Aighun wrote:Project legion... what are the ground rules? Basic guiding concepts that will help shape game design?
I remember watching a presentation on Dust 514 where CCP laid out some simple ground rules for that game. No Jesus features. Dust and EVE would be connected but not dependent on each other. Unfortunately the EVE player delivered Orbital strike became something of a Jesus featureGǪ Anyway, ground rules and guiding principles are good things to have. I would like to propose two simple ground rules for sandbox gameplay that will help make project legion a much better game than Dust 514 as we knew it.
No lobbies.
No timers.
I agree about the first one. I don't agree about the second one. Let me elaborate.
First off, I'm not saying that the current PC mechanic regarding timers is perfect. Obviously it's not. It just needs work. Eve Online however has a very different set of mechanics regarding timers in an MMO setting. Timers in Eve are dependent on primarily two things only.
1. Did you remember to put online your control tower?
2. Did you put in enough Strontium inside the control tower?
Both tasks are simple to do. But there have been many cases in Eve where the owner of the tower somehow forgot to put in the Strontium which is a special fuel needed to reinforce the tower once it's shields have been breached. This is completely separate from the normal fuel needed for basic operations of the control towers. If there is no Strontium inside the tower, the tower will be destroyed once the shields, armor are breached. If there is any of it in the tower, the tower will go into reinforced mode once it has lost it's shields causing a temporary massive buff to damage resistance. But, if I remember correctly, this buff will only last for however long as the fuel lasts. Too little of it and the tower will be vulnerable again pretty soon before you have a chance to call in reinforcements. There is also a limit to how much of the fuel you can store in the tower.
https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/Strontium_ClathratesOnce the reinforcement timer runs out, the attacking fleet will then have a chance to finally finish off destroying the tower assuming the defenders failed to repel those forces. If the defenders succeed in protecting the tower, they will then have to remotely repair the tower's armor before the reinforcement feature can be used again.
This can go well with Legion's Planetary Conquest I believe.