Is the map game really necessary?

[Rocu]

[member="Tefka"]

The map is essential for understanding the galaxy and the distances/relations between different planets. For a community that has a far-advanced timeline, a map is completely necessary.

Now, the map game? Good idea in theory. Stress inducing in practice. Why are people so into the map game? They want to be the premier faction that is holding most of the galaxy in its clutches. Now, what does this suggest? I believe that, even though the act of labeling the site Chaos and giving free reign for the galaxy to have so many, MANY different factions, some people crave something more akin to when the galaxy was only ruled by one superpower (Galactic Civil War) or even two (Clone Wars).

 

[Kay-Larr]

I don't own any planets or anything of the sort. Never have. But still have had some great stories and some of the best had nothing to do with dominions, invasions or the like, yet still had faction to faction interaction. I come from a time when there were no maps or forums. There was just live rping in chat rooms. You had to think on your feet and pray that you didn't lose internet connection via a phone call or something while in the middle of a duel...lol.

I can't see the map very well on my phone (which is my method of getting online most of the time), so I don't really use it often. I just go where people tell me to Or sometimes we don't pick a specific planet at all.

I've stressed it enough times that not being able to say no to an invasion when there's already too much on people's plates is a bad idea. Especially when people take advantage of that out of spite. People shouldn't be forced into a thread that they don't want to be in. I've lost many hours of sleep over the one invasion that I had to negotiate. Blah!

 

[Connor Harrison]

When the fact this is refereed to as a "game", that's when it's not necessary. People come here to RP, not play a game of "RISK".

I've always been disheartened by the fact I can't willingly RP on Coruscant, because I love the planet from the movies and books as many writers probably do, but because of the "game", I have to settle for other planets I won't get PMs about questioning what I'm doing. I want to write and have fun and craft good stories, not play 'Galactic Battlegrounds' vying for planets nothing happens with after.

They just stay in a blob of colour and do nothing except reduce freedom for writers who just want to...write, on any world. You can't RP there because the Sith "own" it, or the Mandos "own" it, and logically we have 2000 ships and radars so you can't get there without us seeing blah blah blah. Ok, I'll RP on the usual planets nobody claims or make my own up just to have some freedom. What even happens with the planets when "won"? Nothing, they just sit there as a trophy in the game nobody is ever going to win - it's just reducung freedom until the next board wipe or it closes or whatever. This isn't a site with a ending you can "win". It's not a game site. People come here to write, not play a game. Many may not want to do the militaristic writing game of invasions, and they shouldn't need to in order to win the right to RP on a planet they otherwise have to stake a claim in order to.

I don't see why we can't just have a sector belonging to Sith, a sector belonging to SSC, to Mandos, First Order etc and that's their territory. They can go to other worlds, do Skirmishes, RP their story, whatever, but it leaves most of the board free to do as you wish with it. Make your own planet to expand and grow your sector.

I don't know. It just brings the site in more clashes than not, even in Factions people argue about what the best course of action is - everything it seems always ends up focused on invasions and dominions as quick as possible. I feel I'm playing a game more than a free RP site.

Otherwise, the map itself as a resource is well made, well thought out and good for people to really know the playground we are in.

 

[Werah Unon]

Is it necessary? No.
We could scrap it now, and CHAOS would survive.

Is it fun? Yes.
It's a pretty cool aspect of the board. (Though it can be frustrating at times.)

 

[sabrina]

[member="Tefka"] I like the map game, gives the board structure

 

[Cecily Demici]

[member="Connor Harrison"]
To be fair, role playing has the word 'playing' in it for a reason. What we are all doing here is playing a game, it doesnt matter how one person plays it, it's all just one big game. I think if more people took that to heart, we'd have less of this OOC drama everyone is talking about.

Right now, a Republic official is role playing on a 'Sith World' with a Sith defector, completely undetected. As long as you're not mary-suing that you're going around blowing up a planet that is under a faction's sphere of influence, you really shouldn't encounter any objections from any faction about you role playing on X-planet without being from there.

I've never encountered that sort of problem.

EDIT:
I also want to point out, in general, that no one on this site is 'in it alone.' You don't have the option to just do your thing and not interact with the world. This RP is a team sport. We're all working together and weaving a massive story together as a team, even if some of us hate each other and go against the grain and refuse to participate in factions, your actions still influence the story of the site. It is the responsibility of all the players to help weave a fun, comprehensive story and I think the map is a part of that.

 

[Connor Harrison]

[member="Cecily de Demici"] True, but when I think of "play" in role-play I think of the definition of the word:

engage in activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

When it starts getting TOO serious and causing friction and un-wanted OOC/IC drama, that's when it's not "play".

 

[Cecily Demici]

[member="Connor Harrison"]
I agree and unfortunately, having admined a site of like size and activity (Harry Potter genre,) if you build it... the drama will come. I don't think the map plays too much into the problems.

The site has drama because, frankly the world is full of a-holes who like to start crap.

It's really just a resource to me.

 

[Reverance]

The map game forces interaction, which is good. With out it, you'll run the risk of stagnation and people playing in their own sandbox, quarantined from one another. Which isn't good and I've seen the impacts of it cause critical failures on sites.

Could it use some constructive criticism and brain storming on how to adapt it to this culture? Sure. But to out right remove it...

 

[Zonia Kalranoos]

From what I've gathered, map game is important. I have experience RPing in both GR and GA, and their view of the map game is radically different.

I have no idea how GR decides on which planet is dominion-ed, but from what I see on the map, they are not very good at playing the map game, since they are about to lose the same bunch of planets for the second time. In a strategic sense, having long arms is bad, which results in thin sphere of influence where planets are exposed to invasions. Nobody in their right mind conquers space like that.
I can only imagine how stupid people feel after posting like maniacs in dominions and then loosing a number of planets due to one bad strategic decision. This is a reoccurence in GR for some reason, regardless of leadership. This naivety baffles me every time.

Thankfully, GA leadership was very open to suggestions from members who suggested planets, while posting possible gains in resources and strategic justification for each dominion. Of course, shape of GA is far from optimal, but the faction was placed in area with lower density of planets, so we had to place planets on the map to have something to conquer. Unfortunately, there was much drama over some other things and activity dwindled, but I enjoyed group planning there.

IMHO, the map game and playing the map game shows prowess of leadership of each faction. IC leadership means you give your faction some direction. So, if you are an IC leader of faction, it actually means you make the game interesting for other people, not yourself. It's actually more work than title-obsessed individuals might think.

So yes, I think the map should stay, as a reminder of previous bad decisions and constraints.

 

[Jack Sparrow]

You know what would be hugely helpful? If the map had coordinates and we had a list of where all the planets were on it, so if someone said "Blargistan" we could just cross-check it and know it was within the Yet Another Ultimate Sith Darkness cloud within the Spackle Sector rather than either not knowing or cross-referencing Wookieepedia to get the sector and then going blind trying to find it on the map.

You know who doesn't have the time to create such a thing? This fellow.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Yes, I find the map a unique and interesting feature for the most part. Its cool to see all the clouds of influence much like I imagine a "real" Star Wars 'verse would have.


For those of you taking it far too seriously : Shut down your computer. Go outside. Stop thinking about Chaos and return in one week.

 

[ADM. Reshmar]

The Map game is cool and all but Like i said in its current state, no. why? because it is not being used correctly per the universe. WIth hyperdrives cloud breaks would not happen because we do not need to jump from one planet to the next. The hexs are good as the limit distance traveled but in what verson of star wars or any universe for that matter, does capturing one planet cut off hundreds more? it makes no sense outside causing drama. The only instance I can think of where a planet cuts off a route are a few PC games and even then the planet attacked is adjacent to a planet owned. The map works for showing enfluance. that is cool and it gives people an idea of who is where and all that. But You jump in and take a planet it should be that planet. not it and every single planet between there and the closest one. That is unrealistic and does not fit the universe. The map yes, the map game no.

 

[Lord Ajihad]

I think it's 100% necessary. It establishes boundaries, created opportunities for roleplay, and gives our characters a chance to play for power.

 

[Captain Jordan]

I don't think the difference between Map and List is very much at all. The "map game" itself, the invasions and dominions, do cause a lot of stress and animosity between players and factions. But if there weren't a map game, there would be some other cause for drama, as it always exists in communities to some extent.

I'd suggest better methods and tweaks to the current system versus throwing it out. I'd love to see more impartial judging of invasions to try to mitigate the contention that occurs (and seems to keep people like me from being interested). Not to mention that most of the map game is geared towards faster writers than I am, I'm here for story, I could really care less how many posts I make.

Anyway, like I said, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Improve what we have, I think it can be done.

ETA:
[member="Jack Sparrow"]

There was a fellow who made a "canon" version of the Chaos cloud map, basing it off the version of maps from the official source books. I can try to find the thread if you're interested, but I don't think anything ever came of it.

 

[Ellie Mors]

Yes, I find the map a unique and interesting feature for the most part. Its cool to see all the clouds of influence much like I imagine a "real" Star Wars 'verse would have.


For those of you taking it far too seriously : Shut down your computer. Go outside. Stop thinking about Chaos and return in one week.

Followed instructions, was confused at "stop thinking about Chaos".

Returned 1 week later with a dozen blog posts written on salt-rock slabs.

 

[Cecily Demici]

[member="Lily Kuhn"]
Im crying :lol:

But really, the map isn't as big of an issue as people seem to be making out of it. I dont think it ticks anyone off all that much, at least not on a scale so vast as to discuss whether or not it is relevant. We are world-building. Maps are a natural part of that.

 

[Miss Blonde]

I feel like the map game is a game of risk played between people who actively hate each other.

I honestly could live without it. I feel like it needs a bit of reform to help it cause less drama.

 

[Varius]

[member="Tefka"]

I don't think the map itself is the problem, but how we use it, ofr the majority of us it's probably just a tool to see how much power we have(the clouds) and plan the next conquest.
Now that is not necessary bad, IF you do it for the sake of the story, now when we get competitive over a picture with different colors... it's something else.
If the removal of the map would help stop this thing and make the players play for story and not to win, then yes I'd agree. If not I think we should focus on something else.
Now I will be honest, this is a game but it does not stay like that, sure we try to be civilised and all and this is good, but the truth is, some people hate others and slowly they will begin to use the game as a weapon in their "war" I've seen it and I think many others did, if we are to change something importand I say we focus on this part.

Edit: Thinking about it, some system that would help us decide things about battles may also help, it would be much work to do though and even then it won't be completely "Fair" but is something to consider as it can never be perfectly fair.

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

This map game, this map game,

I ain't making an alt for this map game,

And I ain't writing no post for this map game,

Man I'm telling you no it ain't happening,

This map game, this map game