Standard Faction/Race Information Sheet Format

[Chairman_Tiel]

I have to say I'm really a fan of this one. It's way too clunky for normal play but I think it'd be difficult to beat for the amount of detail provided by a bunch of numbers. A good present-day synopsis to accompany le backstory.

[Iv121]

I hgihly reccomend you to leave the application form in the hands of the one who actually makes the RP as to not limit them gameplay-wise ( I thought you exist only for lore anyway), you can probably only create reccomended format for the applications.

Well with that being said I do make NavNet with a very specific system in mind well because it is hard to write a program without having a system at its core whatsoever, it is possible to make the system more flexible in future versions but for now it has to be focused on one system.

If you plan to write a reccomendation keep in mind that the application is not jsut a wall of randon text, it is at the core of the gameplay and when you suggest to add main exprots to the list you must know and explain how it incorporates into gameplay. You need to keep in mind that while more complicated systems can add depth to the gameplay you currently have no way of keeping track of complciated systems, that means that whatever mechanic you suggest it must be simple to execute and keep track of.

Examples:

Spoiler:

Example of good gameplay mechanic:

A special number called "fleet value" is attached to each nation. The fleet value is a number that determines how many ships one fleet you own can have during combat. Each ship type has a specific value: 1 for fighters, 2 for bombers, 4 for corvettes etc. You can split your fleet points between the ship classes in whatever way you see fit. When the battle is complete your total losses are summed up by their values (aka 1 for fighter 2 for bomber ...) and divided by the number of fleets, then reduced from the fleet value.

That means that now next time your fleet fights you have less points to assign due to losses suffered in the prev battle, simulating fleet strenght effectively without the need to keep track of each individual fleet, all packed in one value.

Why is it good ? Easy to use for the end user and all data is stored effectively in one number, making it easy to mdoerate and keep track of.


Example of a bad gameplay mechanic:

Different systems have different worth, some systems are more important than others and it effects strategic choices a lot. In order to simulate so each system the player owns will get an economic rating. The sum of all those economic ratings determines the overall economy strength of your empire.

Why is it bad ? Although easy to calculate, too many numbers to keep track of.

I can prob come up with more examples if you need.

[ACH0225]

Fleet of 20000 fighters vs fleet of anti-fighter flak ships(15000 value total).

Fighters win.

That's an example of Iv's design. Not only is it cold and uncaring, it's also boring as fuck. I don't think Iv understands that THIS ISNT A GAME, IT'S A STORY. This is shown by the random events and imbalance of power. The reason that numbers are unpopular with some people is because they make it into a text based game, rather than an interactive story. The difference of interest between these two is shown by RP length; RPs with no number charts last longer than those with them(shown by the Original RP and the most recent one).

As for what these are for, they're for Canon-Official-100%-Authorized RPs. Non-Canon RPs will have their application filled out by their creator.

[Iv121]

It only determines fleet size, naturally it doesn't mean that the one with more nums wins automatically, plus no matter how you look at it a force of 20,000 armed equivalents of jets is a fearsome force compared to less than 4,000 frigates, though the flak makes me wonder who will win. BTW the fact you didn't even try to think of this obvious thing I wrote there is a reason I dont want you to touch gameplay, you do it in an irresponsible way because I think you just didnt want to think about it even a little bit deeper.

Plus ACH for me its a game, you can take a deep shit on the lore as I fear it might happen but you don't ruin my gameplay, I want to enjoy my strategic matches against ppl here, it doesn't mean you can't have a story behind it or that you don't consider user input. For raw numbers go paly SoSE, here your gameplay is not limited by the numbers or at least I try to limit people as little as possible, in the same time I want to give GMs the tools to judge battles fairly for example.

And didn't you suggest to judge speed production by numbers ACH ? And keep track of ships by numbers ? That proves that although you try to make a scene you actually already understand the need for those numbers.

[Error]

The other issue here is keeping track of fleet sizes and fleet compsitions doesn't cover everything.

E.g. a Strigiforme force if 10 frigates and 4 cruisers finds a Terran force of 12 frigates and 5 cruisers.

Given the differences in tech and design, Strigiforme shields, and whatnot, the owls would probably have an advantage here. Only problem is the system doesn't account for that.

And Iv, the core of the Empires RP has always been stories. If you want pure gameplay, you are free to design and use your own system. Canon RPs are very story-focused.

[Professor Fenway]

I for one agree with Ach. I don't honestly care about numbers in the slightest, and I don't want this to be a game. I'm here to write stories and enjoy what comes out of it. I trust everyone to not be terribly overpowered in anything or say, "lol I win" and if they do, we have GM's to correct it.

That said, we should go with a simple system. Not one like the numbers thing Tiel linked to, but something where it is story-centric, not number-centric.

Numbers should be a guide, not a rule.

[Iv121]

Nobody calimed otherwise, you all agree with me so quit making a scene like ACH, don't try to make me wrong when Im not. You do care about gameplay and as a fact you got numbers, its true in RPs gameplay is msotly text based but in all honesty answer me now, when you read entries in the empire RPs did you examine the literature quallity of the post or the amazingly told epic story, or did you think what that move means for you and how you gonna deal with it ?

[cats]

We need initial faction info sheets before we go into the Empire RP format. Faction information will fluctuate as we progress through time, we need something to cover the faction's information and history prior to introduction to the galactic community and constants like perpetual trends.

[Prototype]

Nobody calimed otherwise, you all agree with me so quit making a scene like ACH, don't try to make me wrong when Im not. You do care about gameplay and as a fact you got numbers, its true in RPs gameplay is msotly text based but in all honesty answer me now, when you read entries in the empire RPs did you examine the literature quallity of the post or the amazingly told epic story, or did you think what that move means for you and how you gonna deal with it ?

why not both?
I don't think it's a case of "or", it's a case of you do both, and you need both otherwise it's fucking boring.

[cats]

It shouldn't be what you'd do in response, it should be what your faction's leaders would do. The story matters more than the game.

[Iv121]

Yes and so Im suuure you gonna enjoy loosing your faction if its part of the story, cmon be honest, your RP posts are far from literature marvels. If you gonna say now like last time that I have no right to talk about it with my broken English Ill remind you that I don't even need to talk about your language, the very contents of most posts are far from being thought about, you need to think about the shape of your story no less than about the words you use for it, nobody has the time to do it for the sake of some RP and if the effort is minimal the results match. I won't be spending much time on what I write in my RP entries either.

[҉]

Yes and so Im suuure you gonna enjoy loosing your faction if its part of the story, cmon be honest, your RP posts are far from literature marvels. If you gonna say now like last time that I have no right to talk about it with my broken English Ill remind you that I don't even need to talk about your language, the very contents of most posts are far from being thought about, you need to think about the shape of your story no less than about the words you use for it, nobody has the time to do it for the sake of some RP and if the effort is minimal the results match. I won't be spending much time on what I write in my RP entries either.

Prob is ppl here don't rly care what you think anymore, youve spent so much time arguing with ppl and criticizing the things they do without participating yourself or offering useful better advice and insisting that you rule earth that I don't even need to talk about your chances of getting other ppl to agree with you.

[Professor Fenway]

Iv, you are missing the point. It is truly about the story, no matter what people say. In the last RP, NeoRome was completely decimated by a backwater nation and some weird technology. And it was fun. I enjoyed writing that story where I was completely destroyed. I can't say the same for you Iv, but I am for the story. And so are most of the regular RPer's in this forum.

We tried making it a game. It never works. So we stick with the story, which always works and is much more fun.

And Iv, you don't contribute, only complain. Don't criticize something you haven't even used for a long time and have little knowledge of.

[Prototype]

The only time a game RP every worked was when I set that map up and updated it with player movements, and it wasn't really an RP and the story got really fucking boring, so I stopped.

Everything in that one was done by numbers, and it wore of very quickly.

[Iv121]

I gave you a clear advice and warning about the applications for example, I gave you an actual useful mechanic there, I WRITE A FKING PROGRAM FOR YOU THANKLESS ASSHOLES just to get scolded by everyone who thinks like he wants to take his anger on something. HOW MNAY TIMES MY POSTS WERE CRITISIZED FOR NOTHING, just like you claim I am doing, exactly what ACh did a few posts back (he never apologized or said he was wrong BTW), its easy to delete all the work and care I have for you and throw it down the shitter, you are never grateful nor at least neutral, you just SHIT AND SHIT AND SHIT AND SHIT, thats all I heard from you today, yes there were 2/3 neutral posts, but every third post is a lot. Congratz you got me tick now,