Erastide wrote:LOL
So outline a workable way for this to function. One that is automated and doesn't require moderator interpretation of events. Most of us will still disagree with the option, but at least it would be something possible to put into the game. As it stands the opt-out option is just an idea for more protection.
Just got back from dinner.
The first hurdle is: "What is the definition and characteristics of an invasion?" What _is_ the current definition of an invasion? [The defense is sort of the resistance to an invasion, employing similar tactics.] I honestly have never seen such a definition posted anywhere. It would be helpful if someone could point me in the right direction. Having such a definition becomes important so that one can differentiate between a democratic change of management versus a hostile takeover. (Believe it or not, I'm inclined to think that many "invasions" are actually the former management crying "We wuz robbed!" when they lose power in a legitimate election. The main indicator of an actual invasion seems to be when the "Under New Ownership" telltales start to appear.)
The second hurdle is: Which regions are eligible to opt-out? Would a Founder be able to unilaterally choose to opt-out his region without even consulting with the residents? For the sake of "fair is fair", every resident in an opt-out would be ineligible to run off and take part in the invasion of, or defense of another region. That is, you can't secure _your_ home region this way, and then go stomping on others. What motivates a player to NOT try to sneak around that prohibition? The only answer I have for that is to be brutal. Try to break in, or try to sneak out to go raiding and if spotted doing it, the player and every one of his nations get deleted from the game. One may be inclined to try to bend the rules, but when the risk-cost analysis comes back, the only players likely to intentionally break the rule would be players planning to quit the game anyway and want to "go out with a bang." Enforcement of this actually becomes ridiculously easy because there are two very highly motivated groups to monitor traffic in and out of opt-out regions: Invaders and Defenders. Either group would dearly love to see a cheater on the opposing team permanently ejected from the game. I foresee extensive databases being constructed and nation movement history tracked for nearly every nation in every opt-out region. All free of charge to the Mods, and easily verifiable simply by backtracking a nation's movement history.
But this leads to the third hurdle, which is delineating time periods before and after opting-out. Keep in mind that these regulations would have to be formulated and hammered out prior to the implementation of the mechanism, just like Influence was hammered out beforehand. The absence _now_ of such regulations is NOT a valid counter-argument. As the saying goes, "Details to be worked out later." But the thing to be decided is, how long after having been an Invader or a Defender (defined as nations that actively moved into a "hot" region) must pass before said nation can move to an opt-out region? And how long must pass before a nation leaving an opt-out region is allowed to go invading or defending? It is highly UNdesirable to allow a nation to finish an invasion, pop into an opt-out region, and then pop out again just in time for the next invasion. Therefore, "buffer" periods would be useful. Once again, the penalty for deliberately violating this regulation is game ejection. And also once again, both Invaders and Defenders would watch opt-out regions like hawks, just for the chance to reduce their opponent's numbers.
I anticipate some loud squawks about, "You can't expect the very players that are most hurt by this change to do all the work necessary for it to succeed!" [
] Well, I don't. Not at all. But you know and I know that the Invaders and Defenders will, in fact, do it anyway. The _primary_ reason will be because they will want to amass as much evidence that "This isn't working! We told you it wouldn't work!" The ironic thing is, that by doing so, _they_ will be the very people that makes the system work as it was intended. And incidentally reduce the ranks of their opponents. And remove the kinds of players from the game that helps to improve the quality of the game population. That is, they'll be helping to eliminate cheaters.