That's the fun part and how I know neither you nor
Scipio actually read the OP - there is no "issue."
Sounds like you were the one who did not read the OP, looks like I will have to be more specific.
The main restriction to creative freedom is the drive to be competitive in PVP and effective in PVE. Certain design decisions are more effective. Now, that in itself is not a bad thing. It's a very good thing because a ship's functionality is art too. It only becomes a bad thing when optimal decisions have very little variety and generally don't look good or leave room/mass/etc. for decoration.
This statement is factually incorrect, "optimal" decisions have plenty of room for "looks" as shown by people such as Veilith and factions like FCM making highly compedative PvP ships that still look full RP.
If a player cannot make a meta design look good, then that is not the fault of the game but rather said players personal lack of skill.
As any seasoned builder knows, this plays out by maximizing systems, minimizing surface area, and possibly using spaced armor. This generally leads to ships being full of systems that look like they were squirted into every available space within the ship's hull like so much expanding foam. This is known as "system stuffing."
This statement is also factually incorrect, at absolute meta, this plays out the exact opposite where systems are not "stuffed" into a hull but rather spread out and made to have as small of a profile as possible.
Having more armor than is necessary to cover your systems doesn't really help you.
Once again, factually incorrect.
Having more armor can be very helpfull when done correctly, this requires some skill but stuff such as spaced armor, docked hulls, blast shields, sloped armor and obliterative armor can increase survivability a lot.
Systems are amorphous blobs. Concentrating them into shapes and decorating them is impractically heavy and prevents ships from being competitive in PVP.
Factually incorrect, this has been done for several players such as Veilith and FCM
It's hard to hit small things in space.
This is not a bad thing, the OP may not be trying to imply this but the entire point of having a small profile is to make you harder to hit.
(Economics are only a theoretical factor. In the current game they don't play into much of anything.)
and?
The whole stabilizer mechanic was created to try to prevent system stuffing, but it's clear that it has done more harm than good. We know that. Go beat the dead horse in another thread.
System stuffing can still be done, weapons can still be concentrated into small areas rather then spread out.
If the intention of systems 2.0 was to stop this then they did a bad job.
Builders like to decorate ships, inside and outside. We also like to build ships in different shapes to make them more interesting. Minimalism works against this by driving us to use as few blocks as possible, including minimizing surface area to reduce the amount of armor needed to cover what's inside.
Factually incorrect.
Players such as Veilith and factions such as FCM have no had problem achieving decorated meta level ships, if you are having difficult then your own skill (or lack of therof) are to blame.
Reducing block count means fewer feasible options for decoration. Reducing surface area means smooth shapes with few or no projections, and optimally little texture. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but that's how you build optimally, to get the best stats. Additionally, even if you wanted to separate out your systems and make them look like big machines that you see in science fiction or real life ships, mass makes this disadvantageous.
Firstly, as I said before you are not required to build to the meta, StarMade is not holding a gun to your head saying "You must build to the meta or you cannot play"
Secondly, it is perfectly possible to have decoration elements on meta ships, as shown by those who have done it before.
If you want to build to the meta then go ahead but nobody is forcing you too, if you want to build meta ships that look good then do it, if you want to succeed then you need to git gud. I do not mean this as an insult but the difficulties you have making high performance meta ships can be solved by simply getting better at building, game mechanics are not inhibiting you, your own skill and knoweldge is.
It seems that a complete lack of value in the shape systems are placed is at least a contributing factor.
How is this a bad thing? We should not be balancing around arbitrary shapes systems are put in.
Here is a statement: A missile with a smaller payload preforms better then a missile with a larger payload because the smaller payload missile is shaped like a triange.
Does that statement sound stupid?
Place blocks anywhere you want however you want! Infinite possibilities? Nope. Only one: put blocks everywhere. Thus, some carefully thought-out meta-restrictions might be in order.
These restrictions are not nessicary as the problems you are trying to "solve" with these restrictions are not issues with the game and issues with a players individual skill.
If it was a problem with the game then players like Veilith and groups like FCM could not build meta ships that look good, but they did. How did they do this? They stopped bitching about "omagawd meta ships are impossible to make look good" and actually got some skill and knoweldge that allowed them to make these good looking meta ships.
What I mean by "meta-restrictions" are things that make something less optimal without disallowing it entirely. The stabilizer distance mechanic is a meta-restriction, but many players dislike its effects. A positive meta-restriction might push systems slightly apart and/or into shapes. Also, it would be better to do this indirectly with mechanics rather than adding a buff/nerf based on shape/distance of system groups.
See above response, restrictions are not needed, you just need to build better.
The ship HP system (aka power 1.0) at least did a passable job of minimizing the disadvantage of having more armor and decoration blocks on your ship. They're a buffer and make it take longer to kill you. In my opinion this is still not enough to make the extra blocks worthwhile, but it helps.
Having more armor is not a disadvatage, see my response to the other armor comment.
At this point you might be thinking "we just need crew to make interior viable!" ...but what about exterior? Crew doesn't change the viability of interesting exterior shapes with any kind of additional surface area. There are more factors at play here.
As I said before, it is 150% possible to have a good looking ship that is compedative, people have done it and the only thing stopping you from doing the same is your own personal lack of skill and/or knoweldge.
The solution to everything listed above is two simple words: Git gud.
I feel like you're humping this meta-narrative of you righteously pounding down crybabies who "just can't handle it" so hard that it's all you see. Like you can't even fathom people just discussing gameplay - it's all the grand PvP -v- Losers deathmatch as far as your eye can see.
Or perhaps I am just expressing my disagreement with statements made, is that a bad thing? No it isnt.
I am allowed to disagree, I dont care if you have a problem with someone saying "I disagree" welcome to real life, this is not a hugbox and people will disagree with you, get over it.
The OP literally mentions no "problem" that needs to be solved or is hurting him, yet you swoop in out of nowhere shouting learn to play? Baffling! The OP is a very neutral invitation to discuss how system implementation is approached and the various pressures exerted on design.
The OP made several factually incorrect statements as well as listing "difficulties" with decorating ships, he proposed "meta restrictions" as a counter to this "difficulty" but the difficulties he is having can be solved by simply getting better at building, the game is not to blame, your lack of skill is to blame.
I may come accross as "elitist" or "cocky" when I blame someones lack of skill for problems but like it or not this the solution to the difficulties the op is having, these "meta restrictions" are a waste of developer time to combat a non-existant problem that already has a solution.
I don't think anyone here is or was crying about how stuffed systems are "too hard" to make look good... in fact several people understood the gist of the OP and started a civil discussion about it...
So what are statements such as "Concentrating them into shapes and decorating them is impractically heavy and prevents ships from being competitive in PVP" and "Reducing block count means fewer feasible options for decoration" then?
According to you this isnt complaining about "difficulties" with decoration, if that is the case according to you then what are these statements?
Are you somehow under the impression that someone might be struggling with understanding the game
Yes, I do.
Based on statements and the responses above to said statements I as a mentor believe that the issue is not with anything with the game but rather lack of knoweldge and/or skill.
I want the OP to accept that fact in hope that he might go out there and learn, it sounds to me like making a meta ship that looks good is a a goal of his and the way to achieve this goal is to accept the fact that personal inefficiencies are not the fault of the game, if
Valiant70 stopped believing these factually wrong statements such as "decorating ships makes them heavy and prevents them from being compedative" then he might be flying is a good looking meta ship right now, he needs only to get out there and learn.
If I come accross as being "mocking" or "insulting" then I apolgise as that was not my intent, but it needs to be made clear that the game is not the blame.
