3. Im not sure what the effects of the format change would be.
4. I need to figure out how the change will impact game play.
I would think HT, that you could look at AW, at least the SVGA - AW4W/AOL era. The beauty of the central neutrals model was that it forced a concentration of action. The ability to milkrun was minimized, and horde tactics were minimized as well since there was driven resistance due to the map model. While this isn't entirely the same, it seems similar in principal.
The gameplay advantage is that it brings together both elements of the community (strat and furballers) and encourages cross participation. For example, as a furball player I commonly supported the strat effort because the central neutral bases provided more of the "get up and shoot" gameplay when you held one or more compared to operating from a remote country base. The strat crowd would also be encouraged to fight with this type of model because they would have to -- harder to milkrun. You reduce "path of least resistance" gameplay options.
Additonally, from at least my perspective, base capture would mean a lot more to me (and perhaps other more furballer types) in this model based on my past experience. I don't care about winning the war (never have), but taking one of the N bases (or some similar alternative) might give more a sense of accomplishment than some random base A137 on an open map with 100 other bases. What's the point (to me)? Any impact I may have had will only be felt days later at the final reset, and I most likley won't even be on at the time. However, I did get some sense of satisfaction in the "good old days" helping get one of the coveted neutral bases, or trying to hold one, because they were just more inportant due to the limited number of bases involved, their strategic position and their feeding of quick and continued dogfight action.
The early AW model was changed in the Gamestorm era (according to a discussion I had with Moggy at the time) because the server code couldn't handle much more than 60 planes in one sector and the numbers had exploded. They went to an open map format like AH, that saw virtually the same gameplay dynamics (actually worse) develop that we had in the MA after the numbers jumped a few years back.
Ultimately, I would like to see a real strat model that require attacking strat targets using traditional strategic platforms like the B-17/24 in strategic attack profiles as a fundamental element in winning the war (instead of just a way to pad score for those so driven). This could be linked to the tactical war (bases, rail, trucks barges) for a revolution in gameplay, but I imaging the codeing challenges are much heavier, the outcome harder to predict and the disruption to the community such that the current blip would be mild by comparison. Until then, this model is VERY exciting.
Charon
