Messages

46

General Discussion / Re: Newbie impressions, and where I would love to see this game going

« on: May 15, 2013, 10:59:27 am »

Just wanted to update and said I also backed the game in Kickstarter (to the best of my budget, which is not much but hey) and promoted the game as hard as I can. 9 friends are in it now, with more coming, and I took it to my regular gaming forums too.

I'm eager to see this project grow!

47

News and Announcements / Re: Adventure Mode... it's coming (Kickstarter).

« on: May 14, 2013, 01:01:04 pm »

That is definitely one of their Stretch goals to allow us control of the planes, but I can forsee a huge balancing issue when it comes down to it.... it'll be interesting

Oh, true, I completely skipped over that stretch goal.

Damn, reading the Stretch Goals is almost physically painful. Knowing that those things have gone through the mind of the developers and that we might not see them is heartbreaking.

I will be pledging as much as I can... And promoting the game to the best of my ability. There is just one thing I'd love to be reassured about: If the game is successful, and keeps on making money (even if slowly) I hope the dev team will keep building on it, trying to slowly realize those goals, rather than switching to another project. GOIO is a thing of beauty, it needs to be iterated upon!

48

News and Announcements / Re: Adventure Mode... it's coming (Kickstarter).

« on: May 14, 2013, 12:53:19 pm »

Something I'd like to see in AM:

 The biplanes... Let us pilot them too! I like the idea of having them as PvE enemies, but I would love it even more if we were able to fly them.

For instance... Maybe a valid "ship" setup would be to have four guys in four biplanes? Or two guys in two tandem biplanes? You wouldn't have to change the game mechanics at all, the "biplane squad" could be some sort of new ship.

Of course there should be mechanics in place to warrant team play. For instance, this "4 biplane ship" idea could have 1 refilling biplane (so the rest have to get refilled eventually or crash) a bomber and a couple fighters to protect the vulnerable two.

49

General Discussion / Re: Fellow Ex-Gunners Of Icarus Lend Me Your Ears!

« on: May 13, 2013, 02:48:30 pm »

This may have been mentioned already, but a possible solution/addition that seems interesting to me might be to add some gunner class items that function similarly to pilot items. Things like a scope that provides some level of zoom to any gun or various kinds of contraptions that increase turning radius or speed in various directions (Like phoenix claw and hydrogen for guns). If they need some detriment they could do some DOT to the guns like most pilot items.

I envision it taking up one of your 3 ammo spots, so your load out would be something like Heavy, Greased, and STEAMPOWERTURNER3000. I'd avoid anything that directly changed the damage output of the gun itself or had similar effects to the ammo types, since stacking that with special ammo could be difficult to balance.

Any other class could still take them, but it's more likely you'd take them as a gunner since you have enough slots for both ammo and a gunning tool. It seems like a solution that makes the extra gunner slots more useful instead of just giving them an ability bonus or gunner-only items.

Anyway, that's just some random thoughts I've had on the subject.

awesome! I was thinking pretty much that.

The way I saw a possible item is:

Crank (placeholder name. Should have a name that represents the fact it draws power from the steering engine):
When activated, the gun you are manning turns 100% faster. For as long as it is being used and for three seconds afterwards, the steering engine of that side of the ship loses power (both if its a front or rear gun)

And just for fun:

Oven Mitts: Makes you able to shoot from a gun that is currently on fire.

50

General Discussion / Re: Fellow Ex-Gunners Of Icarus Lend Me Your Ears!

« on: May 13, 2013, 11:42:01 am »

I don't know, it could be fun. Bear with me if this has been said before or just sounds really stupid.

Sadly yes. The problem with hand-held weapons is that it would need totally new mechanics where shots are calculated from the players actual position instead of the ship. It also falls into a similar category as the "no" stance on boarding, where the focus is trying to be directed at ship to ship combat instead of the actual crew. So it's not very likely to make it into the game. But hey, we're still always for suggestions, even though this particular one is unlikely to get implemented.

I see, thank you!

51

General Discussion / Re: Fellow Ex-Gunners Of Icarus Lend Me Your Ears!

« on: May 13, 2013, 11:03:56 am »

This may just be the silliest idea ever: Why not having a gunner skill that is actually a gun?

Something like a short range, raycast based blunderbuss with a long cooldown, that deals little damage, but gets a huge bonus if you are very very precise (as in hitting the subsystem itself dead on).

This way a gunner could contribute by slightly covering the ships blind spots. I understand blind spots are important and this shouldn't devalue them, so the damage should be low and balanced with the idea of needing hawkeye precision. For instance, hitting the balloon itself with this weapon wouldn't scratch it, but hitting the balloon repair system would deal significant damage.

Otherwise, a cool Gunner skill could be a bomb he/she could drop straight down overboard.

Another idea would be giving the Flare Gun (or a version of it) to the Gunner, in the form of a handheld flare gun. Mounting it on the ship seems a bit niche and it looks to me like it would make more sense that way.

I'm not saying any of these should be Gunner exclusive, just vanilla Gunner skills. By having other skills that don't directly relate to ammunition, that can be useful while guns aren't pointing the right way, Gunners would perhaps be more interesting to have on board.

I don't know, it could be fun. Bear with me if this has been said before or just sounds really stupid.

52

General Discussion / Re: Newbie impressions, and where I would love to see this game going

« on: May 13, 2013, 08:51:24 am »

Thanks guys!

I also think it would go a long way for GOIO's popularity to make Skirmish mode free to play (of course keep all the cosmetic improvements in the cash shop) and charging for Adventure Mode alone.

53

General Discussion / Newbie impressions, and where I would love to see this game going

« on: May 13, 2013, 07:34:18 am »

Hey there!

I recently discovered GOIO and, being captivated by what I saw, I got hold of a 4-pack. Together with three close friends, I'm having an absolute blast.

We used to be members of an EvE online pirate fleet. This means we are used to complex mechanics, teamwork and heart-destroying levels of adrenaline. Even though EvE required quite a bit of teamwork, there is nothing like sharing the physical space of the same airship. Somehow, it makes the communication much more intimate and interesting. What I like the most is that, and I can't really put my finger on why, it is hard to get angry at your teammates if they do something wrong. You're keeping a ship afloat, there is no need for that!

I understand that, being new, I know very little about the game, but I think I wanted to offer my opinion at this stage anyway, because sometimes the perspective of a newbie is interesting. Why? Well, things that I like or dislike of the game are the sort of things that a new player will realize first, and in order to make it a successful game, appealing to new recruits is important.

So here's what I noticed: I've been showing the game to several friends since I first knew about it. Interestingly I got extreme reactions. They either showed their patent dislike (before of after playing) or got absolutely hooked. I studied who among my friends fall in each category and this is what I got:

Dislike: The sort of players who game mostly for the entertainment value. Amusement park MMO gamers (GW2, Wow...), single player orientated gamers, with interest in narrative and slow-paced, easy going, visually stunning experiences.

Like: Competitive, study-minded players. My former EvE flight mates, MOBA gamers, players with interest in complex tactics that arise from a simple ruleset on a level playing field (chess players, Go players, MTG players)...

I am not saying that GOIO can't offer good things for both groups! I am amazed that Adventure is coming and there will be more engaging content that might draw that subset of my friends to it. However, the correlation is so strong that I couldn't help but notice it. I personally belong to the second group, and I could really feel the draw of GOIO when I realized there was such a thing as metagame, proper balance, strategies, tactics...

So, despite the fact that I'm excited for Adventure Mode, I would personally love to see GOIO evolving in the direction of an eSport. I think it does have a great potential in that regard. With some effort put into server architecture and lag issues, some work on balance, matchmaking, ELO based leagues, and more engaging game modes, I would definitely tune in to GOIO streams, read GOIO guides and put hours on training. I would also love to see more ship building options with specific niche purposes, in order to develop a very rich meta (similar to MTG in which, when a new deck is introduced, the meta may quickly change around that new strategy in order to counter it).

So I guess the conclusion is: Adventure is going to be awesome, but I would also like to see more of what keeps me hooked today: Teamwork tactical PvP fights in the sky!