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[Roboson]

I worry that it is too much of a hassle for everyone to adopt, it means doing more than just copying the whole thing and changing a number... Also I feel that it'll focus people's attention to the top couple of items, so that new suggestion down the bottom will tend to get overlooked and people won't be as likely to change from the front0runners, but it will probably also reduce ties for much the same reasons...

Eh, its a simple matter of copying a line and moving it up one after you've copied the entire thing. Its like 3 extra clicks. In any case, it gets the new proposals on the list or at least allowed into the discussion, ehich is more than they get now. People will still vote as they always do, strategically or not. But this method does add a bit of extra clarity, even if it does add length.

I do agree it will be slightly more work than what we do now, but it could help make the process clearer and more open. Just a suggestion though, if we're going to change the system somehow, we should probably vote on it.

[RAM]

But what voting system should we use to vote for the best voting system?

[Azzuro]

All of them, duh! Then we take the voting system that has won under the most number of voting systems.

[Gwolfski]

This is fun!

Glory to Arstotzka!

[FallacyofUrist]

So. What do you guys think of learning how to perform lobotomies so we can turn captured enemies into drooling idiots and then release them to our foes to demoralize them?

[OceanSoul]

But how will we vote for a vetoing system?

[RAM]

So. What do you guys think of learning how to perform lobotomies so we can turn captured enemies into drooling idiots and then release them to our foes to demoralize them?

My feelings tend mostly towards a sense of redundancy towards the first part and futility towards the latter...

[Roboson]

What if we created a google doc or something like that as a design dump? Somewhere we can put all our ideas so that we can draw upon them later. Do you all think that would be a worthwhile thing to do?

[RAM]

Well, I despise google docs with the fury of a thousand burning Arstozkan children denied their chance at Valhalla, but maybe other people like that garbage?

[OceanSoul]

Well, I despise google docs with the fury of a thousand burning Arstozkan children denied their chance at Valhalla, but maybe other people like that garbage?

Valhalla? Don't you dare assimilate the magicless Norse's beliefs not with the name of culture into our own! [/glory_to_Arstotzka]

[Roboson]

Well, I despise google docs with the fury of a thousand burning Arstozkan children denied their chance at Valhalla, but maybe other people like that garbage?

I mean I prefer word and open office, but those don't particularly have the sharing capabilities that we'd need for this.

[RAM]

Well, I won't be making any submissions to it, and will get grumpy from looking at it, but other people are free to do what they want. No need to drag the whole game down over one sticky wicket!

[Chiefwaffles]

You know, I think we need to capitalize on something that can help us next design phase, so:

(Future) Design: HA1
Development of the HCx series recently grinded to a halt. With every single new idea and concept being implemented leading to failure and requests for the budget to improve things such as expense denied, the lead Mathemagician of the Hybrid Cannon project decided to turn to a new direction. He'd re-invent the Hybrid Cannon. The HC2 was an unfortunate failure, and salvaging it is frankly useless. The HC1 is reliable, but simply won't fare as the battlefield changes. The HC1-E variant has gone as far as it can. Revisions don't last forever, and sometimes you just need to consolidate your improvements into one design and include some breakthroughs.
The HA1 uses the lessons learned from the SBP1-A in fixing the problems inherent to the HC2, along with the advantages of the HCx-E variants. This is all very simple stuff and normally could be left to a revision, but that's not all.
"Cannons" are the way of the past. Using a name the lead Mathemagician heard being discussed nonchalantly in the hallway - "artillery", he has came up with a new series name - the HA. Hbrid Artillery. "Extreme range" was a name given to the capabilities of the HC1-E by awe-struck field commanders, but it doesn't give you a true insight into the capabilities of the HC1-E. Really, the project lead explained, it's best described still as "long range". But this - this new technology - will finally be deserving of the "extreme" label thrown around so carelessly in the past.
The HA1 utilizes the longest barrel we've crafted. Using simple gears, the barrel can be easily rotated like the stubby HC1-E. A larger and improved pressurization compartment combined with the aforementioned longer barrel increases the range of the projectile to true extreme ranges far beyond that of the HCx-E variants. The rate of fire and reliability improvements from the HC2 are also implemented in the design along with the lessons of the SPB1-A (and to a lesser degree, the frost towers) to actually get these improvements to reliably function. The new barrel can even field larger shells that should be able to reliably do more damage to the filthy Moskurgians!
The HA1 utilizes advanced manufacturing techniques to be able to be produced at a rate rivalling the HC1. Standardized equipment used for measures and things such as casting and pouring given to workers significantly reduce the amount of time to craft individual parts. Hiring many laborers and teaching them how to only work at one part of a time then having them work together in a line of assembly greatly reduces cost and the need for individual trained craftsmen. The Project Lead has taken to calling the places where the manufacturing would occur "factories".



In short: A consolidation of the HC1-E, HC1, and HC2, with increased range and damage, and an Expensive target. "But Chiefwaffles," some may say, "that sure sounds complicated!"
But does it?
The HC2's design elements were incorporated into the fairly-successful SPB1-A. The HC1-E is perfectly functional, and so is HC1. We have a very sound advantage in the basic consolidating of improvements. Then increased range and damage are all simple things and given our experience with this stuff and the idea of "learning through failures" like the two revisions in a row rolling 1 make those trivial things. The most questionable part is the expense, but with all the other things locked down, expense shouldn't be that big of a deal. (The factory thing is just fluff - there's no automation.) The revision can be used making the CO1-AM I posted a few pages ago to somewhat effectively counter Lucky Strike and other spells.

And I realize I'm basically writing designs now like one would write the results of a design was just rolled, but it's super fun to do.


EDIT: And regarding the range - that's not the point of the design. The main point is a cheaper functional HC2-E with miscellaneous improvements. The range is there to make life easier such that we will only need to devise a method to effectively spot at the super extreme ranges. And the extra range isn't useless (though definitely not that useful and would be a bad revision by itself) - like someone mentioned before, it could be used for thins like shelling fortified enemy positions that we know the locations of and that we know won't move for a while.
I still like my idea for Carrier Animals.

[Chiefwaffles]

And a design for anytime AFTER countering Lucky Strike. the HA1 doesn't count as not countering lucky strike because it helps to increase our artillery ignoring lucky strike and future-proof it for a bit if they somehow increase ballsita range again. Also the CO1-AM shell would fit in it if done as a revision afterwards.
Future Design: PA1 "Stalwart" Crystallized Plate Mail
"What do you mean, 'we aren't using crystal armor'?!" screamed the now-Project Lead after learning about the fact that crystals are fairly useless right now and that we aren't using crystal armor. He planned to change that.
The PA1 "Stalwart" - Personal Armor 1 "Stalwart" is a significant step forward from the original Plate Mail. We need to face it: The days of our mighty plate mail protecting us from everything are over. But we can bring them back. The armor doesn't actually use crystals - that'd be a difficult task and also useless against enemy antimagic.
But instead it uses lessons learned from crystal. At a more minor Mathemagics lab at the edges of Arstotzka, Mathemagician researchers managed to gain a glimpse into what makes our crystal the way it is by replicating greatly enlarged crystals for seconds to gain brief sights into the wonders of our crystal. This was very expensive, but none of the techniques used here are planned for use in the PA1 Stalwart.

That same research lab also found an interesting way to almost "crystallize" non-crystal materials. The process in which the materials are crystallized is a magical process performed in a prepared environment (though mass production has been factored into the proposal) yet after this process is done, there's no hint of magic in the materials - our magicmeters (one researcher's clever tweaking of a anti-magic charm) show nothing but the ambient magic. This material is found to be stronger and much lighter than our previous plate mail, allowing for increased agility and protection.
The PA1 Stalwart is then made from this material and fitted onto our troops. No new metal is used; in fact - less metal is used as while the weight of a crystallized material is preserved, the size is increased. The only added part is the crystallizing process used in the making of the new plate mail.



It's a new armor design. Fairly self-explanatory, but with a cool description and process!

[Roboson]

When I saw these giant posts I thought the combat phase had come in. I got really excited, like an embarrassing amount   

Still, great write up Chief.