uh, in the new version, there are no scripts, there are no helpers. That very effectively removes the ability to play AFK.


Please do tell about this bug that can let you knock someone offline anytime you want. I'd be happy to know about it, then i can watch for it, and ban someone from exploiting the bug.

"Overnight key time" is really relative. Someone who has the ability to devote 20 hours to playing is more likely to win than someone who can only devote 5 hours, unless the games are time/turn limited. in an unlimited game, someone who has more time to devote will win, afk or not. Someone who is physically at the keyboard has the advantage over someone playing afk. And someone who can knock someone offline will have the advantage over someone afk, script or not. If i can knock you offline, then your relog script is not going to be fast enough to get you back in before my invasion script can start running. doesn't matter if there is a BBS front end there or not. And if I can knock you offline once, i can do it continously. So bbs front end or not, the login process itself will be enough to cause you problems.

Scripting only evens out the playing fields if EVERYONE uses the EXACT same scripts, have the EXACT same connection, and EXACT non scripting times. If one person has a higher ping, then the faster ping's script will react faster. If someone has a faster script, their script will act faster. If one person is afk scripting and one person is at the keyboard, then the afk scripter can be defeated. All scripting has really done is allow people to devote less physical time to a game.

Ooooh, by the new version you are talking about the one from Sylian?

I don't know that you will find a lot of people here who will agree that it is a new version of Trade Wars.

Like i said earlier, I may not like much about that version of tradewars, but it IS very close to what we were asking for in the way of a new version of tradewars, and like it or not, it IS a new version. I've kept half an eye on the progress of it and tried it a few times... it's not that bad... if the interface were better i think it would be a great game... but the interface completely kills it for me. But if you look thru old old threads when JP was asking us for our input (maybe it was on one of the other companies forums) you'll see that the new version has things we as a group asked for.

Oh that pos. No, that's not the new version of TW, that's a graphical offshoot. People could design scripts for it by reversing the code, but it's not really worth all that. The new version is the one being worked on by JP, the one that would've had jumpgate, etc. If I wanted to play an in-the-box game I'd just go play EVE or Tribal w/ all the others. Zzzzz.



Unfortunately it's not that simple. It's well documented, I brought it up to JP in the hopes it'd get fixed. Search for it. It happens a lot by accident when people are gridding around.



Nonsense. The torping example is exactly what I mean. I have unconventional hours, used to put a lot of time overnight in whenever needed. Haven't exactly had to do that lately. I couldn't just mow around randomly because of the torp threat, instead I'd have to first waste their torps and hope they didn't refill or come back to keys. Sure they can be defeated, but it takes work... it takes a challenge. That's the whole point, it brings the game up a level. Take that out of the equation and the game gets boring very quickly. Public scripts do a lot to even out the play and force people to think before they act.

Or it could be the learning curve that prevents new people from wanting to play. Imagine this your a average joe looking for a new thrill and you find this game. You remember back to the MBBS days of old when you and your local nieghbors would dial into a BBS and fight it out for galactic reign. Not superfast scripts with rediculous ping times playing a game for you, just keytime. Anyways you never really learned the game the first time around and you find out about this TWGS thing and think what the heck I will check it out. So you connect via hyperterminal after having read a rather lengthy manual and type in the command to warp to stardock in a "newbie" game. On your way there you hit a fig that a above average player running some bot or other script laid during gridding and bam *SD*.

Where is the motivation to learn, no human can compete with a script (At least those at the level of scripting you and some others are at). Where is the fun in that? So this new player having invested maybe 20 mins says screw this I'll play L.O.R.D. or some other text based game. Or just fire up the XBOX 360/PS3/ Other Console and play something that I don't get wiped out at while initially running to stardock.

My point being is the only thing hurting TW2002 outside of the fact that its 20 years old. Lacks any real graphics, most "newbies" have no clue what a BBS was/is and the Ego's of some long time players, is the scripts that completely automate all gameplay. What possible motive would a non script inclined player have to play? To be the "best", even when the player attains said goal of being the best in most games he/she is ridiculed for some mistake, accused of cheating, or some other issue arises in Smack talk forums. But I'll assume for just a second that they don't even read twcentral or other forums, what motivation do players have to read a 10 page manual on how to play, learn advanced strats and then after that learn boolean logic/scripting with 90+ commands just to compete.

Personally, I think TW needs some sort of newbie friendly settings wether server side scripts or lack of player scripts to allow people to get there feet wet. Your contention that "no-one" would frequent a server such as the OP's or that some player would beat it using auto-it or a script language of some sort is counter productive. Like prom in the other chestnut thread it's a pointless arguement because in the end our player base dwindles and eventually it will only be the scripters playing.

Players vote with there feet, unfortunatly generally they don't come back and we dont exactually have a advertising agency working to recruit new players. TW is dieing thats a fact, its great it lasted as long as it has, in fact it was my very first online game I ever played. I can still remember calling 900#'s to get gametime on my local MBBS that was I wanna say wildcat at the time. But in the end I hardly consider under {insert current #] active players spread across all Twgs's/BBS's competitive.

That's exactly where I was back in 2005. You know what happened? I got involved in a couple slow games, relearned the commands, then got in bigger games. Corped w/ a few people, learned new tricks, got my butt handed to me more than a few times, kept learning and eventually decided to start scripting.

I remember one of those first games some guy was running a twarp foton from dock. I wasn't commissioned, I had just got on (was sleeping at base) and was heading to dock. His script torped me, tried to attack, but my defense odds were too high. He blew most of his figs and went over 1k in experience. Finally got my turns back, went to dock, he was still running his script... unfedsafe. Capped his ship (by hand, laff) and that was that.

My point? It's not the scripts that matter, it's how they're used and who you're up against. I decided I didn't want to quit, wanted to get better and win games. He ran the script w/ all the wrong settings and it cost him. But it wouldn't have mattered. Why? Because I knew I could get thru it eventually.

If you're getting stuck in games where people's scripts keep killing you, either you aren't learning from past mistakes or you're getting into games that are too old to break into.



Really now... laff. Of course people can compete w/ scripts, I've seen macros each scripts alive. I'd consider it trivial to mess w/ most scripts. Especially those ran AFK.



Find a new game, you'll get in if you lawnmow. The fun comes once you learn how to screw w/ all these so called "elite" scripters/players.



Shrug, age can't be helped. Ego comes w/ the game. Scripts can't completely automate gameplay, that's nonsense.



That's the motivation right there, to compete. That's what sets this game apart from others, you can't just learn it overnight. You actually have to study a little and put some time in. Not all that much really, you'd be surprised what you can do w/ just a few hours a week, but hey. That makes it fun. What fun is there in beating a game that doesn't take effort?



There are dozens of those games out there. Just CLV and check the V before you get going. If it's a week old w/ a half-dozen active players or a big corp, it's too advanced. But there's a lot of games that have no players.



My point has always been the same there. Nothing you can do to the game can remove the impact of a little effort. And IMO, that's what makes the game fun.

Most games take effort to beat or are unbeatable such in the case of W.O.W. Tradewars is no different, however tradewars really doesnt have any dumbed down versions of it to allow newer players to get together and learn. There are however sysops who believe like I do that we as a community need said versions. And said sysops through scripting or just building there own front end are trying to help make the game have more mass appeal. I agree with you on what makes TW fun, but what works for us doesnt work for everyone. To laff away any innovation is counter productive to what is trying to be accomplished.