Upcoming change regarding homeworlds for missing players

[Tsagoth]

Problem: Home systems for players who have yet to join the launched game appear as unnoccupied planets. Players claim them and then when the true owner joins, all the planets revert back to the planned owner and the squatter loses everything.

The current solution that we have in mind is to turn the planets invisible until the player joins. So your probe might fly through and nothing is there and then a few days later when you fly through there will be planets and a new player.

We don't see a downside to this solution, but comments are invited.

[ChickenHawk07]

Damn, didn't know this was even an issue. I hope I haven't taken any that are "owned". That solution you stated sounds like a decent one to me. No complaints here. It's better that that lose all the time you put into that colony.

[AntiHaze]

I wouldn't have it so that if you miss it a first time, you need to enter that location again to see it. I would rather it just pop up on the map if I have already visited that location. There are some parts of the map that are 3 squares away that I haven't seen since the beginning of the game. Under what you are proposing, there could be a whole system right next door and I wouldnt even know about it.

[mardril]

Unless there are more general fog of war-ish type changes coming later, right now this conflicts pretty strongly with the "once you've visited you know what is there" standard that seems to be in effect.

I can't think of anything more obnoxious than having to re-probe a the entire galaxy on an on-going basis to make sure I didn't miss some latecomers.

[SG7]

Yes, pop up is better. But I would also mark those squares as black from the beginning of the game. So we would know that something is there but not exactly what.

[Royce]

Wait, won't we see the planets as soon as they appear of we check an already explored sector where they exist? If not, I don't like this. The sector where they appear should at the very least become unexplored, though that would still be problematic since unexplored sectors are difficult to spot if surrounded by explored sectors.

[ChickenHawk07]

Unless there are more general fog of war-ish type changes coming later, right now this conflicts pretty strongly with the "once you've visited you know what is there" standard that seems to be in effect.

I can't think of anything more obnoxious than having to re-probe a the entire galaxy on an on-going basis to make sure I didn't miss some latecomers.

Yes, I second this. If it magically pops up into view once they've taken ownership, then I'm fine with it. But if we have to re probe, it's a deal breaker.

[Tsagoth]

Wait, won't we see the planets as soon as they appear of we check an already explored sector where they exist? If not, I don't like this. The sector where they appear should at the very least become unexplored, though that would still be problematic since unexplored sectors are difficult to spot if surrounded by explored sectors.

If you had already been to that system with a probe, you would see the planets when they decloaked.

[Royce]

If you had already been to that system with a probe, you would see the planets when they decloaked.

Oh then this sounds like an adequate solution.

[GeeWhiz]

As long as it was probed and we see it than fine.