05-24-2020, 11:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 05-24-2020, 11:16 PM by Yurk Embassy.)
When it comes to large-scaled, Empire-related mechanics, I'd say it's fairly vital, all the more from a space opera narrative gameplay perspective.
In my opinion, if Haxus does want this game to propose an adventure roleplay experience, this choice of game structure should achieve a symbiosis between individual adventurers/roleplayers and Empires. Since both Lore and Politics are built by none but the playerbase themselves, every player who wishes to play as a space adventurer is going to have to rely on already-established player empires.
Don't get me wrong, this concept is absolutely brilliant, as it means it's a game the Lore of which can be altered by absolutely everyone if they're brave enough to make a difference amongst the community. There are no established rules as there would be in, say, a Star Wars roleplay experience, where politics, history, species, and so on, are all already defined in a codex or by the source materials. But this freedom also means the political 'background' of the game needs to be fueled by willing players. Therefore, those who pick a rather political gameplay should find entertainment as well, otherwise they might as well get bored and your average lonely spacer who travels from an empire to another will end up wandering in an empty galaxy with next-to-no content to enjoy.
And for that very reason, and even though I can't believe I'm about to say that as a hardcore roleplayer myself, there shouldn't be an absolute focus on the individual-roleplay aspect of the game if it's to the detriment of its Empire-management counterpart.
To conclude, although I agree that war mechanics shouldn't be the game's main focus, I do believe it is a vital ingredient to a space-opera management/roleplay game which proposes features such as trade or diplomacy. War is something that makes the universe feel unsafe, hence interesting. Without threat, there are no stakes.
In my opinion, if Haxus does want this game to propose an adventure roleplay experience, this choice of game structure should achieve a symbiosis between individual adventurers/roleplayers and Empires. Since both Lore and Politics are built by none but the playerbase themselves, every player who wishes to play as a space adventurer is going to have to rely on already-established player empires.
Don't get me wrong, this concept is absolutely brilliant, as it means it's a game the Lore of which can be altered by absolutely everyone if they're brave enough to make a difference amongst the community. There are no established rules as there would be in, say, a Star Wars roleplay experience, where politics, history, species, and so on, are all already defined in a codex or by the source materials. But this freedom also means the political 'background' of the game needs to be fueled by willing players. Therefore, those who pick a rather political gameplay should find entertainment as well, otherwise they might as well get bored and your average lonely spacer who travels from an empire to another will end up wandering in an empty galaxy with next-to-no content to enjoy.
And for that very reason, and even though I can't believe I'm about to say that as a hardcore roleplayer myself, there shouldn't be an absolute focus on the individual-roleplay aspect of the game if it's to the detriment of its Empire-management counterpart.
To conclude, although I agree that war mechanics shouldn't be the game's main focus, I do believe it is a vital ingredient to a space-opera management/roleplay game which proposes features such as trade or diplomacy. War is something that makes the universe feel unsafe, hence interesting. Without threat, there are no stakes.