Customization

[Gaius]

[spoiler=Initial suggestion]

Battle others through your stargate or use motherships. Build custom weaponry, fleets, and units. Create alliances, enemies, even frenemies. Come explore it all!

I know it's a quote from NewGrounds and this is in the Main suggestions forum thingy, but please bear with me.

It's sort of fake propaganda. I can't create custom weaponry, fleets and units. I can only create what you put in there as presets.

Why not make us able to name our weapons, units, weapons, and fleets even?
Gives more customization options and stuff. I personally dislike a few weapon names, specifically last tier weapons and the newly introduced GnR superweapons. Some mothership weapon names are also.. repulsive, in my opinion.

*Note* This is a suggestion for both GateWars, GateWars: NewGrounds, and GateWars: Ascension. All three servers could use more customization, and less presets.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and dare I type, I hope you take the time to also consider it.[/spoiler]

Okay, so maybe instead of having social structures, technology and bonus be race-based (each granting a race's thingies), we could have to:
1. Pick a race (goa'uld, tau'ri, asgard, replicator)
2. Pick a social structure (from the 4 that we have, but each would give different unit names for each race. E.g.: Goa'uld Slavery: same as it is now. Goa'uld Military: different, Goa'uld Cloning: different from the other 2, etc)
3. Pick a technology path (from the 4 that we have, but each would give different weapon/tech names for each race as above)
4. Pick a bonus, this one doesn't have much impact on anything but Interface - and this (the interface) should be changed to be dependant on Race, instead of bonus. (Race would still be able to be named anything you want as it is now, but there would be a preset, for the game to decide what names your units/weapons have)

Let me give an example. This should just give an idea of what I mean.

Tau'ri, Slavery, Nano-technology, Income bonus

Units (Tau'ri - Slavery branch, unascended)
Peon (miner)
Conscript (Untrained unit)
Slaver (Simple defense unit)
Overseer (Super defense unit)
Hunter (Simple attack unit)
Super Soldier (Can't think of anything else, super attack unit)
Intelligence Agent (covert unit)
Saboteur (anti-covert unit)

Weapons (Tau'ri - Nano-tech branch. Red Faction 2 players might notice those are weapons "stolen" from there, but it's just an example.)
-Nano MP (MP = Machine Pistol)
-Dual Nano MPs
-Precision Rifle
-Nano GL
-Anti-Personnel Weapon
-NICW (Nanotech Individual Combat Weapon)
-Railgun

While Replicator, Slavery, nano tech, Income would be a different set with different units

Units (Replicator - Slavery branch, unascended)
Harvest Bot (Miner)
Scrap Metal (Untrained unit)
Repli-Spider (Attack)
Android (Super-attack)
Hive Guard (Defense unit)
Android Guardian (Super defense)
Hacking Unit (Intelligence)
Disruption Unit (Anti-covert)

Weapons (nanotech, repli)
Acid gun
Energy pistol
Automated energy pistol
Small plasma cannon
Gamma radiation emitter
Hand-blade
Volatile Metal Composition (Terminator just popped into mind, and I thought about TX3000 or whatever the name was, the robot that could turn into liquid metal and stuff. And I think it would work since the logs are like "2000000 humanform replicators have <weapon>", so it would be like "x Androids have volatile metal composition)


This would take quite some work with finding names, but we can all contribute and vote for the best sets of stuff.

[Juliette]

While interesting, I do contest your 'fake propaganda' point on 2 counts:
1. Propaganda cannot be fake.
2. You can choose between 4 / 5 different sets of weapon/unit/planet names; this is (a level of) customisation. Ergo, 'the propaganda is true'.

I contest the idea itself on 3 counts:
1. Self-named weapons cannot be properly distinguished from other weapons. Example: Race names. This summum of customisability was given to the users after some company went apenuts in Legalese. Promptly users who were Goa'uld (income bonus) named themselves Asgard (sneakily implying a hologram -> unfriendly for farmers). This misrepresented the races.
Weapons will be even more confusing, let alone unit names: imagine me calling my Miners Covert Agents, and more of such nonsense.
2. If your imagination is that good, send in your ideas for a fifth/sixth/.. race!
3. Most people's imaginations are not that great.

[Gaius]

Gatz for becoming admin. I missed a lot of stuff, eh?

Getting back on topic, it's a very good anti-covert tactic. A commander could call his soldiers "miners", just to confuse any enemy spies that might have infiltrated. Of course, this would be a paranoid solution, but an interesting one nonetheless. You brought up Goa'uld calling themselves Asgard - This could as well have happened in Stargate-SG1, the Goa'uld using some sort of device to change their energy signature to an Asgard vessel, and identifying themselves as Asgard to pass through an enemy territory.

It's all tactics, after all.

As for the weapons, naming wouldn't affect game-play, just add a higher level of customization. You can still see the strength and amount of weapons when you spy.

Let's give a few nice examples of how this would make gameplay a bit better:

1. Goa'uld team.
I name my supersoldiers "Jaffa" and the last tier weapon "Energy Staff".
I can now attack people with armies relevant to Stargate-SG1, instead of using SuperMan units and Hand-Held Black Hole Dispenser (just an example of ridiculous unit/weapon names - especially ridiculous when no one on either side dies from said weapons)
2. Tau'ri team.
I name my supersoldiers "G.I." and my last tier weapon "M4A1".
I can now attack people with SG teams instead of BatMan units and X-302 fighters that can somehow fit through the gate.
3. Asgard team.
I name my supersoldiers "Asgard Soldier" and my last tier weapon "Assault Suit". I can now attack people alike the Vanir have, instead of using SuperClone and Instant Disintegration Beam (which some people somehow survive the effects of, as shown by the "0 of x's units have died".)
4. Replicator team.
I name my supersoldiers "Asuran" and my last tier weapon "Energy Pistol" or "Hand-blade". My replicators will now attack as those in the movies instead of using "Nano-ti(no idea what this means) UberMachinen" and "Instant replication beam" (no idea how that's even a weapon, but as I remember it's a similar name to what they got in our game.)

And as previously said, naming units can also be used as a tactic to confuse other players. It's strategy after all, and there are no rules in War and Love.

[Sphinx42]

While your custom names would make the game a little more interesting (at least for the few people who would pay attention to such things), the average player's custom names would just make it more cringe-worthy.

I concur with Juliette's third point - most people's imagination is not that great, and we can safely say in most cases it's a lot worse than the admin's. On one hand, you would have such ridiculous names as you yourself have brought as counter-examples, and worse; on the other, you would have all kinds of rule-breaking, obscene, racist or just plain rude names. For the first, just take a look at new players' race names; for the second, search through the For admin section and see how many reports were made about offensive planet names since the beginning.

I agree that more choices would make the game more interesting, but I don't think most people's choices would be quite as interesting.

So, instead of entirely custom names, how about a few (as in, as many as we can come up with) new options for Race Social Structure (unit types) and Race Technology Path (weapons & techs) naming themes? Forum users could post their suggestions, discuss them, vote for the best suggestions (or choose a group of players who will decide which are the best), then have them all implemented at once (to avoid annoying the admin every time someone comes up with a good idea).

[Sphinx42]

I didn't notice this lack of imagination with the races....

I'll have to agree that there are more race names in the game than I could come up with if I spent a day thinking about them.

But while the quantity is impressive, the quality... not so much (of course, whether a name someone comes up with is interesting or stupid is subjective, but I'm sure I'd find a good few examples, especially among accounts created since the custom race names were introduced, that would either make you or ).

[Gaius]

Okay, so maybe instead of having social structures, technology and bonus be race-based (each granting a race's thingies), we could have to:
1. Pick a race (goa'uld, tau'ri, asgard, replicator)
2. Pick a social structure (from the 4 that we have, but each would give different unit names for each race. E.g.: Goa'uld Slavery: same as it is now. Goa'uld Military: different, Goa'uld Cloning: different from the other 2, etc)
3. Pick a technology path (from the 4 that we have, but each would give different weapon/tech names for each race as above)
4. Pick a bonus, this one doesn't have much impact on anything but Interface - and this (the interface) should be changed to be dependant on Race, instead of bonus.

Let me give an example. This should just give an idea of what I mean.

Tau'ri, Slavery, Nano-technology, Income bonus

Units (Tau'ri - Slavery branch, unascended)
Peon (miner)
Conscript (Untrained unit)
Slaver (Simple defense unit)
Overseer (Super defense unit)
Hunter (Simple attack unit)
Super Soldier (Can't think of anything else, super attack unit)
Intelligence Agent (covert unit)
Saboteur (anti-covert unit)

Weapons (Tau'ri - Nano-tech branch. Red Faction 2 players might notice those are weapons "stolen" from there, but it's just an example.)
-Nano MP (MP = Machine Pistol)
-Dual Nano MPs
-Precision Rifle
-Nano GL
-Anti-Personnel Weapon
-NICW (Nanotech Individual Combat Weapon)
-Railgun

While Replicator, Slavery, nano tech, Income would be a different set with different units

Units (Replicator - Slavery branch, unascended)
Harvest Bot (Miner)
Scrap Metal (Untrained unit)
Repli-Spider (Attack)
Android (Super-attack)
Hive Guard (Defense unit)
Android Guardian (Super defense)
Hacking Unit (Intelligence)
Disruption Unit (Anti-covert)

Weapons (nanotech, repli)
Acid gun
Energy pistol
Automated energy pistol
Small plasma cannon
Gamma radiation emitter
Hand-blade
Volatile Metal Composition (Terminator just popped into mind, and I thought about TX3000 or whatever the name was, the robot that could turn into liquid metal and stuff. And I think it would work since the logs are like "2000000 humanform replicators have <weapon>", so it would be like "x Androids have volatile metal composition)


This would take quite some work with finding names, but we can all contribute and vote for the best sets of stuff.

[Juliette]

Most people are petty and will name their weapons like they do in that other game:
- **Filtered**.
- Big **Filtered**.
- Bigger **Filtered**.
- Even Bigger **Filtered**.
- WTH **Filtered**.
- Ron Jeremy **Filtered**.

Which is funny for a few days. Until it is not.
And there is a massive difference between custom names and custom weapons/units.. one does not usually want to be 'known' by a stupid word; but when it comes to weapons/units, who gives a crap, it is fun, let us make the pettiest names ever.




I am in favour of that idea of 'extra sets' of community-invented technology-society names.

[Sphinx42]

the most arrogant and asinine thing I have ever heard

Who peed in your tea today, SS?

I think you both would be surprised at what you get.

No, I wouldn't. I've actually spent long enough (longer than you lately, I'd dare say) reading the random compilations of letters that make up this game not to be surprised of anything stupid the players come up with. Also, not to be surprised that, whenever I try to contribute my small and not very significant bit to the discussion, there's one fella in the topic shooting it down.

[Juliette]

the most arrogant and asinine thing I have ever heard

Who peed in your tea today, SS?

I think you both would be surprised at what you get.

No, I wouldn't. I've actually spent long enough (longer than you lately, I'd dare say) reading the random compilations of letters that make up this game not to be surprised of anything stupid the players come up with. Also, not to be surprised that, whenever I try to contribute my small and not very significant bit to the discussion, there's one fella in the topic shooting it down.

+1

[Juliette]

Big difference being that you are associated by your name, and race name, so you will have a modicum of decency implied if only because you are identified by it. An inbuilt safety net, if you will.

I cannot rename my chess pieces at will (however, I can pick a theme), and with good reason. It would become a horrible chaotic mess. Oh, sure, if you are only playing this game to make stories and do not give a hug about mechanics, war et cetera, then naming anything anything is great.
While I get the idea; personalising things is cool and fun, but within reason.
Hence the suggestion to add different races, so you storytelling hippies can have your variety without mucking up the game with all kinds of idiot thingies.

[Sphinx42]

Hence the suggestion to add different races, so you storytelling hippies can have your variety without mucking up the game with all kinds of idiot thingies.

Yeah I forgot, you were never an RPer.

Yeah, 'cause naming your race/units/whatever 'qwertyuiop' is sooo role-playing

The same could be said about this game or any game, you can name your MS what you want already, but everyone knows that it is MS.

Actually, you can't:

Code: Select all

8) No profanity in user names, namable weapons/ships, or anywhere else on game. 

[Juliette]

Hence the suggestion to add different races, so you storytelling hippies can have your variety without mucking up the game with all kinds of idiot thingies.

Yeah I forgot, you were never an RPer.

Haha, quite right. Completely irrelevant though.

Hence the suggestion to add different races

I don't have a problem with it if the races serve a purpose, keeping them all stale like they used to be is just a waste of time. Make races, then give racial bonuses. Remove ascended as a race and just stick with the basic 4, ascending just gives you more of a racial bonus. I had a thread about bonuses somewhere

Yup.. makes sense.

Also, would it not be simple enough to add a filter where you enter text? Use the same set of filters for words as the forum has. I mean the same words. Have it say you have entered an invalid weapon name, please try again. That in itself would remove many of the obscene names that would begin to pop up.

Good. That would remove a lot of my objections, but not so much the confusion bit, which in the way Gaius outlined it could be a pretty annoying nuisance.

[Slim87R]

Hence the suggestion to add different races, so you storytelling hippies can have your variety without mucking up the game with all kinds of idiot thingies.

Yeah I forgot, you were never an RPer.

Hence the suggestion to add different races

I don't have a problem with it if the races serve a purpose, keeping them all stale like they used to be is just a waste of time. Make races, then give racial bonuses. Remove ascended as a race and just stick with the basic 4, ascending just gives you more of a racial bonus. I had a thread about bonuses somewhere

I like the differing race idea. Adds more strategy to the game. Being an RPer doesn't seem relevant to me. "idiot thingies" .... Good grief. *Facepalm*

[Gaius]

Over-all, I'll edit my first post to change the suggestion to changing the unit names/weapons based on both race and social structure/weapons.