Hello, this post is to help players who have not done development on a game before to understand some key concepts to help your suggestions be excellent suggestions.
Being that you are likely not a developer, you will want to follow the following equation to be effective as one who makes suggestions to developers of a game.
Recognize you are suggesting changes
In general you are suggesting changes. this are alterations to an already though out concept.
developers often make changes along the way to their destination to suit player desires.
this is a positive thing upon the game as it makes it more effective, and funner, but you must
keep in mind, that large changes will likely be shut down, this is not to disencourage you, but
to prepare you. some times you will find parts of your idea will be added, i will give you an example.
I suggested a change to ships mod system, and purposed that weapons become “arc’d”.
the mod changes are under investigation, however the arc system you now see on frigates
where they can shot 2 weapons off to their side. So even though i made a huge suggestion
it does not mean that it was out right shut down. Just be aware most of the time it will be.
The “S” Factor (Equation)
this is a concept i designed. It follows the current cycle.
Practicality > Uniqueness>Time > Impact > Harmony
Follow these steps and it should be sound.
you don’t want to make a suggestion that takes a lot of time, unless its something that
has a lot of favor and is unique. equally important is that you dont want to suggest something
that is timeless, but has no impact. You also dont want to suggest things that dont fit into the harmony
of the game or the vision the developers have with the game. Harmony however is a changing factor
so it can be ignored or disregarded until it is the last part to be considered
Game Design Concepts
All designs concepts should have obvious advantages and disadvantages
if you take an ranger, you know that he is weak at melee, and if you take a melee, you know he is weak at range
Trade offs should be clear cut, and not hard to distinguish
you shouldn’t start a new game and not understand the benefits of an interceptor over a frigate. you equally should not rule out that other roles because of in balance.
All things in a game should be used and desirable
this means that for every item in the game, you will have someone who loves it, for some reason. it should have obvious points of durability. For example, rail guns should be clear to be suited for critical strike builds, regardless of what ship you fly.
All aspects should be different and if possible unique
This means that you do not want the same thing in 100 variants 100 times. the fewer usages of one concept, and the more concepts the better. In other words, you should have 1 archer, 1 melee, 1 tank, 1 healer. Not 10 archer classes, and 1 tank. try to make all aspects unique, but at the least different
Customization
Each aspect should be changeable by the player. But it should not be changeable to the point where it breaks the game or makes things go vastly out side of the concepts of what other players create. an example of this is the current ship fitting system. you can customize it for damage, tank, speed, but you cant for example make a ship with 100,000 hp with that customization. so create a border or limitation to the customization powers the players have. do not forget, people like options.
Recognizing The Game Design
this is often a very hard thing to do, but it can be done by an intelligent and knowledgeable person who
devotes a lot of time to trying to understand the game. if the spend such time in this, they will come to
understand the game even if things are under NDA (non-disclosure agreement) you can learn the way the developers think. this can help someone devoted in helping the game to suggest modifications that are in harmony with the game
concept(s). if you have the time, try to obtain this knowledge, it helps a lot.
Creativity
never be ashamed of your idea’s, forget about what people say, and defend your position if you believe in it.
but be objective and consider the positive and negative merits of it, and be honest with yourself if it is something
positive or negative for the game.
lead you to help