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Can I be hurtfully and rudely sincere to S&B?
You guys should partner with the one who's name express misty realms.
With this player base and his quick progression we (Utopian players) would have a chance to see our beloved game flourish.
I know, there are egos involved, so I don't expect that will happen... ever. But, I just tell what I think.
There are so many great ideas here. It's important though that I highlight some of the limitations:
- Changes that are simple and require practically zero coding are what we're looking at now. We need to draw in lots of new players, entice those who've left and hope that the game starts to produce more resources to channel back into development (new code)
- Any of the small changes that you suggest that still require actual coding to be done are changes that would be medium term. Something to focus on quickly once resources become more abundant.
- Any of the large changes suggested that would require new platforms for the game or whole new mechanics would be more long term. These are 'end goals'. We'd hope to keep adding to these and moving some to 'medium term' once the ball is well and truly rolling. Once they're in the 'medium term' bracket they're nearer to reality.
That's a bit like 'Spot does Game Development' I know. Forgive me, I studied in Literature and Philosophy (officially), customer service (professionally) and Kung Fu (in my spare time). Ask a Buddhist Monk for methods of reducing costs and overheads and augmenting business resources (and other generic terms) and you're likely to get a koan about a tiny panda that couldn't reach the best bamboo in the forest until he learned to stand on the racoon's head.
@ Magn
Yes we think there are those who wouldn't mind contributing. The enthusiasm and loyalty of the player base is never questioned nor indeed taken for granted. Perhaps a poll on this kind of approach would be beneficial.
@ WolfDGrey
That's something we can't really comment on. As far as we understand it, 'ego' isn't really the factor that would limit this. It's not even something we can talk about much. There is a lot of legalese involved when you step down this road. We're just not qualified to talk about frightful terms like copyright or ownership or infringement.
@Igor444 (and anyone else who has made similar suggestions)
Involving the community is something we're keen to do. We're very community focused. As for actually letting them code a feature - we think (I'm no coder myself) that it gets more complex there. We don't think B&S want to hand out their code so that others could work on plugins (forgive me if that term sounds idiotic or condescending) and changes.
However there is an overarching goal to get someone on board who B&S can coach and nurture (like a big human egg) to contribute to the very changes that are suggested here and all over the boards.
New employees require funding though.
It's best to think of it (I find) like an amusing platform game. There's a door in front of a ladder. Up the ladder lies the next level. The level we want to reach. On that level is a key. That key opens the door on the floor below. Unlike the restrictions of a computer game engine though, there are methods of attaining this key without first opening the door. Or so we believe.
I don't see this as a catch 22 because there's oh so many ways to approach this. We just have to find one that has both popular support AND the legs to make it down the home stretch.
Hope that makes sense.
small changes - fixing bugs. We still have a lot of them.
most average changes already suggested at "Suggestions " and here (u-chat, pimp-like tools, phone apps).
Seconded!Quote:
Originally Posted by 3510733
This is perhaps the easiest idea listed, can be implemented incrementally, and will benefit both existing players *and* new players - especially those new players most likely to stick around. Right now it's like playing chess without knowing all the little rules like en-passant or castling long - it puts a skew on your thinking that far outweighs the actual frequency of occurrence.
Good example - despite it's generally informative information, Civ3 had "hidden" formulas, in particular in corruption. Players figured them out, posted on forums. I found them, years after they'd been first worked out - and finally understood how they could call deity easy. They broke the formula for special tricks (RCP, as an example) that I'd never even thought to do given my limited knowledge of the mechanic. (Gotta go get at least one HoF posting on tech race with that game though - I did it once, but with a slightly outdated version that was the last official version for mac. So I'm good... I'd even say I'm an expert. But they are the grandmasters, and it's not even close between us.)
The danger? "Exploits" of the revealed info. But if it is public, then at least everyone has, in theory, the same chance to use it. And, unlike a major release like the Civ series that has to wait years between updates - we get a new age every 3 months. User feedback on broken formulas already happens - with better info, it'd just happen faster and more accurately.
Sadly, fixing bugs require some coding ^^ thus they belong to the medium term category.
I don't see the solution omac/jolt is looking for. Maybe - just maybe - a better guide would help a bit. But the old players (who have left) were already aware of the game mechanism, true though, that new ones aren't.
imho you should also think about who are your current players (in age), and who you want to target, as in getting them to play this game... then find the strategy how to draw them to this game.
People have tried to get involved and make suggestions in the past and the response hasn't exactly been luke warm. Maybe you could be a bit more forth coming in what you actually want.
so before I read any of homies post? is this game still bumpin? Yall going to make this a facebook.com application or do we need to storm troop Jolt office?
I have left the game now :( but I do have some suggestions:
1. This requires no coding on S&Bs part. Please update the links on jolt.co.uk.... I mean there is still Earth 2025 there, along with NS2. An updated link *MIGHT* send some players in this direction. If all of Jolt's games the inter-linked all the other games customers might move from game to game looking for the game that suits them most. Advertising among the companies affiliated with Jolt already would also boost numbers in all the games (I hope).
2. Please make the in-game forums easier to manage. Currently you have are taking to the start of the thread, and if the page has deleted some posts you have no idea where to start from. It is really picky but it would save so much time if you could go to the first unread message. And it would be great if you could increase the posts per page from 10 to 15-20.
Hope this helps Thundergore.
I see there's some serious discussion going on in this thread.
I like most of the idea's posted but I think something more than an updated/revamped guide is needed.
I think a Tutorial of the game would be sweet. New users could click on the "Take Tutorial" and it would walk him through a "Fake" setup of his province. As he steps through this "Fake" province it would guide him through a series of steps like drafting military, training military, constructing buildings, exploring land, posting in the forum, checking the kingdom news, etc.
I do not know how hard it would be to create something like this, but I would bet someone within the community could code it and provide it to the community. If B&S like it, they can add it to Utopia for all new players to use.
I am in the same KD as Magn. And I agree with him. There are a lot of ways to make money with this game other than Ads and bringing in new players.
Give us more reasons to spend $ on credits. The Sitting feature is a good touch and people do spend money on it. Find other ways to add in features like this to create more income. Perhaps allow a kingdom to spend credits to receive additional kingdom invites.
Or allow provinces to pay credits to become Platinum, Gold or Silver account members.
An Example of how you can set it up as is...
Platinum:
Unlimited Sitting during an age (Under current sitting time restrictions)
Provides 1 additional invite to the kingdoms invite pool
Removes all advertisement from the game
Receives 10 additional acres free per day
Receives 100,000 additional gcs per day
Receives 2% pop bonus
Gold:
Provides 1 additional invite to the kingdoms invite pool
Removes all advertisement from the game
Receives 10 additional acres free per day
Receives 100,000 additional gcs per day
Receives 2% pop bonus
Silver:
Removes all advertisement from the game
Receives 10 additional acres free per day
Receives 100,000 additional gcs per day
Receives 2% pop bonus
Of course these are just suggestions. B&S would have to tailor it to however they feel it should be. But I think they are missing out on a key source of income. That is the current dedicated members that are playing this game. Most of us are professionals and have been playing this game for a long time. I think more people would be willing to spend $ on credits if more "Bonuses" would be provided to them. And they would feel even better knowing that the game can be improved with that additional income.
if they do add more payment features they need to not be pay-to-win. A pop bonus is pay-to-win, as is more income.
Yeah, the legalities are a mess.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thundergore
If I'm not mistaken, most of the game was coded in Django correct? If its anything like Web2py, its not too hard to extent it using different controllers and models to store extension data (maybe provide a read-only API to those who code extentions so that they have limited access to the game's model and cookie/session structure).
Some of the extentions may not even need to interact with game's model in which case they can be separate applications.
Then, the line between the Game code and extention code becomes a clearer one.
From there, you can charge for access to some of the extentions and perhaps even cut the extention authors on the profits (with the credit point system, you'd be in a good position to determine how much should go to each extension author).
That is assuming that the developpment team doesn't have the time to code such extentions itself (which would probably be the best, but if you're stuck in a hard place, the above solution is better than letting the game die due to lack of funds).
It's not idiotic for them to be protective of code :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Thundergore
but there may be features that can be written independent of existing code, only to be integrated after a code review or otherwise.
and things that do not even require code from design to release (i.e. this):
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor444
I was more referring to my use of the term 'plugin'. I'm wary of my limitations when it comes to technical terminology :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor444
Now this is a good idea and one that merits further thought.Quote:
Originally Posted by Igor444
Read all of the posts above. There are a few points that I'd like to highlight:
1. NO to pay-to-win features. If this game allows that to happen, it is no different from any other games out there. Why play a ridiculous text game that needs money to win, when there are loads of games that are cooler in terms of graphics and designs out there? I would be the first to leave, if that gets implemented, and I think there are quite a few others like me out there.
2. I like Magn's idea of having an in-game pimp that helps organisation. That can be implemented at a small cost, and that's additional revenue as well. Basically things that gives convenience but are not neccessary to win would be great. As for in-game Angel, I am not too keen on it. Putting up an angel basically makes people lazy to learn more about the game, not good for it in the long run.
3. This has been suggested many many times, and I think having a Facebook app would bring in some potential players. People spend tonnes of time on Facebook, why not tap into that?
4. I wouldn't divulge all of the in-game mechanics. In almost all successful games, there's always an element of mystery, that requires time and effort to discover. That is part challenge and fun of the game. Remove them and you will see the game go south quickly. Just give us enough to work with, and we will figure the rest out. That being said, this is not to say that the mechanics need to be tweaked every age. Also, if there is a tweak in any mechanics, we would like to be informed, even if you don't tell us what the exact details of the changes are.
Also, what happened to the discussion between Brotther Green and SpoiledTechies with our devs? What is the word on it?
I will post again if anything strikes me.