Utopia Blog - July 22nd, 2009

[VT2]

Because free is no substitue for quality.
When a company stops giving out quality, even if what they produce is 'free,' people leave.

Khan wars is free. Travian is free. Tribal wars is free. Solitaire is free. Do you play either?
No.

[onaclearnight]

They could always spice up the changes for next age especially since its short. That'll keep the hordes playing.

[VT2]

Oh, you mean like they did for this age?
You know, the four-week age, with the 'cool' undead, that was to be the last ever on the 'old code?'

No - no spice.
They kill this age, and just start a new one. No fixes, no ugly changes, no bling, no added features, no bonus content.
They roll out a new age, which we sit through, because it's summer, then we get one on the 'new code,' that finally features something other than dwarf/human/elf as the top picks.

[Sir Nasty]

Khan wars is free. Travian is free. Tribal wars is free. Solitaire is free. Do you play either?
No.

Web electronic boxing league is free and I DO play it :)
And.. I get mad when people QQ there also. My rule is..

Free games -> Don't cry about it. Make ur suggestions and complaints but keep in mind its free and you are free to leave anytime.

Pay to Play games -> Cry all you want. Its your hard earned money spent and if they are not doing their job then let them know about it. If they ignore you then by all means start getting angry.


This game however, its free, we have people trying to make it better. Lets just be happy because in the end if they did nothing we would still be getting our money's worth.

[Ezzerland]

And mine is: If they are making money from you playing, cry all you want. Customer service is the number one priority for any company that sells to a common consumer base.

The exception to this is in a business where your merchandise is continuously changing. You sell something in one big advertising pitch, and when that product is no longer making you money, you drop it for another.

This seems to be OMAC's point of view on games. What they fail to realize is that their name stays the same, and their scandals stick to the name.

[comport9]

"13. How fast do you expect utopia to grow?
These things always start slowly. Realistically, the game is currently losing players, so we're working uphill to start with. But we expect to growing at a tangible rate by the end of the year, and hopefully 100K players next year."

I almost pissed myself after reading that! ROFL.

[Migga]

Lol, must you fuel the flame when Dharan is clearly engulfed in fire.

[ninjin]

Thx for the update. The AR interview was good also.
Fun to see that you're ambitious =).

[uhgmebashu]

Here is a very simple solution to maintaining the game and consistency:

All rounds are 12 weeks long with 1 week from end of round to start of new round.

Why?

1. Players want consistency. How long will the round be? 12 weeks, nice and simple. You know when the round starts and when it ends. If you want less ages then make a round 16 weeks with 1 week in between. Either way it is consistant and simple.

2. Players don't care what code they are on as long as the game works.

3. If the game developers miss a date for deverlopment, it doesn't affect the players. The new round simply starts on the existing code and the developers have 12 weeks to continue developing.

4. The developers don't create false expectations. They can simply say, the new code is now ready and next round will start on it. No "We expect to be done by day x..." Simply it is done or the next round is on the old code.

5. it will help retain players. If you know what to expect to a cretain degree then you can plan for an age.

6. From the developers standpoint the pressure is off. You simply need to indicate when the code is done, you develop until it is done and only involve players for testing purposes.

Just a suggestion that can apply to both the new code or old.

[Palem]

I care about what code we're playing on, simply because I know better.

The game will die very quickly if it isn't advertised and it's not going to be advertised on an old, broken code. New code needs to get here ASAP.

[Luth]

i still haven't seen an end date announced for Gen.

is it going to end in July as stated on the front page?

is it going to end in tandem with WoL? (in which case the changes to the front page are wrong).

is it still going to go on indefinitely?

[raiman]

Will there be changes to the races for the new "short" age?
And when will there be another move code?

Is there any way to get more move codes?
There was talk of inactives being tradeable, is that happening anytime soon?
I'm a ghetto monarch trying to build something respectable. And whats happening with the new code transition isn't helping at all. People are frustrated and turn over is higher than usual. I've been monarch of this kingdom for several ages and we've never had attrition this high before.
Will there be any relief from this soon? Or is further decay to be expected?

[Stella]

Is the 6 week plan truly realistic?


When will gen start over? are there no plans at all, or is gen waiting on the new code?

[Fate1316]

What will the changes be, if any for the next age?

[Lydias]

Just - behave...