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1: NC

2: NC and TR

3: NC, TR and Vanu

[Dohon]

Any idea when Open Beta is going to happen? I would love to do Closed, but I don't have the time right now to jump through hoops in order to get a chance at a key.

http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=110391.0

I'll be on-server awaiting ludicrous combat.

If you've got some time now, this game is like 1MB size and pretty fun.  Someone's got a dedicated server and I'm thinning the bots a little right now.

Cheers for the invitation, but sadly, I had already logged off the forum. Busy busy times and it is only now starting to clear. So, I might pop up in that game in a few weeks. Mayhaps PS2 might be open beta by then! ... A NC recruit can dream.

[etgfrog]

so i found out i have the april pc gamer issue...so i'm in the beta...

[draco1234]

Supposedly there is going to be an announcement next week regarding the beta.  Hopefully that means they will give us an actual date, instead of 'a few weeks'.

[Shadowlord]

It's funny that they have to announce that there will be an announcement.

[Isdar]

There is one thing im wondering about, and that is if we are going to recruit from the game too?

[miauw62]

I dont think we'll do that.
Except if we screen them so we dont get dicks in our group.

[Girlinhat]

> Implying Bay12 isn't composed of dicks.

We'll have to recruit from the game.  The dwarves won't stay on.  We'll gt a few regulars and a lot drifting in and out, probably not enough to keep an outfit cohesive.  B12's biggest downfall is that many people leave a game after a week or two, and then the rest quit because they have no one to play with.

[Isdar]

And we will also get more DF players too. Hopefully.

[miauw62]

Thats actually not what i want (more DF players).
Expirience tells me that a big community is certainly not always a good community.
But i dont really care too much.
As long as i can play with a few dorfs and some other fun guys, i'm fine.

[Teneb]

As long as we screen them to keep the idiots out, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

[Shadowlord]

> Implying Bay12 isn't composed of dicks.

We'll have to recruit from the game.  The dwarves won't stay on.  We'll gt a few regulars and a lot drifting in and out, probably not enough to keep an outfit cohesive.  B12's biggest downfall is that many people leave a game after a week or two, and then the rest quit because they have no one to play with.

Yeah, I've noticed that too. People on here tend to... get bored easily? The Bay12 empire Starborn Dominion on Shores of Hazeron lasted a month or two before largely falling apart, for instance. Later attempts to found new empires gained no traction. (Tymas survived and prospered for the most part by recruiting from the game's population itself, when it was felt necessary, until most of the longest-playing players mostly quit all at once - the ones who hadn't quit earlier, anyways)

That said, it's possible to make a faction which lasts, but I wouldn't make it bay 12 exclusive or name it after bay 12 if you want it to last, and it needs a dedicated leader and a method for leadership to transfer in case the leader leaves (and in case other leader designates leave or prove incapable of leading effectively). (Starborn Dominion's worst problem was that Paul left, along with the second in command, leaving nobody able to do much of anything in the empire at all except in their own individual solar systems)

E.G. It needs a system of leadership transfer like the USA or the Twelve Colonies in Battlestar Galactica.

There's also the tendency for bay12 groups to be more disorganized, IMHO. Of course, that can work well in some games, where people see something needs doing and they do it. But in something like Planetside 2 having people volunteer for particular branches of a military, or participate in more than one if necessary, could be useful, as well as having both tacticians and strategists pondering how best to improve how the outfit performs - and obviously keeping the game fun for the players.

One problem I tend to foresee is nobody guarding bases because it's boring and unglamorous. However, it may be possible to use air supremacy (e.g. lots of planes in the air, scouting, ready to report hostiles and engage) to find and eliminate incoming enemy aircraft (galaxies and fighters) and tanks. The main issue then might be infiltrators sneaking into a base undefended by infantry, but a rapid reaction force using gal drops could respond to them if it's too late to respawn at the base.

[miauw62]

Yeah, defending and flanking by the enemy is going to be a major problem. (if we are the winning faction)

[Girlinhat]

Defending is just boring, the attackers have a bit of advantage there.

Flanking?  If I can get people in my squad who will actually be in my squad and remain cohesive, I'll flank circles around the enemy, literally.  Well, I suppose that's the only way to flank...  Just need players with a mote of patience who will suit up and wait until the whole squad is suited up.  Rushers will always just die.  It's the ones who wait long enough to roll en masse that end up winning.

[Anvilfolk]

So the thing about groups going inactive is that groups aren't big enough to always have some people on. So nobody knows when someone else is gonna be online, and nobody bothers showing up until others show up. It's a deadlock.

What we should do is "squad nights", where everybody tries to be online at the same time every week. Even if half of the people can't make one particular event, there's always critical mass for doing something. At the very least, have some laughs with a few others.

[Shadowlord]

There's actually a Vanu Alliance between various already-existing vanu outfits, for coordinating overall strategy and such. Not sure what server they're going to be on (probably the american server?), but obviously that's the kind of thing which would be useful so different outfits don't end up working at cross-purposes. There are also defensibility considerations dictating the worst and best places to take territory, and whether it might be wise to cede territory that was unwisely taken (e.g. a thin strip of territory running between the two other empires, so bases in the area are constantly under attack from both), rather than try to defend it, as trying to hold them just wastes manpower that could be better spent elsewhere (unless there's some extremely compelling reason to hold them).

Edit: Squad nights might be useful, but another thing to consider is having something like that at different times on different days, since not everyone can be on at a particular time, or on particular days.