6873 players left

[Blitz]

There were 7k 2 days ago .. this is going fast to a final end :(

If Brian and Sean want to do something with this game in the future, they should act now imo, else it will be far too late. I don't have the time I used to have for this game but I am still sad to see it die. Although there are so many games these days, and many of those with graphics and such that the young ppl like, I still thing this kind of text game has ppl out there that will enjoy it.

We grew old playing this game, and I see that young ppl are very rare in this game.

If you ever want to get this game back on track, please look first of the type of ppl still playing this game and act acordingly.

[Bishop]

If you ever want to get this game back on track, please look first of the type of ppl still playing this game and act acordingly.

One of the big reasons we are down to the number of players is because Thundergore is still deleting cheaters, it could be argued that to get this game back on track the culture of casual cheating needs to be removed.

[WolfDGrey]

the culture of casual cheating needs to be removed.

Halleluiah!

[Scavenger]

...it could be argued that to get this game back on track the culture of casual cheating needs to be removed.

hear hear

[Yadda9To5]

.... the culture of casual cheating needs to be removed.

No No! Seeing little things as automagic spell casting is considered cheating step 1 would be to make the game playable to nowadays standards, after that you can fight the remaining cheaters. Most players cheat because without cheating, the game is a chore. Automation, target-finders, even x-logging and multies (one to get the intel, the other to make the hit) are all there because without them, this game sucks much. So before you clean the game of cheaters, it would help a lot if there wasn't a gaming environment where all but the die hard still want to play. Of course you could also think of this as a last kingdom standing game, every age the number of players dwindles so pretty soon (a year or so) the true winner will emerge, the last full kingdom not given up on the game!

[Scavenger]

There's no such thing. The last kd will be a merge of a merge of a merge and so on.

[Thundergore]

If you ever want to get this game back on track, please look first of the type of ppl still playing this game and act acordingly.

While I can't comment on numbers or anything like that - it is a fact that I'm still actively deleting reported cheaters (where the necessary evidence is obtainable). This may or may not account for the decrease in players.

If not it is surely a concern that some players are leaving but in the current climate it is to be expected. The game is not in an ideal position to hold onto a fanbase.

For example - if any play this game because there is a culture of casual cheating they may lose interest as the steps to erradicate the culture intensify.

In addition, legitimate players may leave as development is not moving at a speed that they perceive to be ideal (we are after all simply making the best of the current situation).

We also cannot at this time attract hefty numbers of new members as province creation is still deactivated.

I see these issues as temporary. I (ever an optimist) see the game and the community entering a time of regrowth after this decay- just like the seasons.

Basically I think there is no reason to panic. Nothing has drastically changed in the past few weeks and this itself is no doubt part of the cause.

[Blitz]

I belive there will be a critical numbers of players left when everybody else will just quit. It's already a very poor competition out there. Also as you know it's enough for 10-12 players to leave from a KD for all the others to quit also. We will keep on merging, merging .. although it's not legal, but until when ?

Anyway, maybe if you could fix the most important bugs, get the province creation back up preventing scripted provs, the game might survive a little bit longer and give u some extra time for extra development. Without this I don't think we will have a full age next age. But that's just my opinion.

Cheating is a VERY big problem, but that's when you have a functional game ( like in Mehul time ). Trying to eliminate cheating from a game that doesn't really work like it supposed to doesn't seem to be a step forward. When you will finish to eliminate cheaters you will also find you have no players at all... All your work Thundergore seems to be in vain when the developers don't fix the basic mechanics of the game.

[Bishop]

Actually Blitz the main reason we are in the situation we are in right now is because of scripting - for example, i think Thunder deleted around 3k scripted provinces. Their creation scripts, attack scripts and training scripts were what was hammering the server and making it so very very laggy (and people are still scripting btw). The devs being forced to spend time combating them lead to them not spending time fixing other bugs etc which eventually lead to utopia not making money, and then making it so that the devs only work on it in spare time, as they have to pay their bills. I'm not saying the scripters caused this situation by themselves, but they certainly have not helped the game.

[Blitz]

We had a runing game before this new code made by Sean and Brian, they didn't see how thing work, what problems the game has and most important what problems they will going to face ?

I mean they didn't just create a complete new game, they knew in SO MANY years ppl built MANY tools for this game: legal and non-legal ones. It was obvious ppl will try to cheat on the new code as soon as it was up.

[Mandatar]

Or in other words. They (Thundergore) locked province creation and deleted many scripted and/or cheating provinces.

Obviously the people running or hosting these scripts are hurt most of all. They are likely to be expected to point out dwindling numbers and preach the ending of the game. They likely do anything to try and motivate the crew to make it less tight, so that scripts can get started again.

[Magmalava]

Is it worth while to investigate the possibility for a permanent two-step application system?
A crude example: 1. player A applies for an account 2. a moderator checks the application and approves/disapproves, 3. Account player A randomly placed
You'll have a buffer and could reject every application in case of a sudden suspicious peak. And you still might have means to monitor accepted accounts.

The principle is more or less similar to recruitment (where some people also have to wait).

[Landro]

Keep deleting those farms, multies, x-loggers and scripters Thundergore!

Real players don't need to cheat to have fun.

I think, now that it's no longer possible to generate limitless amounts of farms, we finally see how much cheating is going on. Keep up the good fight!

[path]

I can't make a province. My account has been around for one heck of a long time yet isn't allowed to make a province out of fear I might be a scripter. How does that make sense? New players that stumble into the game make an account and then try to make a province and find they cant make one either. What on earth makes you think those new players are going to keep checking in every day until they can make a province? This is all just speeding the demise of the game. I don't care if people call me a scripter or not, when we cut off the fkn flow of new players to the game, its dead. I've not been around to witness these scripters in action, I don't know what effect they have on the game. However, I know if this game continues to choke off potential new players it might be killed even faster.

[Doom Scythe]

path has a point. While I would say kudos for the good work of deleting scripters, I must say that stopping new players from signing up is not a solution to the game. I really hope the registration would be open when the next age comes.