Re: FTIII: A Plea to End "Me Too" Firing.

Joachim Heck - SunSoft wrote:
> 
> Mikko Kurki-Suonio writes:
> @:) On Tue, 27 May 1997, Joachim Heck - SunSoft wrote:
> @:)
> @:) > typical definition I've heard of a "me too" problem is when you
> @:) > have simultaneous fire but no great effort is made to declare
> @:) > fire simultaneously (SFB is generally played this way).  Now one
> @:) > person says "I am firing this turn" and the other guy panics and
> @:) > says "me too" but really they should have both spoken at the
> @:) > same time and the second guy wouldn't have fired.
> @:)
> @:) Quite frankly, I don't see the "problem". I think reacting to an
> @:) opponent's action is quite valid, especially since we're talking
> @:) volleys of fire anyway.
> 
>   I guess that's the question, whether we're talking volleys of fire,
> or more generally what the speed of combat is here.  In yet another of
> my totally goofy examples, if you and I are standing next to each
> other with one atom bomb each, our fingers on the triggers, and I
> press my trigger, you won't have time to say "me too" and shoot back.
> But if I had to aim a gun and you saw tracer fire or ranging shots or
> that kind of thing, you might still have a chance to shoot back.
> 
	That's the one of the primary dangers of being fired upon by a
directed
energy weapon in space combat.	You don't know you've been fired at
UNTIL you've been hit.	You can track missiles, fighters, and possiblly
railgun rounds.  However since DEW beams travel at or just a little
below c, you have no idea your being shot at until parts of your ship
are being sliced away.	

	Now, how long in the average turn in FT in "game time?"  We
don't know,
do we?	That area has been left completely up in the air.   If the 1
turn equals 10 minutes, then I can understand the normal firing rules. 
However if it's something like 10 seconds, then you have to ask yourself
can a fleet of starships react to incoming fire that fast and (as we in
our playgroup call it) "return the lovin'?" 

Later,
Mark