Strat System Addition

[shotgunneeley]

I'm going to jump right to it: I'd like to see train depots. Basically, the train depots will be the middle man between the strats/city and the friendly fields. This gives bomber-happy tards like me more target opportunities and allows an attacking force to concentrate on a particular area rather than the entire country.

Strats/City handles the production of supplies; train depots handle the distribution.

There will be several train depots spread throughout a country. All supplies regardless of type (AAA, ords, fuel, etc.) will funnel to these train depots and will be distributed to the fields in a particular region of influence. (E.G. If there are 6 train depots, then the country will be divided into 6 sections that will be independently resupplied by their respective train depot. A train depot will be tied to the control of an attached "zone" field. If the zone field is captured, then the supplies for the train depot will be diverted to only the captured local fields under the control of the enemy country controlling the zone field.

Damaging the strat/city will affect the production rate for a particular type of supplies for the entire country. Damaging a train depot will affect the distribution for all supply types only for its respective region.

<S> ShtGn

[Nathan60]

YEP 

[Scherf]

Yes indeed, just don't have the ultra-killer flak as on the strat trains.

[bustr]

In the MA strategic choke hold targets will bite everyone in the kester by turning control of the game over to a minority of players dedicated to ruining the precious few hours or minutes you have to seek out fun versus your fun being tied to defending from their dictates. In turn you will never know if you are logging on to your country in health or on the verge of hades. That uncertanty kills "FUN" and fun is what is being paid for in the MA.

There is a player element that constantly wishes for Hitech to turn the MA into a serious strategic war based on a two protaganist winner conquor all game format. With three countries it's a spitfull game called stab me in the back befor I kick you in the nadds. It only works if your countries are organised militairy units with a central command structure. Say like the SEA and the WW2 historic events that take place there.

Has anyone thought to ask Hitech to introduce toys like this into the SEA where the format is desingned for a 2 sided winner take all death match? Maybe it could evolve into a two side forever WWII war just like the MA is a forever mishmash of anything anyone wants to do 24x7. Oops, but don't we have the AvA 2 side forever war with a small number of fans?

No one ever asks Hitech why his 3 sided informal country format works as our Main Arena. Or ask him why you never see strategic choke holds in the MA. No one ever asks why all of this works. Everyone always has a solution looking for a problem. Becasue the MA is full of hundreds of people, you think if Hitech could just add this or add that aspect of winning 2 sided wars. All of those people would like it just as much as you especialy the short cut aspect to winning the map. And they would all sit on the Group-W Bench and love it forever and forever becasue it's such a good idea in theory as long as your country was winning.

Why does the Main Arena work as is, entertaining hundreds of players 24x7 in a non-2-sided war format?

When you can answer that question, then your ideas to enhance the MA may be quite different. Rather than 2 sided war choke holds placing the happiness of paying customers under the dictate of a minority of players 24x7.

So why don't you guys ever list all the ways your ideas can be gamed and ruin the MA? In effect you are offering Hitech an update to his business plan which could impact his bottom line. In business you have to present both sides to a plan or you won't get any serious consideration.

What are the down sides to your plan with respect to how the 3-sided Main Arena works?

[Eric19]

+1 shotgun
<S> Eric19

[shotgunneeley]

@Bustr

Too extreme for you? You're right, its just another cog in the strategic game that I'd like to see. It was my belief though that HTC concentrated the strats at the rear not to save a region of a country from being depleted of resources, but to encourage strategic missions to go deeper into enemy territory and foster more fights. From your post, I'm sensing that your dominant desire is to simply dogfight/attack enemy players and woe to the person who destroys field/strat objects that could turn the player fight for or against you. That's all very good, and I agree that completely disabling a field of hangers that is feeding a furball is bad for all (necessary for capture missions, though). I understand your fears as well that a zone system like this could develop into lopsided 2-country war where the benefits are received by only one attacking country instead of both enemies as in the 3-country system. However, harming strategic targets does not prevent a country from fighting (as in destroying hangers); it just dampers the enemy's effectiveness against you. would you rather fight a guy armed with vast resources or with few resources? I was never calling for a 2-country war in the MA - I like the 3-country fight. I just want everyone to understand that what I'm asking for in this wish is another element that calls for 1) an additional step of strategic importance to the overall goal of capturing an area, and 2) encourages more fights (to attack and defend).

Another thought would be to compartmentalize the train depots into "marshalling yards" for the various supply types (i.e. mini-strats). Having a lot of train depots would lessen the area affected as well. Finally, having trains coming closer to front line fields instead of staying only around the strats could boost some raiding attacks to hunt the trains themselves.

[bustr]

You are trying to bring 2-sided war strategy to a 3-sided arena of non stop unstructured free play. 2-sided war requires structure and control of the participants and their energies as tools of a single leader or leadeership group towards total destruction of your enemy. In an unstructured free play environment choke hold and knock out blow objects hand over the arena to the small number of players who would dedicate themselves to controling the fun of the player base by targeting them. Anytime you have an object that can be destroyed which quickly controls a geographic region in response on the map you have a 2-side war style strategic object. You create a shortcut to the tipping point of no return for defending one of the three countries. And players are not paying $15 a month to log into a good chance the tipping point has been reached everyday.


First find out from Hitech why the manner in which he runs the MA works for so many 24x7 and keeps them paying their monhtly fee.