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Newbie Help (Start Here) / From one Beta Tester to the Dev Team & the future.
« on: November 08, 2017, 11:34:36 am »
Your game is dying, and almost dead.
The RPers are -gone-. I repeat, -gone-. 1-2 cliques of European friends in the same guild does not a game make.
You need to consider the efforts of the people on your development team, the LONG term efforts of the people who have Beta tested this game, and do what is right.
As attractive as a new Engine may seem, it will not save this game. Neither will new quests, new gear, new mechanics, etc. - the effort to implement is immense and cannot be supported by the current team without a development cycle that is UNREAL - and killing this game slowly.
Common complaints are either about the mechanics or the lack of RP. I think, and everyone should know this by now, that the two don't always play nicely together. In fact in many ways the mechanics either gently get in the way or are just not a necessary aid.
From where I sit, we've got two options.
1.) Shutter the game, stop bleeding time into this failed project, or
2.) Restructure and re-advertise
If you end up going with #2, good luck. Strip the game to what it needs, stop development on things that are 'nice to have', and focus on supporting RolePlay to the highest extent. Advertise the game as such, make sure the lore is ROCK solid, and find a way to bring player population up into a developed, albeit small, world that already exists and can be fleshed by the imagination. There are plenty of text-based RPs that do incredibly well at this. Take a page from them - our world can live, breathe, and be a great place to play, but it is TORN between mechanics and RP, and wants to be too much.
Develop what's worthwhile. Get a smaller, more defined focus, or watch the company continue to die.
Thanks guys - and good luck to our dev team!
Thank you, fellow Beta testers, for a hell of a decade with this gem.
(random thoughts - re-org under a Board of Directors, start structuring as a non-profit company, helps define focus & create accountability, etc. etc. - your thoughts welcome)
The RPers are -gone-. I repeat, -gone-. 1-2 cliques of European friends in the same guild does not a game make.
You need to consider the efforts of the people on your development team, the LONG term efforts of the people who have Beta tested this game, and do what is right.
As attractive as a new Engine may seem, it will not save this game. Neither will new quests, new gear, new mechanics, etc. - the effort to implement is immense and cannot be supported by the current team without a development cycle that is UNREAL - and killing this game slowly.
Common complaints are either about the mechanics or the lack of RP. I think, and everyone should know this by now, that the two don't always play nicely together. In fact in many ways the mechanics either gently get in the way or are just not a necessary aid.
From where I sit, we've got two options.
1.) Shutter the game, stop bleeding time into this failed project, or
2.) Restructure and re-advertise
If you end up going with #2, good luck. Strip the game to what it needs, stop development on things that are 'nice to have', and focus on supporting RolePlay to the highest extent. Advertise the game as such, make sure the lore is ROCK solid, and find a way to bring player population up into a developed, albeit small, world that already exists and can be fleshed by the imagination. There are plenty of text-based RPs that do incredibly well at this. Take a page from them - our world can live, breathe, and be a great place to play, but it is TORN between mechanics and RP, and wants to be too much.
Develop what's worthwhile. Get a smaller, more defined focus, or watch the company continue to die.
Thanks guys - and good luck to our dev team!
Thank you, fellow Beta testers, for a hell of a decade with this gem.
(random thoughts - re-org under a Board of Directors, start structuring as a non-profit company, helps define focus & create accountability, etc. etc. - your thoughts welcome)