Talk:Common ITOD

Well, it's time to buckle down and figure out exactly how the merit system is going to work. This is crucial, because it will determine how squadrons compete against each other and try to win.

First, we should identify our goals. A few goals I'd like to see:

• A highly squadron that is almost all people who play only one game should be able to defeat a fairly active squadron that plays multiple games. Activity is key.
• One highly active person should be able to get more points than multiple somewhat active people.

Up till now, we have had two kinds of activities available during an ITOD: flying and writing. I think we're going to need more. Because we need some way for one person to be able to be highly active. They will be giving all their energy to just one squadron, and plus, we often have people who get bored. So, some ways that a person can have a lot to do:

• Get points for flying the ITOD mission multiple times - but that sounds boring, and doesn't make a lot of sense.
• Get points for flying in multiple games - reward this, but not so much that a squadron who plays only one game doesn't have a chance of winning.
• Get points for writing a lot - that makes sense, and should be considered, but we have people with poor English for whom that would take a long time. However, people who take the time and care to write long, good narratives should get as many if not more points than those who fly. Writing is also subjective, so there should be guidelines on how to award points.
• Get points for flying simulator database missions - but that isn't related to the storyline, and thus shouldn't be a big part of ITOD activity. Perhaps award an amount for flying these, but limit it to something low.
• Introduce other kinds of competitions; these could be different for every mission. There are a wide range of possibilities for this. For example, on each mission you could have a competition on the best strategy for attacking an enemy given a similar situation to the mission. We'd need an expert on tactics to grade these, but it's a thought.

We'll also need bonuses for certain accomplishments.

• Participation bonuses, of course. If an entire squadron participates in some way, they'll receive a large bonus. Or, if most do (set the number at some minimum percentage or maximum inactive people), give them a small bonus too.
• A special bonus for having the highest score for any given version of the mission (for a specific game). This will preserve the killboard-type races we have now, and still make it worthwhile to be a good pilot.
• Special bonuses for surpassing a certain amount of text when combining all the squadron's narratives.

With nice rewards for writing, it's certainly possible that Aurora Force members could join the flying unit, just to help out by writing. I like that idea.

With all this in mind, I'm going to try and draft up a points system. It'll be a very rough draft, but at least it's a start :)

":)
Licah