If you have any feedback on today's announcement, please leave it here.
Thanks for taking the time. As always - keep it clean!
Thunder.
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If you have any feedback on today's announcement, please leave it here.
Thanks for taking the time. As always - keep it clean!
Thunder.
First , I love seeing progressive thoughts comin' from the otherside of the fence. It is definately a hopeful sign for the future of the game.
Secondly , I believe the best way to progress is to build upon the parts of this community that have sustained it throught the tough times.
This would be imo the community/social aspect of the game and not a total revamp.
It is the social dynamic that holds it all together. And seeing as how social networking sites are strong and proving to be sustainable(profitable) in the world online community, It might work well to integrate a lil more of this into the game. IE: Chat , "homepages" for KDs and Players , IRC links , KD third party links ( pimp , calcs ). Just as examples. There all kinds of opt in type of options in which a KD and players can customize game play without sacrificing another players choice of game platform. This will also allow for a diversity of ways in which to interact with other players and friendly chatter between KDs and rivals. Utilizing/integrating Third party applications means that the developers won't have to customize the coding too much in order.
I love the game... But I love the ppl in it even more.
Firstly, about a week ago a support team member posted that there were plans for Utopia in the near feature:
While I appreciate you asking for user input, maybe us users could give better comments if we actually knew what the current plans are.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fagashlil
Secondly, what i see as the most needed fix/revamp whatever you call it is an improved user experience, both gameplay wise an interface wise.
- Last age, new players were all placed in (near) empty (thus unorganized) kingdoms. That's not exactly the first impression you want to give new players
- There is no decent guide/introduction. New players should be taken by the hand the first days of the game. Literally tell them why and to what effect they need to build their land, train army etc. If possible by ingame messages
- The game looks like crap. Sorry but in this day and age the current design just doesn't cut it. Utopia needs a graphics and ui designer. (ui examples: whomever thought splitting spells in self and offensive was a good move? Why is there no way to see the total offense you send in the war room (utotools adds it). etc etc.)
I know that especially the last point will be hard to do, as apparently there are no resources
Once the game's first impression is equal or better than that of current day games, you can tackle things like getting users (reward system for those who bring new players, rewards for voting on collection sites, fb integration, mobile integration)
We think the community/social side of things is hugely important Raiman
We've a host of long term and short term ideas for game content. Ideas that we're not yet happy enough with to share - We want to polish these up. Ideas that may never come to pass - We don't want to get folks excited about a change only to never bring it into the light of day.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yadda9To5
A graphical overhaul would be very delicate. I wouldn't be wrong in saying it could go very badly. Some love the game as it is. No flashy colours, no comical knights or puffing mages. Having said that some (dare I say 'tasteful'?) changes are, I think necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yadda9To5
As you say, resources for these changes are not flowing readily. We do hope to correct this though and this is another trail that our 'ideas wagon' must follow: the means to correct the current lack of resources available.
There is one solution to expand you user base and increase revenues with ads - Create an iPhone/iPad/Android App.
Do it as soon as possible. I know its not cheap. But it shouldn't be terribly difficult either. Utopia is the perfect game for these mobile platforms. Look no futher than mafia wars and other such apps like farmville and WeRule. This is the direction you must go in!
I think this should be your priority. Make a good looking app for the iphone and then that will allow you to get more eyeballs. More ad revnue will allow you to improve the browser interface as well.
I think the iPhone/Android/Blackberry app is a great idea -- I mean I'd even pay money for that. That is something that would be really useful to me. So useful I finally went and made a forum login to reply to this.
As far as I am concerned, there are four things that would go a long way to revamping Utopia.
Two things Sean and Brian said were on the plans:
Different interfaces. When the initial change occurred for the beta, we were told that they would be working on being able to change the interface to match the classic Utopia one. This never happened. This would also allow you to incorporate graphics into the game without pissing off the ones who love the simplistic style of the game.
In-Game Chat. We were also told that this was going to be put into the game and it should be. It would go a long way towards furthering Utopia's social aspect without requiring outside messengers.
The other two things that I think need to be thought about:
In-game Pimp/Angel. Eliminating the need for outside tools to compete in the game is a must. Things like Pimp and Angel, while technically not required for playing, are essential for any kd that actually bothers talking to each other. The problem is, a lot of new players are put off when they find out they have to go and download these things. I'm not saying make the game simpler, I'm saying make it more user-friendly. Perhaps make it optional if you want your military adviser to help you calculate your attacks, or something such as that.
Facebook/Smart Phone integration. Not jumping on these opportunities would be insane and the turnout would be enormous, especially by (recent)Utopian standards. Enough has been said on this through various threads so I won't say much more.
I think these are the four things that need to be addressed immediately.
just dont "collaborate" with catwalk and this game should be fine
:)
*snap* !
tools thats a luxury should not be incorporated into the game
pimp = luxury item
pimp is just a organizational tool
chat = luxury item
you guys post in jolt and UT the same way for 10+ years.
people read and post some more.
if chat progs is so great, why not turn jolt + UT into 1 big chat ?
lets make strat talk, b/s forum, u-talk, etc... all go chat !
prior to pimp, we all used in-game forums just fine and learned to read all posts/threads before we perform ops/attacks
theres plenty of kds who've reached double digit WWs without pimp.
cooperation and organization is more dependent on people themselves, not a tool
before pen and paper, tribes used words to organize themselves
before pimp, in-game forums were used - - and when used correctly, you can achieve the same or near-same success
not saying you'll be top 25 or top 10, but i've done it up to 37th for NW and honor all with only in-game forum
adding more external progs, or web/phone integration, etc... will only further slow down the beta process and doesnt help the current situation.
its like adding hydraulic effects to your car when you havent even changed out your rotted muffler, broken head light
same prob with Obama, he keeps throwing more $$ into system thinking its gonna make it better
Angel is a different story. calc-ing out %s and formulas takes time and accuracy that most people dont bother with
when playing a game. thats what captures audiences =--> ease of play/feasibilty, ease of game knowledge, etc.
people want results immediately, attacking and op-ing is the core of this game, no one wants to take more than 5min to do it
but the current process for angel is well as can be and is just fine. no integration needed until the game itself is self-sufficient
i dont even feel any integration is necessary for angel.
ticking is another issue. mehul had 1 tick. that occured at 5am EST every day. and that lasted <2min.
if mehul can do it with his code. then it can be done with the current code. coding shouldnt affect system processing.
game layout / ease of navigation. need to reduce redundancy. mehuls layout was as efficienct and page-free as you can get
the less pagination in navigation, the quicker and less demanding on IT solutions.
framing can be sized to run ads, banners, java ads, act-x ads, etc...
(this can be done later) add in target and kd search parameter in-game
the better as this game gets going, the more people will pay to play. many people paid mehul to play. no reason omac cant get it done.
then, player retention comes
just my 0.02
A few good ideas have been posted on how to make this game expand. That's all fine and dandy, but we are aware that this is a business and thus needs to make money.
Maybe introduce such a thing as hitting credits where you can earn one a day by clicking an ad or paying for them. Hitting credits would allow you to put a timer for your attack in advance when you're in a position when you literally can't make it. Let's say you work in a coffee shop at 6 am when there's a huge rush until 9 am. But your army comes home at 7 am and you need to send it out asap. There should be a system in place that allows you to send out your army in advance at a cost of 1 credit per hour (rounded up to prevent abuse). You can hold up to 10 hitting credits at a time (again to prevent abuse) and you can purchase them for some kind of a fee (nothing much, but I'll leave that to you guys). To prevent this from being a rampant pay to win system, there would be some kind of combat gains or attack time penalty associated with the number of credits used (again nothing much, but I'll leave that to someone better with numbers to figure out). This would not take the place of sitting credits but allow for you to not be away from your province for 3 days just because some time is bad.
Also, this is the kind of game that needs to be extremely phone friendly. This game can make a resurgence now that people have browser phones with wifi access all over the world. People like playing in good kingdoms, but often find that they don't have the time to be around a computer whenever they need to hit. Browser phones are a must for most of today's users. Maybe you could add some different interface options that are more phone friendly.
I would also like to see the game easier to start a province up. Maybe increased income in protection, drastically increased wizard production in protection, cheaper exploring in prot, more science to allocate when you start your province, etc. The issue with the current system is that if someone starts the age a few days after protection they are just food for everyone who started the age on time. No matter what they try as soon as they are OOP they are vultured. No new player wants to see that.
Also, we need more balance between races and personalities. Though like everyone else I feel this is one of the more balanced ages in a while, weaker races/personalities need to be strengthened. Don't nerf the strong races/personalities but buff the weak ones. The more options we have the more interesting our choice of what to pick becomes. Artisan has been useless since the BE bonus was taken away entirely. Put it back at 15% and arti will see some use again. Avian is useless now, I'd suggest giving them immune to enemy forts and immune to enemy GS to make them competetive with humans and orcs. I think sage should be removed from the game entirely. A science personality certainly can be balanced, but what it does is promote a stagnant playstyle. You can't maximize your personality bonus without sitting around and getting science. BORING. Just remove them and replace them with a combat loss oriented personality like cleric. Give cleric less combat losses, more bonuses from honor, and less massacre losses and then all of a sudden it can be attractive to a warring kingdom of hybrids.
Another thing I'd like to see are some of the unwritten rules incorporated into the game. Like when you send a ceasefire proposal there would be a drag down menu between a binding CF, 48 hours notice, and an amount of time the CF must be respected before notice is given. And then in game there would be a notify system of your intentions to break a CF just to avoid confusion. Also add a system where your kingdom can tag "hostile" only when they are actually hostile. This would again avoid confusion as to someone posting a fake tag so they won't get hit.
One more thing, I understand that SoT and company are here to stay instead of our old CBs. Since they are here I suggest ALL Espionage ops consume 1 stealth. Kingdoms like having full intel, but no one likes having to get infiltrates when they take 3 stealth and a SoT takes 1.
1.The game does not need automation of any form more than it has now.That leads to even less log in and in no way helps the game
2.Phones would be good but could also lead to even more multies .hard to see how they could keep that from happening
3. players starting late can recieve help from their kingdom mates,ive had people leave protection that started 2 days late better prepared than people who started on time.
4. every race has weaknesses and strengths. weakness some see are not weakness to others who play different. Everyone says Orcs are bad to play but seldom in a kd strat are they weak.
5.CFs shouldnt be allowed to be done then broke within minutes to start hitting again .breaking of CFs should have no warning,Tagging hostile gets most kingdoms waved. Its not smart to do in the first place.
6. Thats why it takes a kd working together.
IMHO the biggest issue with holding on to new players is vague game mechanics. Huge lack of numbers/descriptions/effects.
I used to play Utopia ALOT but took a few years break. Now that I'm back, I don't even know what storms does, or how many buildings raze clears, or how many troops nightstrike kills, or what ops give honour, etc.
More numbers and descriptions wouldn't hurt and it's a super easy thing to add in.
Apologies for not reading the above posts.
Something that has been brought up before, you have a unique community of followers among you in the sense that there are a lot of people who play the game who have a programming or otherwise technical background. I'm willing to bet there are people within the community who would be willing to help out with tasks (programming or design or otherwise). Likely they would have to be minor tasks and would be subject to code review before being integrated into utopia but if B&S did some design work on some ideas it would not be hard for someone to write the initial code for a feature.
Obviously there is room for abuse but afaik this is just an idea thread so I'll throw it out there.
An easy example: You could do a shout-out for any technical writers to write a guide... or for a few people who has managed a Wiki to go out and either manage the wiki properly or write articles.
While using an app might make it easier to log in from school/work, without such dire consequences, I feel rather insulted when you say you want us to go into the direction of games like farmville and mafia wars.Quote:
Originally Posted by papanoel
I think you guys should take a look at what you have.
You don't have a huge player base, but you have a dedicated one.
A dedicated player base usually doesn't mind spending a few $$ to increase his playing experience.
Supporting evidence:
- We sat at least 6 players last age at various points (legally using the sitting feature which we paid for)
- I had to do our own implementation of Utopiapimp which implies hosting fees that I had to pay for so far (once I integrate a payment system in it, KD mates will help pay for the cost as well) and its not implemented in common php/perl so its not one of the cheapo 3$/month generic hosting services either. This is money currently getting funneled into a hosting service that could instead have been funneled directly into the game if a service like Utopiapimp was available in-game for a fee.
Imho, there is a lot of money to be made from convenience services (in-game chat, Intel sharing, etc) without even having to resort to player-base damaging "pay to win" services (ie, pay 5$ and increase income by 50% for a week).
Once you guys start making money from the existing player base (hey, we have programmers, system admins, shop owners, building engineers and doctors in our KD... these are people with at least a modicum amount of disposable income), maybe you can use some of those funds to work on improving the game in other ways and increase the player base.
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.
There are a lot of nice changes/additions that could be made to the game itself...but it seems that the problem is just that no one really knows that this game exists...it seems like a problem of advertising.
I second the facebook request - even at the very least a utopia game fan page. I remember 10-11 years ago being introduced to the game and knowing several people IRL who played...it's a pretty damn addicting game and all anyone had to do was tell a friend at school 'hey check out this game' - but that isn't really how people work these days. It takes like 5 minutes to set up a fan page - then just stick the link in the throne message.
i would think by getting on facebook you would be able to at LEAST double the population playing currently (everybody loves a free online time sink).
use the power of 'like'!
ps. free advertising is good.
pps. also, bring back the original music -_-
Just not "hiding" the game would help. While advertising may take some money, it doesn't mean much for coding. And yes, there are a lot of people tired of "pay-to-win" type games which is about all facebook is about. This game builds community without gimicky things like gifting. The anti-game? Theme for ads right there.
A guide would help, as several games out there are very lacking in this area. Those are just simpler games and have a great commonality between them. This game is often not very intuitive. Example is the "rainbow" build strat.
For example, if you look at Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(disambiguation)
you could see only
In computer and video gaming:
Utopia (video game), a 1982 Intellivision simulation game
Utopia: The Creation of a Nation, a 1991 computer and Super Nintendo Entertainment System strategy game
That's all.
You ask what to do without money - just post an article in Wikipedia!
http://mud.wikia.com/wiki/Utopia_%28online_game%29
this used to be on wiki ... dunno who deleted it ...
Hy there, Thundergore.
As far as i see it there are a few main issues:
A) high rate of players churn: old players
A') high rate of players churn: new players
B) low rate of new players
C) low player satisfaction/experience rate
D) no integration with an assistant (Angel/Pimp like)…
E) very poor game guide, no Q&A for noobs, etc.
F) lack of organization tools for kingdom. This can again really boost user friendly experience and better help newly formed kingdoms.
G) old game menus and GUI.
In order to address theese issues you need to understand first what are the main causes.
Then you need to understand what are the main actions needed to be done.
Then you need to rafine the actions, give them priorities, give them improvement grades and timelines.
Then you can choose the plan for that.
Of course, there is always more than one single answer to every question… important is not to choose the worst one, but the more opportunist
A) => boredom came from: playing the same game with the same features for a long time, same game format and menus, same old faces and smaller number of players, increasing lack of commitment in intra kd mates (that would be because the is no more battlefields like activity)
A') => boredom, low usability and game navigation, low socialization/information tools with the kd… basicly the game doesn't attract the new player like in the past and he or she doesn't get addicted in order to minimize the bad impact of the things i just enumerated … other times, other demands.
"B) => At this moment i really don't see any real steps towards getting more new players. This is a delicate subject because you need to be able to keep the players in order to make the advertising worth. In the same time you cannot afford to keep the decline of number of players because when a certain threshold is reaced Utopia could go spiriling down. Yet again, in the same time a too aggressive advertising will get more new players but only for a short term.
As far as i can see a very powerfull tool for getting new players constantly is the 'tell a friend' way. You can attract new people in many ways… facebook/socielization portals, adds, exchange with other sites, tell a friend features, etc. The teel a friend feature should be exploited wisely. If you are getting new players and they churn after one or 2 ages this gold resource will evaporate and will do no good for you anymore in a short period of time. To make it worth for the players who tell to a friend you need to give them something back... like in the old days."
C) low player satisfaction/experience rate => this has a lot of reasons behind it… it can be low rate of interesting changes among ages, too many long term features that stay pretty much the same, the same bigger bully kd attacks (that will never end anyway)... theese are a few examples. If you make a thread related to this you will get 1000 opinions. I was saying in a different thread that a great impact would be pooling the number of races and personalities in a large 12 no pool to choose for every age... having maybe less races/pers. Some would say, doh, this brings nothing new... i would say that this sort of change will subconsciously give a fresh feel to the game along other changes.
D) => I don't know a good player who does not need Angel/Pimp. It's like a part of the game, air that you breathe. This can really boost the game usability and user friendly experience.
E) => make a better guide, damn it! Use this tool to give the new player a better understanding of the game, not make him wonder through wiki links. Noobish players will abandon the game because they cannot understand it... Moreover, you can make a good q&a and also a noob guide to explain different aspects of the game that are not defined by formulas (like inter kd socialization, kd strategies, land strategies, etc.). An informed person is way better than a person that knows only half of the story. This improves quality of new players and time for them to get to better levels.
F) => Pimp like features, but with something more to make it easier for following orders for kd mates to offer much more interactivity between players and easy to use tools for monarchs. Even if this might be seen a noobish I think this can really boost the quality and quantity of better utopia players. This means more addicted long term players, this means more new and remaining players. It's more fun with more poeple playing the game.
G) => Some would say it would be a luxury feature(like assistant, or phone integratioon/friendly gui), but you need to be realistic about this. Things that we take as granted theese days are to be honest some 'ages' ahead of the game gui.
I'm not saying this game needs facebooking ( :) ), it has it's own touch and feel sort of speak. But you need to see the line between different and old. Fewer people want to play Z80 games anymore ;)"
The hardest things are to make a new player stay long with the game, to make an old player still commit. For this you need a few good things: variety, stability, dynamicity, socialization and features. You might be very impressed of the good reaction of an old player to a small visible change, and even greater response to a bigger one. Visible changes are always the most popular, something fresh will always be percepted positive... variations keeps wheels spinning, socialization and 'cool' features pay off for longer term and mentain higher experience rate.
Thanks!
As long as new players joining the game are all placed together at the bottom of the server with no one with them but other brand new/returning from many many ages ago players, you will not be able to increase the player base.
All these other suggestions have merit and are interesting, but everyone you bring in will create a new prov, look around, feel lost and alone and leave. No one wants to arrive in a brand new KD after not playing for 4 years and be monarch cause they are the most experienced player in the new KD. They dont know what tools are up to date, where to find changes etc without a lot of research.
Yes it will take a little coding to fix it. Time spent fixing this one problem would do more than any other change to help the game.
Well, the situation you describe is 3 problems really:Quote:
Originally Posted by Syele
1) Lack of core tool integration (mix of core functionality between Angel and Pimp) into the game force players to find loosely integrated third party alternatives.
2) The wiki sucks both as a beginner's guide and as a quick reference (again, many people are not search engine wizs).
3) The game is structures so that most of the good leadership material is centered in existing veteran KDs and every KD need at least 1 competent, knowledgeable leader to function.
And yes, I agree. I also think solving problem #1 and problem #2 would do wonders for solving problem #3 (wouldn't teach beginners how to manage KDs, but it would provide them the tools to make the management less time-consumming and to quickly catch up on the game mechanics they need to devise a strat).
well i believe these are the same tips from supportive players and same complains from players of all levels.
was playing back 10years ago. it was a off and on thing(one age here and there).
things change.. yeah... but its pointless to see these tips back on the boards time and again. I believe last time utopiatemples was the in thing. with news reporters taking comments and news on the chainning.
With battlefields and tournaments, news coverage and update on honor land and networth by volunteer reporters.
Oh well. not much advertising back then. got word of this simple game from a friend of mine. Just my two cents
I didn't have time to read too much of what peeps said. But in regards to the "tipping point" If you are trying to improve profitability these are my thoughts:
- Remove vac mode. This potentially would increase the number of prov sits.
- Tweak prov sit cost. Currently its 1 credit per day, if I am not mistaken. I suggest it costs 3 credits for the 1st day and 1 credit each day after that. As for the two week maximum... I realise that there are cases where this could involve cheating... but for eg. I prov in my KD was just forced to quit cos he had to move house to a place where he couldn't access the internet. I would have provsit for him for months as he was a valuable KD member... now I will just invite him back later. That plenty of potential money that you missed out on.
- Pay to win. Like more income and such. I think this is not a feature that suits utopia, at all. Utopia is a skill based game.
- Invites. They should cost money. Or. Keep them as they are, but let peeps buy them on top of whats currently available. I know personally that I invite peeps trying to fill my KD then I end up killing half of them off. Then I run out of invites and wait for the age change. I would definately buy more invites. Some people would say against this that eventually all the KDs would be tight and no one would buy invites anymore. PoppyCock. I can ASSURE you that there will ALWAYS be ghettos out there with some peep trying to turn it into an SKD. Its human nature.
Thats mah 2 cents :P
oh yeh... my 3rd cent.
- What do peeps think about training KD's. Peeps with heaps of internet time would run KDs for training purposes. Players would pay/gift credits to the Monarch of the training KD for an invite [the buy invite option would go hand in hand with this]. The monarch of the Training KD would then sell the credits back to Jolt.... I am not sure if there are legal probs with this, if its doable I think its a spectacular idea but.
1st let me say that I am glad the game is reasonably stable again, and that too date has remained mostly along the lines of the last known version of the old code base.
With that being said; there are some changes that have been made which defy logic. As an example I point to the changing of "Crystal ball" a long held original staple of the game, to being a thief op. This eliminated the need of having mages in a KD for intel purposes, and most I have talked to feel that this has put too great a demand on thieves, which have now become almost the sole source of intel.
There are others, but that one does stick out as something many feel should be changed back.
Looking towards the future: Some here have stated the creation of Smart phone aplications... frankly most smart phones have either an IE like, mozzila like, or Safari like browser, which can reach Utopia. The problem is of course the data the browser has to condense into a useful sense. Instead of a smart phone app, I suggest concentrating as some have suggested on skins or themes for the game. Building a scaled down theme would allow all smart phones that have internet ability, which they would need to use any app built anyways, to view the game properly.
Likewise, it would allow users to have a more graphical interface as well, upto and including a battle clip of sorts, or possibly even some control over the battle its self while in progress, if the developers wish to take it that far, but these things should only be avalible if, and only if the player wants to see or use such things.
Otherwise adding some flares of realism to the game could be an attraction for many. Such as, would not the lords and ladies of a kingdom send out "patrols" with in the kingdom's boundaries? Would not these patrols if they were in the area of a province being attacked lend thier support to help fend off an attack? Likewise would'nt it be concievable that province A, being an almost pure mage, with very little attack power, might lend some of his/her troops to Province B when province B makes his/her next attack?
Now I am not suggesting allowing a province to send 10s of thousands of troops on a patrol, that would totally upset the balance of an attack, but adding a random chance should a province have sent out a patrol that is "still out" that they might intercept an enemy attack, and either A. lend a hand in defending that prov resulting in only a slightly greater chance 1 to 3% of the attack being twarted, or B. If intercepted after the battle, less land being brought back.
The same for aiding another's attack, by doing so, the prov lending troops would get a % equal to thier % of troops sent of what ever was brought back. However they share in the troops lost, they share in the defeat if there is one, and aain the ammount allowed to be sent should be small.
The same could be said about killing dragons. After all a KD shares in the launching of one, A member of the government IE the monarch should be able to set a "Draft tax" temporarily to help kill off a dragon. This "Draft tax" would simply imply an additional KD wide peanalty ontop of the dragon's peanalty, which would automatically send x% of all soliders drafted at the dragon, until it was dead, or until the monarch ended the tax which ever came 1st.
I know alot of the above are more or less suggestions for the game and how its played, but these are elements that would not only improve game play, but also entice people to join the game.
S3