Game Speed

[P3D]

As Navalism had an average speed of 1 game-year in three months, speed must be upped a bit in order to have us build dreadnought fleets not our sons and daughters. Like Jim's problems with Letters' Time.

Proposal is to have 2 years of 'slow' play with full roleplaying interaction, and 2 years 'fast forward' (a gameyear done in a month), where the only roleplaying would be some newpaper articles - if it is not cutting into the game speed. The actual numbers will be flexible to accomodate longer wars.

[The Rock Doctor]

Is the two weeks per sim-quarter not a reasonable pace if it is actually maintained?  That's six sim years per real year.

[Ithekro]

Generally there are people who don't have time to keep up a quick pace.  But two weeks a quarter generally works as long as there is not a major story arc that requires multiple player input (like peace conferences, naval arms treaty talks, unscripted wars).

[Earl822]

a game quarter in 2/3weeks is a good pace if we keep to it.

[P3D]

As experience showed, we cannot maintain 2 weeks per quarter. We slowed down for a war/storyline, then when the war/storyline got more or less concluded someone started his own. My main point is that you want to fight with your dreadnoughts but current navalism speed won't let you to do that. Currently it takes 9 months to 1 year to build a single one.

Fast forward means that everyone is posting 4 quarter reports. Any events that requires player interaction (assasinations, storylines) is postponed until the next normal speed period.

[Desertfox]

A simpler way is just to agree between ourselves to, say no major storyline for 2 quarters. Then a story etc, and so on. We have to be flexible or it wont work.

[P3D]

We will be flexible, but unfortunately fast forwards will be needed. Problem is in Navalism there were always players who started acting right when a major storyline was closed.
And even if when wanted to, Navalism could not keep the agreed tempo even without storylines.

[Earl822]

Or maybe planning ahead, and posting news as a whole, and only adjusting when a major storyline breaks, and if we try not to all kick off, or run more than one storyline at a time, we can probably stick to schedule.

[Borys]

Ahoj!
I'm a fan of a "2 slow +1 fast" solution - otherwise our children will use the dreadnaughts we ordered. Inspiration strikes at different times, so we can't always plan ahead.

Borys

[The Rock Doctor]

Suggestion:  1 sim year = six weeks of real time.  ~8.5 years of sim time in one real year.

Only two sim reports to be filed; at the start of week 1, we file the report for the first six sim-months of that sim-year and then have three weeks to role-play out whatever has to be played.  At the start of week 4, we file the report for the last six sim-months of the year, and role-play out that time period.  The second year begins at week 7 (or earlier, if all are ready).

Research rules can be adjusted to provide a greater probability of success over the longer time period.  Maintenance rules can be based on what you had at the start of the report period, rather than the end.  If one mobilizes one's military during a report period, one doesn't go back and revise their report - they just book the difference in cost as a debt, and start paying it off after the military is de-mobilized.

We can probably get as much roleplaying done for a half year in three weeks as we can for two separate quarters in four weeks, and with just half as many sim reports to write (and read, and in a mod's case, roll R&D success rates for).

[Ithekro]

Writers block tends to be another problem, but speeding up might compound that problem.  The primary things that slows us down is war and a lack of interest.  I was set for keeping a relative cruise control at the two weeks a quarter level after the Anahuac War because Rohan was spent.  Its more or less just recovered fully in 1905.

I would have thought the Asian War would have had things settle down during 1902 or 1903 because it took so long to get through 1901.  The various crusades didn't help matters much in terms of keeping the pace.  While the crusaders were fast the reactions were slow and the aftermath slower.

I tend to post my news has a whole unless I have a story that will require moderation or input form other players before I can proceed.  All quarter news in a single post, or each month in a single post generally speeds up the process.  Multiple threads on a mass of different storylines might make it clear what story we are dealing with, but it can make a quarter drag a little as people need to respond to many things that only last a few days in sim time.

I might note that comminications delays (in sim) might also help since it could take days to get a message to one nations and more days to get a responce back (not always, but in general).  This spreads out the news a little and gets us to the next quarter sooner.  I generally date my replies four or five days after an event or letter sent to Rohan...plus of minus depending on method of travel, importance, and distance involved.  Snail-mail from Asia or Europe takes a long time to reach Rohan.  But even telegraph takes time.

[P3D]

Actually, we could do with a single annual budget as IRL- that'd cut down useless administration. Plan accordingly. So will have two reports each year - budget for the next year and a report what was done.

Budgets will have the flexibility to accomodate small wars, or even Great Wars.

[Desertfox]

Problem with that is that you cannot respond, if someone starts building a ship, soon enough. There's not enough flexibility in it.

[P3D]

There wasn't any flexibility IRL either.

[The Rock Doctor]

I reckon six month periods adequately balances the need for timely reactions and realism in a turn-of-the-century setting.  Generally speaking, there's a lag time in a nation's ability to respond to something like a new ship design, because the info doesn't become available immediately and the nation can't just decide overnight what to do about it.