WMD in the game, what do you think?

[Hooah]

Would you like to see weapons of mass destruction in a game like this? It would be a weapon with strategical importance. And would be a high priority installation to capture, in form of a missile silo or an orbital strike command center?
I can see the problems with a WMD getting spammed, so it definetly should be on a empire cooldown. And to deny it to get into the hands of the wrong player, only high ranking specced commanders should be able to use it. Maby make a democratical vote in the area it will affect before it launches. People in the targeted area will get a message i.e "Orbital Strike inbound - accept/decline" with a 10 sec cooldown to answer with a default yes. this way friendly players get a heads up that a strike is imminent and can evacuate the area.
As a WMD is indisciminate it would be bad to just launch it blind into a battle. Another issue with the yes/no vote is that too much democracy can slow a launch/strike too much so it loses the strategical effect wanted. And a popup window can be devastating for the other players participating in the big battle.

[Sabot]

I'd have to say no... Things like these are cool (in a video game;P) and all, but more often than not they just make game play boring for a lot of people. Maybe once or twice it'd be fun too see the effects of a WMD, but after that it just removes what's actually fun in the game.
I could maybe see something like a gas attack over a large area, where everyone affected have the option to put on a gas mask or something to not insta die from it. But a nuke or orbital strike that eradicates anything alive on a hex/base is a big nono for me.

Plus, all the fighting on a cont would be over control of this weapon... everything else would come second, which also isn't fun tbh.

[Snipefrag]

I think orbital strikes should make a re-appearance but not in the same guise, it should be limited to only a few top level commanders per empire.. So that they have to be used strategically.. Not to pad their kill count. Regional EMP's would also be cool !

[headcrab13]

How about this:

Once a week, a nuke is assembled at a single base (only one base on the whole planet). This would really heat up the fight in the hours prior to nuke creation. All three empires would be gunning for that base and the surrounding region.

After the long fight for nuke control, the victorious empire would have to transport the nuke by ground convoy to a base on the other side of the continent. The other two empires would be free to plan ambushes and chase attacks on the moving convoy, and destroying the nuke vehicle before the weapon was armed would neutralize the threat.

Once secured in the second base, the nuke could be armed and launched after a 15-minute countdown. The opposition can break into the launch control room at any time and hack it back, if they're able to clear a path to the terminal and secure it.

If the other two empires fail to stop the nuke's arming sequence, the controlling empire can fire it at any point on the planet, killing everything in a massive area and allowing them to move in and take all the bases in that area without a fight.

[NCLynx]

The Vanguard is the only WMD I need. My vote would be no for now.

[Death2All]

Sounds really stupid and gives players a need to exploit the already flimsy command structure in order to get access to it.


It would be people getting CR5s strictly for the OS all over again.


I don't think command should yield any special abilities other than tools to organize players. Otherwise the entire system deteriorates.

[Snipefrag]

Originally Posted by Death2All

Sounds really stupid and gives players a need to exploit the already flimsy command structure in order to get access to it.


It would be people getting CR5s strictly for the OS all over again.


I don't think command should yield any special abilities other than tools to organize players. Otherwise the entire system deteriorates.

I guess you havent read the threads discussing the potential revamps of the command structure, the reason the command structure was flawed in PS1 was because players didnt need to actively command to maintain their command rank.. So in the end achieving Cr5 was a goal for people simply to pad their kill count every few hours via an OS.

Initially in PS1 the command structure worked when only a few people had the means to reach that rank (by being the primary commanders of their outfits etc), people took their commanding seriously.. Eventually over time every clown reached the rank and it descended into unrelenting global/OS spam.

If in PS2 orbital strikes and tactical abilities could be restricted to those who would use them for command purposes primarily, it could add a lot to the overall meta game. The devs might achieve this by making sure only people who are actively partaking in the meta game, producing good missions, maintain the top command ranks and gain access to these type of powers. If its just something you can thoughtlessly unlock by putting a load of time into a particular tree then certainly not.

[Death2All]

Originally Posted by Snipefrag

If in PS2 orbital strikes and tactical abilities could be restricted to those who would use them for command purposes primarily, it could add a lot to the overall meta game. The devs might achieve this by making sure only people who are actively partaking in the meta game, producing good missions, maintain the top command ranks and gain access to these type of powers. If its just something you can thoughtlessly unlock by putting a load of time into a particular tree then certainly not.

That's some amazing armchair development you have there. Surely this will be implemented into the game .

[Snipefrag]

Originally Posted by Death2All

That's some amazing armchair development you have there. Surely this will be implemented into the game .

Well, its a lot better than trying to use a statement like this to back up your point:

Originally Posted by Death2All

It would be people getting CR5s strictly for the OS all over again.

Here you're presuming PS2 will be identical to PS1 which is wrong. Higby has even hinted that the command structure might work something like this in the future. Just because you cant see how a concept can be brought from an idea into fruition doesnt mean the developers wont be able to.

[Kran De Loy]

I would love to see OS in the game. While not spamming the ability is a big issue I really would not want to see a vote system for it. They'd almost never get used when and where they're actually needed.

The idea I have is to really limit the OS availability would be to tie it to land ownership. Say something as simple as which ever outfit had the most points earned during a base capture would then belong to them. This would make it so zerg outfits would most likely be the ones to get these, but a smaller highly skilled outfit that spent more time trying to capture a base would still be very likely to be the ones to own it once captured. Open to other suggestions, of course.

While this capture mechanic could also limit the number of OS available at any one time to the number of bases (or bases with the specific ability to command OS) it could ALSO be used as an eventual stepping stone to outfits being able to upgrade and customize the defenses of bases using outfit resources.

Or you could just skip it all and make OS cost ridiculous amounts of resources so much so that combined with the long cool down only outfit leaders with access to the outfit resource pool would be able to call OS in.

[Sledgecrushr]

No I win buttons.

[ArmedZealot]

If they are removing artillery from the game on the basis of "We don't like players dying without a chance of fighting back" then it only makes sense to remove OS's and similar things, because they are the cause of the most pathetic of deaths.

How many times has a player spawned at an AMS only for it to be OS'ed, naked and running from the vehicle?

I hate OS's, and other WMD's would be just an OS under another guise.

[headcrab13]

Originally Posted by ArmedZealot

If they are removing artillery from the game on the basis of "We don't like players dying without a chance of fighting back" then it only makes sense to remove OS's and similar things, because they are the cause of the most pathetic of deaths.

How many times has a player spawned at an AMS only for it to be OS'ed, naked and running from the vehicle?

I hate OS's, and other WMD's would be just an OS under another guise.

I see from the poll that I'm in the minority here, but I still think it could be interesting if it was very limited (i.e. a weekly chance like I mentioned above that might only succeed once or twice a month).

I also see your point, though, and I dislike getting vaporized by a random OS or Flail blast as much as the next guy.

[ArmedZealot]

Originally Posted by headcrab13

I see from the poll that I'm in the minority here, but I still think it could be interesting if it was very limited (i.e. a weekly chance like I mentioned above that might only succeed once or twice a month).

I think a compromise could be found in super units. Something an outfit could pull once every couple months with enough resources and could be manned by 8-10 people. I wouldn't say a BFR but something like an outfit battleship or super galaxy.

It might be a death machine, and be hard to kill, but at least you can shoot back at it. And with 30-40 people shooting back at it, it wouldn't be so OP.

There have been discussions before on how to implement these to where they don't repeat OS behavior or BFR behavior.

[Ruffdog]

Maybe a hex-affecting EMP-style weapon, but not an out-and-out killer.
(Only those pesky fly-boys would die )