So it would be a truce mode that sticks to the player, rather than the game? Ok, we'd have to be very careful so as not to let it be abused.

Sure. But looking around, it's something you'll find in just about every persistent multiplayer game except TW.

Yea, but in other persistent multiplayers we tend to have some form of login control... like a central server, or some form of payment required. We either need very tight controls on protected players joining corps and having very many assets given to them, or we need a tighter form of authentication, or both.

Additionally, TW isn't really persistent.

Which brings up some logistical questions like: What about plowing thru defensive figs? Are they just... disabled for protected players? That would make a great explorer dupe.

I think there would be a threshold on that. If there's a sector with a few fighters, the protected player can move through it. If it's a base sector with lots of figs, the player cannot move through it. In addition, if a player has no path to FedSpace, the player should be able to jump to FedSpace. Maybe get an escort from Zyrain. We'll have to work out the details, but I think it's worth considering. I've been talking to V'Ger about it and kicking around some of the questions already.

What about being torped? Would it be advantageous for someone to delay their corp join to mow around a little bit for discovery? If too many figs will stop players, then what about blockades?

I've done some thought on this subject. And yes, I know I'm just promoting this topic hijack! But here are some thoughts I originally shared privately with John but figure ought to be in the open now, since we're all on this newbie safety topic.

I think one nice thing, and of course this would all be sysop-configurable,
would be to have the feds pay more attention to what's going on around them.
Let's say some total newbie just got his shiny new merchant cruiser squished
by a few figs or mines somewhere in the MSL's. I think in this case, the
feds should hear about it over their subspace radios and spring into action,
making sure that can't happen again, at least for now, possibly running the
bit of Extern that checks for hazards in the MSL's. This won't do the newbie
who lost his cruiser any good, but it might prevent the same thing from
happening again... for a while at least!

I think if TW is to continue as a viable game, it needs
to attract new players. Part of that is making the game environment
friendly. If someone joins a game not knowing what they're doing, and they
immediately get blown to smithereens by the most powerful player in the
game, they might leave and never come back.

I remember a similar game for Atari BBS's called Final Frontier. It was very
similar to TW in its overall theme, but of course the mechanics were
different. For instance, you played in a 500 by 500 universe, there were 100
planets in the universe at fixed locations which changed only when the
equivalent of a rebang happened, etc. One feature was that any new player
was given five days of protection from attack by other players. I don't know
if this was configurable by the sysop or hardcoded at five days. If I recall
correctly, attacking a protected player was simply not allowed, they didn't
have some cute in-character way of stopping you, it just wouldn't let you.
If you were protected and tried to attack someone, it would warn you that by
proceeding, you would forfeit your remaining protection. Thus, players who
wanted to be aggressive could do so, at the cost of losing their protection.

Such a system might be good in TW. However, there are so many things that
can befall a new trader, and don't involve another human actually
specifically targeting that trader. For instance, you have a newbie running
around in his merchant cruiser, protected from being attacked. Or so he
thinks until he blunders into an enemy base. Sorry folks, but thirty figs
just won't cut it when that enemy base has offensive figs, mines, and
several planets with Q cannons. Now we've got Kentucky fried newbie, and said
newbie is probably totally frustrated. One solution might be to equip a
newbie's very first cruiser with a holoscanner so, if he's careful, he can
avoid such a tragic end. It's hard to make it totally newbie-friendly and
yet fair to the others.

Some more thoughts on this subject. Possibly for newbies, the game could sort of cheat and have advanced knowledge of what's ahead, even though it doesn't tell Mr. Newbie the specifics. For example, if a newbie is about to blunder into an enemy base and hasn't scanned it first or doesn't have a scanner, it might say, not in these words of course, but something like, "Hmmm. Something doesn't seem right. I don't think you really want to go in there..." Of course if the player insists, just has to know what cool discovery he's made, he'll get blown to bits, and he knows he should trust the game when it warns him from now on.

Another thought. When I first started playing, I was maybe twelve or thirteen years old. My first mistake was not reading the docs. I wanted to jump right in, but then, doesn't everybody? I soon found myself asking some questions which are obvious to me now. Why do the feds hate me? Why am I an annoyance? Why are they putting bounties on my head? I wanna attack this guy who's in Fedspace, but Zyrain won't let me! Oh hey, here's somebody in fedspace with zero fighters, so let's tow him! Oh man, those stupid feds won't let me! I know, let's try attacking Zyrain! Ouch, that hurt!

You guys are seriously cracking me up tonight! This is better than smack!



JP Does have a sense of humor! I love it!



Actually I believe V’Ger has a script that sweeps Fed Protected Space every few minutes in his builders game (I).



Such good funnies tonight! Thanks for the laughs!

Lots of good ideas too. I particularly like the idea that if a protected player attack another player, they've just lost PvP protection. No matter what parameters or boundaries we come up with, someone will find a way to circumvent the intended behavior. This brings us back to dupes and authentication.

I'm not diaspointed with the new TWGS. Just wish there were more players.

I know. But I'm content to do this work for the existing gameop and player base (though many of them will never be visible to us here), even if nobody new seriously plays the game. So I don't consider that a failure. But sure, it would be nice if some more people come along. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm also willing to look at ways to improve our chances of that happening.

I was very frustrated when I approached the Sylien guys about using their mailing list, which they built up from my mailing list back in 2007 when it was more fresh, but which they've maintained while my list has become too stale to use. They basically said "we don't think it would be right to announce your game to our customers". So that's frustrating. I don't have a good way to reach my own customers, much less new people. I have some ideas I can try, but I don't want to do that until I feel that the game has a less hostile face to show the return and new players.

Truce mode?

Gimme a break. It's a war game.... Every time someone podded me coming into a game, I just logged back in and tried again. This isn't a new problem and has existed since the first day the multiplayer version came online.

Anytime you set something like this up, someone will figure out a way to take advantage of it, for example; What's to stop someone from taking advantage and set themselves up as a builder only to build till they surpass those who are fighting, then throw the switch and go kill everyone.

Truce modes are for wussies and although many of you will probably disagree with me, I wouldn't even want to be in a game like that, I'd rather have my Butt handed to me repeatedly.

Have an open mind. Not everybody sees it that way. It's also a trade game. It's also a game of exploration, and a game of building. And a social game. That it focuses solely on war now is the root of the problem. It's a one-dimensional game that has very limited appeal. It didn't used to be that way.

I'm on Sylien's mailing list. They keep trying to get me to do another "Free Trial", but I honestly don't consider thier version of the game playable.
Mayble some of the hackers on this forum can steal their list for you

No comment ;)

I do apologize but I am going to have to disagree. The worst thing you could do is try to build a game everyone wants to play. It's just not possible and you might end up driving away the very people that helped you get it this far.

Does war always have to be about killing?

Truce is used in several ways:

1. A short truce, usually 3 days, is used to let players get started in the game and establish a base, before the war begins.

2. Long term truces, where players build up resources over a long period of time, and then try to anialite each other when the truce is dropped. The actual war is over quickly.

3. Builders games where everyone just wants to get along. I'm not sure I understand the objective of this style of play, but to each his own.

This is one of the new features I am looking forward to.