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Aetherflares and Space: The War of Bubblixes
Several times I've made my distaste for aetherflares quite apparent, and people have asked me why it is I hate them so much (even refuse to participate). Written below are the reasons why I dislike aetherflares and hopes that one day these noted issues (my opinions naturally) would somehow be rectified.
1. The one with the most bubblixes wins!
Every flare starts the same, the moment the Aether Rings explode, the first thing you'll read anywhere is "Who has a bubblix?". This wonderful transportation item, purchasable by dingbats, gives people and the org they are loyal to a -massive- advantage in being able to not only setup their ships quickly, but also transport individuals and others quickly to that location. Why It is I hate it so much? Because a mechanic like this that gives such a large advantage is the definition of "Pay to Win", which I personally hate. Add an Aethership whistle with the bubblix and you practically have the full set of "easy aetherspace". Even if someone was proficient enough to flashpoint back and forth, it is still far faster and cheaper (not to mention safer) to simply use bubblixes. It is almost becoming a necessary requirement to aether-anything. The same problem basically translates to Domoth upgrading as well. Have a bubblix, and you gain the massive advantage.
2. Aether Combat
I find Aether combat to be so two-dimensional: Who can blow up the other ship first. Yes there are all these special pilot manuevers and extra turret attacks, but frankly that's like saying we have a web enchantment for combat, it's just an addition to the mechanic. Additionally, there is the problem of the Crew...which I will get to point 3.
3. Aether Crews
Let's face it, we dont actually have the numbers to set a full crew for several ships these days. Maximum we will see 1 -MAYBE- 2 ships with a full crew. These days we are mostly seeing 3 to 4 ships floating about with usually 1 guy on board at a turret praying he isnt focused. Additionally, and this isnt a very big issue but, to even function in an aether position requires learning a new branch of combat mechanics for new players, additionally some lesson investment in aethercraft to even bombard. When compared with village revolts, most revolts will basically be about the same old conquest of group vs group combat, maybe at times debating (which is quite a simple mechanic to figure out). Any player can gain the full set of required skills for a revolt simply by gaining city/commune favors.
4. Overload
Though this isnt technically only about aetherflares, but I frankly feel at times there is just far too many conflict systems that need to all be handled by organizations. Revolts, Domoths, Wild Nodes, Manifestations, Aetherflares. It becomes to the point that people can burn themselves out simply by attempting to keep their team up on the scoreboard. Yes, players could 'easily' ignore them and let them lose, but it is like ignoring your favorite football team and not caring that it will lose in the finals, it just isnt going to happen.
Suggestions:
1. Whenever a flare occurs, allow players the ability to transport themselves to a Ring in play. Additionally, increase the functionality of crafted constructs so that we may see people actually use them. This would create the possibility for players to attempt to claim a bubble on land, especially newer players.
2. Not much to say here. Aether combat is what it is.
3. Crews. One thing I -loved- in an Achaean mechanic was that players whom owned a ship could hire a group of NPCs as their crew. They could then order them each to do basic commands as the player would guide their ship along. I found this wonderful as it allowed for single player flexibility as well as removed any crux of 'need more players to use'. I would love if we were able to hire a group of gnome or fink crewmen for an owned aethership that can be set to modules. Obviously special coding would have to go into place to avoid people abusing this for quick XP. Just imagine if we could actually have 3 or 4 fully crewed aetherships during aetherflares fighting another fleet. Now -that- would be Aether warfare.
4. I'd like if time frames between some conflicts were increased. Perhaps Aetherflares could be increased from their current 12 day cycle to 20. Perhaps the same can be said about manifestations, but I have other suggestions for those annoyances for another time.
1. The one with the most bubblixes wins!
Every flare starts the same, the moment the Aether Rings explode, the first thing you'll read anywhere is "Who has a bubblix?". This wonderful transportation item, purchasable by dingbats, gives people and the org they are loyal to a -massive- advantage in being able to not only setup their ships quickly, but also transport individuals and others quickly to that location. Why It is I hate it so much? Because a mechanic like this that gives such a large advantage is the definition of "Pay to Win", which I personally hate. Add an Aethership whistle with the bubblix and you practically have the full set of "easy aetherspace". Even if someone was proficient enough to flashpoint back and forth, it is still far faster and cheaper (not to mention safer) to simply use bubblixes. It is almost becoming a necessary requirement to aether-anything. The same problem basically translates to Domoth upgrading as well. Have a bubblix, and you gain the massive advantage.
2. Aether Combat
I find Aether combat to be so two-dimensional: Who can blow up the other ship first. Yes there are all these special pilot manuevers and extra turret attacks, but frankly that's like saying we have a web enchantment for combat, it's just an addition to the mechanic. Additionally, there is the problem of the Crew...which I will get to point 3.
3. Aether Crews
Let's face it, we dont actually have the numbers to set a full crew for several ships these days. Maximum we will see 1 -MAYBE- 2 ships with a full crew. These days we are mostly seeing 3 to 4 ships floating about with usually 1 guy on board at a turret praying he isnt focused. Additionally, and this isnt a very big issue but, to even function in an aether position requires learning a new branch of combat mechanics for new players, additionally some lesson investment in aethercraft to even bombard. When compared with village revolts, most revolts will basically be about the same old conquest of group vs group combat, maybe at times debating (which is quite a simple mechanic to figure out). Any player can gain the full set of required skills for a revolt simply by gaining city/commune favors.
4. Overload
Though this isnt technically only about aetherflares, but I frankly feel at times there is just far too many conflict systems that need to all be handled by organizations. Revolts, Domoths, Wild Nodes, Manifestations, Aetherflares. It becomes to the point that people can burn themselves out simply by attempting to keep their team up on the scoreboard. Yes, players could 'easily' ignore them and let them lose, but it is like ignoring your favorite football team and not caring that it will lose in the finals, it just isnt going to happen.
Suggestions:
1. Whenever a flare occurs, allow players the ability to transport themselves to a Ring in play. Additionally, increase the functionality of crafted constructs so that we may see people actually use them. This would create the possibility for players to attempt to claim a bubble on land, especially newer players.
2. Not much to say here. Aether combat is what it is.
3. Crews. One thing I -loved- in an Achaean mechanic was that players whom owned a ship could hire a group of NPCs as their crew. They could then order them each to do basic commands as the player would guide their ship along. I found this wonderful as it allowed for single player flexibility as well as removed any crux of 'need more players to use'. I would love if we were able to hire a group of gnome or fink crewmen for an owned aethership that can be set to modules. Obviously special coding would have to go into place to avoid people abusing this for quick XP. Just imagine if we could actually have 3 or 4 fully crewed aetherships during aetherflares fighting another fleet. Now -that- would be Aether warfare.
4. I'd like if time frames between some conflicts were increased. Perhaps Aetherflares could be increased from their current 12 day cycle to 20. Perhaps the same can be said about manifestations, but I have other suggestions for those annoyances for another time.
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(c) Iron Realms Entertainment 2012.
Comments
Glomdoring maintains a fleet of travelships (as do most other orgs, most likely) for the express purpose of circumventing the need for a bubblix. For aetherflares, bubblixes are actually far less important than for domoths. Once you get there, you can set up a beacon, and even if you don't, just get on the ships and start firing. If your ship goes boom... then you'll need to drive the ship back anyway, because there's no point if you bubblix back up and there's no ship for you to board. In short, having a bubblix does not actually give as much advantage as not getting blown up in the first place.
Not being able to field a full aethercrew is just... the result of our lack of population (which is another can of worms entirely) as well as the random timing factor of these conflict systems. To field a full battleship crew, five people are needed. Not having five capable crew available at the time of a flare is... not uncommon, and not really preventable either. NPCs aren't going to solve the problem, but well, it could be worth a try to see if it spices things up.
I wish that bombard was a lower skill in planar. There is literally next to nothing anyone can do who doesn't have some aethercraft skill. At least in revolts, novices can watch for people to shuffle etc. In aetherflares, it comes down to having crews with aethercraft skill. Maybe bombarding should be linked somehow to city rank (like city influences), though I have no idea how, just thinking out loud. The system isn't that bad but my biggest complaint definitely is how the skills limit usefulness of people.
I appreciate the credit and skill model can give a better QoL or combat advantage to those who invest, but it shouldn't lock out those who don't from being able to partake in an event.
One note on travel ships, Glomdoring last year had to take the draconian measure of limiting who had access to its travelships when someone made an alt with the sole purpose of flying them off the dock when flares were due and getting them destroyed, thus losing their flashpoints. They're an alternative to bubblixes but by no means a direct substitute.
The divine voice of Avechna, the Avenger reverberates powerfully, "Congratulations, Morkarion, you are the Bringer of Death indeed."
You see Estarra the Eternal shout, "Morkarion is no more! Mourn the mortal! But welcome True Ascendant Karlach, of the Realm of Death!
Aethercraft is such a weird skillset, because beyond a few basic skills, you can't use the vast majority of the skillset at all by yourself. The primary use of the skillset is organizational, but you need to shell out substantial personal resources to learn it.
Your ship gets blown up? No problem, bubblix back to the bubble and whistle that bad boy back.
You find yourselves being contested at a bubble? No biggie. Jump to another bubble and whistle that ship over there instead.
As to having a full crew, I believe @Enyalida put it in good words with the fact you cant use a majority of the skillset yourself. I personally would -love- to be able to do most of the things in aethercraft by my will alone. We would actually perhaps see much more interest in aethercombat if 4 people fully controlling ships were battling others. It would most deifinetly be more diverse.
Additionally, I'd agree that I do wish bombard was more accessible to new commers, however a solution is to simply make Ground combat more functional. Currently, colossi dont hold much if any spark at all to bombarding.
Like Maligorn said, dock sealing blocks whistles. Still, whistling remains a powerful tool in flares, especially since dock sealing is not as easy as it used to be - it drops if the pilot unlocks from the chair, so to seal a dock and block whistling, you need to tie down another person who could potentially be bombarding. Most of the time, the fighting/bombarding ships are already at the dock, too, so sealing doesn't really do much. You'll still need to prepared for a fight, bubblix or not, whistle or not, dock sealing or not... if there are enough opponents enough to put one up.
The only real problem of flares, and any lack of excitement, if it exists, lies in the lack of actual people playing. Most orgs prepare for flares in advance, and there's no way to sabotage those preparations. You can seal the dock, but most of the time, the rival org's fleet is already at the bubble. You can disable bubblixes, but most orgs have travelships. Some people have flashpoints on their personal private ships as well. The most effective way of sabotaging preparations is what Karlach described - but even then, it's possible to counter that with permissions.
And even if somehow the org failed to prepare, has no travelships and no bombard fleet docked at the bubble, and do not possess a bubblix or whistle... they can still contest the flare. As long as they have enough people to crew a battleship, they can fly the ship to the bubble even if you seal the dock. Flying ships is not difficult, and maps of aetherspace are on the wiki, so a little motivation is all that is needed to get a fully crewed ship on the frontlines. Bubblixes and whistles can make things more convenient, and secure a bubble with ease... but only if the rival orgs do not have enough people to field a proper challenge in the first place.
And my previous paragraph is also why I raised misgivings about this idea of NPC-ing crews. I doubt it's going to make flares more dynamic or interesting - it still boils down to a matter of who has more people, and with our population, it's not out of the question to have flares (or revolts) when there are literally no one in an org around at the time. NPC-ing won't be of any help then. Even if one person is around, if the other orgs aren't entirely empty as well, he's still not going to be able to do much alone... which is the same as the current situation anyway. It's a nice idea to let a person use all of aethercombat alone if he so wishes (exploring aetherspace alone would actually be viable then), but I just don't see how it will help the situation.
As a note, colossi have been buffed once, if I remember correctly, and they DO contribute quite a bit to the capture of a flare. A single colossus can make quite a big difference, even if there is no one focusing it on the ground. We've used it to delay flare progression long enough that enough people logged in so we can blow up the fleet in aetherspace, and it's also been used to speed up bombarding efforts that the opponents have effectively only one try at aethercombat, because if they get blown up, they won't fly back fast enough. It's fairly rare that ground battles will take place in flares, but not because colossi are useless. Ground battles rarely take place because if you have enough people to effectively hold territory in a bubble (or challenge such a position), you're going to win the bubble a lot faster by loading them all onto bombard ships and maintaining aether superiority. Again, it's a numbers factor. Nothing really matters but the number of people who know what to do in a flare. The only reason why any ground battle ever took place in the history of the flares was because there used to be combatants who did not have bombarding (or aethercombat) abilities. Nowadays? Not so much.
anyhow, if you are fast on the dock seal not only are you preventing from people from whistling in new ships, if you were fast, you may get lucky and get a travel ship that cannot dock. I haven't seen anyone point out that sealing the dock also makes it so you can't dock.
You missed something.
As for your usual stance of "Everything in Lusternia is good and nothing needs changing unless I say it does, because I am proficient and everyone else knows squat". Firstly, making a mechanic easier that, as several have said now is -not- easy to learn nor use, that being aethercraft, so that more would be inspired to partake is -not- a bad thing. I know you enjoy the tears of children but making the game more comfortable and fair is not a bad thing.
No, shockingly enough, not everyone can pilot a ship to a bubble (in under 5 minutes). No, shockingly enough, not everyone has the necessary skills to successfully do so.
Finally, to dismiss bubblixes and whistles as giving a massive advantage, perhaps the biggest advantage to a conflict mechanism in lusternia (revolts, combat, etc), is just showing your obvious attempt to be a negative and unhelpful individual to any discussion. Your past posts in any discussions have been naught but negativity and dismissive and you are giving very little to nothing to any discussion.
Finally, I dont hate the current mechanic of flares because 'im too lazy to help'. I stated my reasons quite clearly why I dislike them, if you even took the time to read it rather than instantly go down to comments to troll-post, and was supplying suggestions for how to make it more accessible and interesting for more players.
Now will you deny we are retaining few players and we could actually use with changes to inspire more to get involved? Of course you will.
Now, my vaguely educated guess is that the biggest problem for aetherflares is the general lack of population more than an issue of a credit imbalance. You could fix that by getting more people to play Lusternia, but that's kind of a hard fix to implement. My instinct for this is to remove the random factor from when flares trigger.
That doesn't solve the problem entirely, of course. I don't even know if it'd be a huge improvement. It removes the problem of just randomly having less people than other orgs when the flare triggers, but some orgs are bigger than others and will be able to field more people at a scheduled event, too. You'd probably have a higher percentage of each org's players show up if they knew the time in advance, but bigger orgs will still have more people. You can't do much about that. What it would fix is the issue of people staying on for hours when they should be sleeping or working on something because they're waiting for flares to happen. That's a frustrating thing, and if you don't do it you're going to miss a lot of flares. I'm a little bit biased on this, since in a bit over two years of playing I have never yet been able to do a flare. I like the idea of flares, but the timing just hasn't worked out.
Downside is that the orgs that have a really big population disadvantage will probably have even worse odds of winning if the flares are scheduled. With random times they have a chance of having a population advantage in an individual flare due to the random draw of who happens to be online. It won't happen often, because bigger orgs tend to have more people at all times, but there is a chance. Especially if there's a time zone factor involved in org size at different times. You'd want each flare event at different times, probably, to account for that.
I'd have to look real close at numbers that I don't have to see if the good on scheduling everything outweighs the bad, but I have sneaking suspicion it would be a net gain. As a tangent to the thread, all of that can be applied to revolts and wildnodes, too.
It's probably possible to do it as inept (basic piloting abilities are the first learned, I think) if you want, it'd just be spammy as hell without gliding.
For the semantic misunderstanding, I want to note that your first main point wasn't about whistles. You mentioned them, of course, but every sentence in that paragraph is about the huge impact bubblixes have on aethercombat. If you noticed, I stated quite explicitly that "Whistles are far more important than bubblixes in flares, yes." That is, however, not the point of your post, which I was replying to.
The bolded parts were your main points, if my reading comprehension is not entirely malfunctioning from writing multiple essays in a week. And whistles were not. Those bolded parts were what I was replying to. I certainly didn't miss whistles - they weren't the topic of discussion from the start.
Hell, if you send your flagship in and start knocking out drones -- even if you get imploded by THEIR flagship, you're going to have set their bombards back by so much time, buying yourself and your org some time.
First, it is extraordinarily difficult to judge how something works or be able to offer useful suggestions or improvements if you do not participate nor fully understand how it is designed. This leads to sweeping, inaccurate statements which just muddle the water and degrade the ideas you present. It's generally better to invest the time to understand it before you complain.
Next, Aetherflares can actually be much more complex than many of you make them out to be. I see some of you dismissing the point of colossi, but in some flares I've actually had a colossus put in more points than two entire bombards. Every flare I'm at, I drop one. They are especially important if you do not have a lot of little ships to bombard with, and focusing on them can potentially give lowbies something to do as well (though you need to train them to move when the bombard is about to finish, and unfortunately even that skill requires a few lessons to learn).
I will agree that much of the aetherflare combat happens in aetherspace. This is by design, and the Admin want it to have the bulk of its activity there. I honestly like this; aethercombat is, to me, actually rather fun as a team effort. I'm sure it would get exhausting if it was something you had to do all the time, but you generally do it for a few minutes every couple of weeks. I find that this can actually be viewed as a refreshing break from business-as-usual. If you control the skies, you are probably going to win (unless you have only 1 ship bombarding, the enemy force has a colossus on the ground, and they already have a lead).
As such, all of the things that you have an issue with can be rendered irrelevant. Whistles are blocked, as others have noted, by someone sealing the dock. Someone bubblixing up cannot attack a fleet from the ground; they must still get a ship to the bubble somehow, and if the dock is sealed, that involves flying.
At this point, I have explored all the various intricacies of aetherflares except for one. Colossi combat is actually also fun (though I'm really rusty on it right now, I remember the basic rotation), aether combat really is about more than simply shooting at the other ship (I mean, that may work, but you really should be using your other skills and working on using power as a team to assure victory), I've invested a ton of time into examining the effect that a colossus has on winning a flare, etc. The one thing I can't do is fly a ship to any given bubble.
This, however, is not a fault of the system. This is my own personal shortcoming, one I just haven't yet been able to muster up the energy to address (I keep telling myself that I will someday, but that day has yet to arrive). I can fly around easily enough, and when given general directions I can arrive at a destination (I flew us to Aquagoria during its release), but I just don't have a map in my head on where all the aether-docks are in relation to each other nor have I printed the existing one out.
Many, many changes have occurred to aetherflares to reduce the impact and strength of certain things (the above-noted change to Seal being one of them). Can more be done? Sure. I just feel that starting a conversation off with "I can't be bothered to figure this out" is not a good way to initiate the discussion.
The problem presented in this thread is not bubblixes, or whistles.
It is a problem with attitude.
Otherwise known as hot drop o'clock. That's won Glomdoring a couple of key flare battles in the last year, being able to suddenly appear with a fully crewed Nyx after a fight, where the opposition can't fully recover their fleet yet. Jump in, seal the dock and go to town.
Aethership combat has so many layers of tactics to it, and so rarely is it utilised outside of flares, that as things stand it should be the prevailing force in aetherflares, otherwise we're neglecting an entire PK system.
The divine voice of Avechna, the Avenger reverberates powerfully, "Congratulations, Morkarion, you are the Bringer of Death indeed."
You see Estarra the Eternal shout, "Morkarion is no more! Mourn the mortal! But welcome True Ascendant Karlach, of the Realm of Death!