Colonial discussion

[snip]

I kinda like that. Would mean we would have to introduce some sort of actual "trade" mechanism for it to be truly effective but now that you made me think about it I might have a way to do that. Let me not type it up on no caffeine and sanity check it with Kirk.

[Desertfox]

Back in N-verse 3.0, I did my share of NPC "courting", everything from tech transfers, to free second-hand ships, to IC investments (Kra Canal). Perhaps instead of introducing another "monetary unit" we can give influence points to current items? Say X tech transfers are worth X influence points, or X amount of new construction is worth X influence but 10 year old ships are only worth 1/2 X influence. All we would need would be a conversion list and to keep track of how much influence has been spent on an NPC. Maybe with some mod adjustments if the player does something that would negatively affect the NPC thereby getting negative influence points.

[Jefgte]

Something I've seen in other games in other fora is the introduction of soft-power "influence points".  A nation gets so many a turn, they are used to sway NPCs into one's orbit to some degree.  We would likely not have a lot, but perhaps could add to the base amount through a form of economic investment akin to BP or IC.

If such a system is in place, we could use them on grey NPCs (not blank white spaces) to seek out concessions in those NPCs.  It might be a sliding scale - spend one increment of soft power to get basic trade relations with an NPC and this produces a flat income bonus based on the "Tier" of the NPC.  Spend more, maybe you get a territorial concession that lets you put a single high-yield IC in the territory.  Spend even more, maybe you bring them into your orbit as a puppet/raj kind of situation...

Interresting...

[Kaiser Kirk]

I kinda like that. Would mean we would have to introduce some sort of actual "trade" mechanism for it to be truly effective but now that you made me think about it I might have a way to do that. Let me not type it up on no caffeine and sanity check it with Kirk.

Conceptually I like it.
Implementing it and being fair is different thing

There could be a simple spreadsheet to track it so the points don't get 'lost'.  They should likely decay over time.
Foxy's point crosswalk seems a bit more complex and I don't know if we want a mechanistic transfer.  It may be more reasonable to keep track of what has been awarded and develop the crosswalk "behind the scenes" so it is consistent and fair, but a player can't say...gee this old AC plus these 2 DDs will get me this...

Jefgte's version is worth discussion. It has promise, but we'd need to be clear on how great an effect it can be.

[Desertfox]

Thinking some more about NPC interactions:

Give all NPCs a sliding scale for each player nation from 1 to 10, where 1 is war, 5 is neutral, 10 is alliance, this can be implemented gradually, assuming everyone is at a 5 unless otherwise stated. X amount of points are needed to go up or down the scale. A soft guideline is posted where X action should give you X amount of positive or negative points. However, the points are adjustable by mods based on other factors. Points would not just be based on actual transfers but also on player actions.

Examples:
Starting a colony next to an NPC is worth -10 points, but the player discussed it with the NPC beforehand and gained their approval (plus say NPC basing rights in the new colony), therefore player's action is now worth 0 points.

Player gifts NPC old AC and 2 DDs worth +10 points, however, the AC requires a refit and none of the ships fit in the NPC's modern navy, so player only gets +5 points as the ships are only worth scrap value to NPC, alternatively player gifts NPC new light cruiser worth +5 but NPC's ruler loves fast ships and light cruiser is fastest in the world, as a result player actually gets a +10 benefit.

For techs, say a cutting edge tech is worth +5, but NPC is gifted BB/AC tech but has no capability to build a BB/AC so player gets 0 points, or NPC is gifted sub tech they really want, so player gets a +10.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Fox : That is a useful idea on the scale and the examples.
The scale is something we can implement 'behind the scenes' easily and track.
As PC & NPC interaction occurs, we can track what modifier that was, and so be consistent and even handed.

Current Status : Snips on the tech tree. I've started working on the draft map updates to then proof through Snip. 
Still talking about various things and the best rollout for the various things.   Trying to fit this around normal life stuff.

Turn February 1, 2020
I've sent a query to Snip regarding the HY1 1912 turn currently scheduled for tomorrow.
Basic question is - go and worry about rollout later, or pause longer- and how long?

[The Rock Doctor]

I don't see a lot of need to move into 1/12 right away if we're still discussing potentially significant changes.

[Kaiser Kirk]

I don't see a lot of need to move into 1/12 right away if we're still discussing potentially significant changes.

Fair.

Where I'm at - I've got the draft of unclaimed Province type / Resource Points/  Good Harbours for South America and Africa to Snip.
He can review and decide more/less/different.
Then I'll proceed with the rest of the globe.