Topics

16

Community Events / [Anvil] Cake

« on: May 29, 2014, 12:32:41 pm »

Anvil Division

Cake

Competing Members James T. Kirk Melon McCrabernathy Mr. Trickery qfoxp Nietzche's Mustache C. Darwin Shadak B'Elanna Replaceable TyberiusTheThird Hue C. Sosmitsky

Schedule

May 31:

From

Red

Spawn vs

The Art of Warfare

on

Canyon Ambush

at

1600

EDT

-----

Win

5 - 0

-----

Recording

June 07:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Sacrilege

on

Battle on the Dunes

at

1645

EDT

-----

Win

2 - 1

-----

Recording

June 14:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Sky Invading Rhinos

on

~TBD~

at

1705

EDT

-----

Loss

3 - 5

-----

Recording

June 21:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Zill's Merry Men

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

June 28:

Bye

Week

July 05:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Museosaurs

on

~TBD~

at

1815

EDT

July 12:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Holy Roman Army

on

~TBD~

at

1750

EDT

July 19:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Black Flight Squadron

on

~TBD~

at

1600

EDT

17

Community Events / [Anvil] Zill's Merry Men

« on: May 29, 2014, 12:32:23 pm »

Anvil Division

Zill's Merry Men

Competing Members RearAdmiralZill Shinkurex Dmaximus Yiski TwoLeftSocks Surette naufrago NorwegianWolf Urz

Schedule

May 31:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Holy Roman Army

on

Duel at Dawn

at

1645

EDT

-----

Loss

0 - 5

-----

Recording

June 07:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

DeadPool's Army

on

Paritan Rumble

at

1815

EDT

-----

Win

5 - 2

-----

Recording

June 14:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Black Flight Squadron

on

~TBD~

at

1750

EDT

-----

Win

5 - 3

-----

Recording

June 21:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Cake

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

June 28:

Bye

Week

July 05:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Sacrilege

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

July 12:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

The Art of Warfare

on

~TBD~

at

1705

EDT

July 19:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Sky Invading Rhinos

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

18

Community Events / [Anvil] The Art of Warfare

« on: May 29, 2014, 12:31:52 pm »

Anvil Division

The Art of Warfare

Competing Members Hunter. AcTiVe Gardinator Helios InFRoZ NuclearCrysis Qeynos Saeth GamerAtLaw

Schedule

May 31:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Cake

on

Canyon Ambush

at

1600

EDT

-----

Loss

0 - 5

-----

Recording

June 07:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Sky Invading Rhinos

on

Northern Fjords

at

1730

EDT

-----

Loss

0 - 5

-----

Recording

June 14:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Sacrilege

on

~TBD~

at

1620

EDT

-----

Loss

0 - 4

-----

Recording

June 21:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Holy Roman Army

on

~TBD~

at

1600

EDT

June 28:

Bye

Week

July 05:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Black Flight Squadron

on

~TBD~

at

1730

EDT

July 12:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Zill's Merry Men

on

~TBD~

at

1705

EDT

July 19:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Mad Hatters

on

~TBD~

at

1815

EDT

19

Community Events / [Anvil] Sacrilege

« on: May 29, 2014, 12:30:02 pm »

Anvil Division

Sacrilege

Competing Members YoloSwagJesus                  Tropo              IDieHarder                  The Ferryman        Rhundan        Castus Crios RamJamSlam Firegin Ariden GoldenGlade DasFoxx Kong Ming Communistpony RomanKar        Javrak Darobs Gullyman MR. Lambert Kraxuss Marneous Vyew Brutelx Nara Sayo THE Volker Jascal wayde BADFOOT Malcolm Reynoldz richard lemoon

Schedule

May 31:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Sky Invading Rhinos

on

Duel at Dawn

at

1730

EDT

-----

Win

5 - 2

-----

Recording

June 07:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Cake

on

Battle on the Dunes

at

1645

EDT

-----

Loss

1 - 2

-----

Recording

June 14:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

The Art of Warfare

on

~TBD~

at

1620

EDT

-----

Win

4 - 0

-----

Recording

June 21:

Bye

Week

June 28:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Glowwater Thralls

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

July 05:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Zill's Merry Men

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

July 12:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Black Flight Squadron

on

~TBD~

at

1620

EDT

July 19:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Holy Roman Army

on

~TBD~

at

1730

EDT

20

Community Events / [Anvil] Sky Invading Rhinos

« on: May 29, 2014, 12:28:13 pm »

Anvil Division

Sky Invading Rhinos

Competing Members Boneses Phelan Nat Tyberius Altius Spikeyness Tolarin Wundsalz

Schedule

May 31:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Sacrilege

on

Duel at Dawn

at

1730

EDT

-----

Loss

2 - 5

-----

Recording

June 07:

From

Red

Spawn vs

The Art of Warfare

on

Northern Fjords

at

1730

EDT

-----

Win

5 - 0

-----

Recording

June 14:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Cake

on

~TBD~

at

1705

EDT

-----

Win

5 - 3

-----

Recording

June 21:

Bye

Week

June 28:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Black Flight Squadron

on

~TBD~

at

1620

EDT

July 05:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Holy Roman Army

on

~TBD~

at

1600

EDT

July 12:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

The Clamour

on

~TBD~

at

1815

EDT

July 19:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Zill's Merry Men

on

~TBD~

at

1645

EDT

21

Community Events / [Anvil] Black Flight Squadron

« on: May 29, 2014, 12:26:19 pm »

Anvil Division

Black Flight Squadron

Competing Members Gilder Unfettered Brick Hardcastle Captain Tomato King Dalrius Sir Daftwager Dr. Panda halogamb Von Zincington freestalker Jazz Jr.

Schedule

May 31:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Overwatch

on

Canyon Ambush

at

1815

EDT

-----

Loss

3 - 5

-----

Recording

June 07:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Holy Roman Army

on

Canyon Ambush

at

1600

EDT

-----

Loss

2 - 4

-----

Recording

June 14:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Zill's Merry Men

on

~TBD~

at

1750

EDT

-----

Loss

3 - 5

-----

Recording

June 21:

Bye

Week

June 28:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Sky Invading Rhinos

on

~TBD~

at

1620

EDT

July 05:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

The Art of Warfare

on

~TBD~

at

1730

EDT

July 12:

From

Red

Spawn vs

Sacrilege

on

~TBD~

at

1620

EDT

July 19:

From

Blue

Spawn vs

Cake

on

~TBD~

at

1600

EDT

22

Community Events / Hephaestus Challenge Tipping Thread

« on: May 29, 2014, 10:00:07 am »

Similar to previous high level events, you may post Tipping here for the Hephaestus Challenge.

For each match every week, predict the winner and the score. One point will be awarded for correctly guessing the winner of a match (regardless of who the loser is), plus 0.1 points for the correct score (if both winner and loser are correct).

The participant with the most points at the end of the season will be awarded a costume of their choice from the store.

Tipping runs on a week-by-week basis.

May 31, 2014:
Hammer:

-Match 1:	Mad Hatters	vs	Museosaurs	on	Battle on the Dunes
-Match 2:	Rydr	vs	DeadPool's Army	on	Paritan Rumble
-Match 3:	The Clamour	vs	Glowwater Thralls	on	Northern Fjords

Anvil:

-Match 4:	Cake	vs	The Art of Warfare	on	Canyon ambush
-Match 5:	Zill's Merry Men	vs	Holy Roman Army	on	Duel at Dawn
-Match 6:	Sky Invading Rhinos	vs	Sacrilege	on	Duel at Dawn

Cross-Division:

-Match 7:

Overwatch

vs

Black Flight Squadron

on

Canyon Ambush

For Fun!
Include an upset of the week! Pick one match you think most likely to go differently from how you predicted! Upset of the week will not be awarded any points.

23

Gameplay / Axis-Quadrant Weapon Classification System

« on: April 24, 2014, 04:16:01 pm »

In relation to the Major/Minor play-style thread here, and with much thanks to Echoez for the initial idea, I have a continuation of the development of GoIO classification theories.

While weapons may be used outside of their intended purposes and manipulated by the play style of the team using them, the weapons themselves have certain intrinsic properties that defines how they should and shouldn't be used.

The first of these values is the intended purpose of a weapon: the primary value that a weapon adds to your ship. A weapon falls on a scale that ranges from Control to Killing.
A weapon tending towards control purposes will help to control the flow of a match. It can be used to disable parts, pop balloons, move enemies (or yourself) into a more favorable position, or control your view of the area itself. These weapons can assist in killing, but control is their primary strength.
A weapon tending towards killing purposes is a weapon that is optimized to deal armor and/or hull damage. These weapons are intended to help you kill an enemy as quickly as you can. They are less oriented towards altering the ability of a ship to fight back effectively, and more oriented towards killing a ship before it can fight back effectively.

The second of these values is the way in which a weapon affects the behavior of the ship it is on. A weapon falls on a scale that ranges from Passive to Aggressive.
A weapon tending towards passive play is a weapon that can take effect in a variety of circumstances. Longer range weapons tend to fall into this category as they may be deployed effectively while the ship is flown passively.
A weapon tending towards aggressive play is a weapon that has severe effectiveness limitations. Shorter range weapons tend to fall into this category as they must be moved forward until they have acquired range before they may be used effectively, requiring a ship to be flown aggressively.

Each weapon may be assigned a ranking defining what its core characteristics are in relation to these categories, allowing for a classification of all weapons based on their intended use. While weapons may be used creatively outside of this, it requires more advanced play-styles. Assigning a value between -5 and 5 to each weapon for each category, we can create a quadrant graph displaying the classification of a weapon in relation to all others.

		Aggressive
		|
Control	-	-----+-----	-	Killing
		|
		Passive

CK: Control vs Killing value
PA: Passive vs Aggressive value

Weapon	(	CK Value	,	PA Value	)
Gatling	(	4	,	4	)
Mortar	(	5	,	4	)
Carronade	(	-5	,	4	)
Flamethrower	(	-2	,	5	)
Flare gun	(	-4	,	-4	)
Harpoon	(	-5	,	-1	)
Mine launcher	(	-1	,	3	)
Artemis	(	-1	,	-4	)
Hades	(	3	,	-3	)
Mercury	(	1	,	-4	)
Banshee	(	2	,	-2	)
Light flak	(	5	,	-3	)
Heavy flak	(	5	,	-3	)
Lumberjack	(	-3	,	-5	)
Heavy carronade	(	-5	,	4	)
Hwacha	(	-1	,	1	)

Please note that this is a preliminary ranking of the weapons and their values. Please discuss if you feel a weapon belongs elsewhere, or if you feel the classification system is lacking or is inherently flawed. As we continue to build systems defining the planned/emergent behavior in GoIO, I want to make sure all theories and systems are optimal. If this system fails, then we can continue to look for the underlying features that relate the weapons together in a comparable way.

(Also, if someone wants to make a pretty graph picture to show what this actually looks like, that would be flippin' awesome. )

24

Gameplay / Major and Minor Playstyles

« on: April 19, 2014, 05:05:30 pm »

Recent mentions of Overwatch being hyper-aggressive got me thinking: what are we? What are we compared to other teams?
I have watched the Glowwater Thralls smash excellent teams, only to see them get soundly beat by the Mandarins. The Mandarins are good, but by the quality of the teams the scores should have been a little more even.

From this I have come up with 3 major categories to define the play-style of a team/ship. Keep in mind this is all theory and depends heavily on the skill and coordination of the players involved.


Major Categories
Aggressive Damage per Second [A]
The aggressive DPS play-style is focused around exceptionally fast kills where the team seeks to initiate the attack on an opponent. Ships will generally attempt to close distance to make their shots more accurate and increase the potential DPS. Ships often favor speed and firepower over durability and maneuverability, opting to try to get a kill too quickly to be killed themselves.

Reactive Damage per Second [R]
The reactive DPS play-style is focused around arranging an overwhelming quantity of focused, often multifaceted, DPS and waiting to see what an opponent will do before deploying that damage potential. Ships often favor durability and firepower over speed and maneuverability, opting to endure any surprise damage while reacting to new events by arranging their firepower. Ships often feature multifaceted DPS, with builds that maximize DPS for different ranges on the same ship.

Control [C]
The control play-style is focused around gaining control of an engagement and using this control to selectively destroy ships. Ships often favor speed and maneuverability over firepower, opting to be able to control the engage distance and angles over pure firepower. Ships will often feature disabling style weapons, preferring to disable select parts of an enemy ship to gain further control over the engagement.


Countering
While there are builds that mix between the major play-styles, the major play-styles themselves counter each other.

Aggressive DPS is best countered by Reactive DPS. A reactive team will have the greater durability to endure the initial rushing onslaught of an [A] team and, played properly, will be able to focus fire and destroy the [A] ships one by one.

Reactive DPS is best countered by Control. A control team can move and fight in positions and ranges that force the [R] team to constantly reevaluate how to react. [C] teams are better at splitting the engagement apart, which reduces the ability of an [R] team to focus fire as necessary.

Control is best countered by Aggressive DPS. An aggressive team will push inside a [C] teams desired range and can quickly destroy one of the [C] ships, forcing the other to leave a 2v1 engagement. The [A] team's strength in this fight is the ability to kill before the [C] team can gain control.


Notable Clan Styles
The Mandarins
The mandarins operate mostly within [R], slightly leaning towards [A]. They feature highly reactive builds, capable of quickly engaging in long or short ranges. They have high durability. This reactive capability along with well practiced skill allows them to react advantageously against almost any [A] team. Their tendency towards aggression also gives them a step of help against [C] teams. While they are best countered by a team that tries to take control and split the engagement, their aggression can catch a [C] team off guard and still give them the advantage.

Crimson Sky Riders
CsR operates almost entirely within [A]. Their preferred builds tend to feature a massive amount of DPS that can be focused on a single ship for absurdly quick kills. Their high skill level allows them to put themselves in positions where their DPS can win fights even against [R] ships. Due to their level of coordination, they also beat out most other [A] teams, out-damaging and out-maneuvering the opposing team.

Overwatch
Overwatch operates mostly within [C], with a slight leaning towards [A]. Overwatch features builds that allow them to close the distance and take control of engagements. They tend towards medium range disable and close range mayhem. Their ships tend to operate on a highly mobile level, preferring to move about and control the distance of the engagement and altitude of all ships over getting a quick kill. Their coordination and communication allows them to split or focus opponents as need be to regain control or take a kill where available.


Ships and Builds and where they Fall
Junker
Junkers, due to their low speed, high armor value, and the potential for asymmetry giving short and long range sides, tend to fall within the [R] play-style. With their excellent turning speed, they can quickly react to changes and flip to offer the optimal weapons for the range. The specific build of the ship causes it to tend toward either [C] or [A] as a bonus. Triple Artemis builds as the Gents have featured offer a greater degree of control, while the Hades-artemis-artemis (HAA) build is more neutral. The HAA build, however, has a greater potential to give your ship an aggressive edge if flown aggressively.
Alternatively, a junker featuring mines tends more towards the [C] play-style. Once mines begin to land, a junker can maneuver and continue to lay mines in such a way that they have taken a ship out of the fight. Mines are an excellent [C] weapon: allowing for slower kills, but allowing control over the engagement.

Pyramidion
Pyramidions, due to their high speed, decent durability, ease of repairs, and focused forward firepower, tend to fall within the [A] play-style. Pyramidions are good at closing distances quickly and engaging high-DPS combos. Most common among these combos is the Gatling-mortar combination, which allows for rapid destruction of an enemy ship at close quarters. A mid-range version of this is the hades-flak combo, which gives the same piercing-explosive combo at greater ranges. CsR features these 2 builds to focus down a ship from multiple ranges, giving them excellent aggressive DPS.
An alternative build is Hades-Artemis (HA). HA pyramidion falls between [C] and [A]. While it can be flown aggressively to deal solid DPS, it can also be used to gain control of an engagement.
Another build is carronade-flamethrower (CF). CF pyramidions fall within the [C] play-style, while still leaning towards [A]. It can be used to vertically separate enemy ships and force an opponent to lose their arcs. This combines well with the pyramidion's ability to ram, allowing you to knock off lateral arcs while dropping an enemy out of vertical arcs.
Pyramidions also have side guns, allowing them to outfit themselves for [R] style, but their greatest strengths tend away from this style.

Squid
Squids, due to their high maneuverability, high speed, and low firepower, almost entirely fall within [C]. Featured weapons of squids tend to be carronades, flamethrowers, mines, and tar. These weapons all allow a ship to gain control over an enemy ship, causing mayhem and taking players off their guns to help repair.
Squids also have the potential to be the greatest [A] ships. With the gatling-mortar combination a squid can outmaneuver an enemy ship and kill it quickly. This style is difficult for pilot, engineers, and gunners, making it rare. Most squids tend towards the [C] play-style.

Galleon
Galleons, due to high durability and high firepower, tend to fall within the [R] play-style. With the option of split sides similar to Junkers, a Galleon can reactively play close or long range with massive firepower to either side. Due to the low maneuverability of Galleons, they tend away from either [A] or [C] play-styles since they don't have the maneuverability or gun arcs to do much but react.

Spire
Spires are odd creatures, falling between [R] and [A] depending heavily on the chosen build and the quality of the crew. With 3 light and one heavy gun all with forward facing arcs, the spire is an excellent forward attacking ship. However, it has such low durability and speed that it has a hard time being aggressive and a hard time reacting. The highly focused firepower allows for some of the fastest kills in the game if the firepower can be focused properly. Whether this is between long range piercing and heavy flak, or close range piercing and kill power, a spire can quickly destroy other ships, but generally needs to get a jump on the enemy as their durability is too low to allow for any prolonged fighting. In general, the spire does not offer enough mobility and durability to play in [C].

Goldfish
Goldfish generally falls entirely within the [C] play-style. With the 3/4 heavy guns able to operate almost unsupported being heavily disabling guns, the goldfish is almost bound to use one and commit to disabling one (if not both) enemy ship. Oftentimes pilots select side guns that allow them to easily spread more chaos on the enemy ship, not necessarily ones that allow for faster kills. With their higher speed and maneuverability, the goldfish is excellent at closing distances and gaining control over an engagement, along with helping to disable a ship and remove it from the fight. In general the goldfish does not offer enough damage potential to play well in either [R] or [A].

Mobula
Mobulas tend to fall between [R] and [A] depending on their loadout. With 5 forward facing guns, pilots tend to select loadouts that are specific to a single range, allowing them to operate 3-4 guns at their desired range. If their are seeking long range engagements, their mobula generally operates within the [R] play-style, while close range engagements operate within the [A] play-style. Mobulas tend to be poor [C] ships simply due to their poor turning. Their excellent vertical mobility gives them the opportunity to gain some control, but they can easily be out-maneuvered if they try to play a [C] play-style.


Minor Categories
Formation Flying [F]
Formation flying is a feature of teams that tend to stay together. Regardless of whether the ships focus fire or split targets, some teams tend to stay together and work together.
Often teams feature this as a good tactic to be able to support each other should there be a need for it. Alternatively it is featured as boost towards additional DPS for faster kills. Formation flying is often used by [A] and [R] teams. [A] teams will use it to help them get additional DPS on a ship to gain a 2v1 advantage faster. [R] teams will use it to either eliminate the greater threat/easier kill quickly by flying close and focusing fire, or they use it to make sure that they can easily support each other.

Split Flying [ S]
Split flying is an alternative tactic that involves teams splitting up. This tends to be a feature of [C] teams, with use sometimes by [A] teams. [C] teams tend to prefer 1v1 engagements, trying to split their opponents to work individually. [C] teams often stay close to start an engagement, but will usually try to quickly move to split engagements, either by vertical or horizontal space. The alternative feature of [ S] is in surprise attacks. Teams can split their ships to keep attention on one while the other arranges for a surprise attack.


Revisiting Clans
The Mandarins
A final classification for the Mandarins would be RF-A, Reactive DPS formation flying, with aggressive tendencies. Their formation flying aids them in assisting each other in difficult situations.

Crimson Sky Riders
A final classification for CsR would be AF-S, Aggressive DPS formation flying, with occasional split flying tactics to gain an edge. They prefer the advanced DPS formation flying offers when you focus targets, but will split to initiate a surprise attack if the opportunity presents itself.

Overwatch
A final classification for OVW would be CS-F, Control tactics with a preference for splitting the engagement, along with occasional formation flying. We tend to fly together until an engagement starts to protect ourselves from surprises, but tendencies lean towards splitting up when an engagement starts.

Glowwater Thralls
I neglected the Thralls initially since they defy simple classification under the Major play-styles. They tend towards AS-C, Aggressive DPS builds flying split ship surprise tactics along with control capabilities. GwTh loves high strategy and arranging themselves for surprise attacks. The heavy feature of the surprise attack is the quick kill ability featured in [A] ships, combined with [C] style ships that protect the [A] ship as it engages. This style works well against both [A] and [C] style teams, but tends to fail against [R] teams because [R] teams specialize in reacting to sudden changes and surprises.

25

The Lounge / Modern Airships

« on: April 18, 2014, 12:47:41 pm »

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/04/17/worlds-largest-airship-set-to-take-off-with-iron-maiden-singer-bruce-dickinson-at-the-helm/

Too long, didn't click:





Modern airships. Because hell yeah.

26

The Lounge / What makes a good pilot/engineer/gunner?

« on: April 18, 2014, 12:34:50 pm »

Question 2 in what appears to be a series of questions begging for TL;DR answers.

For each class, what qualities does it take to excel?

I have an answer for pilot, but not for engineer or gunner. This answer depends heavily on the concept of a macro level for a match. By this I mean a focus on the entire match including ships, loadouts, ship locations, ally and crew abilities and coordination, etc. The macro level of a match includes everything, while a micro level is, for instance, take care of the balloon and shoot your gun when necessary. The micro level does not require a player to know where the ally is, or where the second enemy is. It allows a player to focus on one thing specifically and excel at that.

I think that to be a good pilot, you must first have a good understanding of the macro level of a match. You have to be able to see how each ship can be used, even if you wouldn't do it yourself. This allows you to understand how your ship should be moved and positioned in order to take advantage of your team's strengths and your opponent's weaknesses.

Secondly you have to have a good understanding of your ship's physics and the gun arcs of your ship. This will allow you to use your ship effectively on a macro level. No amount of understanding the match will help you if you can't physically keep up with it.

Third, you need to have good decision making abilities. This ties into both the macro understanding and personal ship understanding. To be a good pilot, you must look at a situation, understand it, understand your capabilities, and make a decision.

Finally, you need to have the coordination abilities to make sure your crew is following along with your plan. With a good crew, this can be negated as they are usually quick to understand what you are doing when your ship starts moving. However, any strange decisions you make will require extra coordination as your crew might not glimpse the macro level of the match while focusing on a task you set for them. It is the pilot's responsibility to keep the crew updated on the current strategy, even if the strategy is changing by the second.

Mentally, I would call piloting the most mentally challenging class. This is not to say that gunning and engineering aren't just as important or critical when it comes to split second decisions. But all other classes call on you to physically do something, while piloting places you in one spot and allows you to look in any direction while controlling the ship. You are required to do one thing and one thing only: move the ship. With this sole focus, you are given a much broader opportunity to pay attention to the match as a whole to be able to understand the match on a macro level.

Step by step, the best pilot should be able to quickly run through:

• note (possible) locations of enemies
• note location of ally
• note status of ship components
• note location of self
• note momentum of self
• compare own current operational/soon-to-be-operational guns to same of enemies
• select the optimal target for range/arcs/ease of shot/advantage
• communicate change of target if target has changed
• communicate incoming threat if situation indicates it
• alter ship momentum to increase effectiveness of own guns and decrease effectiveness of enemy guns without unduly damaging own ship to do so
• evaluate effectiveness of any changes made
• evaluate if any dramatic changes would give an increase in your effectiveness
• repeat

Good pilots should be constantly running through this mentally to keep putting themselves and their team in a more and more advantageous position.
You can see that half of a pilot's job is to simply observe himself, his ally, and his enemies. This is the macro side of the match where you have to know everything and make the decisions based on everything.

27

The Docks / [OVW] Overwatch

« on: April 04, 2014, 01:33:01 pm »

Welcome to the Overwatch recruitment thread. Take a seat and let me tell you about Overwatch. Just watch out for the mines (mine. mine. mine.).

What is Overwatch?

	Overwatch is a clan started on August 10th, 2013. We started as a group of players who became friends by playing together. The night before the first Sunday Rumble, the clan was formed. The next day we entered the competition and came out victorious. In the time that followed we were declared champions of the Flotsam Dynasty Campaign, won the first Saturday Box Social, and participated in several other events either with a clan team or as part of a joint venture with another clan.
	We are a casual competitive clan. We focus on the enjoyment of the game, both from being competitive and from flying together with friends. If you see someone with an OVW tag, odds are they will soon be joined by a flock of other clan members. We love to fly together and against each other. We enjoy competing, but approach it from a relaxed standpoint. We enter competitions to have fun, with a side goal of winning.

We originated as solely a Guns of Icarus Online clan, but we often play other games together when the mood strikes us.

Structure of Overwatch

Overwatch has a distinct structure that is recognizable to both those outside and inside the clan.
We are structured by a rank system that is included in the 4th letter of our clan tag.
We have a variety of tags that indicate the rank and history of an individual. The primary 4 which apply to all members are:

[OVWo]	-	Officer	-	These are the leaders of the clan. Officers can give you access to the steam group, adjust your status on our teamspeak, and generally represent the clan in communications with other clans and event officials
[OVWn]	-	NCO	-	One step below officers, NCOs are the support cast for the officers. NCOs help recruit, help maintain clan documents, help in communications with other clans, etc.
[OVWs]	-	Specialist	-	The main bulk of Overwatch. Specialists are members who have participated in a competitive event with the clan
[OVWc]	-	Cadet	-	Cadets are new members to the clan, untried in competitive battle, but recognized in all other ways as a full member of the clan

Additional tags you may see indicate a specific individual history for that member.
While they have one of the ranks listed above, they may wish to display their specific tag instead.

[OVWa]	-	Assassin	-	redria's rank. Originally Auxiliary from being a supporting member of the clan in competitive play, it became Assassin after an extended period of time. Effective as an NCO
[OVWk]	-	Knight	-	Several members of the Aeronautical Knights joined Overwatch after the disbanding of the Knights. The rank is an honorary mention to their history
[OVWp]	-	Pastry	-	A rank dedicated as an honorary mention to members who have joined from the Cake clan

Joining

As stated previously, Overwatch began as a group of friends. This has persisted throughout the lifetime of the clan and, while we do want to grow the clan, our goal is to continue that into the future.
Knowing how to play the game is less important to us than being a nice person and listening to the orders, requests, etc of your captain. Our ethos is to have fun and be nice. We must enjoy flying and playing games with you.
If you are interested, post here or just find us in game. Any NCO or Officer can induct you into the clan, but we value the input of all our members. Fly with us for a bit and if we enjoy flying with you (personality, skills, and interpersonal interactions) and you enjoy flying with us, we will take you in.

meow meow

28

Community Events / <Development Discussion for Official Competitive League>

« on: April 02, 2014, 04:11:51 pm »

Why I'm Here

Hello everyone. I want to look specifically at a potential league I have been working on (with help from several people that have given me suggestions along the way). The end goal of this is to create a premiere level event to either be run by a third party, or to be run as the official competitive scene by Muse. This already has the attention of Muse, so I want to have the community looking at it and making sure all kinks are ironed out. The extended document is at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/110iL4Enh6PNzVYrqpClcCiLz5sSt6rKQOg5B_BmnVzQ/edit?usp=sharing. This rule-set sets the structure of the event along with laying out the groundwork for handling a variety of situations. If you wish to comment, feel free. You should have full permissions to comment. If you wish to work with me on editing the document, contact me and I will get you access.

League Layout

Similar to American Football, this is a competitive league with a defined season, scheduled start times, time limits, and of course playoffs.

Signups close 1 week prior to the first weekend of seasonal play. On the Wednesday prior to the first day of competition, a schedule for the season will be released. The schedule will include start times, opponents, and maps for each team. Each team will play a single best of 1 match each week. The time limit for this match will be 30 minutes. Matches will begin every 40 minutes.

Every team will play a single match every week of the regular season unless a single bye week is needed due to an odd number of teams entering. Teams will be divided into divisions such that the number of divisions is minimized, and no division is larger than 8 teams. Teams will play every other team in their division once, along with teams from other divisions if needed to fill out their schedule.

At the end of a 7 week regular season, there will be 2 rounds of playoffs over 2 weeks: the Golden Playoffs, and the Silver Playoffs. The Golden Playoffs will take place during the second week of the post-season. Teams will advance to the Golden Playoffs if they are in the top 33% of their division (rounded up). The remaining teams are advanced to the Silver Playoffs, which will take place during the first week of the post season.

Playoffs operate on similar rules to the regular season, with best of 1 matches. However, ties will not be allowed, and the time limit is soft.
The end result of the season will be a Gold Champion and a Silver Champion, along with a Golden Runner-Up.

What I Want From You

Read through the document and give me feedback. I feel like I have a really strong groundwork here to build from, but I made a lot of executive calls in deciding several points.
1. If you see anything you don't like, drop a comment saying why (and maybe what you think would work better).
2. If you see something you think is really cool, leave a comment.
3. If you think of something that would be neat to add, scroll down to the additions section and leave a comment.
4. If you think something could be reworded/rearranged for more clarity, leave a comment. If you have cool name ideas, leave a comment.
5. If you have anything else that is not covered by 1-4, find somewhere and leave a comment.

Thank you for your time.

29

General Discussion / Community Event Ideas Compendium

« on: March 25, 2014, 12:26:22 pm »

What is This

This thread will be dedicated to the invention and discussion of events and the details that make said events good. If you already have a fully fledged idea, I will update the OP quickly. Otherwise I will wait for the idea to get hashed out into a firm plan before updating. If an event is taken into production, that event would be listed in the community events thread as appropriate.

If a host likes one of the events listed and wishes to handle starting and running the event, they should contact the parent of the idea to collect any further details the parent may have on their idea. This does not mean a host cannot take an idea from this thread and run with it, but that it would be respectful, and might save time, to ask the parent of the idea if there are any details not mentioned/key factors that they feel must be included.

Things you should include for a brief synopsis:

Play tier:
 - Premiere: Cogs/Sky League level. Every clan who is anybody needs to be there. This is the most serious of events. Be ready to fight tooth and nail.
 - Competitive: As the title suggests, a competitive event. Clans who are available may join in for a good fight to see who comes out on top.
 - Relaxed: This event may not have a definitive winner. I'm not sure what event would fit this category, but we have some creative people here. Someone will come up with something.

Parent: The creator. Primarily the point of contact for further details on the event

Duration:
 - Short: 1-2 week event.
 - Medium: ~1 month event.
 - Long: ~2-3 month event.

Density (day/week):
 - Low/*: Teams play a single match the day of the event and are done for the day.
 - Medium/*: Teams may play several matches the day of the event.
 - High/*: Teams will play several matches the day of the event.
 - */Low: The event will only occur once a week.
 - */Medium: The event occurs multiple times throughout a week.
 - */High: The event occurs every day of the week.

Number of ships required per team entering

Flexibility:
 - High: Teams may interchange members between matches, change loadouts, change ships, etc.
 - Medium: Teams are allowed limited ability to use substitutes, change ship builds, or change loadouts.
 - Low: Teams are allowed little to no opportunity to change members, ships, loadouts, etc.

Details: A basic rundown on how the event will work

Examples of previously run events:

Sunday Rumble:
Play Tier: Competitive
Parent: Urz
Duration: Short
Density: High/Low
Number of Ships Needed: 2
Flexibility: High
Details: A casual competitive one day tournament. Teams are seeded randomly when sign-ups close 1 hour prior to the event. A single elimination, best of 3 bracket is run to determine the winner. A soft time limit rule is in effect to ensure matches end with a winner in a reasonable amount of time.

Flotsam Dynasty Campaign:
Play Tier: Competitive
Parent: The Ducks
Duration: Short
Density: High/High
Number of Ships Needed: 2
Flexibility: Medium
Details: A campaign featuring a tournament every day for 6 consecutive days. Each daily tournament takes place on a separate map. Teams may sign up for as many or as few days as they wish. The winner of each daily tournament is declared the title holder of that map. After the campaign, this title is up for grabs and may be taken from the holding team by defeating the holding team in battle. At the end of the 6th tournament, the team holding the most titles is declared the winner of the Flotsam Dynasty Campaign, a permanent title.

===================================================

Ideas Compendium

Premier Level Events:

League Play:
Parent: redria (Currently being discussed at https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,3799.0.html)
Duration: Long
Density: Low/Low
Number of Ships Needed: 2
Flexibility: Medium
Details: Similar to American Football, this is a competitive league with a defined season, scheduled start times, time limits, and of course playoffs.
Signups close 1 week prior to the first weekend of seasonal play. On the Wednesday prior to the first day of competition, a schedule for the season will be released. The schedule will include start times, opponents, and maps for each team. Each team will play a single best of 1 match each week. The time limit for this match will be 30 minutes. Matches will begin every 40 minutes. Teams have a buffer period of 5 minutes at the scheduled start time of each match. If they fail to have 2 captains readied up before that buffer ends, they forfeit the match. Cheating will also result in forfeiture. Teams with 2 forfeits will be ejected for the duration of the season. A new schedule will be released the Wednesday prior to the next day of competition.
Every team will play a single match every week of the regular season unless a single bye week is needed due to an odd number of teams entering.
At the end of a 7 week regular season, there will be a week off, followed by a single day of playoffs. The playoffs will feature the teams with the top 4 winning percentages playing a small bracket. Semifinals feature a best of 3. Finals will play best of 5. Winner of the finals will be crowned the champion of the season.

Competitive Level Events:

Solo Challenge:
Parent: redria
Duration: Long
Density: Low/Low
Number of Ships Needed: 1
Flexibility: Low
Details: This event is a challenge to all players. Form up a single crew of 4 players. Choose your ship. Choose your ship loadout. Choose your crew loadouts. Enter into a 1v1 tournament to find out what ship is the ruler of the skies.
Signups close 1 week prior to the event. A bracket is created, scheduling each ship against one another with specified maps. Each matchup has 1 week to complete their battle. They will arrange a time to meet and fight. A ref/caster will record in spectator while 2 neutral captains take over the extra ships. The extra ships will be piloted to a neutral, predetermined location and are off limits for the duration, with no spotting/communication allowed. Any attack on these ships results in forfeit.
The 2 competing ships battle to 5 kills, with the winner advancing up the bracket.

Risk Game:
Play Tier: Not really sure. Anybody, but high level teams have a huge advantage.
Parent: Keon (Similar concept previously presented by Thomas at https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,2721.0.html)
Duration: Very Long
Density: Medium
Number of Ships Needed: 2-4, as organized on a per-match basis
Flexibility: High - teams are allowed to hire "mercs", form treaties and alliances (including having players play for other teams, and scramble loadouts.)
Details: Teams play a standard game of Risk, the turn-based strategy game, on a map based on the GOI world. Clan leaders make decisions via forum post and PM, and the OP is updated with an updating image of the game board. Clans/teams receive reinforcements based on territory controlled, and can be deployed normally, like Risk. The difference comes in attacking/defending. The attacking team and defending team must organize a game of GOI to decide the battle's fate. For example, if Ducks attack Cake, and ducks have 5 ships in Paratius attacking Kian, who is defending with 3 ships, the two will go into a battle. As soon as the ducks get 3 kills, or the cakes get 5 kills, the match is over, and scores reported to the threadmaster. Say the ducks win 3-4. (That's still a win, even though cake killed more ships. Strength of numbers prevails.) That means that they capture the territory, as they killed all three airships above Kian, but they have lost 4 airships, leaving only 1 to occupy Kian. Cake and all the other clans can attack at the same time, etc.

Relaxed Level Events:

Miscellaneous Info from Thread:

30

Community Events / Sky League Tipping Thread

« on: March 20, 2014, 12:56:25 pm »

Similar to the Flotsam Dynasty Campaign and Cogs, we posted Tipping here for the Sky League Tournament.

For each match, we predicted the winner and the score. One point was be awarded for correctly guessing the winner of a match (regardless of who the loser was), plus 0.1 points for the correct score (if both winner and loser were correct).

The winner (N-Sunderland) was awarded a costume of their choice from the store.

Tipping ran on a week-by-week basis.

Ending Standings

N-Sunderland	-	47.9
Alistair MacBain	-	42.3
Allien'	-	40.9
redria	-	37.6
Sammy B. T.	-	37.3
Mr. Ace Rimmer	-	35.3
Thomas	-	34.4
Captain Smollett	-	19.3
Levi Mann	-	6.0
Mattisamo	-	4.1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

History:
March 22, 2014:
Group A:

-Match 1:	Zill's Merry Men	def	Fancy Teamkillers	on	Paritan Rumble	5-4
-Match 2:	Serra's Sentinals	forfeit to	Holy Celestium	on	Duel at Dawn	0-0
-Match 3:	Holy Celestium	def	Zill's Merry Men	on	Northern Fjords	5-0
-Match 4:	Serra's Sentinals	forfeit to	Fancy Teamkillers	on	Canyon Ambush	0-0
-Match 5:	Fancy Teamkillers	def	Zill's Merry Men	on	Battle on the Dunes	5-0

Group B:

-Match 1:	Sky Invading Rhinos	def	Sacrilege	on	Duel at Dawn	5-2
-Match 2:	Crimson Sky Riders	def	Overwatch	on	Battle on the Dunes	5-4
-Match 3:	Crimson Sky Riders	def	Sky Invading Rhinos	on	Paritan Rumble	5-3
-Match 4:	Overwatch	def	Sacrilege	on	Canyon Ambush	5-3
-Match 5:	Overwatch	def	Sky Invading Rhinos	on	Northern Fjords	5-1

March 29, 2014:
Group C:

-Match 1:	Glowwater Thralls	def	The Art of Warfare	on	Northern Fjords	5-0
-Match 2:	The IRIS Fleet	def	The Clamour	on	Canyon Ambush	5-3
-Match 3:	Glowwater Thralls	def	The IRIS Fleet	on	Duel at Dawn	5-0
-Match 4:	The Clamour	def	The Art of Warfare	on	Battle on the Dunes	5-4
-Match 5:	The Clamour	def	The IRIS Fleet	on	Paritan Rumble	5-4

Group D:

-Match 1:	---	def	---	on	Northern Fjords	0-0
-Match 2:	The Mandarins	def	---	on	Duel at Dawn	0-0
-Match 3:	The Mandarins	def	---	on	Canyon Ambush	0-0
-Match 4:	---	def	---	on	Battle on the Dunes	0-0
-Match 5:	---	def	---	on	Paritan Rumble	0-0

Group D (Revised):

-Match 1:	Museosaurs	def	Mothers against Clockwork	on	Northern Fjords	5-0
-Match 2:	The Mandarins	def	Museosaurs	on	Duel at Dawn	5-0
-Match 3:	Museosaurs	def	Mothers against Clockwork	on	Canyon Ambush	5-0

Group E:

-Match 1:	Mad Hatters	def	The Cupcake Bandits	on	Canyon Ambush	5-0
-Match 2:	Black Flight Squadron	def	VOLWe	on	Duel at Dawn	5-1
-Match 3:	The Gents	def	Mad Hatters	on	Paritan Rumble	5-2
-Match 4:	The Gents	def	Black Flight Squadron	on	Northern Fjords/Duel at Dawn	4-3
-Match 5:	The Cupcake Bandits	def	VOLWe	on	Battle on the Dunes	5-4
-Match 6:	Mad Hatters	def	The Cupcake Bandits	on	Canyon Ambush	5-0
-Match 7:	Mad Hatters	def	Black Flight Squadron	on	Duel at Dawn	5-4

April 05, 2014:
Match 1:

-Game 1:	Overwatch	def	Fancy Teamkillers	on	Northern Fjords	5-2
-Game 2:	Overwatch	def	Fancy Teamkillers	on	Canyon Ambush	5-1
-Game 3:	---	def	---	on	Battle on the Dunes	0-0

Match 2:

-Game 1:	The Clamour	def	Museosaurs	on	Duel at Dawn	5-1
-Game 2:	Museosaurs	def	The Clamour	on	Canyon Ambush	5-2
-Game 3:	The Clamour	def	Museosaurs	on	Battle on the Dunes	5-2

April 12, 2014:
Match 1:

-Game 1:	The Gents	def	Overwatch	on	Duel at Dawn	5-4
-Game 2:	Overwatch	def	The Gents	on	Northern Fjords	5-4
-Game 3:	Overwatch	def	The Gents	on	Canyon Ambush	3-2

Match 2:

-Game 1:	The Mandarins	def	Glowwater Thralls	on	Paritan Rumble	5-0
-Game 2:	The Mandarins	def	Glowwater Thralls	on	Battle on the Dunes	5-4
-Game 3:	---	def	---	on	Northern Fjords	0-0

Match 3:

-Game 1:	Crimson Sky Riders	def	Holy Celestium	on	Paritan Rumble	5-1
-Game 2:	Crimson Sky Riders	def	Holy Celestium	on	Canyon Ambush	5-0
-Game 3:	---	def	---	on	Duel at Dawn	0-0

Match 4:

-Game 1:	Mad Hatters	def	The Clamour	on	Duel at Dawn	5-4
-Game 2:	Mad Hatters	def	The Clamour	on	Northern Fjords	5-0
-Game 3:	---	def	---	on	Paritan Rumble	0-0

April 19, 2014:
Match 1:

-Game 1:	The Mandarins	def	Overwatch	on	Northern Fjords	5-0
-Game 2:	Overwatch	def	The Mandarins	on	Duel at Dawn	5-4
-Game 3:	The Mandarins	def	Overwatch	on	Paritan Rumble	5-2

Match 2:

-Game 1:	Crimson Sky Riders	def	Mad Hatters	on	Northern Fjords	5-4
-Game 2:	Crimson Sky Riders	def	Mad Hatters	on	Canyon Ambush	5-1
-Game 3:	---	def	---	on	Paritan Rumble	0-0

April 26, 2014:
Finals:

-Game 1:	The Mandarins	def	Crimson Sky Riders	on	Northern Fjords	5-0
-Game 2:	The Mandarins	def	Crimson Sky Riders	on	Paritan Rumble	5-2
-Game 3:	The Mandarins	def	Crimson Sky Riders	on	Canyon ambush	5-2
-Game 4:	---	def	---	on	---	0-0
-Game 5:	---	def	---	on	---	0-0

[/quote]