Note, I make this suggestion knowing that this type of feature would be best implemented later when the game is beta rather than in alpha.
However, one of the problems I'm starting to realizes that might happen in this game at some point in the future is that everyone in the community seem to have "their" vision of what the game should be like. Some have already even begun to implement this vision through their own customized version of server settings governing things like physics, max allowed ship speed and so on... and are using these personal versions of server rules/settings in arguments and debates.
In the long run, I can't help but wonder if this might not cause a bad fragmentation of the community where particular viewpoints in regard to how the game "should" be drive whole segments of the playerbase because the pressure causes them to make them feel unwelcome for having differing views.
This could be "fixed" in two ways.
The first would be for Schemas to step forward, explains -his- vision of what the default rules and setting set should be and how he, as the man developping the game in the first place would mean to see the game played. This admitedly would present a clear vision as for what players should expect of the game, rather than what -they- see as what players should expect... though again run the risk of driving away those who do not recognizes themselves in this vision of how the game would be "meant" to be played.
The second, and is the suggestion I was thinking on, would be to officializes those diverging viewpoints. That, as a science-fiction game encouraging players to create their own universes, every players will also have their own visions of "what" is science-fiction. This could be done by developping a "rules and setting presets" dropdown menu in server setup meant to represent various popular genres and vision of both science-fiction and associated physics.
Example of such settings:
"Simulation": Accelaration is constant and a ship can and will continue on it's trajectory unless stopped or deviated from. Mass is taken out of the equation almost entirely due everything being effectively "weightless" in space and other settings meant to represent a more accurate representation of "space physics". If an atmosphere setting is ever added, hull breach of any sort should be cause for extreme worries either through damage to surrounding hull(from decompression, something that would probably be extremely hard to code in) or from loss of breathable atmosphere.
"Space operas": Physics are given much less heed. Large capital ship mass has a drastic effect, causing the bigger ships to slow down to a crawl without proper engines, and even there more than often unable to reach the increased max speed of the lighter ships. Very much like the movies, fleet battles are just that... near reenactement of the fleet battles of the world war, with heavy multi-turreted capital startships taking the place and roles of the warships of the navy raining death from miles away with immense guns, while lite and nimble strikecrafts zoom around in dogfighting maneuver trying to take out the strikecraft escort of enemy capital ships or damage their critical components in the case of dedicated "bombers" designs.
This could cover other set of settings, and provide from the getgo "servers types" that could please the varied communities and group within the player base... though the risk might be a less "unified" gameplay style and again to some level groups which would swear purely by their own favorites and stating it as the only "pure" way to play the game when commenting on balances issues and so on.
However, one of the problems I'm starting to realizes that might happen in this game at some point in the future is that everyone in the community seem to have "their" vision of what the game should be like. Some have already even begun to implement this vision through their own customized version of server settings governing things like physics, max allowed ship speed and so on... and are using these personal versions of server rules/settings in arguments and debates.
In the long run, I can't help but wonder if this might not cause a bad fragmentation of the community where particular viewpoints in regard to how the game "should" be drive whole segments of the playerbase because the pressure causes them to make them feel unwelcome for having differing views.
This could be "fixed" in two ways.
The first would be for Schemas to step forward, explains -his- vision of what the default rules and setting set should be and how he, as the man developping the game in the first place would mean to see the game played. This admitedly would present a clear vision as for what players should expect of the game, rather than what -they- see as what players should expect... though again run the risk of driving away those who do not recognizes themselves in this vision of how the game would be "meant" to be played.
The second, and is the suggestion I was thinking on, would be to officializes those diverging viewpoints. That, as a science-fiction game encouraging players to create their own universes, every players will also have their own visions of "what" is science-fiction. This could be done by developping a "rules and setting presets" dropdown menu in server setup meant to represent various popular genres and vision of both science-fiction and associated physics.
Example of such settings:
"Simulation": Accelaration is constant and a ship can and will continue on it's trajectory unless stopped or deviated from. Mass is taken out of the equation almost entirely due everything being effectively "weightless" in space and other settings meant to represent a more accurate representation of "space physics". If an atmosphere setting is ever added, hull breach of any sort should be cause for extreme worries either through damage to surrounding hull(from decompression, something that would probably be extremely hard to code in) or from loss of breathable atmosphere.
"Space operas": Physics are given much less heed. Large capital ship mass has a drastic effect, causing the bigger ships to slow down to a crawl without proper engines, and even there more than often unable to reach the increased max speed of the lighter ships. Very much like the movies, fleet battles are just that... near reenactement of the fleet battles of the world war, with heavy multi-turreted capital startships taking the place and roles of the warships of the navy raining death from miles away with immense guns, while lite and nimble strikecrafts zoom around in dogfighting maneuver trying to take out the strikecraft escort of enemy capital ships or damage their critical components in the case of dedicated "bombers" designs.
This could cover other set of settings, and provide from the getgo "servers types" that could please the varied communities and group within the player base... though the risk might be a less "unified" gameplay style and again to some level groups which would swear purely by their own favorites and stating it as the only "pure" way to play the game when commenting on balances issues and so on.