The Map Game

[Sinistra]

As Chaos moves through what are typically slower months for RP sites, I find myself pondering the Map Game and how the competitive elements can either encourage or stifle RP.

Up side: Dominions push small storylines forward, and when paired with a general story arc can advance a faction plot.
Down side: They can be rather boring depending on the plot, and for just rampant expansion it can be repetitive just to color the cloud bigger.

Up side: Invasions give us a chance to write with people we might not otherwise have a chance to.
Down side: They cause stress and some folks generally tend to handle that stress rather poorly.

I can see pluses and minuses to both sides, however I'm kinda curious what others think.

Is there merit to the Map Game? What do you think?

 

[sabrina]

[member="Sinistra"] Yes It is after all Star Wars, so if gives an ic reason for battles.

 

[Ellie Mors]

I enjoy invasions, I don't particularly care for dominions. It's my personal preference, but I like being in the situation where my character could be killed or seriously injured in the middle of a war/battle where a planet is at stake. Dominions, usually regardless of objectives (mostly because factions use objectives in the first place), are boring to me and I don't like to post in them unless they benefit me. Dominions, in general, tend to be focused more on the single-minded goal of expanding the cloud rather than story elements within the faction itself. The moment you have an objective listed where something needs to be secured, taken, etc, it becomes boring. Treasure hunt dominions are exciting, and less boring, if done right.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

I think there is, because I came from a place without a map game. The major problem is that people want to own planets with factions - if they're the Republic, they want Coruscant. If they're Sith, they usually want Korriban/DK. Rebellions always love Alderaan. This, of course, is me speaking in a generality.

The problem lay in this; the previous board did not have dominions. The only way to get planets were invasions, so if it was a neutral planet you had to find another faction and war with them over who got it. This, understandably, caused a good deal of stress. But beyond this, there was no map.

You would have a faction own Csilla, Mandalore, Naboo and Hoth and no one would bat an eye. It simply didn't make sense. At least here when I look at a planet I can go 'oh, hey, the Empire runs this world. There's likely a good deal of near-oppressive security, not a lot of privacy, etc.'

By the same token if I go to say, a Republic world I can presume it's a bit more carefree comparatively. I imagine it being like night and day, how at the end of TCW animated series you could see the Empire starting to form: the architecture got darker, the mood was more somber, things of that nature.

So while invasions are stressful, and dominions can be boring, it's all in what you make of it. I loved the early OP dominions, as I got to RP with a lot of people I hadn't before. And while I've been known to hate invasions, I don't hate them because they're invasions, I hate them because they make people competitive to a silly degree.

The merit, as with anything, lay in what you make of it. There's a lot of potential in a map game that wouldn't otherwise be there; for story, growth, community, and all other manner of things.

 

[Sinistra]

I likewise came from a place without a map game, although we had planetary control, where the issues you outlined existed. A faction could hold planets that were nowhere near each other that tactically made no sense.

However, anyone with some free time and fleet could waltz in and take them over, no faction required. People would camp out on certain planets, and regardless of the want of other writers, they would make that little world their entire world and whine at anyone who looked at their little microcosm until they decided there was easier prey.

Not all doms are boring, no and I have had been in a few that were just awesome.

Not all invasions turn into salt flats.

Having been here half a year, I've heard opinions both ways, been through a spectrum of doms and good invasions and bad invasions.

I'm curious as to the way the community sees things so that as an FA, I can better address that.

 

[Dune Rhur]

It's useful as a reference. Beyond that, I'm less interest in competition and more in cool, meaningful plots. Braith is right about the thrill of danger and a chance to meet new people in character.

 

[Cira]

I love invasions. It's brought key dramatic ic rp for me everytime.

All about what one makes of it.

Dominions? I rather have an ongoing bigger arc storyline for them to keep them cohesive. Pyre had the Bando Gora Reavers. Loved those npc baddies.

 

[sabrina]

[member="Cira"] npc baddies almost killed harley once, if they done right they better than some players.

 

[Aellin Tedronai]

I despise dominions with a burning passion. 90% of all dominions I've ever participated in have immedaitely died after their post requirement as been reached, to me that's just awful. It eliminates all story for me and just makes me want to not write.

Invasions?

Literally my favorite kind of threads on the board.

I love the drama, I love the fighting, I love the idea of my characters dying or killing. I just love the general atmosphere of invasions as threads that are taken a little more serious than others. I enjoy Invasions for what they are and I will keep participating in them and encouraging for them to happen at every single turn I possibly can.

PS: I started the first ever invasion.

 

[Kurayami Bloodborn]

I agree quite heartily with you here @Sinistra. There are definitely pros and cons to having the map game and as [member="Sarge Potteiger"] pointed out it does make things a bit easier to form the basis of an idea as to what you would run into on a world controlled by a specific faction. Granted it is only a rough outline, but is helpful, also his point about the factions not being so spread out is a good one.

Now as for dominions, I sometimes have a hard time figuring out a good IC reason to be there or even with that, a reason that I would care about being a part of it. If I can figure out both of those then sure, I'll jump in. I tend to overthink my posts constantly so I end up with fewer posts overall(think the most I managed was 4-5), but many times I don't know where to take things after those few posts. I'm still trying to get used to the flow of things as far as that goes, so maybe I'll be able to get more in as time goes on.

Invasions. I cannot stand invasions personally due to how riled up people get over them. The number of issues that they seem to create in many instances seems to outweigh the amount of fun the writers are having. I know my thoughts on this really don't matter much since I stay out of them, but I do know that when I see threads pop up that are almost pure flaming of the other side because something changed that made for a better story(or could have) it really saddens me. Things like that only lead to division in a community where co-operation is key to making things fun. Again, I'm no PvPer so this is all my observation from the outside.

Overall, I think the map game is great to drive storylines, both personal and overarching, as long as people don't stress too much over it and remember in the end that the whole point is for fun, not just to win.

 

[Lief]

I'm not a fan of large, fast paced threads.

I join in the odd dominion if it suits my character (Mysa and Kida have run through a few) and I've poked my head into an invasion or two before now... I just don't enjoy them. I think if a Dominion had an overarching plot, and didn't just die out before it's begun (I've seen this happen so many times) or abandoned the moment 100 posts was reached, I'd probably enjoy them a little more.

As it is, I just see it as barely organized chaos.

I like my mini-Storylines.

 

[Nyx]

I have mixed feelings about the map game.
On one hand, it's a really useful resource, and it can get people really motivated to actually do things. I enjoy seeing faction's cloud getting bigger, as to me, it signifies development.
On the other hand, the map has also caused a lot of drama. People get really caught up in watching that cloud grow bigger, and do things they normally wouldn't.

Doms are also a mixed bag. They usually peter out once the post requirement has been reached. I've been in some amazing doms, and I've been in some lackluster doms. It really depends on whose writing and how devoted to the story they are rather than a bit more color on a map.

As for invasions, they can be amazing when done right. I've seen some truly epic invasions that simply blew me away with how well written they were.
And I've also seen some invasions that were rather. . . stressful. I, myself, have only been in one, so I don't know that this is my final opinion on the subject. Maybe I'll warm up to them as I get involved in more.

So, to summarize: the map is a useful resource and can be great fun and motivation when viewed with a less competitive outlook.

 

[Rika]

Personally, I have a thing for maps and geography. Don't know why, not important, so a large part of me really likes the map game. I often spend hours researching sectors, systems, and planets before starting a thread to find the one I really want (or sometimes I do that research just for fun... I'm odd ). So the following criticism is less on the map and more on dominions and invasions.

My general thought on dominions and invasions are that both can easily be considered very narrow in scope. At the most basic, dominions are PvE and Invasions are PvP. That often has negative impacts on a great number of writers who simply don't write in one or the other. A healer-type character might feel rather restricted in writing certain storylines in an Invasion simply because they don't feel like they're role is having an impact on the outcome. In the same way, you can blow up as many buildings as you want in a dominion, but if all of that only takes place over 4 or 5 posts, you can easily get burned out and want to move on to something else. If perspective in considered too narrowly on either, you will have plenty of writers simply never even show up.

While player choice has a lot of influence on the level of motivation a writer may have for a particular thread/event, the set-up and payoff are so crucial to encouraging writers to devote their time to them.

If we consider the map game as the pay-off, well that itself might not be enough to engage a faction or its writers. Gaining and losing territory is only so interesting for so long. The ramifications of losing can often times mean next to nothing for the majority of the faction. With an entire galaxy to play with, majors can loop around each other, expand in directions away from conflict in order to survive for longer and longer without ever really feeling threatened. Perhaps the best way to give payoff interest is by offering an additional reward system for dominions and invasions? Receive a nifty item for activity or other feats. Add certain terms into invasions that contain additional concessions (prisoners, credits, assets, etc.).

As for the set-up, that element is entirely story driven, but if the story doesn't contain enough of a reason for a character to be there, some writers will not want to force themselves to take part. If all of the objectives are head-to-head, why would a spy show up? If everyone is using blasters, why would a slicer take part? If everybody has a lightsaber, why wouldn't I bring a turkey for carving (Force lightning for just the right amount of crispiness on the skin)? The creativity of the writer should not be the only thing holding someone back from participating. This is on the folks running the event to come up with something engaging. Objectives might not be enough, as often they have rather basic plots that tend to interest folks only for as long as they start to interact with someone else, and by then they've really just created their own BYOO. One suggestion to create something more overarching would to have more D&D like gamemastering as an element.

But those are just some of my ideas.

tl;dr: The map game might not be enough of an incentive. Rewards encourage gamers. Interesting story encourages writers.

 

[Darth Kentarch]

I've always had mixed feelings on the 'Map Game'. Sarge make a strong point however in that factions can control seemingly odd and few combinations of planets that stretch the galaxy. However Invasion and dominions have become more for the sake of themselves. A lot of time I feel most participate in a faction dominion or invasion simply to spread their influence sphere, and in long run the RP suffers from it greatly. Does everyone do it, and do they do it intentionally? Well no, but at this state in the RP I always asked myself whats the point.

The Map itself is not the problem, because I've argued this before, the map is always there. Its The Game which is where derive to the Map Game. The OOC politics, bartering, drama, and competitive nature this is what makes the 'Map Game'. In turn this is why you can get mixed results with people in invasions, some saying they love it especially when things go well for them in IC, or if there character develops in a meaningful way, or they genuinely had a good time. Opposite to that you get people who declare the situation 'toxic' as OOC relationships break down, they lose, or the over-competitive nature of people sap the fun out of the situation.

Dominions and faction expansion seems sometimes to suffer the same problems and the same OOC machinations as invasions. Are we really expanding our territory because it has a point? Or do we simply want to deny another faction those planets, what is the real story as to why a faction wants those planets, what purpose does it serve IC and what is the story. Sometimes it feels like the dominion train is simply there to make the faction look big on the map, and nothing else. The planets themselves yield absolutely nothing aside for meaningless bragging rights, planets canon states yield little to actually making a faction better, aside from shipyards. A faction can be shattered by a 'sphere cut' over a meaningless planet at the edge of their faction influence sphere.

So does the map game have merit? Getting back to the question at hand. Honestly its a tough question to answer, but I feel the breadth and depth of this site, the story lines and role-play struggle as of late because of it.

 

[Olivia Dem'adas]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWeEZuiUtFA

 

[Jsc]

Is there merit to the Map Game? What do you think?

Sure. But... Been there, done that. Comes to mind these days.

Nah. These days I worry more about my relationship with other writers rather than the colors on the map. I earned 1000 kills, Master Rank, and learned Force Obliterate-da-Universe in my first year here. But... how many lasting friendships with other writers did I make? How many other people cite me as an inspiration to their writing? How many of my Padawans appreciate me just for our character's relationship, rather than just for me helping to pad their character sheet? How many other writers want me for their PvP opponent because they know I'm chill. Or, how many times have I helped somebody else just, have a good time?

Nah. Empires rise and fall around here every week. That never changes. But, when was the last time I complimented Cira for the power of her emotional stories? When was the last time I thanked Sarge for deleting those embarrassing posts for me? When was the last time I told Tef thanks for changing how every other SW website on the internet thinks about creative freedom? Or lastly, when was the last time I told James Justice how fun it is to just be around him? Stuff like that.

Nah. The Map Game doesn't change. But my priorities as a community member? They sure have.