Manus Celer Dei

Okay, no takers then. Cats - Zero Wing "I never thought I'd SEE a resonance cascade, let alone create one."

Fun Fun, a forum game. Spot the quote: First person quotes a character from a game, and whoever is the first person to correctly attribute the quote gets points and posts the next quote. Make it an easy start- "The mission will require us the do more than just frighten the NSF with our baggy coats that make us look bigger than we really are." 1 point for game, 1 point for character.

Okay, I've deliberately left this thread going because I really wanted everyone to give an opinion or vote, but the poll has stagnated. Most of you who did actually bother to vote voted yes, so we'll host one as and when we can. Keeping in mind that we need Mav and a decent timeframe to work with, when is the best time? (since i live in a funny timezone, for me its a sunday evening EST). Can we get some responses on this?

Did you ask them?

I'd be lucky if the police were able to get to my place in 1/2 an hour. Not only do i not own a gun (i can shoot, but not very well - stormtrooper syndrome), i cannot remember the last time i locked either my house gate or my front door. I'm neither pro nor anti gun control, but I'm completely for gun education.

Monte ++

Squirrel hunting devices are no longer necessary

I know how many settings there are, I never suggested we change EVERY setting to see how it works, that would be redundant.

These points are cir!@#$%^&*stantial. It can be argued that democracy was the primary motivator for these outcomes, but it can just as easily be argued that other factors were responsible instead. If you can provide a link to a study that provides a definitive proof that democracy was the main factor in these situations then i will concede the point. That is the problem with arguing the merits of various systems of government, they are linked inextricably to a large number of outside factors, almost none of which can be quantified in any meaningful manner. I don't doubt everything, but I find it hard to take many things on faith merely because the statement/action is repeated often and loudly. I'm sure if we picked 40 million people at random, a large number of them will be smarter than myself, but the point stands without my intervention.

Most of it. It's nice to hear a voice of reason amongst board members. But you're so much more eloquent than myself I find you've already said everything i would say in your place by the time i finish thinking out how to write it.

I assume this is addressed to my post, so I'll just clarify a few things: 1. Please do not intimate that i believe that democracy doesn't work, i never said it didn't and I believe that democracy does work, any successfully run election is proof of that. 2. My point was Democracy does not necessarily work BETTER. I see no evidence that a democracy such as the Untied States is better run than a cons!@#$%^&*utional monarchy like the UK or New Zealand, or a dictatorship like Singapore. I'd write more points concerning the rest of your post, but i think I'll wait for monte to do so and just agree with him, like i usually do.

Idea as follows: we set a day to all get together in zone to test the effects of settings changes and how they affect each ship. We'd try perhaps one change at a time for 5 minutes, then change something else, and so on, just to get a feel for how the changes can affect gameplay.

I fail to see how G.W. Bush (or anyone else) as a democratically elected leader is any improvement over choosing leaders by a 100m sprint, and vice versa. That was the point of my original post. 40,000,000 votes cast by idiots do not an intelligent choice make.

Replace the concepts "journalism" with "intelligence" and the Qu'ran with Iraqs Weapons of M!@#$%^&* Destruction.

The greatest arguments both for and against democracy are our elected leaders.

nm, forgot to read next thread up.

Yes. seriously, we don't need to wait for a leader to start offering up our suggestions. We could always use more feedback in any of the topics currently open, or if they don't cover it, start one.

A loud voice bellows from the void: Ph33R! Yuor L0rD H4Z CoMe!!!!!!!11111oneoneone (special emphasis on the "ones" at the end)

the key thing here is: after the opd is done with them.

Okay, this is basically how i see would see the balance of ships in pub after the opd is done with them (now anyway), listing their strengths and weaknesses: wb: a defensive fighter-bomber that performs average in open and enclosed areas: Strengths- capable of fighting anywhere. Able to take above average damage before turing into a green. Weaknesses- average performance means it can be outclassed under almost any cir!@#$%^&*stance by one of the other ships. As specials are used up the ship starts to lose effectiveness. jav: strong offensive and defensive fighter in open areas: Strengths- fast recharge, heavy guns, good manouvreability (sp?), dominates open and semi-open areas (centre) Weaknesses- relatively low top speed, very vulnerable in enclosed areas, no real long range options (either offensive or defensive) spider: weak ambush craft, excellent at surprise attacks but vulnerable once detected: Strengths- high top speed, heavy bursts and good guns for close combat, portals for strategic and tactical flexibility Weaknesses- low acceleration makes for difficulty in running battles*, low max energy, below avg long range abilities, weakens dramatically as specials are expended. lev: offensive heavy bomber, strong, slow, heavy weapons Strengths: very powerful bombs, able to take more damage than any other ship (useful as a battering ram). Weaknesses: very vulnerable to multiple attackers and stealth tactics. performs below average in prolonged battles as it takes damage. terr: defensive minelayer, average long range bomber Strengths: good range of defensive abilties, high top speed, very good in support role (aka vulching/bomb spam) Weaknesses: vulnerable to close range attackers, slow recharge makes prolonged fighting difficult, limited offensive options. low acceleration weasel: the small fighter that can go anywhere, agile with above average weapons. Strengths: small size means it can fly places other ships can't giving it additional options in enclosed areas, stealth makes surprise attacks easier, good guns make it a match for fighters, agility making it good against long-range attackers. Weaknesses: made of plastic. lanc: flexible bomber with above average defense and attack Strengths: bounce bombs that allow area saturation (vulching/bomb spam) as well as co-ordinated attacks. above average energy, relatively fast recharge and good agility allow good defense in open or enclosed areas. Weaknesses: very weak guns make for bad close-defense/attack options shark: offensive fighter-bomber useful in both open and enclosed areas with heavy weapons: Strengths: very fast firing guns and bombs allows to player to destroy enemies before they react (very good surprise attacks), bricka and mines provide good defensive ability. Weaknesses: below avg energy and recharge makes it vulnerable to sustained attacks. It's late and the list will probably be changed drastically next day off work i get. Feel free to comment on my misguided vision. *these are battles where the action is constantly moving over a large area

the problem with making the lev slower and giving it better bombs is that it just turns into a turret, rather than a useful ship in it's own right. Or maybe it's just me but thats how i see things.

The question is: What do we want each ship to be capable of after the opd is done with them? Do we want the wb to be a fighter-bomber in the vein that it is now? the spider to be a burst-port ship? post your thoughts on what we want to achieve for each ship, discuss freely. do your thing.

the poll appears to be inconclusive, try again or leave it until we've come to a consensus as a forum?

I agree with the idea that all ships should come fully stocked as well. As for your impression on green weightings, I had considered suggesting that green weights be tied to the maximum number of that type of green to appear on each ship (eg, rep: wb-1 terr-2 green weight=3 decoy: wb-1 jav-1 spider-1 terr-1 weasel-1 lanc-3 shark-2 green weight: 10), but it occurred to me that thay would just lead to restocking via shipchange or kami for the rarer specials (especially bricks, which are independant of launching ship and can lead to m!@#$%^&* brickwars similar to another zone that shall not be named.)

if we alter the greens weights, bricks will become a lot more common. I'm not talking t3g common, but it gives every ship the ability to emulate (what i see as) the strategic function of the shark. its no different as if all ships could green reps or thors.