Fixing basic stuff........

[Nikolaj Knudsen]

Ever so often we see new fancy features added to the game. They may or may not be good. That is not what I'm going to discuss here.

Adding new features to an old game is a classic move. Developers try to make the game more interesting and to revive it. More than often the new features must be changed again to fit the users' need and gradually the game becomes more sophisticated. Maybe even better, BUT ONLY for the select few - namely the seasoned veterans, who can then discuss sophisticated details as we see here all the time.

In this process developers tend to forget past problems, mainly because they are not so interesting anymore. Fancy new details "rock" more. However, fancy new details do not attract new users, because they haven't got a clue of what it's all about. Fancy new details are not documented properly.

I'm suggesting to stop adding more new details and add-ons to the game till the more basic stuff has been fixed. To mention a few things, which we see here over and over again:

1. Finish and update the new Wiki. It really is outrageous that the game doesn't have a proper and updated Wiki. One way of doing this is to oblige every person, who makes changes to the game, to write, finish or update the corresponding part of the Wiki. Boring? Yes maybe, but far more important than new fancy add-ons. This should be on page 1 in every game developer's bible: ALWAYS keep the documentation (Wiki) up to date. As a matter of fact it's a very educational exercise to write the Wiki, BEFORE new add-ons are implemented.

2. Rethink how the Auction works (main problem being the EGV).

3. Rethink how the Trading House works.

4. Rethink the whole "encounter" system. Has it become too complicated? Stats, Skills, Armor and so on. Would you understand this if you were a relatively new user? And where would You go to figure it out?

There are more, but for now this is sufficient. In conclusion, forget about more fancy new details now, forget about new sophisticated changes. Concentrate on the basic stuff at least for some months, and DOCUMENT the game properly.

Good luck! There is lots of evidence that games decline after 3 - 5 years. The way ahead is back to basics, not more fancy and sophisticated details.

[hon]

+1 also all the 3.5 port

[Kirosana]

Rethink the whole "encounter" system. Has it become too complicated? Stats, Skills, Armor and so on. Would you understand this if you were a relatively new user? And where would You go to figure it out?

No, it's not too complicated. New players are not supposed to understand it. You go to a clan to figure it out.

[Nikolaj Knudsen]

+1 also all the 3.5 port

Indeed yes, we really need to see some progress in that area too.

And I almost forgot one more very important piece of advise. When games begin to decline after 3 - 5 years, we often see developers trying to squeeze the last $$ out of it. That is a huge mistake, and this way good paying customers are pushed away. So don't go down that road. Instead make more and better offers for Your paying customers, AND NEVER EVER forget that paying customers were once non-paying customers. So make sure that the advantages for Ocho players are not getting too significant. A little (even some) advantage is good, but this is a very very delicate balance. As things are right now, I personally believe Ocho players have too much of an advantage.

[Gladerunner]

The wiki is usually pretty solid, but it does miss a few details on weapon/part acquisitions.

And I think it would be a great idea that EGV and the gold recieved scales at diminishing rate. For example, the seller recieves the initial EGV of the weapon, and maybe 15% of any surplus gold. Its not much, but I do wonder where all that gold does go.

[Master of Clan X]

forget about more fancy new details now

What fancy new details?

[Andrew Bowman]

+1 to everything.

The wiki might be pretty good for items. However, it is woefully out of date for explaining how to play the game. Many aspects of the game aren't explained at all on the wiki right now.

[Nikolaj Knudsen]

Rethink the whole "encounter" system. Has it become too complicated? Stats, Skills, Armor and so on. Would you understand this if you were a relatively new user? And where would You go to figure it out?

No, it's not too complicated. New players are not supposed to understand it. You go to a clan to figure it out.

I wasn't discussing it. Just reminding the developers that games have a tendency to grow more and more complicated over the years until finally noone can figure how it actually works. Of course You get to understand more of the game mechanics as you go along. That's all fine, but to say that new users are not supposed to know how the game works, is just too much. Going to a clan to understand it just isn't good enough. It's helpful, but it doesn't compensate for a well documented game.

[hon]

forget about more fancy new details now

What fancy new details?

Example:

viewtopic.php?f=44&t=12448

[Master of Clan X]

Example:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=12448

All that says to me is that everyone has their own definition of what is a "fancy detail" and what is a priority.

[Nikolaj Knudsen]

forget about more fancy new details now

What fancy new details?

The ones we have recently seen, and the ones which are probably in the pipeline.

[Master of Clan X]

The ones we have recently seen, and the ones which are probably in the pipeline.

Such as?

[Nikolaj Knudsen]

The wiki is usually pretty solid, but it does miss a few details on weapon/part acquisitions.

The Wiki is almost non-existing except for items, and the other existing parts are mostly not updated and thus misleading.

[Jack Cole]

Hi Nikolaj! I actually already have a proposal about your #2 and #3 points and in the hopes Tyler would be so kind to work on them. as for the wiki, i just wish the search bar would work the same way here in the forums where it would be word sensitive. I often visit wiki to look for a specific weapon or part and I find myself going through all the list of items per category. If only I could just type like, "crusader crest" then goes the results. at least thats how I understand how a search tab works. :)

[Nikolaj Knudsen]

The ones we have recently seen, and the ones which are probably in the pipeline.

Such as?

Just check Battle Stations Announcements and this DB. No need to go further back than to the introduction of Skirmish. Plenty of examples of new/changed/non-documented features. It's time to go back to basics. Fix the basic stuff...............trust me on this one.