I think my thoughts and opinions on an invasion over the years has been quite clear; I've never been a fan of them, and avoid them like the plague. The reason, which has already been clearly stated: invasions seem to be decided too much on 1 v 1 or 2 v 2 battles. Resources, assets and defences become arbitrary, because person x is far superior to an entire legion of NPC's.
Further complicating matters, is invasion threads seem to bring everyone out of the word work; characters whom have been absent for months or were created days ago, all of a sudden have key roles in these threads, despite not having enough posts to even have a signature (OBVIOUSLY, I am not saying post count or a persons signature has any bearing on a battle; but I fail to see how someone with 40 posts has truly fleshed out their character's story or role within a faction.) People whom have rarely, if ever been seen on a planet appear out of nowhere to save the day, and rush to their allies defence.
For a non-combatant like Patches, the pvp style of an invasion thread offers little appeal. I could flesh out RP's where I have scouted locations, hacked defense systems, sliced networks or gained the codes to take down planetary shields, but it's all for naught. It often has little bearing on the battle, if any, as someone always appears to have the counter move (The back up shield appears out of nowhere, the counter codes entered, or someone whom has never RP'd having any slicing experience, gains access to a console remotely, and undoes everything an experienced slicer has done in two posts!). PVP is everything in these threads, with planning, strategy and objectives taking a back seat.
Both sides make assumptions of the others forces, and defences / forces that have never been seen before appear out of nowhere; the attackers decide the defenders target x is some valuable target, while the defenders believe if they take down attackers y, the planet will be saved! It's too neat and pretty for my tastes, as we all know a single objective rarely, if ever yields victory; multiple steps must be taken to achieve victory, not just a single one.
Things I would see changed, in order to make them more appealing to someone like me:
-Clear, defined planetary defences; Not every planet has a shield generator, or a fleet of ships with hundreds of thousands of troops; there isn't always a fleet to come save the day that's just a short hyperspace jump away. Some planets only have a few forces to spare, a few ships and a base or two. Sorry, but it's a sad fact; valuable targets are protected like fort knox, lesser valuable targets are protected like an ATM at a convenience store.
-Actual RP's fleshing out details (to Kira's point) of strategy, rallying troops etc. to your cause, planning an attack, and those plans and their executions actually bearing some weight on the outcome; not any plans or strategies lasting all of 20 posts before going out the window due to PVP matches.
-I would better structure factions defenses of planets. Why is it always the same people attacking and defending planets all throughout the galaxies. Do these people not have lives? Other obligations? Or is their whole lifes purpose is to sit at a console, wait for an invasion, and teleport to the battle? I would have "planets defenders" or some system put in place, where characters are listed in charge of a planets defence. i.e. Tatooine defence is headed by Bob as the sectors General, with Jamie as the planets fleet Admiral, Colonel Jennifer in charge of Ground Forces, with Joe, Mark and Cassandra also serving key roles (squadron leader, etc). These people could be listed in key roles on several planets (limit of 3 or 5 per character?), but they can't be everywhere at once. That invasion not taking place on your planet? Guess you can catch the highlights. Might be tough, but it would limit the teleports. Each planet, depending on it's size, would be allowed a few "floaters" who just happened to be in the area, but within reason.
- To balance out the "limit" on defenders, first; defending is ALWAYS easier than attacking. Attackers rarely "Narrowly" take over a target. The old saying, "1,000 men can repel 10,000 at a good stronghold" applies. Sorry attackers, but defenders know the area better, are familiar with it, and have their defenses already in place. You want that target, you aren't going to "narrowly" win it, you are going to have to spank the defenders (literally... if you are into that sort of thing
). I would also set a restriction on the attackers as well in terms of numbers, as depending on the target, I sincerely doubt your are going to pull several fleets, leaving many undefended, and the governers of several planets leave their post to attack Endor.
-Limit non-faction interference (which is already done to some extent, and should continue; perhaps just review how this is done, and see if changes need to be made).
Post counts should have little bearing; anyone can flood a thread with posts, and at the end of the day, who really cares who owns the planet? We are all writers here, and I would like to see a change where the story becomes more important to the writers, instead of who wins or looses.
