I say we keep the option of selling particles for gold. It's a great incentive, and it's actually been helping us get people majorly involved with Aetherspace. Kill that and you kill Aetherspace, Estarra.... like Danny DeVito tried to kill Smoochie. You don't want to kill Smoochie, DO YOU!?

Agreed, really. This is one of the first times in a long time I can remember people being this excited about it, and it's a lot of fun.

This sounds nifty as a starting point... does it mean you only gain particles when you attack another nation during a scheduled window of time though?

Particles fly off of the constructs as you focus negative upon them. So yeah, only during weakenings.

You should probably be able to focus positive, but NOT necessarily gain particles off it (or only gain particles off it if someone focused negatively. And obv focusing negatively on yourself would be illegal.)

Just as a question, but what stops, say, Serenwilde from inviting Celest to weaken their Constructs while Seren strengthens them? Two times the particles for none of the work. (Could even make it some sort of a "game" so it's not as obviously abuse, but still...)

Are we going to have to have the Admin policing all the Weakenings, if it's possible to get 2x the particles?

I don't know about that. Anyway, maybe make it so you can't get particles off focusing positively but can still do it to repair damage. I'm not sure if you can/should bother changing it so that Mag can't go agree pretend to damage Glom's constructs and share out the particles, but that's another matter.

Some things off the top of my head. Not sure what I'd like to see changed, but these are some ideas to think about.

1) Particles are given only for focusing negatively.

2) Range particle prices can be sold for is changed to a more reasonable number to match the output of particles that can be gained.

3) change the number of particles dropped. Could set a standard one particle per focus instead of the 1-5 range.

oh and do beacons work properly now?

Doesn't given defenders much to do during a Major Weakening, if there's no enemy ground force.

I know, that was kind of the point. The idea behind it is that it encourages raiding more if you want the particles. And you can't just keep getting your own particles by sitting.

Opinions on the other two? I think a big problem is that auronispheres don't work so we don't have a real basis to make changes on. We can only generate ideas based on a system that isn't working the way the admin want so we also have to assume that in the future we won't be able to sell particles which is just one big mess. Anyways, If the system stays the same or plans to for awhile, I think changing it to one particle a focus is a much better way to help regulate the gold incoming and future inflation.

But the thing is, if you lower the amount of particles and such and the price, soon it'll be too small. As its already been stated, the price of particles is already dropping naturally, so there's no real need for an Admin-based intervention. Wait until the gnome prices level out before calling for a nerf, because this was a system that was designed to stabilize itself. The more of a thing there are, the less their worth. So yeah, right now the price might be a bit high, but soon I can almost guarantee that you'll want it raised.

i'm fairly certain that only people stated that so it's not guaranteed. I find that they change randomly and aren't really dependent on how many are bought. Those were ideas on possible changes, whether separate, combined, or hybrid.

Particles are given for focusing positively. That was how Eldanien saw a particle the first time - while focusing positively during a major weakening.

Unless this changed, like so many things have.

Well it changed/was broken yesterday, 'cause we tried and it didn't work. That's all I know.

It works for major weakenings for us. Just not minor ones.

You cannot focus positively during a Minor Weakening. This is by design, and is not a bug. Here's why:

Some players from Magnagora and Celest are best buds, and hatch a clever scheme: Magnagora will focus negatively on Celest's constructs, draining them of energy and gathering auronidion particles. Celest will focus positively in an equal amount, restoring all drained energy. The end result is that there is no damage done to the constructs, and both groups end up with "free" particles.

It could be argued that we can just make that against the rules, but it seems too open to abuse.

Yes. I mentioned that when Shiri mentioned focusing positive to restore the burnt power. Making things "against the rules" means more admin oversight, and so on.

I'm not too well-versed in aetherspace combat, but having read Morgfyre's recent post, I'm a bit uncertain why attackers can focus negatively during minor weakenings, and defenders can't focus positively to repair the damage. I do understand the difficulty when you introduce the concept of "free" particles, but it seems a bit unbalanced in favour of the aggressors. Could someone please explain the reasoning for that to one of the combat-deficient, or point me to something I might've missed that would make things a bit clearer? I'd be ridiculously grateful.

During a mini-weakening, you can't "destroy" a construct, only disable it for about 6 hours, so it's not really a huge deal if you bring one down. It's up to the defenders to try and scatter the raiders and slow down the focusing process.

this coming from a guy who's first major involvement in a weakening was last night, so take what I say with a grain of salt. XD

Nah, you were right.

The objective of mini weakenings is to make constructs cost more for upkeep as they lose energy, and to disable the construct for 6 days. It doesn't do any actual physical/destructive damage- that's what major weakenings are.