Ok, here is one major problem with fleeting as I see it:

1) Assessing damage.

This is something that I think most fleeters have tried to sort out in the past, but I really do think there needs to be a better system of working out actual, damage.

A lot of the arguments (not all, granted), seem to at least start with usually some dispute over , who done 'X' amount of damage to who.
Generally , it takes a mod to step in and try to give a balanced judgement on this issue in nearly every single major fleeting entanglement.
The fact that there is no set 'system' to determine this , does mean at times damage becomes a very grey area , its this lack of clarity that usually ends up in loads of OOC topics and arguements.

Of course, in an ideal world , we would like to say. "just role-play it out" ...but from my experience, and from what I can see, I'm not sure its working. Its these small things that (IMO) I think puts people off fleeting sometimes.

I've seen threads in the past where damage assessing just boils down to who can argue best in the OOC forum, rather than, what is roleplayed. (which to me is more important).
To me this just drags everything out, and adds to the whole "I've got a bigger fleet than yours, therefore I win by default' syndrome.

Ok, so let's theorize.

How would we go about creating a simple mathematical formula to address this issue. How would the formula work?

damage amount per weapon type per given range
Damage based in RU's and SBD's
?

Algebra Fleeting= You all @#%$ suck.

meh... wrong account...

Heh... I never said anything about algebra

*shivers*

If I wanted to do that I would join a maths club or something...


I was thinking about how other Rping games work , generally , there are GM's (Game Masters) .

Maybe thats whats missing, *shrugs* I guess that would be taking Gue's suggestion of "fleeter-mods" and making them have a more direct influence.... but then... would we want that?..heh

I personally do like the idea of "battle-mods". However, as with any privilege of responsibility, there are headaches that would come with it.

The staff has been making efforts to distribute responsibilities among members of TRF. This gives them more of a stake in TRF's success.

The R&D Mod creation was/is the prototype. With it the staff can determine the success or failure of further ventures in this direction.


However, whether we move this direction or not, it seems that many agree the current method of fleeting is lacking.

Having a framework to assess damages better is an idea put forth to lessen OOC conflicts and improve the experience.

But theory and practicality are two different things.

Personally, I am not going to blankly endorse damage assesment as the almighty salvation to fleeting problems if no one can share with us a method that might work.


Think about it and even if the method is half formed, get back to us. Maybe the more brains, the better the method eh?

And remember, it does no good to have these methods if we have to go back and "explain/interpret" to every newbie the comes along. That's why we say, to keep it simple. Make it easily understood so that someone can come on, read up, and begin playing.


That is our (theoretical) goal at any rate...lol

Math would be the cureall to all fleet arguments, and at the same time the death of actual fleet roleplaying. When it comes down to a numbers game then the actual roleplaying is gone and it becomes a system of spaces moves and fires. The choice is basically which road you wish to walk down.

Personally, I like logic over creativity....

Regardless of what anyone might say, basing damages on math wouldn't help.

Because the feeling will still be "I have six turbolasers against your four. I win." Even if you claim to have "variables", we keep coming back to the math.

The calculated damages set a precident that bigger is better. So we'll simply be arguing over the variables, "No, earlier on I said that three of yours were knocked out, so you only have three and I have four!"

And so on.

The best way to calculate damages is the way we do it now. Certainly, we have troubles, but that's a given no matter how we choose to do it.

This is a game, and even though it is nothing more, people don't like to lose. A lot of people have invested a lot of time into "building" their "fleets" here, and they hate to see it take "damage".

So when they see something as unfair, they'll argue it. And unless we do go the extent of giving people points they may use in their battle to move, fire, etc. (as one would create a character in an RPG), people will always argue the damages.

It's for this reason that the establishment of dedicated fleet moderators should be assigned. And not simply to respond to issues, but to stop them before they go to far.

To keep an eye on the progress of a battle, and send a private message to a user if they see moves or damage out of proportion and fairness.

It's the same as anything, you don't wait for something to become a problem, you stop the problem before it arises. And clearly this will not be possible every time, but it would be a help to cutting back the OOC @#%$ fests we see.