Devs... want me to buy Diplomacy?

from Sins Forums

Okay, I confess.  Bottom line is, I never got a hard-on for the idea of Diplomacy.  Hey, no biggie, I understand that SP folks like it, and that's fine.  You can't please everybody all the time.  But is there a way you can get my money anyway?

Yes.  I figure Diplomacy will be supported (i.e. patched) for the next year or so.  I'd simply like a few interface changes.  I see those, I'll throw down my change for a copy, and I bet other MP types who haven't bought yet will do the same.  Sure, there probably aren't enough of us to fool with, but the changes make sense anyway, and should be much appreciated by all, including SP types.  None of these changes mess with balance or add new units or abilities:

1) Jumping empire tree.  'Nuff said.

2) The grouping button which groups ships into groups of 10 on the empire tree.  Currently it makes your actual use of the empire tree all but useless.  That's bad.  I'd like to be able to select a group of 10 ships (or multiple groups of 10 ships), and then be able to do an action on another group of 10 ships (or multiple groups of 10 ships), comprehende'?  I want to be able to select 20 ships - say lrf for argument's sake - and be able to shift rightclick (attack) 60 lf.  Or select 10 overseers and have them heal 10 of my own frigs I select.  Bonus points if any of these things are done with any semblance of intelligence (i.e. if the lrms ff each of the enemy ships I select, in sequence, starting with the closest target to all of them, or if each overseer would use its ability once on each of the 10 frigs I selected, each overseer selecting the closest ship to it, or the ship which requires it to turn the least amount to use its ability).

3) Being able to set a factory, or a planet, to produce ships with certain autojoin/autoattack/fleet spread/fleet cohesion/hold position characteristics set a certain way.

I see these things in the patch notes for Diplomacy, I'll buy it.

4,931 views 10 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Deplomacy is good on single player - which means I am playing single player more then multiplayer (more challenging offline now :)).

1) Jumping empire tree.  'Nuff said.

Its your choice, you either buy it or you dont, no ones making that choice for you, and on another note, you cant win just by going civic, its impossible, you need defeneses and fleets, if anyone here can win a diplomatic vicotory without a fleet or without any defense, please upload a replay.

I have finally got a stragey when facing an 10 player FFA (offline with Viscious AI), get choke points starbased asap, get trade up asap, then once you got 120 creds a sec econ going, then build a fleet, then get diplomatic relatiosn going.

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top

Doesn't your post strike you at any level arrogant? I mean, ultimately, developers are here to produce a strong game to make their customers happy, but your $10 is more important than anyone else's and is a driving force for change?

Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

1) Jumping empire tree. 'Nuff said.
End of quote
Good god almighty!  For the love of Apple Pie and Fruitcake!  Please fix this monstrosity of a buzzkill!
3) Being able to set a factory, or a planet, to produce ships with certain autojoin/autoattack/fleet spread/fleet cohesion/hold position characteristics set a certain way.
End of quote
This is a fantastic suggestion.  I will pay you just for thinking of it.  Where do I send the money?

Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

3) Being able to set a factory, or a planet, to produce ships with certain autojoin/autoattack/fleet spread/fleet cohesion/hold position characteristics set a certain way.
End of quote

 

Infinite Interactive down under. :)

 

Oh if only they did WBC with a real budget...

Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Protoplazm, reply 3

This is a fantastic suggestion.  I will pay you just for thinking of it.  Where do I send the money?
End of Protoplazm's quote

Just keep the money, and tell the devs you'll use it to buy Diplomacy if the suggestion is ever implemented :-)

(suggestion #2 isn't bad either)

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top

(suggestion #2 isn't bad either)
End of quote
Yeah, I do like the multi-grouping idea, but in the interests of "being careful what you wish for category", if you auto enable fire control and target aquisition across the board then I think good micromanagement skills begin to be less of an advantage because it might "level the playing field" a little too much.

Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Protoplazm, reply 6

(suggestion #2 isn't bad either)Yeah, I do like the multi-grouping idea, but in the interests of "being careful what you wish for category", if you auto enable fire control and target aquisition across the board then I think good micromanagement skills begin to be less of an advantage because it might "level the playing field" a little too much.
End of Protoplazm's quote

Screw micromanagement.  This is supposed to be a grand strategy game that was touted as "reduced micromanagement."

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Screw micromanagement. This is supposed to be a grand strategy game that was touted as "reduced micromanagement."
End of quote
But then you end up with the Zerg syndrome.  Mass, and maul mayhem.

Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top

Zerg syndrome is a product of the other sides requiring massive micromanagement in combat to counter the mass and maul.

 

WBC was set up differently from Sins, it has a similar ability type unit system using magic, but behavior was less refined a tool.  You had ai packages, defensive, agressive, rampant, etcetera, and then magic versions that would autocast spells they possessed.  The buildings having the same setting so that you could have them start on something besides default didn't remove anything pertinent from the game, it just reduced the mindless exercise of setting them up every so often.

 

The benefit would be much the same, a lot longer list of things to set up though.  Rigging the ability system for this sort of system would be far more work than it's worth probably, but I can see the use in the other behavior.  I like setting guardians up inside my static defenses for instance, they're always set to hold position.  This would simply let me set that behavior when I filled out the order, instead of going back to fix them after they left the bay.

Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting Protoplazm, reply 8

But then you end up with the Zerg syndrome.  Mass, and maul mayhem.
End of Protoplazm's quote

What?  What does reducing tedious bullshit micromanagement have to do with "zerg syndrome?"