From: von@cory.Berkeley.EDU (Steve Von Worley)
Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek
Subject: Re: Halftime
Date: 25 Jan 93 19:02:43 GMT
Organization: University of California, at Berkeley

In article <1k1beh$884@agate.berkeley.edu> tom@soda.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) writes:
>In article <gfMyJG_00awQE216Qa@andrew.cmu.edu> jb8n+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joseph E. Beck) writes:
>)
>)tom@soda.berkeley.edu (Tom Holub) writes:
>)> In article <IfM87sa00VpNMKbVo0@andrew.cmu.edu> Sean Christopher Simmons <ss72+\
>)> @andrew.cmu.edu> writes:
>)> )       If there is a halftime, I think that it would be best to make it
>)> )optional.  I would STRONGLY prefer that the default be no halftime. 
>)> )Certainly, there is no reason for it to be manditory.
>)> 
>)> This is not an option.  Either all games will have it or none will have
>)> it; we are dedicated to every game setup being identical.
>)
>)This is stupid.  If halftime is instituted, and neither team wants it
>)for that game, why are you forcing it down their throats?  And has the
>)council discussed this already or are you just deciding ahead of time?
>)Will the council be discussing halftime again (and not telling us
>)again?)  We want to know.
>
>Why do so many posts out of CMU start with 'this is stupid'?  Can't you
>guys accept that you are not necessarily the repository of all netrek
>wisdom?

Maybe so many responses to your posts start out with 'this is stupid'
because they think your ideas are stupid?

>The Council in the past has unanimously agreed that all games should be
>played on identical servers; it is very unlikely that this will change.
>Your argument is spurious; if both captains want to play a 15 minute
>game, can they do that?

Please remove the pause feature, then.  A pause inserts a random, 
disturbing inhomogeneity (is that a word?) into the flow of the game.
Especially when people use it for conveniences like going to the
bathroom.

>The Council will be discussing halftime again.  I intend to push
>strongly for a halftime, a shorter game, or both.  

Shorter game?  Why?

Sigh.

>)Compromise?  A lot opponents think the freeze is better, but certainly
>)don't support it (based on the reponse last time).  
>
>Yes, this is the definition of 'compromise.'
>Here's a plan suggested by Chris Siebenmann (Gadfly) which may be more
>acceptable to you guys.
>
>At the halfway point, if all ships are in green alert, the game is
>paused.  If, at any time in the next 5 minutes, all ships are in 
>green alert, the game is paused.  From 5-10 minutes from the halfway
>point, if there is any time when no ships are in red alert, the game
>is paused.  At 10 minutes from the halfway point, the game is paused
>regardless.  No ships are blown up.

This is better than a poof, of course.

>This would allow the benefits of halftime without overly disturbing
>the flow of the game.  Comments?

Halftime sucks in any incarnation.  Let me explain...

One of the attributes of a great netrek team is the ability to stay
cohesive under pressure.  This means the ability to maintain roles,
follow orders, etc., even when things look hopeless.  Another
quality is that the team can communicate well, either verbally or
via messages, even in the face of seemingly negative odds.

One might say that the two attributes above distinguish a good team
from a mediocre one.

Unfortunately, halftime reduces the importance of the two attributes
mentioned above, since there is a period recuperate from loss-induced
spazzing.

As Felix Gallo said before: NETREK IS NOT BRIDGE.  NETREK IS A NASTY
POLITICALLY INCORRECT SIMULATION OF WAR.  In war, you stick together
and talk to each other or die.  It has been, and always should be, the
same in netrek.

Sandia
-- 
Steve Von Worley
von@cory.berkeley.edu
Computer Science Gradual Student
University of California at Berzerkly 
Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek