Updated proposal

When you start a new game, you are given the choice between two separate modes: Casual and Hardcore.

Let’s look at Casual first. It’s similar to the initial proposal:
As you leave a docking port the game records the state of your ship
Should your ship be destroyed, you restart the game at the docking port where the ship state was last recorded
You are given a replacement ship and equipment identical to the last ship record
All cargo and consumables spent since the last ship record are lost
Some or all of these may still be present where your ship was destroyed
Some active missions may be failed – based on specific mission criteria
Escape pods may not be fitted
Casual characters are automatically part of the “casual players” group as well as any other groups (such as “all players”, “Friends”, etc.)
A character may not be present in both the “Casual players” and “Hardcore Players” group at the same time
A Casual character cannot change to the “Hardcore Players” group
Hardcore has some significant differences:
All starter ships are equipped with an escape pod for free
When your ship is terminally damaged there is a short time (around 5-10 seconds, maybe more) when you able still able to activate the escape pod (even though the ship is technically dead)
Escape pods use the following rules:
They cannot be attacked, damaged or scooped
They are disposable – once used, another must be purchased
They allow a one shot hyperspace jump to one of a limited number of destinations based on the current location and the location of the last ship record
After using an escape pod, you receive a replacement ship with identical equipment to the last ship record
All cargo and consumables spent since the last ship record is lost
Some or all of these may still be present where your ship was destroyed

If your ship is destroyed and no escape pod is fitted (or the you decide not to activate the escape pod) then where the ship was destroyed determines the result:
Some areas are designated as protected
You restart at the nearest docking port that sells ships after a short, enforced delay
You are given cash equivalent to the value of the ship and equipment
Your ship, equipment and cargo is lost
The contextualisation for this is that your RemLock activates and you are rescued
Some areas are designated as unprotected
You have the choice of starting a new hardcore character, or reviving the current character as a casual character, retaining cash, ship and equipment from the last ship record

Hardcore characters are automatically part of the “hardcore players” group as well as any other groups (such as “all players”, “Friends”, etc.)
A character may not be present in both the “Casual players” and “Hardcore players” group at the same time
A Hardcore character can change to the “Casual Players” group (and thereon in follow that group’s death rules), but this process cannot be reversed
Common Rules:

When your ship destruction is detected as a criminal act, the perpetrator is suffers temporary forced inclusion into the “All players” group
Game time elapsed is used as opposed to real-time
You can flag friends to be immune from this rule
Cargo ejected as a result of criminal attack is flagged as stolen
If you can reach the cargo you may collect it without penalty
You may flag friends who are then also allowed to collect it without penalty
If your ship was destroyed by authorities or their sub-contractors any bounty and criminal record you have is reduced
Disconnects

When the game cannot communicate with your client the following action is preferred (notwithstanding technical limitations)
Your ship carries on at the last known trajectory
If under attack the ship attempts minimal evasive movement
Any turret weapon systems will continue to attack enemies using basic AI
There is no obvious feedback to other players that connection has been lost
After a delay (around 30 seconds) of contiguous connection loss your ship, if still alive is removed from the game (with some form of contextual escape jump effect)

Hello!

Some clarifications:

Exploration

First I want to try and put fears to rest for all you intrepid explorers.

* You will be able to make deep space expeditions.

* You will find lots of interesting and potentially valauable stuff and have interesting encounters.

* We will endeavour to ensure that you can make prolonged expeditions before needing to return to civilisation.

What I want to add is: there will be interesting things for explorers to do without travelling to the far flung corners of the galaxy, because, let's face it, with starting equipment, player options will be limited compared to a expertly kitted-out craft.

Escape Pods

There are a couple of points here.

* Hardcore escape pods are at a basic level, your insurance. They won't be particularly cheap (we can make their cost ship dependant to address scaling issues) and they will take up space and ship resources.

* A common design mistake is to assume that if something is potentially available to players it is always available to players. This is simply not true in practice. Available cash, criminal status and item availability can all come into play when determining whether the player will have an escape pod fitted.

* We could introduce an automatic escape pod for casual. My main reason for not doing this is because the death penalty is a rather abstract, "reload" type of affair that cannot really be contextualised. But I have no massive objection against it.

Differences between Hardcore and Casual

Casual is specifically aimed at the player with limited time. It is quite different from hardcore, with very limited death penalties.

* Hardcore allows instances of permanent death. If I'm flying in some unregulated backwater of space, and I don't have an escape pod, then if I get into a fight I might very well permanently die.

* Although I have explicitly stated that an escape pod cannot be attacked in flight that does not have to mean that my ability to launch it cannot be affected by ship damage, so again, we can introduce another way to permanently die.

* Assuming I manage to escape, either in a pod or by being rescued, even though I get a potentially large wad of cash, Other than knowing that there will be a ship of some sort I could buy, there is no guarantee that there will be one that I want, or the equipment to deck it out effectively (including an escape pod system). This is a significant difference from casual.

Splitting the User Base

I agree that where possible it is better not to split people, but I have to balance this against the potential exploits and griefing. Yes, there are issues with grouping and game modes, but this is a hurdle we have to overcome anyway.

The bottome line is that the two modes have some rather stark differences that could create and exacerbate very unfair situations.

Death Penalty Disparity

One other point I'd like to briefly touch on is the perceived difference between trading and piracy death penalties. This is something we are not ignoring, but it's also something that cannot easily (and perhaps should not) be "solved" purely within the realm of the concrete death penalty rules.

For example (and I fully admit this is a set of extreme differences to make a point):

* as a trader I might find my ships are relatively cheap compared to more combat capable craft. I also won't have any trouble paying off pesky bounties because I won't accrue them, and of course, I will have lots more space to make a killing when I read the market correctly.

* as a pirate, I might pay a premium for ship combat efficiency, and then a load more for some tasty gadgets that will help be track my prey (and might be illegal). On top of this, I'm quite possibly going to lose my ship now and again to bounty hunters and the authorities, and with a criminal record I might pay additional premiums for gear, or be refused outright in extreme circumstances. And finally, there's no way I'm going to be able to scoop up *all* that juicy cargo that's spilling out of the trader ship I just hammered.

Of course, the trick is going to be balancing out these (and other) game play options, but the point I'm trying to make is that game development is basically a big ball of inter-related rules.

In Conclusion

For myself, my primary goal is to help create a game that entertains players through interesting and varied challenges rather than punishing risks. Yes, hardcore is meant to instil a sense of fear and tension over and above what casual can provide by opening up the threat of permanent death, but in my opinion players need to feel that they can manage that threat in order to progress.

Having said that, with the current proposal I believe we have enough parameters to tweak and balance the risk of hardcore (and casual for that matter) mode as we get stuff up and running and tested under live fire (and merge them if the possibility arises).

And in the end, I'm also trying to help create a game that will be successful with broad appeal. Yes, some of the decisions are going to be unpopular with some people. Much as I'd like to avoid that, I can't. But I am still listening. This is not, as they say, the end, and I will do my best to keep you guys and gals up to date with developments.

And lastly: please don't worry about the poll! As I stated before, it was just for me to confirm or deny some suspicions. It was not the final arbiter of any summary (though it was useful to me)! The summary has grown from our own internal discussion influenced by the DDF!

Cliff Notes of discussion:

Jump Restrictions
Jump drives take longer to charge in combat situations (due to power being allocated to shields and weapons)

Jump drives share power will all other ship functions, so players can decide where to allocate power depending on the situation (jump drive to charge it quicker, or shields/weapons for defence, for example).
Whilst in combat, the hyperspace drive should be disabled

No situational restrictions on jumps, except standard charge time
Taking damage or firing slows down jump drive charging


Mass Locking- any large body that intercepts your jump will cause you to exit it at it
Ship size affects time of jumps, time to charge drive and the possible length of jumps

Ways to disable jumps drives in combat
Multiple Jumps
Journeys that require multiple jumps can be mapped out in advance (you will have a delay at each jump destination whilst your drive recharges)
Beacons in core systems (less regularly on the frontier) that you can use as ‘bookmarks’ for future jumps

Jump Effect
Space in front of your ship compress towards you at increasing speed at the beginning of the jump, and the destination point/system stretching out to its normal form in front of your ship as you arrive.
A ship about to jump lets off a distinctive glow that is visible to other players. The same glow can be seen within the cockpit
Ships about to jump have a ‘bubble effect’ followed by a streak of light that goes into the distance
Space should shift through the colour spectrum
Different jump effects for different jump drives

Other (for example, mis-jumps)
Older jump drives can ‘mis-jump’ or malfunction in some way
Mis-jumps either send you to random space or ‘witch-space’
Ship hard points can be replaced with fuel tanks, for exploration
Fuel scoops
Certain systems have properties that can increase/reduce jump range
A special jump drive that opens up an ‘entry point’ for multiple ships to jump simultaneously
Players can ‘tail-gate’ onto other player’s jumps