The Energon Pub

Well you gotta admit it's a little hard to get the message out there.

Stickie's at the top, unless locked, will get flooded and the message lost.

The other alternative is a note in the faction bulletins on the front page of the game, but not everyone reads them either.

Plus you just know any widely broadcast message that says "The faction forums aren't as heavily moderated as other forums, have some fun" is liable to attract people who just want to spam and not even play the game!

Here's what I think.

I say with the new version coming, we need to get back to the roots of what made this game fun - the simplicity and randomness of it. There wasn't any RDD, AWC, or MIC for that matter, in the beginning. Did it made things easier or harder? No. It just made things simple. What did factions introduced? Organization and comaderie between associated players that added a new dimension to the game.

All this bickering, whether the causes are real or not, is not only taking away the simplicity and randomness from the game (i.e. let's pick on player X today so let's find his bots and gang up on player X), but taking away the fun that attracted people to play HMW in the first place. If we are to have sub-factions in HMW v.2.0., we need an effective mechanism to resolve differences - QUICKLY.

My suggestion is that we don't have sub-factions, but rather, a more effective way of organizing players in mission or have the ability to place players in queues that can be placed in missions that would make them more balanced. Even more "extreme" is that players involved in missions have the ability to conscript non-player characters or even non-active player characters. But then, that would again cause more bickering.

If OS can find some way to dispense with the bickering that takes away the fun from the game, that in itself is the most significant upgrade to date.

I noticed what a lot the negative things people are attributing to clans is more a part of human nature. People argue and bicker, clans have nothing to do with that. Aside from making it bigger. Picking on people happens without clans too. All it would take is someone going "Hey, this guy keeps beating me in missions, I need help."

Burn wrote:

Omega Sentinel wrote:

Psychout wrote:As a last point, the fact that the forums still arent fixed after what must be a almost 6 months now doesnt help. Following a thread is not easy, with an extra forum to be looking at as well, its becomes even harder.

You are exaggerating that a bit. I haven't even been the programmer for 6 months

Again, I'm planning on having dynamic links to the forums in the sidebar this week.

I'm guessing he's talking about the forums themselves, in particular the new posts alert. They all disappear the minute you click on a thread to read.

I know it's actually frustrated a number of people and they don't want to come around because of the hassle.

Burn guessed right; i refer to Seibertron as a whole. If Ryan wants this place to be the premier Transformers website on the net, then he needs to get the fundamentals working properly.
It can be a total nightmare following topics here and, if im honest, I simply dont bother visiting the rest of seibertron for that reason. Please pass the message on if you can, but I would assume he already knows.

Thanks for the other responses OS, there is plenty for us to think about there, but ill be encouraging the use of the faction forums as much as possible.

Psychout wrote:It can be a total nightmare following topics here and, if im honest, I simply dont bother visiting the rest of seibertron for that reason. Please pass the message on if you can, but I would assume he already knows.

I agree, heck even following THIS thread has been hard, but with the amount of threads on the board, it shouldn't be surprising.

As for the idea of getting rid of the clans, unfortunately I doubt thats viable. Short of immediately banning anyone with a AWC or RDD tag, I doubt it would be viable, and then just elimiate a good number of active players and posters to boot.

Though I still have no CLUE what happened with DT, I can tell its defintely a sore spot for some old timers. However I say whatever happened we gotta learn from the mistakes (on both sides) and go from there.

Personally, a board within a board for the subfactions would be great. With the previsions of course that its only visible to the sub-faction memebers, so we retain a lil independence, but still part of the larger whole since we are on 'the site'. The thorny issue would of course be mod-ing it. (Namely, how it would be implemented). And of course the ability to self-govern who is in and out of the subfaction. (Ok, I'll cut that off at the pass. Yes, that would be sounding like elitism, but its a clan, a group; if someone is ruining the clan, then you have right to ask them, or worse force them, out.)

But those are just my thoughts.

After hearing some of the responses from OS in regards to Psychout's question, it almost seems like v2.0 is gonna be so difficult that having sub-factions/clans might actually be the only thing that works to find success in battle.

I don't want to make this sound negative, but if I have to coordinate with other commanders just to get some stinkin' XP, what's the whole point? The beauty of HMW v1.whatever is that I could simply log on, and simply throw my 'Cons into missions and still earn some XP and still have fun. With this new concept of battle and preparation, I'd be stupid not to affiliate myself with a group of other 'Con commanders so that they can watch my back when I simply log on and simply throw in my Mechs.

And you know what? That pretty much makes me not want to play anymore. The demotion of the Arena and now a FORCED need to join a subfaction for success in the game. And that's not saying that I wouldn't join a subfaction should I have to to succeed, but that just isn't right. Changing the game to the point that you have to have someone watching over your back all the time just doesn't seem fun to me.

With my current place of occupation banning Seibertron.com, maybe now is a good time to finally, and fully, walk away from H-M-Dub.

Word.

QuietStorm wrote:After hearing some of the responses from OS in regards to Psychout's question, it almost seems like v2.0 is gonna be so difficult that having sub-factions/clans might actually be the only thing that works to find success in battle.

As I understand it you'll still be able to just throw bots in but if you want to try out some of the new features you'll probably want to gang together to take a territory for a specific bonus every now and again.

If I read it all right then OS has stated on several other threads that whatever happens you'll still be able to play at work (unless your work bans Seibs - bummer dude.) in a "Fire & Forget" capacity.

QuietStorm wrote:After hearing some of the responses from OS in regards to Psychout's question, it almost seems like v2.0 is gonna be so difficult that having sub-factions/clans might actually be the only thing that works to find success in battle.

Subfactions will not be required at all. But as a faction that is technically a team at war with another faction, there are needs to communicate and strategize to conquer the planet.

Missions will NOT be altered in the new game and you will be able to continue enjoying the laid back pieces of HMW if you wish. You won't HAVE to play on the map.

Don't want to offend anyone or get in the middle of this debate but I just wanted to throw my hat in on this. I think the whole idea of seperate factions is dumb. I mean we are autobots or decepticons. Why make it more complicated than it needs to be?

Prowl76 wrote:Don't want to offend anyone or get in the middle of this debate but I just wanted to throw my hat in on this. I think the whole idea of seperate factions is dumb. I mean we are autobots or decepticons. Why make it more complicated than it needs to be?

Because there certianly isn't things like the Wreckers, or the Gestalt teams.

*edit* And in WWI, the two groups didn't break into different factions after Prime and Megatron went MIA.

But just because it was canon doesn't mean it should happen in HMW.

If I wanted to play an RPG, i'd go to the RPG forum.

The beauty of HMW is like QS said, you can do your own thing. And we'll still be able to do our own thing. The faction forums are going to be there for co-ordination, check in, have a read, see who needs help and head there and do your thing. Or launch your own assault and hope someone sees what you're up to (i'm assuming the map will be able to display who's fighting in what sector?) and joins in.

I don't see a problem with remaining independant as long as I do my bit to help the faction as a whole. If people don't want to back me up ... well, **** 'em.

Burn wrote:But just because it was canon doesn't mean it should happen in HMW.

If I wanted to play an RPG, i'd go to the RPG forum.

The beauty of HMW is like QS said, you can do your own thing. And we'll still be able to do our own thing. The faction forums are going to be there for co-ordination, check in, have a read, see who needs help and head there and do your thing. Or launch your own assault and hope someone sees what you're up to (i'm assuming the map will be able to display who's fighting in what sector?) and joins in.

I don't see a problem with remaining independant as long as I do my bit to help the faction as a whole. If people don't want to back me up ... well, **** 'em.

HMW is a RPG. It has all of the defining elements of one. You gain XP, you read NPC dialog (mission text), you level up, you can buy and equip different weapons and armors, each one modifying your stats. It uses a random number generator to determin hits. It's also turn based. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck... it just might be a chicken.

I should point out too, that while I fervently support subfactions, I also don't think everyone should be a member of one. Some, like me, shouldn't be in one either. You should be free to choose, but without subfactions being allowed, you can't make that choice. I don't think subfactions is really going to change the ability to come in and have fun. It hasn't yet.

Something that I'm honestly surprised that no one has brought up yet is that there are already as many subfactions as there are players. That's the point of your team. Yeah, you're either a bot or a con, but you got team names, team leaders, rolls on the teams that characters fill. Each player is a commander of a subfaction.

Burn wrote:If people don't want to back me up ... well, **** 'em.

I'll support you in killing Autoscum Burn...

Well...only because you asked so nicely

Dreadwind wrote:HMW is a RPG. It has all of the defining elements of one.

But it lacks the main character with a screw up past who probably use some sort of sword probably a size or two bigger than a normal one. So it doesn't have all the elements yet.

Starlock wrote:

Dreadwind wrote:HMW is a RPG. It has all of the defining elements of one.

But it lacks the main character with a screw up past who probably use some sort of sword probably a size or two bigger than a normal one. So it doesn't have all the elements yet.

That's only in Final Fantasy games.

Damn you beat me to it Dread

Burn wrote:The beauty of HMW is like QS said, you can do your own thing. And we'll still be able to do our own thing. The faction forums are going to be there for co-ordination, check in, have a read, see who needs help and head there and do your thing. Or launch your own assault and hope someone sees what you're up to (i'm assuming the map will be able to display who's fighting in what sector?) and joins in.

I don't see a problem with remaining independant as long as I do my bit to help the faction as a whole. If people don't want to back me up ... well, **** 'em.

Well, to tell the truth, the only reason that I've yet to join the RDD/DSA is because I just don't have the time. It's easiest for me to simply log in, and throw my mechs into battle. It is ALWAYS a plus to see various MSN comrades in the Missions that I'm in. ALWAYS. However, I rarely can coordinate or triangulate with them in regards to helping them out. To me, when I'm in a battle with someone that I know, recognize, despise, or respect it's always on a chance. I don't click the Missions before hand to see who's in them before joining.

I like this aspect of it.

But after hearing what's going to be expected to "win" the game, it's pretty much a guarantee that you'll have to guild up, so to speak, to ensure that you have sucess. Which to me, means that I will have to start looking in on who's in a mission. And while doing so, I'll have to make the decision of "oh, that Con can handle his own, while this Mission is outnumbered and has a few Cons that need the help." This creates more clicks for me, more clicks means more time, more time means less time IRL, and less time IRL means QS has a gorgeous wife that's furious with him. You do the math on that one.

But then again, HMW has ALWAYS been about more clicks and hits. Those that have been here since the inception know ALL about that situation.

Word.

I don't see why you still won't be able to just deploy blindly, nor will you need to look into a mission to see who's there.

The only difference is to check the map to see which sector currently needs the most help, and even if you just let a few people know "I'm here to help but I don't have much time to check so if you're desperate just drop me a pm and i'll try to get there" then i'm sure people will understand your situation and put the call out and hope you respond.

And then all you have to do is keep playing as normal and try to help whenever you can.

Dreadwind wrote:

Starlock wrote:

Dreadwind wrote:HMW is a RPG. It has all of the defining elements of one.

But it lacks the main character with a screw up past who probably use some sort of sword probably a size or two bigger than a normal one. So it doesn't have all the elements yet.

That's only in Final Fantasy games.

Actually think its Square's games in general even the non FF RPGs. Just to keep it on topic bet their were some sort of subfactions in those as well in some form or another.

You know something that would be useful?

Some way to make PMing large numbers of comrades easier.

Say you want to organize a push on a given territory - it would be nice if you could launch a pm to every member of your faction in the adjacent territory, asking them to move in and reinforce the area.

I know we discussed at one point having actual ranks in the game and have associated capabilities/duties attached to them. Maybe faction commanders could have access to such a list serve or something similar?

I know it seems redundant considering you could just post it in your faction forums, but their maybe many forces that would respond to such a request even though they may not sift through the posts on the board.

But then, if we want to commo with people not on the boards, we'd need a PM link in HMW...

Isn't that what the faction bulletins are going to be for?

Wasn't there a plan for higher ranking trusted Commanders to have access to it to update with deployments and stuff?

Caelus wrote:You know something that would be useful?

Some way to make PMing large numbers of comrades easier.

Say you want to organize a push on a given territory - it would be nice if you could launch a pm to every member of your faction in the adjacent territory, asking them to move in and reinforce the area.

I know we discussed at one point having actual ranks in the game and have associated capabilities/duties attached to them. Maybe faction commanders could have access to such a list serve or something similar?

I know it seems redundant considering you could just post it in your faction forums, but their maybe many forces that would respond to such a request even though they may not sift through the posts on the board.

But then, if we want to commo with people not on the boards, we'd need a PM link in HMW...

Maybe a custom separate pm box for game only if thats possible.

Starlock wrote:

Caelus wrote:You know something that would be useful?

Some way to make PMing large numbers of comrades easier.

Say you want to organize a push on a given territory - it would be nice if you could launch a pm to every member of your faction in the adjacent territory, asking them to move in and reinforce the area.

I know we discussed at one point having actual ranks in the game and have associated capabilities/duties attached to them. Maybe faction commanders could have access to such a list serve or something similar?

I know it seems redundant considering you could just post it in your faction forums, but their maybe many forces that would respond to such a request even though they may not sift through the posts on the board.

But then, if we want to commo with people not on the boards, we'd need a PM link in HMW...

Maybe a custom separate pm box for game only if thats possible.

Anyone else use facebook?

Maybe have we could have 'message walls' on the same page as our HMW News?

Caelus wrote:

Starlock wrote:

Caelus wrote:You know something that would be useful?

Some way to make PMing large numbers of comrades easier.

Say you want to organize a push on a given territory - it would be nice if you could launch a pm to every member of your faction in the adjacent territory, asking them to move in and reinforce the area.

I know we discussed at one point having actual ranks in the game and have associated capabilities/duties attached to them. Maybe faction commanders could have access to such a list serve or something similar?

I know it seems redundant considering you could just post it in your faction forums, but their maybe many forces that would respond to such a request even though they may not sift through the posts on the board.

But then, if we want to commo with people not on the boards, we'd need a PM link in HMW...

Maybe a custom separate pm box for game only if thats possible.

Anyone else use facebook?

Maybe have we could have 'message walls' on the same page as our HMW News?

That would be a cool feature to have in HMW, since it is pretty useful in Facebook

Caelus wrote:Anyone else use facebook?

Maybe have we could have 'message walls' on the same page as our HMW News?

Now that is a good idea.