Expanding on discussions in a different thread, I wanted to explore how much interest there is in a community project to create tournament rules for SGN.

Responses to this thread should focus on:
  1. expressing interest if you would like to participate
  2. thoughts about how such a project should best be undertaken.


IF there is decent interest, then we can create new threads for detailed discussions on specific sub-topics. So let's hold off on those ideas for now.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure I have the time, personality and experience to lead such a project. I'm not a game designer, and I don't always play well with others. Also I often find myself out of the mainstream. But I'm excited about the possibilities, and interested to see what could happen if we put our heads together and gave it a try.

Here's how I personally envision the project (of course, it might not be the way it actually goes):

GOAL:

  1. to create "tournament rules" for SGN. Why? To increase interest in the game by creating a new format that encourages more play and discussion, and adds some new dimensions to the game
  2. to create a rules set of sufficient quality, and with sufficiently broad appeal (and marketing) that it goes beyond a few people on one message board fiddling around, and gets some decent uptake


WHAT ARE "TOURNAMENT RULES"?

By this, what I'm really talking about is to allow fairly quick games, so a tournament can be played in a reasonable time, while also enabling a "meta game" involving selection of different combinations of ships, etc.

Here are what I think would be some of the specific requirements:
  1. Games can be played within X time limit (1 hour? 1.5 hours?)
  2. Games can be reasonably be played with fleets of significant size (up to 4? 5? 6? ships)
  3. Fleets are constructed using a points system
  4. Fleets can have different characteristics, allowing them to stack up better or worse against other sorts of fleets (this is the "rock-paper-scissors" mechanism)
  5. Individual units (ships for sure, and possibly other units like crews, captains, equipment, etc.) are significantly differentiated so the specific choices have material impact on how the fleet as a whole fights, and various synergies exist that can be exploited


There are a few other "principles" I think would guide the project:
  1. SGN is a historical game, so even if such a project will necessarily introduce some "gamey" elements, it should preserve as much historical realism and flavor as possible. In certain ways it could even do a better job of highlighting the historical exploits of the various ships in the game
  2. We've all seen power-creep and similar abuses in other games, and should work to avoid them. This will require striking a balance between distinctive and interesting units, and keeping things conservative and somewhat understated.
  3. It should work with the ships we have, i.e. follow Ares' product release train (individuals could of course then extend it)
  4. It should work with the existing game components as much as possible
  5. It cannot be 100%, but to the extent possible, it should follow the existing rules set. No change for change's sake. Try to stay compatible
  6. Once it comes together, it should be suitable for, and we should seek to achieve, some modest level of official support from Ares, so it can go beyond this board


PROCESS

If these premises were to be accepted, then here's how I could imagine it progressing:
  1. The hardest thing is to try to come up with a rock-paper-scissors mechanism. I have a few vague ideas, but nothing too concrete. The era doesn't necessarily lend itself to this idea. Also, changes here would represent real rules changes, with fallout throughout the rest of the process. So I would tackle that first. It would involve brainstorming, writing rules, and then testing them to see if they worked. We could start by surveying existing games and thinking about what did and didn't work, and what we might be able to borrow
  2. A somewhat related issue is whether other game mechanisms might need to be altered or introduced, so that we are more able to differentiate ships from each other. Again this would require brainstorming, discussion and testing.
  3. If we pass those hurdles, the rest would be comparatively easy. The next thing would be to streamline the rule set as necessary, so as to allow sufficiently quick play, while remaining interesting
  4. A related issue might be coming up with alternatives to some game mechanisms, like ships logs, damage chits, etc.
  5. Then we could get to the fun part of creating data and abilities for all the ships in the game, thinking up new "add-on" cards, etc.
  6. Huge amounts of playtesting, with detailed reports, would be needed all along the way.
  7. Once things are coming together, we would want to draw on the graphics skills people to have to create the nicest possible presentation as possible, so it has more appeal.


This would obviously be a long term project. It would need a solid group of enthusiastic people to get committed to it, stay involved and continue to contribute over the long haul. If it's going to be any good, the ideas generated would need to be tested a lot, with a critical eye. It would also inevitably result in some disagreements and compromises. If we passed all those hurdles, I think we really might get somewhere.