I’m suggesting a galaxy that has rounds with longer ticks. Over the years, many people have left due to the hourly tick fatigue.
Maybe having three ticks per day in a galaxy that lasts six months would entice some people to try again and then stick around for more than one round.
Lol, the average round lasts ~1000 tics … it would take nearly a year to play a complete round with 3 tics per day. I predict more people will get bored and quit during the round than stay to play an additional round.
Also you say many people have left because of the hourly tic fatigue … Who?
I can see this making some sense, it’d just take some adjustments. For example, we could have pre-distributed planets where everybody starts in what feels like a mid-round setup. Similarly, we can start all players with an already-built fleet. That could shorten the required round length enough that the pacing feels right.
Instead of thinking it won’t work, is there a way we can brainstorm so that it would work?
Three ticks per day may not be the answer. Perhaps 4 or 6 ticks per day.
@Picklearmy There is zero doubt that people have quit playing IC over the years simply due to the time investment needed to play at a high level. Myself included, as well as lots of the people I’ve played with over the years.
I remember when MW had 100 families of 15-20 players a piece. Those days are not likely to return, but why not try different structures to see what can bring back some of those old players.
For example, the recent email blasts did convince I and likely a few others to return. But I already know I am likely to burn out from investing too much time and not play in the next round.
IC had thousands of players with tics being 1 per hour. Perhaps a tic every 2 or 3 hours would be better for some players, but for me it would be too boring.
Me.
First time I left IC, I did it, because I had to be online most of the day and sometimes wake up several times during night too, to get things done in a competitive way and not to let my fam down. It was not healthy for me.
With slower/longer ticks that would be not so hectic.
No need to change the main galaxy, but maybe have a galaxy for veterans and other elderly folk who enjoy slower pace. 
HAD being the key word.
I dunno, I would be very surprised if a galaxy could hold anyone’s attention for 6 months - 1 year.
Of course.
I assume it would have to have shorter travel times between systems, so more dense galaxy or just double movement speed.
If it would be possible, build times could be halved. 1 tick minimum for ground units. Perhaps it would be easiest to program into by giving everyone extra hidden 100% con%.
Those 2 could keep it interesting. Gotta think some more while playing…
I really don’t want to sound like a Debbie Downer, but I know that I am. But whats the point in having longer tics but shortening build and travel times? “lets have longer tics but make everything happen quicker” doesn’t make any sense to me.
Because some people have a life and do not want to be rushing to check their computer at 2 minutes past EVERY hour. Nor deal with the stress of that expectation.
I don’t play Call of Duty every hour of the day, but I will start up the Xbox and play a few games once or twice a day.
Would take more thoughtful consideration, but at first glance I LIKE IT.
Stefan allowed a lot of experimental galaxies coming out of the Beta rounds. The Custom Galaxies were a bonanza for that, however, the servers were unable to handle it and that came to a crashing end.
Experimentation is the only one to move forward and grow the game once again.
Forever grateful that @I_like_pie loved this game enough to take it over. New ideas are no doubt always welcome to such a legendary player turned owner.
If we have 4hr long ticks. One can do stuff in the evening, sleep 7hrs and be up and awake to do stuff in the next tick. One has not “lost” any ticks while sleeping. Same goes for busy days at work. By checking IC few times during work day, one would not miss a tick and could play even more actively than in regular 1hr ticks, without missing a tick.
Speeding up travel and building, it would also guarantee that stuff happens in slower galaxy too.
Does that make any sense to you?
Of course it would take some edge from superactive players, but they could dominate in main galaxy. I know I would lose advantage in slower galaxy, but I would also have less stress.
I would love to play both galaxies.
I guess, but I don’t see what is wrong with missing tics. Everybody sleeps, (almost) everybody has a day job or school or whatever. If you are someone who can only log on once or twice a day, go as a resourcer or banker. The main reason I am shitting on this is because of the vote system, I don’t want to see this take priority over other changes, just because some players feel the need to be present every single tic. I personally wouldn’t touch this galaxy.
Fwiw at its core, to just try this doesn’t require a whole lot of effort. I see this as an extension of a framework we already have in place. If we allow 1-minute ticks and 15-minute ticks, why not 2 hours? The precedent is already there to experiment with pacing.
I like this one a lot. Maybe not a hard definition on half, but making build times configurable would be a huge gain for flexibility even just for custom 1-hour tick games. I’ve set up an thread/vote for this specifically here.
That’s the great part about having the choice, you’d be free to ignore this entirely if you want but it might be a better option for those who wouldn’t touch the regular galaxies who may otherwise quit.
As for the votes/priorities, an idea that isn’t a priority isn’t necessarily a bad idea. “This idea is flawed” and “This idea should not be a priority” should be very different arguments.
Well said @I_like_pie.
The original idea is certainly flawed and that’s why it shouldn’t receive priority IMO. Taking a real life week and a half to build a portal would not make for a fun round.
Zanharim added something that makes it at least somewhat playable, but I still disagree this game requires you to be present for every tic, so in my view this whole thing is unnecessary.
whats up debbie downer 