So, this will be a regular weekly or semi-weekly (more on this later) huge FFA event. My ultimate goals in terms of the format are:
1. Whoever shows up plays, including non-clan players, and we keep a leaderboard as with the other events
2. Random system generated with the "awesome systems" mod, or whatever it's called
3. Spawn anywhere
4. Dynamic alliances once mikey patches the allied vision issue (and unofficial alliances allowed until then)
However, this is again an experimental event, which means I will be trying several different approaches depending on how many people show each week, and what the previous games in the series have given me in terms of data. So for example, if fewer than 20 people show this Saturday, we will use landing zones. If more than 20 show, I will turn on spawn anywhere. Similarly with the random system. If I use landing zones, I will pick a system that has been tested with big FFAs. If I use spawn anywhere, I will use a random system, since it won't have to be "balanced" (since you can spawn anywhere on it).
My ultimate goals are the ones I listed above, but these will only be used/needed when the player number reaches a level that justifies them. Until then, I will just be using whatever format seems to work best from game to game.
As with the early Clan Wars, you can expect lag, especially in the early games, until I get a good feel of how many players I can fit into a particular system or type of system without lag, and what effect the spawning anywhere or landing zones have on top of that. Eventually, however, I will figure everything out and things will go more smoothly.
As for scheduling, we will need to use the same time slots as with Clan Wars, because those are the ones that best accommodate all time zones. So, this Saturday the War is at 22:00 UTC, so Battle Royale will take place at 15:00 UTC (and the League games will happen at some other time during the day if we manage to arrange them).
Long term, I think we will alternate Clan Wars and Battle Royale, week by week, with the exception of some special Saturdays, like the coming one, in which we will hold both. I will have more on this next week, after I have thought about it more.
For the time being, I am announcing Battle Royale #1 for Saturday, October 7, at 15:00 UTC, and I hope to see many of you there. (The time is already penciled in on the site, for reference:
http://cosmicwar.net/).
In the meantime, if you have any comments or suggestions, make them here, and we will talk about them.