Why we REALLY need playerbase growth
I'm against this kid for the sole reason that he stole that avatar and made me think he was someone else.
Get over yourselves, don't try to win arguments on the internet where the option of a punch in the mouth is unavailable
"It is not that I cannot create anything good, but that I will not." And to prove this, he created the peacock.
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DonKarnage
- Posts: 545
- Joined: Mon Nov 01, 2010 7:18 pm
I went straight to page 24 of this having read intermittent pages along the way and can probably best summarise my experience as:
- People that are posting and not playing, STFU and get into the game and join the democracy and make your voice heard in game to improve it instead of ruing what used to be (I cant remember it ever being that much better so I dont know what golden age you guys refer to)
- People who are supposedly the bullies are actually not as numerous as people think, its just that players call it bullying if they get booted or called out for less than ideal actions in game. In old school language, learn from your mistakes and try to get better.
- Sidegames and newbie games were the nurturing games, not main, although guys like fwiffo are the newbie saviours. Bullies havent driven everyone away, choice has. People chose to play other games. Xwing vs Tie fighter was an awesome MP game in its time, but it didnt die because it sucked, it died because people went to other games. This game has done awesome because it is 10 years on with minimal development (compared to say Counterstrike). Consider this in your assessment of why we have low player numbers.
- $#@! around factor in getting the game to work turn away a lot of click and play gamers. Again, this is a choice issue. 'I just put the DVD in and it worked' if going to win over 'adjust your registry settings to get widescreen' every time.
those new guys will only get to enjoy the wonders of allegiance by learning something new about their OS and system, being dogged about learning the complexities of the game, and having tough enough skin to learn the hard way by making mistakes, probably getting chewed out for them, but then improving, or moving to a different role in game. Oh, and they will learn to use the mute chat function for same asshats and concentrate on teamwork.
Sounds like a pretty good simulation for life, as opposed to a sterile politically correct game like club penguin.
Edit: Not to look like a hypocrite, I did have a specific issue with a recent squadgame where it was just unfun to play due to outright poor sportsmanship from a vocal minority, but I refuse to let that impact my play any longer when the majority of the rest of that team actually bring so much to the game. Much like volunteer sport, if you dont like something, dont whinge about it, get in there and do something about it!
- People that are posting and not playing, STFU and get into the game and join the democracy and make your voice heard in game to improve it instead of ruing what used to be (I cant remember it ever being that much better so I dont know what golden age you guys refer to)
- People who are supposedly the bullies are actually not as numerous as people think, its just that players call it bullying if they get booted or called out for less than ideal actions in game. In old school language, learn from your mistakes and try to get better.
- Sidegames and newbie games were the nurturing games, not main, although guys like fwiffo are the newbie saviours. Bullies havent driven everyone away, choice has. People chose to play other games. Xwing vs Tie fighter was an awesome MP game in its time, but it didnt die because it sucked, it died because people went to other games. This game has done awesome because it is 10 years on with minimal development (compared to say Counterstrike). Consider this in your assessment of why we have low player numbers.
- $#@! around factor in getting the game to work turn away a lot of click and play gamers. Again, this is a choice issue. 'I just put the DVD in and it worked' if going to win over 'adjust your registry settings to get widescreen' every time.
those new guys will only get to enjoy the wonders of allegiance by learning something new about their OS and system, being dogged about learning the complexities of the game, and having tough enough skin to learn the hard way by making mistakes, probably getting chewed out for them, but then improving, or moving to a different role in game. Oh, and they will learn to use the mute chat function for same asshats and concentrate on teamwork.
Sounds like a pretty good simulation for life, as opposed to a sterile politically correct game like club penguin.
Edit: Not to look like a hypocrite, I did have a specific issue with a recent squadgame where it was just unfun to play due to outright poor sportsmanship from a vocal minority, but I refuse to let that impact my play any longer when the majority of the rest of that team actually bring so much to the game. Much like volunteer sport, if you dont like something, dont whinge about it, get in there and do something about it!
Last edited by Vortrog on Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I too skipped to the last page here. I'll say this about playing Allegiance.
Up until about last year I would always find a way to get Allegiance working good on my machine and try to play some games. Every year it got tougher and tougher to justify the effort to actually log on and play. Pretty much the only thing that kept me coming back was the people.
Then one by one all my friends stopped playing. I would drag some of them back and promise the game was better. And every single time I was proven wrong. Abusive dicks would be in control of most games and literally make me eat my words.
So then I couldn't get anybody to play anymore and I kept logging in for a few years. But it felt more like work then fun. Actually it was really no fun at all. I get a win, feel nothing. Get a loss, feel nothing or get angry. Basically getting no joy out of the game. Becoming a whore destroying the other team several times during the course of a game kept me interested for maybe a year. But honestly, it just felt like I was wasting time.
You can tell people that they are the reason why new people don't stay or why old people leave, but they always end up coming up with the same excuses over and over again.. "They couldn't handle the game" or "It must be the newbie is a moron or a loser, because this is the most newbie friendly game with Cadet and ACS and Wiki and blah blah blah, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."
Right. Keep telling yourselves that as the 5% player retention dwindles another percent year over year. Tell yourselves that as the older guys that don't care to waste time arguing just uninstall and leave, never to be heard from again.
It's your game. You made it that way, and nobody is going to waste the time to try to change your minds when they could go and actually enjoy they're spare time.
If you guys are wondering where the player base went and why you can't get more people to stay, then maybe you should have reacted differently to those newbie rage posts that spelled out very clearly their reasons for leaving. Or maybe that pre-pubescent testosterone fueled power boot that you slapped on a vet because it felt good momentarily was the last straw for a guy who played for more then a decade and finally realized what a waste of time the game had become. Or maybe it's because there are several different cores that are making a complicated game more and more complicated as time goes on basically limiting yourself to 1 in 10 new people who actually want to take the time to understand wtf is going on.
This community had two possible outcomes. The result that your seeing here was due to the hard work of a select few hardcore @#$%@#s who refused to compromise. You may have been right in terms of the optimal way to play the game, but in the end you can't force a person to like the way you tried to communicate the facts to them and get them to play. And further, there are those of you who hide behind a guise of help and the greater good when all you really want to do is troll people for your own personal amusement.
The funny thing is, I bet there are those of you who don't see Allegiance's current state as a problem. Maybe the goal all along was to make this an exclusive club for A-holes.
Well if that was the goal, then congrats. But honestly, is anybody who still plays this game actually confused as to why nobody plays anymore? Cause if thats the case, then I really, really don't feel bad about not trying to play anymore.
Up until about last year I would always find a way to get Allegiance working good on my machine and try to play some games. Every year it got tougher and tougher to justify the effort to actually log on and play. Pretty much the only thing that kept me coming back was the people.
Then one by one all my friends stopped playing. I would drag some of them back and promise the game was better. And every single time I was proven wrong. Abusive dicks would be in control of most games and literally make me eat my words.
So then I couldn't get anybody to play anymore and I kept logging in for a few years. But it felt more like work then fun. Actually it was really no fun at all. I get a win, feel nothing. Get a loss, feel nothing or get angry. Basically getting no joy out of the game. Becoming a whore destroying the other team several times during the course of a game kept me interested for maybe a year. But honestly, it just felt like I was wasting time.
You can tell people that they are the reason why new people don't stay or why old people leave, but they always end up coming up with the same excuses over and over again.. "They couldn't handle the game" or "It must be the newbie is a moron or a loser, because this is the most newbie friendly game with Cadet and ACS and Wiki and blah blah blah, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."
Right. Keep telling yourselves that as the 5% player retention dwindles another percent year over year. Tell yourselves that as the older guys that don't care to waste time arguing just uninstall and leave, never to be heard from again.
It's your game. You made it that way, and nobody is going to waste the time to try to change your minds when they could go and actually enjoy they're spare time.
If you guys are wondering where the player base went and why you can't get more people to stay, then maybe you should have reacted differently to those newbie rage posts that spelled out very clearly their reasons for leaving. Or maybe that pre-pubescent testosterone fueled power boot that you slapped on a vet because it felt good momentarily was the last straw for a guy who played for more then a decade and finally realized what a waste of time the game had become. Or maybe it's because there are several different cores that are making a complicated game more and more complicated as time goes on basically limiting yourself to 1 in 10 new people who actually want to take the time to understand wtf is going on.
This community had two possible outcomes. The result that your seeing here was due to the hard work of a select few hardcore @#$%@#s who refused to compromise. You may have been right in terms of the optimal way to play the game, but in the end you can't force a person to like the way you tried to communicate the facts to them and get them to play. And further, there are those of you who hide behind a guise of help and the greater good when all you really want to do is troll people for your own personal amusement.
The funny thing is, I bet there are those of you who don't see Allegiance's current state as a problem. Maybe the goal all along was to make this an exclusive club for A-holes.
Well if that was the goal, then congrats. But honestly, is anybody who still plays this game actually confused as to why nobody plays anymore? Cause if thats the case, then I really, really don't feel bad about not trying to play anymore.
Bones heal. Chicks dig scars. Pain is Temporary. Allegiance is forever.
*slow clap*
I left because during PUGs, the community was hostile. Sure, the actual situation was more complicated, but that's what it boiled down to. Maybe I have a thin skin for leaving (I actually intended to take a break for a while) because I got mutinied, but that was just the tipping point. And let me tell you, once you leave (and the game is not installed on your new computer), it is just too easy not to come back.
I left because during PUGs, the community was hostile. Sure, the actual situation was more complicated, but that's what it boiled down to. Maybe I have a thin skin for leaving (I actually intended to take a break for a while) because I got mutinied, but that was just the tipping point. And let me tell you, once you leave (and the game is not installed on your new computer), it is just too easy not to come back.
Last edited by sambasti on Thu Aug 25, 2011 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Spunkmeyer
- Posts: 2013
- Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2003 7:00 am
- Location: Contact me regarding: CC, Slayer and AllegWiki.
The "hostility" may be an issue but you'll run into this in any game with a command structure.
The real problem is any given game of Allegiance is more likely to be @#(! than not because of commanders, stack or balance issues. All this can be prevented by coding a better matchmaking system, but needs a team with focus on this specific issue. The result will benefit all players, old and new.
As for newbies, it's obvious: we are missing the feedback loops (in-game help, transparency of game mechanics, better UI, better scoring etc) that would help them learn their way around the game in less than six months, because, let's face it, it's highly unlikely they'll stick around for six months.
Unlike the lobby/matchmaking issues though, the design challenge here is too great, so I don't think we'll ever see any improvement there.
The real problem is any given game of Allegiance is more likely to be @#(! than not because of commanders, stack or balance issues. All this can be prevented by coding a better matchmaking system, but needs a team with focus on this specific issue. The result will benefit all players, old and new.
As for newbies, it's obvious: we are missing the feedback loops (in-game help, transparency of game mechanics, better UI, better scoring etc) that would help them learn their way around the game in less than six months, because, let's face it, it's highly unlikely they'll stick around for six months.
Unlike the lobby/matchmaking issues though, the design challenge here is too great, so I don't think we'll ever see any improvement there.
Last edited by Spunkmeyer on Thu Aug 25, 2011 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Want bigger games? Log on to play at the official game time: 9pmET/8pmCT/7pmMT/6pmPT every day of the week. Also Saturdays 8pm UTC.
I think your overthinking bro.Spunkmeyer wrote:QUOTE (Spunkmeyer @ Aug 24 2011, 09:23 PM) The "hostility" may be an issue but you'll run into this in any game with a command structure.
The real problem is any given game of Allegiance is more likely to be @#(! than not because of commanders, stack or balance issues. All this can be prevented by coding a better matchmaking system, but needs a team with focus on this specific issue. The result will benefit all players, old and new.
As for newbies, it's obvious: we are missing the feedback loops (in-game help, transparency of game mechanics, better UI, better scoring etc) that would help them learn their way around the game in less than six months, because, let's face it, it's highly unlikely they'll stick around for six months.
Unlike the lobby/matchmaking issues though, the design challenge here is too great, so I don't think we'll ever see any improvement there.
Bones heal. Chicks dig scars. Pain is Temporary. Allegiance is forever.
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Sindertone
- Posts: 495
- Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 11:45 pm
- Location: Ohio
