:

1. The novelty is wearing off.

Distension is no longer a "new" event, no one else is joining in on the mayhem. My suggestion is to rehost this as a 48 hour weekend event sort of thing (last time this was done, there were no crashes) and publically announce it.

2. The hosting schedule sucks.

This is pretty obvious. It was fine for winter break and the like, but most americans, who i presume consist of the vast majority of distension players, cannot play the 1-3 PM host because of school / work, and a lot aren't willing to play at 9-11PM, preferring sleep instead.

3. Lack of motivation to grind.

Grinding is fine to an extent, but when your next upgrade is about a week of constant play away, people get disillusioned and bored with playing the same exact ship.

4. Lack of variety among ships.

I would also think this obvious - spider eventually just becomes a warbird minus thor with faster firing, lancaster is just a warbird with multi shot, leviathan is just a lancaster with faster EMP bombs and a higher top speed. Weasel is just a slow warbird with multi and cloak.


Things to implement:

Bouncing bullets. Why is this not done already? Especially on warbird or terrier, who dont get a lot of bullets out to begin with...

Tac Ops assist share. I would think tactical ops would get a part of the RP for a kill if the person was orbed / blinded, as VB does with weasel. That and tac ops levelling is slloooooooow.

[KuNi]

yep. schedule needs to change. how about 3 hosts a day? 4-6pm, 9-11pm,1-4am EST
omg, why do i even play this game anymore?

Schedule

Can we please fix it now that TWL is over? Not just because less and less people are starting to show up for hosts, but because the weekend times in particular suck ass, especially now that TWL is over. I see no reason why we can't have a day host added for the Americans (Night for Euros) and keep the 1AM one we have now for the diehards and aussies.

[Stabwound]

That was added to stop a bug.

(which I might add didn't seem to help)