Galatic War Progression, and simple versus simplistic.

I think the Galactic War meta-game gives a million new opportunities for game ideas and suggestions. The strategic layer which is "beyond" the normal RTS scope allows for many of the more insane suggestions to be appropriated into the game simply, without adding unwanted complexity to each battle. [Please note that the following is my perspective, obviously there is much undisclosed information about the game itself, so I do not desire to speak on behalf of the developers. Yet I offer my perspective nonetheless.]

I have noticed that in this forums there are so many insane suggestions, which are good and welcome, but seem to mistake the fundamental aspect of this game, namely a grand-scale RTS game. Moreover, many suggestions seem to both over-estimate the scope of the game, and under-estimate the sheer brilliance of its scale. Scale can be determined by two things: 1) breadth, in which there are many different ways to do things; spaceships, naval units that freeze water which add complexity to the UI and mechanics to the game-engine, and 2) depth, in which the simple things can be done in different ways; faster or slower unit speed, etc. (The latter can be achieved by an in-game Tech Tree, though that in itself becomes another "breadth" component adding complexity.) I loved TA ever since I first played it (I nearly got Dark Reign instead because of all the hype, I am so glad I didn't—that game was not as good), and still play it today. It was brilliant because its scope was massive, and its implementation was simple. In these forums there have been a few discussions (i.e. flow based economies and unit customisations) about whether the implementation is "simple" or "complex". But I don't remember, as a 14 year old ever thinking the economy system in TA was too complex, I simply thought, "****, I need more metal!" This is an economy done with simplicity, not done simplistically. Knowing that Neutrino likes to keep things simple, I think this is a good point to make when thinking about suggestions for PA.

Now to my final suggestion. I think the Galactic War, as I mentioned above, allows for another plane on to which suggestions can be made. For instance, I like unit customisation, but I can understand how that adds a complexity to the battle scene which would turn an immense battle-field into a Civilisation-esque arms race. However, if after each battle I was able to select a "research path" which would unlock the next group of units as I progress I could slowly build a faction the way I like it; say mobile, hit-and-run, tactics with ballistic weapons. This seems to be the way we are headed with the "faction" sourcing from one unit pool anyway.

Considering that I don't know much about how the PA team plan on implementing the GW component, I still think it would be a great aspect to the GW scenario's and would gel well with the automated way in which they plan on creating the story. Personally I would love to be able to craft not just the strategy by which I conquer a galaxy (it's great that I need to use an "a" there!), but the tactics I use throughout each battle to do so. This doesn't have to be a full item system (such as AoE:O), but it would be great to have the flexibility to add this or that unit to my "faction", or give certain bonuses/abilities to my units. Since this would be implemented on the GW plane, not the RTS plane, it would make implementation easier as the UI can be very simple, in comparison to an in-game one. This might especially work well with the Commander, as all implementations for upgrading the ACU during a battle in SC were a little clunky, in my view, and would be better accomplished over the course of a campaign such as GW and not throughout a battle. I see the GW as an amazing chance to deepen the experience of an already grand-scale RTS, not to broaden its scope beyond all recognition.