Wake-up call for SC:mass-desertion

I just noticed that the number of active players as reported by the news ticker has dropped by around 1.000 since I joined in september. It's now only well over 13k

The game and the concept as such is brilliant, but the game also suffers from a lot of problems that each hold the potential to disappoint players.

Might I suggest paying more attention to the various posts on this forum that points out quirks, broken parts in this game?

Failure to adress these issues might well have got something to do with it...?

umm, no, the only reason people quit in sim country, is because they where the victims of hyper-aggressive players.

its the only recognized cause of "desertion,"

bugs, boredom, endless (un)announced changes, and tweaks. with a constant effort to level the playing field, making it harder and harder to excel. none of that has anything to do with players leaving.

Isnt sarcasm wonderful! HaHa

I am pretty confident that the root is a staff that is too small to bring the game up to it's potential. With that the game says they aren't profit driven well maybe it should be a bigger focus so they can increase manpower, advertise, and improve

I LUAGHED SO HARD!!! when i read Josias comment.

Dont forget there PR person likes to ban people when they say somethings stupid then mention this isnt the US of A (which is very offensive and totally unprofessional), wait will i get banned?

Comment removed by Moderator

Comment removed by Moderator?

I somehow doubt that. They just delete it and leave it at that.

Oh, that was supposed to be a joke... I suck at these things.

As angry as I was about a month ago at this game and the dev/gms, I really dislike this thread, and those similar to it. Among other things, I really dislike players (none in particular) sitting in the SC chat, promoting another game due to their dissatisfaction in the game.

I don't know how to stop it or what the answers are, but it annoys the hell out of me. (No offense dubletar)

You don't stay in the game for years, and stick around after the devs/gms do the absolute thing you think is your line in the sand, and not admit to yourself, there is something here.

For me it is certain players and the international relationships that I can get by simply participating in the game.

I wish that could be the focus of future conversations. To be honest, there is more in our own hands as players than the gms have to attract and retain new members. A lot of what is missing from the game I started playing is the dedicated player organization across worlds that gave new and existing players relationships to cultivate as they developed in the game.

LU was highly organized under Valde. They had a necessary Nemesis in LDI. You had your renegades, and trouble makers. Firecrakcers like myself and a few others. And each of the other worlds had similar infrastructure in place. These organizations fueled politics and interaction, organized players and instructed newbies into a more interactive role in the game.

There was a period of genuine discontent expressed by players that was not handled in the best way by the devs. Which in turn led to an over compensatory response where remaining players began suggesting so much and the devs had their ears too wide open.

Today is the result.

The dedicated players who have been here as long as I have and longer should definitely be in chat brainstorming and reforming this game and the way we play it to compliment the effort of the devs to revamp the game.

Veteran organization and cooperation to create substance in the game can have more of a lasting and effective impact as far as improving numbers, participation, and overall satisfaction in the game experience.

And like I said, it is not 'the' answer, but it is a foundation for a good start. Something we can do, instead of attempting to corner the gms to do whatever it is we think will be best. The environment of this game can literally be molded and formed to our will. If we want to grow it and sustain the new joins, we probably have more power to achieve this end than even the gamemasters do.

Competitive play is out... just let the roleplayers take over.

No need to fuss.

The "desertion" in the OP is probably just people that registered free accounts during the summer and are forgetting them now that school's in full swing.

^ yes i would agree

its a lot of countries in my region that

has presidents who just up a left (*tear*)

but life goes on with me with no neigbors


sad but true....(+)LordNeptune(+)

Oh really? So the # of players never went over 15k?

You know that isn't true.

I really don't think that the GMs ban players who make respectful complaints or suggestions. There is a certain arrogance by some players who purport to know more than the GMs about the game, which I find laughable, because the GMs are, after all, the ones who created the game and write the programs.

In my experiences over the last five years, it isn't the game that ran players off, it has been the misbehavior of some players.

I, myself, have taken exception to Andy at times in his "delivery", and I believe I called him on it here in this very forum. But, I did it in a RESPECTFUL way, and non-attacking. I believe that he apologized if his post came across in such a way, which I find commendable. I think what Andy and the other GMs have been trying to do is clean up the abuse in the forums and the chat. The constant bashing and ugly, disrespectful smack is a big, big turnoff and doesn't put forth a positive image of this game to new players. I also think they grow weary of the constant inane criticisms and negativity. Most of this can be handled in contacting the GMs outside the forum.

Perhaps that 1,000 drop in numbers are old accounts, Mr. Broccoli, that the GMs have dropped. So that statistic may not accurately reflect what is really going on. Furthermore, this game DOES have a certain appeal, even with the new changes. Otherwise all these people who quit and keep coming back would NOT happen. The players who have been around for eons certainly wouldn't still be here.

Mr. Broccoli, I can't help but notice that many of your posts here are critical and negative in nature. I'm just curious as to your agenda or what you hope to achieve???

Well, I'm simply dissapointed to find so many broken eggs in one nest.

This games' concept is very good and it has a complexity and depth that I like.

However, it's just so much more annoying to bump into all these unattended problems. Like the pricing for example. And the lack of response to player problems as another.

It is also clear by a glance, that the economic model of SC - if there ever was one - is screwed up.

To sum up: this could be so good, but it has become a monster.

Will they remodel it or just keep welding on a lever here and there and hope that the machine will eventually run flawlessly?

We don't know, because their feed-back is token. Your guess is as good as mine as to what is going to happen to this game.

Boooooooo!!!

I like the constant bashing and ugly, disrespectful smack, a big turn - ON.

-1 Lorelei.

@ Mizore

Please enlighten me as to this comment:

"Competitive play is out... just let the roleplayers take over."

How is there no competition in this game?

Yeah, let me, a roleplayer take over. ha ha ha And I'll do it with shoes, even!!! ha ha ha *rolls eyes. Please get over yourself, Klar. Your arrogance abounds here. This game is not "owned" by you and a select few. People play online games for various reasons. Stop stifling other people's fun. No disrespect intened.

Dearest Crafty,

I think I may have to resort to my old, old ways. ha ha ha

Got Drama? :P

Kissi, Mizore is Scarlet.

I thought Mizore was Klar??? I am so totally confused. I could have sworn Mizore was Klarina. Either way, Mizore gets a Whoopin! lol

Oh, hiya Scarlet!!

My statement STILL stands. :P

Heh, we did originally think mizore was Klarina Lorelei, remember? because of the name and posts.

I guess scarlet thought it clever to impersonate someone else. And I had thought all that had died out.

well, to be fair, my comment was a little of a burn for both sides.

the truth is, the game is smoother, and more playable now, that it has ever been. the war game offers depths, and even the ability to dominate, aggressively.

like lore said, their are certain players, that when ever Andy, post ANYTHING, they are their to judge the quality of what he says, and make unrelated demands... like they are really running the game.

their are a wide variety of games out there. in the past their was a huge discussion, mostly about the war game. where it came out, that in spite of what the players thought was best, W3C wanted to offer a particular flavor of game play. and stated that in the future, we "might not even recognize the game,"

when it comes to desertion, certainly people have quit do to being attacked, and defeated. and that is easy to see, player O attacks player B, player B quits, now players L, S, J, and K will use the event to demonize Player O... that certainly does happen.

but over the coarse of years... i'd say, i've seen more people quit, from waiting for an opportunity to fight a good war, with out having the entire planet beating them down over it.

ironically, thats what sup and his buddies where trying to do, in reguards to the event that Wendy has been raking him over the coals on, or rather they were just trying to safely get a little war experience, you'd think that some one that kept any, and every strip-able asset in WP, for RL YEARS, while sending waves of worthless C3s at superior foes... and claiming to be a war lord... well, they seem to be doing well at WL3, thats probably about right.

and that, has caused a mis-balance. players can't fight a war, against an equally skilled foe, with out being over whelmed, by the champions of peace. it has chased off allot of good players over the years. but for some reason, that doesn't count. because the majority, would rather see those players leave.

i mean, players complained that the war game was to tedious, with endless clicking. so W3C tries to reduce the immensity of war... but as they try to do that, they get bashed every step of the way...

most players, have a concept of how they'd like to see the game flow... but are very disinclined to sign off on any game change that gives them a perceived disadvantage. unfortunately, you can't have both.

further, there are quite a few occasions, that I noticed a "game feature." I would figure it out. what it does how it works, how to get around it, how to use it, and by the time i'm done, i'm not sure it was a flaw, or bug, as much a "easter egg." so i figure out how to use it to my advantage. and 6 month later, some one is complaining about it, and demanding that it get changed! I've noticed, most the time on those, W3C will just ignore the comment. they even once said "do you want us to play the game for you to?" meaning, many of what we consider "bugs," are just game features that we haven't discovered how to use yet. from what i've seen, a good solid chunk of the "bug," complaints, are really players that don't understand the game.

which is part of the problem, players do seem to think they understand the game better than the GM.

In some respects we do understand the game better than the GM. It is us who use the code many man hours a day between us. It is us who discover real bugs and report them. The GM thank us for highlighting them.

Sometimes the GMs lack of response or total denial of an issue that is well explained and documented and obvious to all of us (or those active here) leads one to wonder if they really do master the game. I'm sure they do, but sometimes they dont quite inspire confidence. Generally I reckon you're right though, most perceived 'bugs' are player misunderstanding.

Andy understands that no one likes change, and that's what he's up against, most of us moaning about change, me included. I would't fancy his PR job, maybe the perks, but not the job ;)

And, hey, people do move on you know. Quite a few of the old players I knew who have left have done so because their lives have moved on. Surely that's natural? There's only so many of us old fools that stick around because we dont have a life.

Bring on the noobs, it's their game to learn as it is now, they'll be the vets in a year or so. Me? I just plan on keeping my head above water, trying to keep up with the rules, and maybe helping people up along the way.

I don't get how I'm trying to act as though the game is "owned" by me in any capacity. The game is what it is and I decide whether and how I'll play. I exercise no control whatsoever. There is no consultation with me on any game change. There is no evidence that my opinions have ever been taken into account on any game change. I make no claim to have any relationship with the management. My correspondence with the management is minimal as I find their outright denials of things that are very clearly the case bothersome and unpleasant.

I make observations. That statement was an observation.

People may play online games for various reasons, but "stifling other people's fun" likely includes the very behavior that I define as "competitive".

A "competitive" game is one where players try to "win" the server. This means shutting down as many and every player around by pushing every possible advantage, taking everything of value belonging to other players, and permanently disabling any possibility of recourse. In other words, PvP is the focus of the game's structure. There isn't a choice, everyone that plays is playing PvP. Which in terms of actual game rules, it means there are minimal protections of players from other players... and those protections are intended as temporary. This is NOT the case. The game is not designed to be competitive. Previously, it was only mostly competitive.

Which is fine. There is a trend in more competitive games with persistent environments that leads to inevitable server death because one side wins so hard that it gets boring and why many games resort to regularly opening new servers. Arguably, it would be the worse decision to continue to allow the level of competition that developed to continue.

Like I said, no need to fuss. They made a decision on where they wanted to go, and that's totally fine. I'll play the PvE game. However, it is also true that it's not the same game as before and I'd prefer the game as it was before.

"A "competitive" game is one where players try to "win" the server..." and the rest of that, i really liked that statement!

1000 players quit because they were bashed in war?

No chance,man. Not in a million (game-)years.

Broccoli, what is your fixation with this 1000 players? ha ha ha ha Get over it already!!!

I think the GMs and well most anyone would be more receptive to advice and comments if they are put forth in a positive manner and not one that is arrogant, condescending, and negative in nature.

Look at me, you say something I dun like, expect a shoe to be flying somewhere CLOSE to your vicinity. lol

@ Crafty
You and I are here, because we old folks. ha ha ha ha Fortunately, we still have lives! :P