Since posting my initial GCW improvement ideas, I've been mulling some things over, and I think certain areas could be streamlined to make the overall GCW a little more user friendly. Many of the concepts here are similar to my initial GCW post, and some are completely different. Anyway, feel free to sit back, read and enjoy.


Jordy's Proposed Galactic Civil War Improvement Version 2.0 -

In order to give the GCW a much needed shot in the arm we'll be revamping the planetary control system. This system is based somewhat on Empire at War and allows for tactical interaction between planets. Some of the goals for this GCW improvment are as follows

- Creating a better overall atmosphere of GCW as portrayed in the movies.
- Creating a GCW that allows non combat professions to play key roles i.e. crafters and musicians
- Creating specific Smuggler content as pertains to the GCW
- Creating clearly understood objectives required to achieve planetary control
- Creating benefits and rewards pertaining to planetary control so as to give the GCW meaning
- Creating a "FRS" type system that will give players the opportunity to rotate in and out of new
higher faction ranks above Colonel. These high ranks will have direct control over directing
certain GCW events.

Okay to start off we'll identify the three different planet classes. Given the peculiarities of some of the outpost planets, I'd suggest limiting the initial GCW conflict to the class 1 static city planets, at least initially, as planets like Lok would be awkward to implement under the same rule set as it has only one city zone etc.

Class 1 = Planets with Static NPC cities
- Corellia
- Talus
- Naboo
- Rori
- Tatooine

Class 2 - Planets with outposts only that are buildable
- Dantooine
- Lok

Class 3 - Planets with outposts that are no build
- Endor
- Yavin 4
- Dathomir

Basic GCW Planetary Control Mechanics

Again, this deals with Class 1 planets only. Each of the Class 1 planets will have 7 different levels. The levels of control will look something like this:

Imperial Level 3 (planet secure)
/\
Imperial Level 2 (planet partially secure)
/\
Imperial Level 1 (foothold only)
/\
Neutral
\/
Rebel Level 1 (foothold only)
\/
Rebel Level 2 (Planet partially secure)
\/
Rebel Level 3 (Planet secure)


To begin the process, a planet will need to be converted from it's neutral state. To do this, players will need to enter a static base positioned in any player city, and use a terminal at the bottom to call for reinforcements. At this point a timer will be initiated, and after a short while the planet will revert to control level 1 and a commanding NPC will appear. Additionally, for some more fun scenarios, the bases on neutral planets can be occupied by pirate and smuggler npcs just to make life difficult.

I envision the base would be like one of the multi level bases that spawn randomly and are featured in some quests



Planetary Control Level 1

Upon initially capturing a city, several combat structures will spawn in each city. This would be easy to implement by removing some of the unused structures from each city, and reserving those spaces instead for GCW structures. The lots would be empty until the planet reaches the required level for each structure. At level 1 each city will receive a HQ base

A Reactor (something like this)



A Guild Hall converted to a barracks



And several defensive turrets will be placed around the city.

Furthermore, once control is established, a special named commander npc will spawn in the HQ of one of the cities. (They could be called Moffs for imperials, but not really sure for Rebs) This “Moff” will be on a timer, randomly spawning and despawning between the static npc cities. GCW structures will be on the same timer so that they're only vulnerable if the Moff is currently present within that city.

The Moff will reside on the lowest level of the npc base. To gain access to him, the reactor must first be destroyed thereby powering down the outer blast doors to the base. Furthermore, the door to the lower level will remain locked. To gain access players will need to have assaulted the barracks in order to get a randomized key code from a npc there. Alternately, a smuggler could be employed to slice the door terminal, but this would take a while, and the assault party would be subject to assaults from the HQ npcs as they spawn and respawn.

If the enemy commander is successfully killed, the assault force will have the option to call for reinforcements so as to successfully change the controlling faction. If for some reason the assault group is killed before they can do this, the planet will revert to it's beginning neutral phase, and the process will be reset.

Advancing Planetary Control Levels

The goal in all of this will be to increase the level of planetary control. To do this players will need to go see their commanding Moff. Upon conversing, the Moff will inform players what supplies are needed to advance the planet to the next level of control. Additionally, if defensive structures have already been damaged/destroyed additional supplies will be needed to repair those, before more fortifications can continue. Building up cities would rely heavily upon crafters, giving them an active role to play in the GCW. In order to fortify the planet to the next level players would need to see the Moff for the schematics, and then return to him later to drop off completed units (very similar to the village here) It goes without saying that all of these items will not be usable by players.

200 uniforms craftable by tailor (schematic available for free from moff for everything in this list)
500 rations craftable by chef
200 rifles craftable by weaponsmith
100 defensive bulwarks craftable by architect
100 first aid kits craftable by medic/doctor
50 armor suits craftable by armorsmiths (would be a simple item unlike standard armor)

Furthermore, so as not to exclude combat toons from the fortification process, all of the above items can be added to the loot tables of GCW npcs. In this way a combat toon can help out by farming some of the required supplies. However the drop rates will not exceed what a dedicated crafter can produce. Crafting of these items should be the encouraged method. (this also has the nice side benefit of being a GCW related credit sink)

Mos Eisley when initially captured would look like this:



Planetary Control Level 2

Upon gathering the required number of resources, the planet would move to control level 2, and the planetary control radius would now extend from each city like so:



Life would start to become difficult for the opposing faction as Crackdown troops of both faction would spawn within this control radius in order to hamper suspected members of the opposite faction.

Furthermore, at level 2 city fortifications would no longer be as fragile. Original structures like the Barracks would have the difficulty of their spawns increased, city wide spawns would increase in difficulty, and the hitpoints of the reactor would increase. Furthermore, at level 2 some additional structures would be added:

A Shield generator. (must first be destroyed in order to make the reactor vulnerable)

Additional turret locations

Possibly covert faction scanners

Commando units Barracks

Combat would follow the same pattern as before.

Planetary Control Level 3



Upon gathering the required number of resources, the planet would move to control level 3. This would be a pretty big accomplishment and would require a considerable amount of resources to build up to this point. At level 3 the planetary control level would be completely secure. Crackdown troops will spawn planet wide. A level 3 planet will be very hazardous for a member of the opposite faction to visit while trying to maintain a covert status. At level 3 the moff will no longer accept resource items for fortification. However he will still accept resource items as structures are destroyed in order to facilitate repairs.

At level 3 the static npc spawns would again be enhanced. Again the spawns in defensive structures would also increase in difficulty proportionally. Level 3 cities would gain some hardcore facilities that would make life difficult for the opposite faction. These final structures would include but not necessarily be limited to the following:

Light factory – would produce AT-STs or T2b tanks (SBDs could also be used as a simpe alternative for the rebels)

Max turrets – at level 3 all city locations resreved for turrets would be built up.

Officer's Academy- A barracks type structure that produces spawns of high level npcs.


Benefits of Planetary Control

There should be benefits of controlling a planet apart form simple bragging rights. Fully controlled planets could provide buffs, additional recruiter reward options, crafting bonuses etc. Some possible suggestions might look like this

Level 3 planet bonuses:

Corellia – enhanced experimentation points for factional crafters while on this planet
Talus – Enhanced medical supplies. Controlling faction would enjoy better effects from their medpacks
while this planet is under control.
Naboo – battle droid support (faction recruiters would offer battle effective droid faction pets while
naboo is under complete control)
Rori – Peace of Mind. When this world is controlled, players will enjoy a faster mind
regeneration rate.
Tatooine – Tremor in the Force! (slight combat buff would be active for rebels while this pivotal planet
is controlled

None of these bonuses need be concrete, and all should be something that while nice to have, is definitely not game breaking.


Invasion

Now where would the GCW be without epic offense. In addition to building up planetary defenses throughout the galaxy, the individual/guild has the option of contributing to the build up of their faction's "fleet" for offensive purposes. This would employ the same mechanics, however the officer in charge of fleet build up will always be positioned at either the the respective factional themeparks. This is because these options are basically unconquerable, and should always be a safe haven. The officer at these locations will collect the exact same supply items as required for planetary defense. Furthermore, the fleet will be invincible as it is built up, however when jtl is introduced, we may vary the options here.

Invasion fleets can be built up to 3 levels
Level 1 "Light fleet"
Level 2 "Strike fleet"
Level 3 "Invasion fleet"

Each fleet will be balanced as much as possible to match the respective difficulty of each of the 3 planetary control stages. So for example, a level 1 light fleet would be ineffective against a level 3 hostile planet.

Players will be able to check in with the officer to check on the status of the invasion fleet. Factional emails regard invasion status could possibly be generated to everyone who has contributed to fleet build up, or perhaps to all players of a given faction.

As the fleet successfully achieves each level of completion, there will be an option to “choose planet to invade” or “continue to amass fleet.”

Now who will choose where the fleet will strike? This is an important question, and I see two possible solutions.

Solution 1 – Members of the entire faction will be able to vote via ingame window whether to strike, or whether to continue fleet build up. Voting power could be based on a 1 for 1 basis, or else a percentage based on each player's faction rank, with higher ranking players having more say where the fleet will strike.

Solution 2 – we could make use of the unused high level faction ranks above colonel to create a new GCW ranking system. Players would be able to accrue faction points and progress in ranks above Colonel. The top 10 players would form the “head command” for their faction. Any rank above colonel would be subject to a fp drain, in which the player must work to continually accrue faction points. In this way only the most active players will be able to achieve and maintain commanding faction ranks. Inactive players would eventually be returned to the rank of Colonel at which point the fp drain would stop. I'm sure there's probably other available tweaks to this system.

The point of all this is, that the “head command” would choose directly to what level to build up invasion fleets, and where to strike. This would ensure that players very familiar with the GCW are in charge of coordinating the war effort.

Invasion Mechanics

Once an invasion is successfully launched, the invasion fleet will proceed to the targeted planet. At this time a notification email will be sent out to all faction members informing them to aid in the coming invasion. Furthermore a timer may or may not be employed to give people time to assemble for the invasion. (again there's opportunities for jtl here) The invasion fleet will spawn on the surface of the planet just within the city limits of the city where the Moff is currently spawned. (this will ensure that there's no problems with housing and pathing)
Once the npc invasion fleet has landed, the planet will enter invasion mode. In invasion mode, the moff will remain spawned in his present location until the conlusion of the invasion. Furthermore, all fortification/repair efforts will be suspended until the end of the battle.



So picture in your mind. The invasion fleet will spawn just inside the border of the no build zone. The invasion fleet will be represented by a shielded drop ship, from which assault npc troops will be spawned in waves. Again the strength of the invasion npcs will be determined by the assault level of the fleet. Ideally, the buildup levels of the fleet should be proportional to the fortification levels of the planet. The assault npcs will then proceed along a programmed path into the city where they will begin to assault the defensive structures and personnel. During combat, defensive npcs can continue to respawn as normal. However structures may not be repaired until the conclusion of the invasion.

Taking a cue from the mustufar miner instance, I believe it might be cool, if players had the option to click on assault npcs, and direct them to follow them to specific targets within the city. This would allow for enhanced strategy during the battle.


Additional GCW Content

Some additional factors may be implement so as to include yet more classes in the overall GCW.

Morale. Moral points may be implemented to measure fighting efficiency of city fortification npcs, and possibly static city spawn npcs. Npc Morale could slowly drop overtime, causing say a reduction in accuracy for npc troops. To combat this, entertainers could take assignments from the Moff to perform here and there at the barracks within the city in order to boost the morale back up and remove the debuff.

Player bases. Player bases could possibly choose to “link up” with the nearest npc fortified city. There could be several benefits from this, including initiation of increased npc combat patrols between the player base and npc city. There's many possibilities here, some of which would have a wide bearing on the overall flavor of the conflict.

Smuggling. Isolated player bases on hostile controlled planets would theoretically need supplies. This provides great content for smugglers to take delivery missions from friendly worlds and smuggle much needed weapons and supplies to to resistance forces on besieged planets.

When a planet is controlled, no players from the opposing team should be able to go there, except through an Invasion force.

while that would be realistic, unfortunately it wouldn't be very fun, especially for very casual players.

I think a smuggler element should be added with this. smugglers could sneak players on the planet if they belong to a faction. when snuck on, they have a significantly lower chance of being caught.

however, there is a difficult mission the smuggler must complete.

Hmmm? HMMMMM?


but also:

blockades! maybe a blockade coudl be put on one planet by controlling a certain planet. then the smugglers have a big chance of a mission! and awesome space battle if I might add.



on the perks gained: I'd switch the peace of mind to naboo and give rori something spice related. like an easier spice creafting thing or better effects, or a lower downer etc.

hmm i like the smuggler idea for transporting people to opposite faction controlled planets. especially as a neutral smuggler as i intend to be, theoretically you would be able to transport groups of either faction to controlled planets and double your potential profits. and being neutral you will have free access to all planets... unless of course you get a temporary faction flag to coincide with whomever you are transporting.

this would be especially helpfull if say, we impliment the surface landing option where people can land anywhere on the planet without a starport. of course i dont remember the rules we had for doing so in that post. but im sure they would apply. also speaking as a smuggler... the price for a transport would go way way up if i have to run a blockade to get you to your destination.

one thing i dislike is the smuggler mission thing. the transport of the players should be the mission, and most if not all smugglers would hate to have to accomplish some side mission everytime they transported someone or a group of someones. if it is a random happenstance then it would make more sense. but everytime seems a little annoying. but seeing as how we dont know what the possible mission is yet or the compensation.. than im going to hold judgement on that point for now till i hear more.

anyway great ideas.

oh yeah!!! i think the smuggler should reserve the right to ...jettison the players from his ship if and when things get hairy or if they are dumb enough to fire the ships cannons at passing blockade ships without provocation...

you wanna put me and my ship in danger?... you can suck vacuum friend... FWOOOSH (that the player being shot from the ship)

haha. (of course a game mechanic would be put in place to have the players respawn in their designated cloning facility, with limited bodily damage and the smuggler doesnt get paid)

bounty option on said smuggler perhaps?

oh man if that is an option the price for transport just skyrocketed. i mean astronomically. better REALLY wanna get to a planet. and have the scratch to pay... in advance.

I think it would be nice if the defending NPCs didn't just respawn out of nowhere. Instead, they would be drawn from all the other cities and player built bases on the planet and make way to the besieged city via shuttle and/or by spawning at the edge of the city. The local NPCs from resistance bases should also come to the besieged city to aid the invaders.

That way the invader must face the enemy resistance in the front and enemy reinforcements in the rear, instead of suddenly having stormtroopers poof into existance right in the middle of them. Plus the player bases have a function beyond looking pretty. (More meat to throw into the grinder.) You might even figure out where the enemy is going to invade by all the resistance bases that are springing up on the countryside.

It would also be very nice if the NPCs involved in these battles had better AI than the standard fare. So that, for instance if the shield generator is attacked the defenders pull troops from the guard posts and try to re-take it.

I liked the first version, and I'm still behind on this one. Such an amazing idea.

Yes, lovely! Absolutely!

The one problem I cna see is player cities. what will happen with an imperial player city on a rebel controlled planet or vice versa?

It would just be harder for them to live there, and if you do decide to do this prepare to defend your city or try to make your city hidden.

I think it would be even easier to put empire controlled planets, that you can't go to as you say, to be accessible through smuggling your friends down. the easiest way I believe should be a skill that only a smuggler can use in his tech tree or perhaps some other professions that has a scruffy nerfherder in them.

This would allow more roleplaying for the smuggler as he can charge money to smuggle someone if he wants to. (maybe underworld points for it or exp). This allows rebels to do the infiltration and knock out the base shield (or death star shield rebel style so to speak.) With the Empire this can be implimented in a number of ways. Like you said an invasion force. For rebels or empire they would be able to do both, but with limited resources for the rebels they could use other means of building up an army or fleet. (is this turning into a RTS?)
Neutral players won't have a problem getting to that planet as they are not in confrontation with the GCW. The only thing I can see the neutral playing a part is being stopped by imperial fleet patrols in space for holding illegal cargo like spice or modified weaponry.
The difficult part about crafters would have to pay a tax to the empire to get to a planet surface.

The war effects everyone in this way. I'm not saying it should effect those who wish to be neutral directly, but that in some small ways the war could effect each player. We see stormtrooper patrols on planets, all the sudden they are attacked by rebels. On ahazi server the majority of players was rebels, and a low number of empire players in comparison of the two. A server wided united guild would inform of imperial attacks or rebel attacks giving quardants so that any player can join in if they wish.
Or when a planet is taken, being a big thing, I don't think this should be limited to faction players only.

Having said this and allowing players the freedom to do as they wished in the game, i think it is possible without tirelessly going through endless lines of code to revamp an entire system of the game to do it. I love the ideas you guys are putting up and they can be doable, but before we get ahead of ourselves think in small steps. Even something a small time programmer can pull off without dropping it on the devs once again. I suppose this is old news to you on this last paragraph. FYI for being gone almost a year.

Hmm a good example of a sci fi MMO that i thought was really fun and did very well was called Tabula Rasa. It was only out for a year before it was closed down. It had the right elements for base capturing while still adhering to the mmo style of play.

The AI was written on par i guess u could say considering the short life the game had. But the underlinging principle of the game made it quite popular for the time it was on. Another game that I thought had a fairly good faction control is called FFXI. The grinding levels didnt really effect the game too much, but the ability to teleport yourself to a controlled outpost until it was taken over by beastmen or another faction made it worth the effort to do supply runs just to get that warp. If you know where I'm coming from, these were very good game mechanics.

Even Ultima Online before the Fel and Tram split on each server, and the player killing that went on was out of control, the very reason they put up the split, but it standed out in my opinion as a basis for which online pvp gaming is today. The point here is, that you were involved in the faction battle or neutral, it almost didnt matter, but you were "involved". Players want GCW to be more involved. There might be a way to make it more involved, but it would tune the game in such a way that might make people not want to play. For those of us who have not been in a real war, let me just say it sucks, people die, your stuff gets stolen, and they burn your house. Much the same in our New Hope story. Luke goes out for a few drinks with an old hermit, gets tangled up with the wrong droids, stormtroopers come and burn his house. It gets ugly but you get the point. We might not go as far as killing off players and burn their tatooine house full of rares, but if u want more involved GCW this might not be as far as you would have to go, but its the direction u would have to go to set a standard for GCW. Again neutral players would have immunity in some ways.

(unless those stormtroopers find out u been smuggling your wares to the rebels in exchange for credits. Roleplaying here)