7/1/2016
Topic:
Welcome to the Barons of the Galaxy Forum
Hutton
|
Can I get in on the alpha test too? I pledged to the unsuccessful kickstarter as a "Quasar Dragon" and will pledge to support again next time around. |
4/3/2017
Topic:
Display: Asset Logistics
Hutton
|
The logistics data under Assets->Product doesn't seem to be displaying correct data.
It shows a correct quantity. Buy and sell show "0". (In my case, buy should be "0" but I;m selling off Basic Minerals and Poultry every turn). Other columns are blank. |
4/4/2017
Topic:
GUI: Demand Average
Hutton
|
In the top 10 list under view->demand, the total price of all products added together is being displayed instead of an average price.
edited by Hutton on 4/4/2017 |
4/4/2017
Topic:
Food and population growth
Hutton
|
I suggest that demand for crops and meat should be weighted more heavily than other products towards population growth. With the possible exception of cotton, which I believe is the only commodity in those categories that can be used to manufacture other products. |
4/4/2017
Topic:
Food and population growth
Hutton
|
Yes, water too of course. City and planet rulers should worry about keeping their populations fed and watered, otherwise that tax base will dry up. It also makes those products more useful. They are kind of uniquely less useful right now because they don't get used to make any components. |
4/4/2017
Topic:
Food and population growth
Hutton
|
So, the most effective way of bumping up a city's population should be by keeping demand for food and water low. A mayor might sacrifice logistics to operate farms at a loss because they are building their tax base.
And, if you really feel like making food Work differently from other resources, give it a different scaling system. It would be more immersive if multiple farms/ranches producing a diversity of food should somehow be more effective than making 1 level 10 farm/ranch and changing production every few turns. Maybe put in a delay or something so it has to be running for a while before it starts to produce. |
4/5/2017
Topic:
Food and population growth
Hutton
|
Is that true on other solar systems as well? It makes sense that earth would be the bread basket of Sol, but I can see your point. |
4/5/2017
Topic:
Thoughts on Free vs Paid Player Advantage
Hutton
|
Call it "The Oligarchs". Here was my two bits on the same Comm thread:
I also think that [Concerned Free Account Player] does kind of miss the point, but he might be wise enough to recognize that the game is not for him. The mistake is assuming that its failing because it doesnt succeeded in appealing to him when he might not, in fact, be part of the target demographic.
This is easy for me to say, of course, because I am starting at the top of the heap. The kickstarter contributors will definitely be the Barons of Sol. The closest historical analogy to BoGs setting would be the discovery, colonization and expansion of the Americas. People crossed the ocean precisely because old money had a monopoly on power and recourses in the old world. They invaded virgin land to build their own world that the old money didnt have a lock on.
It might be more palatable if you think of us old money/kickstarter players as more like NPC faction leaders than competing players. In another game we would be scripted quest givers or evil empires. We can reward you or antagonize you if choose to interact with us. We will probably ignore you if you dont. We are like unpaid staff that is moderating the behavior of the galactic governments right now. Eventually we may fall and be replaced, at which point we might pack up and try to carve out a new domain among the stars. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
Thoughts on Free vs Paid Player Advantage
Hutton
|
Yes, but for the first thousand tursn or so that is going to be the founders who have the most political capital to spend, just because we will be able to pump out industry just as fast as our HQ can spit them out and we can smack that upgrade button. Once our logistics cap out, other players will catch up and we'll need to build alliances just like everyone else. But, in the begining, I thought that framing the founders as oligarchs or plutocrats or old money that is baked into the setting might help someone like [Concerned Free Account Player] who is judging the game as competitive multiplayer view it in a different light.
And I'm sure there will be a lot of people popping in and picking fights, if only to kick the tires and get a feel for what the game is about. Some might get frustrated when that doesn't go well, either because they don't get that the game isn't intrinsically competitive or because they are looking for a war game. So framing the the nature of the game in the setting might go a long way towards retaining players that will like the game once it "clicks" for them. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon late in the game and maybe we are too close to launch to play with this much, but I've spent the last decade in civil service and see a lot of potential in the politics side of BoG, so I'm going to weigh in anyway.
I suggest that cities should vote as blocs for planetary rulers, and planet's should vote as blocs for system ruler, rather than have straight popular votes across the board. And the Mayors and Governors should vote on behalf of their blocs. (I'm also, by the way, going to advocate for city rulers to be called Mayors and Planetary rulers to be called Governors). You will have to be more strategic about your alliances and where you and your allies build your industry then to take control of planets and systems. That will also force Starlords to communicate with and be responsive towards Governors and Governors to develope relationships with Mayors. If a Mayor is not in the Governors camp, he might want to ask a few allies to set up shop in that city to sway the next municipal election.
I also think Free Accounts should get some level of buy-in to the political process, at least on the municipal level. Maybe require a minimum corporate level to vote in city elections to avoid exploitation of multiple accounts. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
GUI: Viewscreen Battles Checkbox
Hutton
|
Checking it off doesn't display recent battles. Is it only supposed to display battles happening that turn? |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
Another thing you could allow city rulers to do is apply limited modifiers to the tariffs in their city. You might assume the only reason to adjust the tariff is to lower it but, in fact, the city ruler has an incentive to discourage purchasing if they want to encourage growth. For example I built a bunch of farms and ranches in New York to encourage population growth. (I intuitively assumed that food encouraged growth more than other products without thinking about actual game mechanics, but this line of reasoning is still valid as it applies to all products). I've got the demand for all food down around 50% and am drip feeding product into those market to keep demand low and encourage population growth. Those farms and ranches are operating at a loss to encourage growth. (I've invented food stamps!) If I pushed it down lower everyone would swoop in and start buying that food up, which would undermine my efforts because I'd be subsidizing them instead of the city. So the ability to increase the tariff on a few products might be very useful to city leaders. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
Looking at cities this way, it seems like the best way to promote a city's growth is to always sell to it and never buy from it, which doesn't really make sense. A low cost of living is attractive to immigrants, but exports also mean jobs and growth. One way you could, possibly, jigger the economy is to have purchases from the city stimulate demand for Infrastructure and have sale of Infrastructure add an absolute value to the population number rather than Infrastructure having a supply and demand effect on population growth like other products. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
ChaChaCharms wrote:
With higher stake elections I have started to voice my goals for the position. I feel that in order to be elected you have to do this instead of sit back, say nothing, and then just vote for yourself.
A richer political model would require quietly building a coalition with private messages and promises of graft. Or deciding whether you should hold back your coalition's votes until the last minute to lull your adversaries or pull way out in front in the begining of the election to intimidate others from throwing their hats in the ring. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
I'm just thinking out loud, I guess. You might be too close to launch to be tinkering with stuff like that.
But I wasn't suggesting that Starlords should have more influence on city and planetary elections. Just the opposite, that the Starlords will need support from the planets and planetary leaders will need support from the cities. (In real life, even in a democracy, local support is important because the local party machine is what turns voters out to the polls). When I talked about a planet or star's ruler tinkering in a lower election I imagined them either building in the city or getting their allies to build there. So you could end up with a situation where the Starlord of Sol knows that Earth isn't going to vote for him in the next election, but if he can replace or ally with a few city leaders, then he can replace Earth's ruler with a crony.
I guess I just think politics will be more fun if it's more byzantine with lots of loophole and unexpected reversals. To further complicate the equation, I suggest freeholders with industry outside cities also get to vote directly in the planetary elections, as does industry in a city with no ruler. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
And if only paid accounts are eligible to run for office, then that does give us a special role in deciding the planetary and systemwide elections under the voting bloc system, while allowing free players to still have a stake. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
GUI: Viewscreen Battles Checkbox
Hutton
|
In Viewscreen->Overview there are two checkboxes, "Battles" and "Events", just to the right of the bar graph of social classes. If you check off "Events", it puts a bunch of crosshairs on the map. The "Battles" box doesn't seem to affect the map. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
Gift Codes
Hutton
|
Or subscription gift codes. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
Military contract
Hutton
|
A realistic feature of a mercenary defense contract would be the ability to bug out and default on the contract. So you could still tell your units to retreat when they take a certain amount of damage, but then you don't get paid. |
4/6/2017
Topic:
City Leader?
Hutton
|
Or, another way to do it would be to give the city and planet rulers extra votes based on the population they control, but still let the Corps cast their own votes for the higher office. I like the former model better though, because it gives you an opening to let free players participate while putting subscription players center stage. Also, I like the concept of "Freeholders" corporations setting up shop outside if city borders to maintain their autonomy in planetary and stellar votes. |