While I do and don't agree with @Shedletsky (dev resources are limited and should be put to high value features, this is a somewhat solved problem with MOSS and others...and yes, it will never catch a determined bad actor), I think @Mirroar makes a good case that those who offer code should get some benefit, otherwise they may not be so altruistic.

And @Syncaidius, sure, the fun is in solving problems, but for me, I learn a lot more from seeing how other people have implemented and building onto that...I'd be completely lost and probably would have abandoned a long time ago if I couldn't use someone else's framework as a starting point.

Either way, I think there may be a "Gamification" solution to code sharing that lets people who write unique code measure themselves accordingly, whilst also allowing of us who aren't great devs, learn from those who are.

With the discussions going on around shared code bases, would it potentially be valuable to add a leaderboard that takes into account how unique your code base is?

Some calculation of Control Points * uniqueness of code.

So 1,000,000 Control Points * 100% unique code > 1,000,000 CP * 99% unique code.

Or, for a shared code base that has been "tweaked": 1,000,000 CP * 5% unique code < 1,000,000 CP * 7% unique code.

It very quickly becomes a 2 tier system for people who start custom and borrow from open code bases vs people who start with a shared code base and tweak, greatly benefitting the custom folks.

How you determine "uniqueness" I don't know, but it adds an incentive that isn't currently there to develop really custom stuff, and allows those who care about code to measure themselves on that metric, and those who aren't as strong at coding (me) to tweak and compete on expansion.

Just a thought.

Rooms can re-spawn just like PCs can. They also have the re-spawn cooldown (i.e. can't respawn in the same room for 3 day). But Rooms then also have to be built back up from scratch by harvesting energy.

PCs have a cooldown before re-spawn, but they can be immediately(?) leveled up using old Power.

Is there a mechanic that might reasonably stop the immediate re-spawn of a super creep in the same way I can't move an RCL 8 room, or is it only the re-spawn cooldown?

I think that a power sink is probably a good idea.

GCL is the only other non-sink item in the game (once you gain it you keep it).

But there is a big big difference between GCL and Power:

-- GCL aids expansion only. Rooms are a "static" resource that doesn't change frequently. And in order to expand, you have to (usually) take from someone else using creeps with a sink, against a room that has (potentially) the same resources you do. Yes you can send multiple rooms against a single room to give you a force multiplier, but that seems ok. This is also why newbie areas only allow 3 rooms, so that someone with a high GCL doesn't get TOO strong a lead.

-- Power aids in the taking of rooms and blocking of resources. PCs are a "fluid" resource that moves and can be reallocated constantly. They allow for asymmetric warfare (PCs against non-PCs is potentially massively unbalanced). If you can't beat a PC supported army with regular creeps, you will never be able to unseat a strong player, and there is no limit to their use of PCs.

@Dissi - if I were Hernanduer, the first thing I would do with those 239 levels is to put them into offensive PCs to clear out a nice buffer around me to let me spread my empire and use my regular creeps to back fill. Then kill off most of the army, leaving enough to take out any newbies that move in, and focus my power on protecting as many Power Banks and harvesting those as much as possible to keep my edge. Only then would I fall back on operational creeps to take over my most CPU intensive tasks.