Serverside mods

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Well if we aren't going to get personal hosting then how about this. Players who start rooms can load a customization file in game which the server then loads and changes the set matches to behave the way the file lists. Course that is if the game can handle such functionality. Endless Space allows server customization and it is Unity engine too so I'd guess it could be possible.

Can start simple with a very basic preloaded mutator set which the servers can run when instructed. People who don't want the trouble of sitting around setting up a server can just select the stock setup and jump right in. Servers running stock game would be labeled in one color while custom servers will have another. This will help people be able to tell the difference.

Simple mutators to begin with would probably involve anything from speed of ships to fire power. This could be continued into number of kills required or capture points. Just simple number tweaks.

Eventually the system could evolve to the point where you could preset values for ships individually. Taking the hassle of always having to fine tune the game off the work load of the programmers and putting into the player's hands.

Granted, we'd see a lot of weird serverside setups, but we'd also see some come forward which would become community favorites and increase the replayability of GOIO. Since the mods would all be being done via serverside, players wouldn't have to download anything as long as the client side copies know which settings to load when they get in game.

[Richard LeMoon]

Super fast, max maneuverability, all Galleon battles? Sign me up.

[The Djinn]

Well if we aren't going to get personal hosting then how about this. Players who start rooms can load a customization file in game which the server then loads and changes the set matches to behave the way the file lists. Course that is if the game can handle such functionality. Endless Space allows server customization and it is Unity engine too so I'd guess it could be possible.

If the community were dozens or hundreds of times larger, this would be kind of cool. But at the size that our community is, I can't endorse anything that might possibly take a large chunk of the player-base away from the core game mode: it leaves the rest of us with an increasingly smaller group of players who want to play the "default" game, which doesn't seem like something that's in GoI's best interest.

[Richard LeMoon]

Charge money to buy 'tokens' to start/set up custom matches?

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Well if we aren't going to get personal hosting then how about this. Players who start rooms can load a customization file in game which the server then loads and changes the set matches to behave the way the file lists. Course that is if the game can handle such functionality. Endless Space allows server customization and it is Unity engine too so I'd guess it could be possible.

If the community were dozens or hundreds of times larger, this would be kind of cool. But at the size that our community is, I can't endorse anything that might possibly take a large chunk of the player-base away from the core game mode: it leaves the rest of us with an increasingly smaller group of players who want to play the "default" game, which doesn't seem like something that's in GoI's best interest.

The community is plenty big enough. Just the players who continue playing is small. People want something new, something different. I've introduced about a dozen people to GOIO and only had about 1 or 2 stay and even they aren't very active. There just isn't enough to keep them.

The core game mode is not doing enough to keep players. Yeah there is the risk of finding fewer stock servers with this but then you gotta consider, if people are wanting a certain gameplay then maybe it'll show Muse what they need to do to generate better retention. Maybe Stock isn't what people like. Heck you hear it enough in pugs when new players mention "it would be cool if Guns did this." Majority of their ideas are crap but its the concept that people love the game but don't necessarily like the execution.

You could even do it like L4D where you have that mutation mode. Every week people can try out a different mutation in GOIO. Muse could gain a lot of info from that and see what people really like playing.

I've honestly been on the verge of quitting multiple times because I'm very dissatisfied with Muse's handling of certain aspects of the game since 1.1. Heck I finally cut back playtime to about a 1/4th of what it was and it hasn't recovered. Gimmie mutators, gimmie something different...then it gets fun again.