Build-A-Commander or Commander customization debate (mod or in-game)

Starwars in PA? =p You gotta admit it'd be pretty BA to see AT-ATs walking across some random moon.

Assuming you get that far before being C&Ded.

Mike

xD That is very true.

Still, big walker bots(Since we haven't seen anything huge in PA yet) would be damn cool.

The options could come with different statistical advantages, and they could even add in a few special functions or special abilities.

It's a debate thread. These aren't just opinions, some people are also providing evidence and commentary with their claims.

Also, does anyone notice that even if the vote in the poll for in game commander customization would really need more votes than both of the other poll combined because both of them suggest that it shouldn't be implemented, and if the vote for in-game wasn't more than both of them combined it wouldn't be affective because more than half of the players visiting would have picked to not have it implemented?
If you didn't understand that, I mean that if the poll choice for implementation wasn't more than 50% it technically wouldn't "win" because more than half of the players voted for not having it implemented because that's what the two other choices suggest.

Well I imagine "ingame" is the people who want it ingame(obviously), and "mod material" are the people who -want- to see it but don't care if it's ingame or not, and then the "no" are the only people who don't want it in any capacity at all(And they're very outvoted).

I don't get what the poll is for? (I don't get why every new thread has a poll attached to it?) It's not going to sway the development of PA in any way.

I doubt the polls are really to try to sway the team one way or another, they're usually just for the thread author to get some idea of something.

I know, but it's easier for people to just poll instead of writing a whole post.
Also, it helps us keep score of who's on what side.

That completely explains one reason why I use polls.

This post was deleted because I was wrong.

percentages

how do they work

This post was deleted because I was wrong.

Introducing substantially redundant options is one of the oldest tricks in the book to rig a poll.

Polls in this forum are usually dreadful. To say nothing of a sample size of 20, the voluntary participation of voters completely breaks the validity of the poll. Obviously biased based results based on interest in the title of the thread.

There's really no point in having a poll, much less analyzing the results in any serious way. It's rigged, it's nonrandom, it's nonscientific, and regardless of the results nothing can be inferred about public opinion.

None of the poll choices are biased. This is a debate thread so people can explain their ideas freely, like in the title, it says mod or in-game, which are almost the opposite. It has two sides that aren't the same exact thing, therefor it is unbiased. It might be voluntary, but it still isn't a completely biased poll. Also, if you are tired of hearing suggestions, there is a third choice.
PS it isn't redundant, and it is nonscientific, nonrandom, but it is still SOME information.

I hope this thread can start up again. .

Adding more two cents to this thread.

I'm not sure why its an issue that pre-set parts cannot serve as customization for a character or figure in a video game.

An example I'll use first is halo 2 emblem design
Simply 4 options. 2 colors 2 shapes that can be cycled and changed to a ton of different options to the one that you prefer. Its not super custom where you can change the pixels and make your own cool shape, but it got the job done with giving a wide range of custom ability. For developers its easy and can be viewed as easy but its solid fun and easy to add on and control. If players could outright control their emblem, then there has to be countermeasures to prevent bad shapes or colors from happening that would be offensive.. Which would be a headache to deal with.

Since were dealing with something more visually changing such as body part swapping. I truly like this idea Since its the same thing as in halo 2 but with a definitive construction for players to play with. The argument that body parts won't fit modularly with each torso/leg/etc. Is over thinking it. A leg or arm can easily be interchanged to look high quality. A few Modular touches to each component that we see so far for each commander can go a long way to making sure they look "right" on each custom commander.

The Issue I bring up with custom commanders that are made by a programmer is that they need to be judged to make sure its appropriate for the game. This adds another layer in which the community or the Devs need to step in and find out if this truly is a good commander to bring into the mix. It adds another layer of material that needs to be sent to other players or whatever way custom commanders are going to proliferate into the system.

At least with Set puzzle pieces in which I can interchange I, the devs, and the community know what were getting into.

I would like a "Commander selection menu". An option in the main menu that would let you select your commander or custom commander mod. The most customization I want to see in game is to be able to select you abilities and maybe even a patern for the 2nd colour.

I think Uber is planning some minimal customization at the start.
From the info we have so far, it sounds like it is a Commander selection screen at the start (Alpha, Beta, Theta, Delta, Spider, Raptor, Tank), we might also get to choose an Egg loadout?
Some of us wouldn't mind a more robust system though.



For example....
Legs for speed (faster = less HP)
Torso for HP (more HP = slower)
1 Arm for construction (speed vs range)
1 Arm weapon (DPS vs range vs no UberCannon)
Backpack for specials (extra resource income, temp bubble shield, jump jets, radar)

Here are some examples....






Uber seems to be going down a different route though and that's ok, let them build the game they want.
They have already said they want PA to be a games platform, and will support the community in how they want to mod it.


It's clearly not going to happen out-of-box, but rather a mod.

The question real questions are,

1. Who's going to mod it?
2. "Kit" style or in-game? (CoD/Battlefield = kits, SupCom = in-game).
3. How to balance beyond inherent speed/hp tradeoffs.


I'm ok with anything really...
kit or in-game works for me.
And a point or slot-based system is also fine, I trust the community will balance.