Forums » Suggestions

My CtC Idea

Dec 28, 2004 Cam link
Yes that's right it's time for another Crazy Cam suggestion.
Maybe I have too much time on my hands lately, but whatever it is I seem to think I have all these great ideas that need sharing.

My basic idea is... fewer convoys.

With a convoy launching every hour, there is almost no time in between to get anything else done. This means that every time I'm online I end up doing nothing but flying back and forth defending or attacking convoys.

I think if the convoys occurred less frequently they would attract more pilots to get involved. taking a 30 minute break from botting, trading, mining, or whatever else it is you do, isn't a big deal when it comes down to it.
The way I see botting, trading, or mining, is work. Your pay is in standing, levels, or credits, things everyone wants, which leads to people continually doing those activities.

What I propose is 2-3 convoys per nation per day. With times of launches announced as soon as the previous convoy's cargo has all been delivered or expired.
also an hourly warning, and then 10 and 5 minute warnings.

Example time!
It's 17:00 vendetta time right now, and the Itani convoy that launched last just delivered it's cargo safely to Divinia.

201 - Transport delivered 20 units to Coranis Watch.
201 - The next transport will launch at 01:00.

so let's move along to 18:00

201 - Transport will launch in 7 hours.

and now 00:00

201 - Transport will launch in 1 hour.

You get the idea by now i'm sure.

What I think this would do is create more "occasional" CtCers, as right now it seems to be the same players who participate from week to week. Players who want to feel they helped with the outcome, but don't have the time to do that the way it's set up now. I mean if I were to go in game right now, kill the Serco transport, and deliver it's cargo to Itani how much good does that do? 8 units don't mean very much in the grand scheme of CtC. So yes I could spend hours repeating the process in order to make a difference, but insert excuse here, I don't have hours of free time, I'm trying to level, I don't have enough credits, I'm trying to increase my standing with x.

This brings me to the amount of cargo that should be in each convoy.

Each nations convoy carries half of the difference in score between the two nations.

So If the score is Serco 300 - Itani 100 the next convoy that launches for each nation would carry 100 units. This means that the score can even out at anytime.
So if Itani pilots managed to steal all 100 units from the serco convoy, and successfully defend their own convoy, the score would become Serco 300 - Itani 300.

Okay so what happens then? Well obviously we need a minimum number of units in each convoy and I think 50 is a good number for the minimum.
Now a lot of people might be squirming at this point... "It shouldn't be that easy to even a difference of 200 units."
Well no it shouldn't be easy, and I don't think it will be. Everyone tuned to channel 202 will know exactly when that convoy with 100 units in it is launching, hours in advance, plenty of time to prepare to defend it.
Also... It wouldn't be easy to get 100 units even with no defence. that requires at least 2 large transport ships to collect the cargo, and probably 4-5 NPC Serco transports in the convoy that need to be killed to get at the cargo. also, it only takes one Serco player to scoop up 1 unit meaning if we stick with the previous example, the score would change from...
Serco 300 - Itani - 100
to
Serco 301 - Itani - 198

That means even if they successfully defend every last transport in their convoy they'll only get up to 298, and the next launch will contain the minimum amount of units (50) for the Serco to try and build up their lead again.

This system would stay in place right up to the end of the week, hopefully keeping the scores more even than they stay now, and that would decrease the amount of players who give up near the end of the week because it would never be a lost cause.

The Surplus system could stay in place pretty much untouched, it just means the first convoy for each nation in the next week would have half of the surplus in it.

That about wraps things up.
I hope I've been clear enough, please post questions/comments/criticisms if you have them.

-Cam-
Dec 28, 2004 Spellcast link
I dont like these ideas, heres why

1. lower number of convoys = less opportunitys to participate. Some people cant be on for more than an hour or two, and thier schedule may not coincide with the convoy schedule. You dont HAVE to do every convoy. I usually dont.

2. If the cargo is always HALF of the difference, catching up becomes far to easy, and at some point SOMEONE will get 2 or 3 players on when no-one else is around and negate several days worth of the other teams work, which is no fun at all. besides that idea practically emiminates the point of the surplus.
Dec 29, 2004 Cam link
Yeah scheduling I know is an issue, but I don't see it being much different than it is now.

Sure the convoys run every hour, so I can log on at any time and grab one, but the amount of units for one convoy isn't worth the trouble, and all of the work done during the week with small amounts can be easily negated by the high amount of cargo in the convoys on the weekend.

Having specific times for the convoy known to all the players means if they can only play for two hours a day, they could schedule that two hours accordingly. Assuming there are 2 convoys per day over 7 days, that leaves 14 opportunities during the week, which could cover 14 different hours of the day if necessary. I don't think it would be hard to make a schedule that keeps everyone pretty happy.

As for my "halving" approach I really don't think it would make catching up TOO easy. Keeping in mind that 50 is the minimum number, any amount of difference below 100 doesn't initiate the system.
So let's go back to examples, since I like examples.

Let's say Serco have built up a huge lead all week, and the Itani figure they'll save all their effort for the last two convoys (one from each team), since that's really all they need to do with the halving system in place.

Well yes if they manage to get every last unit of cargo from both convoys they will have effectively TIED. Not won.
They can't get past the other team with one convoy, and in fact if one serco player managed to pickup only ONE stray unit before the Itani could and deliver it to Initros the Itani would lose.

So It is easier to come from behind, but I think a more even score would encourage more competition.

As for 2-3 people evening the score while no one else is on, I don't think that would happen. My whole thought on the matter is to stop running convoys during the times when no one is on, and make up for the units that are transported during those times with bigger convoys which hopefully lead to more player involvement.