Draft Round

[Beausoleil]

There was some discussion in #smr not long ago where the idea of a draft round seemed to be a popular one. Shall we get the ball rolling on confirming this as a community?

The details, of course, would need to be determined. But the general concept is that you have two sides led by pre-appointed leaders who then get to do a "draft" of the rest of the players. I imagine it could go something like this:

1) Admin message is sent out in game requesting that anybody interested in playing the draft round sign up for it. A deadline is given.
2) All the players who have signed up by the deadline are listed to the pre-appointed leaders. They take turns selecting who they want on their side. A coin is flipped (or the digital equivalent thereof) to determine who starts.
3) Players are then automatically assigned to their team when they join the game.

Some other items of interest though:

• How long does this game go for? One interesting idea that Turbo Pig came up with is maybe having the first team to build a level 70 become the winner; game automatically ends when this occurs.

• How do you handle inactive players? Can leaders "kick" them from a team? If so, can the kicked player roam a map solo, or are they forced to not play the round any further? Maybe a small mini-galaxy separate from the rest could exist as a sandbox for them?

• Do we want just two teams? We could also try a three-team draft, so that if one side got too big the other two could team up to take them down and delay their winning. My counterpoints to this are that I'm not sure we'd have enough active players to make up three active teams, and the tendency toward jumping one side repeatedly might ruin the fun. Two big sides could be a thrill in any event.

I'd say if we want to do this, we should get some discussion going now so that it can be implemented in code before the present round's end.

[Holti]

My own thoughts would be:

Three teams.
Kick inactive players if they've been inactive for a certain period of time
Kind of like the mini galaxy sandbox for inactives idea, especially if the inactives come back and still want to play.

[El_Guapo]

If something like this is done I highly recommend running it as a second, short, fast game along side the main game at least until all the kinks are worked out. Otherwise You will have some people upset about some aspects and have nothing else to play until the round ends.

What happens to players who are not picked?

What is the alliance limit?

if all three alliances are full what happens to everyone else who wants to play and was not around for the sign up?

Only way to kick someone is if they been inactive for a certain period of time? What if they are a known spy or they commit fleeticide by double firing at a port or planet?

You will have to get Page interested to code such a thing when the particulars aren't even clear. Perhaps you would have better luck if the community did this voluntarily at first.

Also I recommend 4 teams of 20.

[Beausoleil]

If something like this is done I highly recommend running it as a second, short, fast game along side the main game at least until all the kinks are worked out. Otherwise You will have some people upset about some aspects and have nothing else to play until the round ends.

What happens to players who are not picked?

What is the alliance limit?

if all three alliances are full what happens to everyone else who wants to play and was not around for the sign up?

Only way to kick someone is if they been inactive for a certain period of time? What if they are a known spy or they commit fleeticide by double firing at a port or planet?

You will have to get Page interested to code such a thing when the particulars aren't even clear. Perhaps you would have better luck if the community did this voluntarily at first.

Also I recommend 4 teams of 20.

I wouldn't mind running it as a secondary game to a main one. I personally miss having two games going at a time (Colonial Conquest + Omar Conflict, Colonial Conquest + Crusher Chronicles, etc.)

All players will be picked. That's part of the draft.

I was thinking that there would be no alliance cap. The size is determined by the number of people who sign up.

Leaders can kick for any reason, same as they can now. Inactivity, spying, general douchebaggery, etc.

Coding shouldn't be that bad actually, and this idea has been brought up numerous times over the last six months by various parties. Page is aware of it.

[silverx2]

If this happens I'm in.

[El_Guapo]

Ok all players are picked and alliances are uncapped. I'm cool with that, especially if its 4 teams like I proposed. I guess we would have to see how many sign up for it. It would probably be good to get a sign up going soon through an in game feature as most people don't read the msg board, and half the ones who do can't be arsed to log in.

What about players who are not currently playing when the draft happens, both returning vets and newbies? It seems to me that at this point in time we would want to do everything possible to accommodate new and returning players, ya? Automatically assigned to an alliance?

I don't doubt Page has the expertise to code such a thing, my question is, does he like the idea enough to go beyond discussing it and actually do it?

[Beausoleil]

Ok all players are picked and alliances are uncapped. I'm cool with that, especially if its 4 teams like I proposed. I guess we would have to see how many sign up for it. It would probably be good to get a sign up going soon through an in game feature as most people don't read the msg board, and half the ones who do can't be arsed to log in.

What about players who are not currently playing when the draft happens, both returning vets and newbies? It seems to me that at this point in time we would want to do everything possible to accommodate new and returning players, ya? Automatically assigned to an alliance?

I don't doubt Page has the expertise to code such a thing, my question is, does he like the idea enough to go beyond discussing it and actually do it?

Players joining late can be automatically assigned to the team with the fewest players. There would be others ways to handle this, but that's just one I'm throwing out there. We don't want it to be a case where people don't sign up for the draft, and then try to gimp their way into an alliance of preference by having the leader kick unwanted players, then the guy joins at just the right time, etc. Not that anyone would necessarily do anything like that...

Another way would be to put all players in a 'queue' until there are enough to give each alliance a player. They can be assigned based on values like the sum of each teams' individual players' user scores or something.

I believe Page has nodded quietly to this idea - the draft round, that is, not the details. Need verification though.

[N.ator]

i say its at random for what team you go into. this will be more fun , playing with new players that you havnt played before etc.

i like the idea for the team with the first lvl 70 planet wins. but i think it should be determined on several things.

when the lvl 70 planet is done, game automatically ends.

then i say

kills = %25 of total score
exp = %25 of total score
Planet and port buts = %25
forces = %25 percent.

with this, its not just a race for the first lvl 70, but a race for everything! there will be more strategy as in before building that last build lets all mass trade or mass op to get more points!..

game should also be a faster game. possible like 5 or 6x, to make it the more active alliance wins!

[Beausoleil]

i say its at random for what team you go into. this will be more fun , playing with new players that you havnt played before etc.

The problem with this is that you run a severe risk of having the two sides severely imbalanced; you could end up with 90% of the best/active players on one side, and a bunch of newbs/inactive players on the other. The game is no fun for anyone when one side just storms the other; having the draft selection will give us a better chance of the teams being more or less even, as the leaders will know who to is active and talented and take turns selecting them accordingly.

i like the idea for the team with the first lvl 70 planet wins. but i think it should be determined on several things.

when the lvl 70 planet is done, game automatically ends.

then i say

kills = %25 of total score
exp = %25 of total score
Planet and port buts = %25
forces = %25 percent.

with this, its not just a race for the first lvl 70, but a race for everything! there will be more strategy as in before building that last build lets all mass trade or mass op to get more points!..

This is a novel idea, but I don't think we should try it in this draft round. Let's keep it simple - one new idea at a time. That way we can see if people like it, and pinpoint what works and doesn't work for the community a lot easier. I think thats the lesson learned from 1.5.

[El_Guapo]

I also think the system should automaticly place you in an alliance instead of doing a draft. Otherwise, the leaders end up picking people they know and like and we all end up playing with the same people again making the whole idea pointless.