***INCOMING MESSAGE FROM DURANDAL***

Sorry to give you the bad news, but you've been kidnapped. Well, not you. But your leader has! I have managed to capture the elusive Sullivan; no small feat. After extensive detective work, a few hunt and pecks with the teleportation array, and some accidental catches (don't worry, all were thrown back and returned to the Earth's atmosphere) I at last had him in my clutches. Sullivan in captivity, and me free to pick his brain apart bit by bit. Of course, the only information even remotely interesting is regarding this project he's been running. Apparently this interests you. I can tell by the increase in your pulse rate. yes I see you and yes you should be ashamed

Anyway, here is what I was able to pull out of him. Lots of talk about meta-things. Of course you realize, this means words!

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Durandal: What brought about these changes to simplify the factions/maintenance points metagame?

Sullivan: The very first design challenge the FL:CE Dev Team ever faced was the environment. That resulted in the perfection of a real world scaled universe as a feature. The next was the radical decision to pursue realistic physics. This resulted in the eventual (after much trial and error) solid, playable, Newtonian simulation we arrived at. We then tackled the next core gameplay mechanic, our combat system. After exhaustive work we arrived at a system that was not only coded and felt true to canon, but was fun and rewarding too.

One of the few major design components remaining was something not actually in the game. The forum meta-game, roleplay factions needed to be addressed. Just as with the previous design challenges, before tackling this component head on we used placeholders. We absolutely used the placeholders to test some ideas and feel out different directions, but now we are really building that engine of gameplay. From the placeholders and the ideas we tested with them, we learned many things.

We felt and were told time and time again that there was massive interest in the game (even in its early alpha state). Mature gamers could understand and accept we were testing, failing, learning, and applying concepts in game. They could live with that because they could see the potential of the team's talent and vision. We consistently pulled in NEW people to Freelancer, a game several years old, just because of our modification. Not only because it was Halo, but because of how we were doing it. Nevertheless, the constant frustration was not the build but rather the hoops they had to jump through to play the build!

To get in the game they had to navigate the forum, which was convoluted to say the least, and deal with a myriad of different factions, the impression being they were superfluous, and then try to work within the further layers of complex framework of the faction and subfactions to just log on the server!

The meta-game was an absolute hindrance to the gameplay and only the most dedicated FL:CE fan would put up with it to play. Thankfully we have no shortage of extremely dedicated fans of the project.

In short, we have built and are continuing to strive for a more perfect meta-game that compliments the gameplay without being a hindrance. We fully intend to continue to provide ways for rewarding meta-game roleplay but in a way that does not prevent people from picking up the game in the first place. Hope that answered that question.

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D: How will this affect the performance of future FL:CE campaigns? Will faction Chain-of-Command and Territory Engagements be affected heavily?

S: It will absolutely affect campaigns in a number of ways. First of all it will hopefully make them more user friendly and more admin friendly for the already stated reasons for the changes. Players weren't the only ones getting burned out with the effort needed to work the system, admins had to try to push the paperwork through and still many great players fell through the cracks. Thankfully, we have had some very talented admins. Titans of management who forced the train engine up the mountain even though it was stuck in reverse.

Beyond that though, the changes to the campaign (and TE's) are yet another reason for the changes to the meta-game. Just as the meta-game on the Forum was a placeholder, so too was the meta-game on the server, the epic struggle between humanity and the invading Holy Covenant.

A new sandbox for the overarching struggle is in store for the next version, the first real render of what FL:CE really is, the Inner Colony Sieges. We still start just after Jericho VII, but we now end before the Fall of Reach. The campaigns will be a realization of that brutal struggle. Just as Harvest is the first punch, and the Fall of Reach the knock out punch (in terms of Humanity's fledgling empire). The Inner Colony Sieges is the brawl in between.

Players can look forward to a much more visceral experience in terms of the time in Halo history they are taking part in. Level design, economy, territory, and objectives will all reflect this. It will be much more focused on the events at hand, on the struggle of the Inner Colony Sieges Campaign.

As a result of/and part of the driving force of the new meta-game mechanics, the internal Faction systems have also had to adapt to the new realities. Just as the forum has been made more user friendly, and the campaign has become more focused, the Factions' internal structure reflects this with more personal player choice.

As the previous placeholder meta-game was vast and chaotic, the factions had to be much more controlling to get anything done requiring more complexity. With the advent of a more focused meta-game, the factions are able to afford the player something they never had much of in terms of the meta-game: freedom. Teamwork will still carry the day, but now the player can chose how they best wish to support the team's effort. Hopefully, that shed some light on that.

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D: Most veteran players know about all the work that went into making the combat gameplay balanced, engaging, and fun, but with these new freedoms offered to the players and factions are there any balance issues expected to arise? A chicken in every pot and a supercapital in every player's hangar?

S: The new meta-game, to the player, may feel streamlined, but there is nothing simple about it. In the previous placeholder mechanics, we limited "uber" vessels via a system of Maintenance Points (MPs). This achieved the objectives of keeping rare vessels rare and creating meta-game value for territories as various systems were worth different ammounts of MPs. However, it used the same approach all the meta-placeholders used: bureaucracy. The actual meta-game uses a far less painful approach and is designed to be much more effective.

True to our form in how we have scientifically applied mathematical approaches to other mechanisms, the meta-game now uses a normal distribution system or curve (a.k.a. bell curve) to handle the issue of vessel populations. There will not be a Dreadnaught parked in your driveway, nor a Trafalgar in every neighbor's garage.

Just as with all other aspects of FL:CE, our meta-engine is a complex, thoroughly designed, and meticulously executed system which once perfected serves to provide the player with a straightforward and rewarding process of play. On the outside it should feel very smooth and seamless, belying the thousands of tiny gears at work under the surface. That should answer that, I hope.

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D: Sooo... any updated content? Ship textures, new systems, slipspace mechanics?

S: Yes on all counts!

Content is updated with new paint, new playgrounds, and improved paths to move about. The meta-game may be the biggest change players notice right now, but it is only one of many refinements to the next version of FL:CE.

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D: Besides the aforementioned things will there be any further changes to server rules to increase playability, like to (not that it had too many issues before) the 2 ships per account limit?

S: Changes to game mechanics will include changes to the server rules. The idea is to enable us to remove issues from server administration with the new mechanics resulting in less policing and a more honest playing field.

Some of these are obvious, such as the removal of ship lists along with the limitations, administration, and policing they entailed. Additionally, server tags will be much more user friendly with there now being a grand total of two. {~} for the Holy Covenant and [*] for the UNSC. This too should make things better for both the players in creating characters and the faction leaders in managing the fleets.

Players will still be afforded two characters on the server, a primary and secondary should they wish, in the single faction of their choice. Still other alterations, and filaments tied to them, are more subtle. Nevertheless, there are a host of tweaks being made in an effort to advance, and enhance, the way the game is played.

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D: Finally, when will the mod be relea<Unauthorized access-alarm 2521->
<Security Breached 02-s<38.561.35.70>WH/N1/T5/D0/N3->

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I guess some things are better left unknown. Anyway, it seems you-... ah, we will have a lot of new things to look forward to. I, for one, feel positive about such changes. Certainly you will find aspects to be simplified, but they will move faster. Can you handle that?

I hope so for your sake

Disconnecting...