Your analysis sounds about right. On your specific ideas:
a) The inside of a completed loop is "dead" and cannot be played. (This still probably puts you on a larger board; in fact, it probably makes a full GO board a more playable size.)
I like it. This adds an interesting low-level strategic twist -- not the sort of deep strategy that I tend to dislike (because I'm weak at it), but it makes you at least consider the order of your decisions a lot more carefully.
b) You can only capture those loops that you complete that already contain another piece of your color. (Getting us back to some of the Othello dynamic.)
Possible. I agree that it makes the game more Othello-like, although it adds back in Othello's tendency towards runaway wins: once you've mostly captured an area, it's very difficult to lose any of it. I'm not sure if I like this one or not, but it's probably worth trying, to see how it affects the tuning of the game. It arguably makes the game fairer, by rewarding good early play...
Both good ideas, and worth experimenting with. Thanks...
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a) The inside of a completed loop is "dead" and cannot be played. (This still probably puts you on a larger board; in fact, it probably makes a full GO board a more playable size.)
I like it. This adds an interesting low-level strategic twist -- not the sort of deep strategy that I tend to dislike (because I'm weak at it), but it makes you at least consider the order of your decisions a lot more carefully.
b) You can only capture those loops that you complete that already contain another piece of your color. (Getting us back to some of the Othello dynamic.)
Possible. I agree that it makes the game more Othello-like, although it adds back in Othello's tendency towards runaway wins: once you've mostly captured an area, it's very difficult to lose any of it. I'm not sure if I like this one or not, but it's probably worth trying, to see how it affects the tuning of the game. It arguably makes the game fairer, by rewarding good early play...
Both good ideas, and worth experimenting with. Thanks...