sleep

[Iamsmart]

Meh. The whole thing makes me very angry. Insurance and injuries are there so you ALWAYS log in to something. That's why they were introduced. I don't think we need further measures to protect incompetent players.

lies

 

[Enrico]

Well it's all fair enough that as a member of an ally you can be pranked online if you get massive incoming the nigh****ch can't cover. (and no ally below the top 5 can really guarantee to stop a bash from a higher ally) Thus a player who has exams, visits from their S.O. or for whatever reason cannot get on to send out, will wish to use sleepmode from time to time.

Now I don't really see how that makes anyone "invulnerable" or unkillable. Are the people never out of sleepmode? attack them while online and rape their land then? Or just pick a different target, anyone in sleepmode 1/3 of the time are bound to fall behind in score.

The "problem" with the game is basically the need for activity and contactability, and while sleep mode is not a perfect fix, it's perfectly acceptable for casual player who maye plays 1-2 hours a day.

I don't really see the problem.

 

[aGit]

Insurance works if by 'inactive play' you mean only log in once every couple of days.

If you are inactive by most other standards (log in a couple of times a week), you are zereod 1-2 times in that space, and have been landraped to boot.

Yes you have 30% insurance each time or whatever it is, but 0.3*0.3 = 9% of your units left, with barely any land to speak of.

AR needs fixing, or inactive players need to have a reason to care less.

i dont really see why the game should be balanced in any way around people who log in once or twice a week.

 

[Turnip2k]

My point exactly

 

[Twigley]

A rank 2/3 ally who goes into sleep for 2 weeks is kinda annoying

 

[Iamsmart]

Just kinda?

 

[Lordie]

A rank 2/3 ally who goes into sleep for 2 weeks is kinda annoying

Exactly. That's the point.

 

[Twigley]

Sleeping 16% of the round is hardly sumat to smile about Lordie

 

[Turnip2k]

Not playing bush for 16% of the round is somthing to smile about though

Freeeeedoooom

 

[Davs]

nigh****ch

best censoring ever

 

[Shadow]

Not playing bush for 16% of the round is somthing to smile about though

Freeeeedoooom

oh yeah!!!

have not had any random txt's sayign incomings in a while, the joy

 

[Dziunglius]

Yep, I haven't been properly on a PC for a week or so now. It's almost as good as not playing at all!

 

[DarkSider]

Reminds me of a post i made not too long ago where i said many play just because they're addicted, or to use the game as an excuse to hang around with some online friends

 

[Turnip2k]

I must say, I do not enjoy playing this game anymore. It requires you to put too much time in if you are to enjoy it at all, and is very repetitive once you have played for a few rounds.

I am not playing this round for the game, I'm playing for the group of great people who I happen to be around.

If you want to make this game enjoyable for the oldies - mix it up a bit and make some damn decent changes. If you want to latch onto new players, reduce the activity requirement and make it easier to enjoy it without needing to log on every hour.

You can't keep serving people the same stuff you have been for YEARS and expect them to enjoy eating it every damn time.

 

[Amanala]

I must say, I do not enjoy playing this game anymore. It requires you to put too much time in if you are to enjoy it at all, and is very repetitive once you have played for a few rounds.

Disagree, if you space the rounds out it is anything but.

If you want to make this game enjoyable for the oldies - mix it up a bit and make some damn decent changes. If you want to latch onto new players, reduce the activity requirement and make it easier to enjoy it without needing to log on every hour.

The game has changed a huge amount since the earlier rounds, there have been many massive sweeping changes. You don't need to login every hour, and you don't need to be contactable. That's your choice.

You can't keep serving people the same stuff you have been for YEARS and expect them to enjoy eating it every damn time.

It sounds like what you're looking for is another game all-together.

-> People still play soccer / foot-ball despite it remaining unchanged.
-> People still play Monopoly, despite it having been the same for years and years and years.
-> People still play chess, despite the rules having remained the same for hundreds of years.

To say that there have been no changes to this game is wrong, and that there have been no major changes is doubly wrong. In fact, if there were huge changes every single round, do you think many people would bother playing at all?

 

[f0xx]

Drastical changes to reduce tha activity and most importantly contactabilty that are required to play the game at competetive level are needed.

Yet again, Azzer is concentrating his work in a wrong durection to fix minor problems compared to this one.

This game has enough skilled vets to think of a way to reduce activity. All that is needed is will and desire for a change.

 

[Turnip2k]

-> People still play soccer / foot-ball despite it remaining unchanged.
-> People still play Monopoly, despite it having been the same for years and years and years.
-> People still play chess, despite the rules having remained the same for hundreds of years.

To say that there have been no changes to this game is wrong, and that there have been no major changes is doubly wrong. In fact, if there were huge changes every single round, do you think many people would bother playing at all?

Slight difference. A game of soccer, monopoly or chess doesnt last for months.

No one ever said huge changes every round. Jest enough to keep things original and new for the older players.

You know what, I must be wrong. The game is doing fine! The playerbase is growing because everything is perfect. Sorry I said anything

 

[Azzer]

Drastical changes to reduce tha activity and most importantly contactabilty that are required to play the game at competetive level are needed.
Yet again, Azzer is concentrating his work in a wrong durection to fix minor problems compared to this one.
This game has enough skilled vets to think of a way to reduce activity. All that is needed is will and desire for a change.

It's all well and good putting the blame entirely on me in such a clearly secretly affectionate has-the-hots-for-Azzer (I read between the lines ) sweeping statement, but I've yet to see any really good ideas that are the "magic fix everything in the world at once" that don't either make the game stupidly easy/pointless for those that can (or want to) invest time and skill in return for making the game "not need any activity" for casual gamers, or have just been shot down in flames as being generally bad ideas. There's a handful of small ideas that nudge the game in one direction or the other, but there's no magic fix I've yet to ever see or think of myself, and if I don't have a viable solution that everyone wants to see, how can I possibly work on it?

There's minor ideas floating around regarding sleep mode giving more "benefits", or being more "dynamic" - so that casual gamers could utilise sleep mode and the vets could play normally. And perhaps a few vaguely similar ones. These might want looking in to and developing further - but perhaps these sorts of features want to become a sort of "automatic sleep mode" - for every X hours you are offline for, Y benefits happen to your account? There's aspects like increasing insurance and injuries to gross levels that could be looked at/implemented. Just depends what you want to give to gamers that makes you say "Ok, yes, now the game is friendly to casual gamers". But at that point perhaps all the big wars the competitive players are fighting become pointless matches where each side regenerates 6 ticks after a fight because the game was designed to be "friendly to the casuals". Who knows.

But really you have to answer a few questions first before you can work on ideas:

* What do you classify as a more "casual" gamer, that clearly sets them apart from the "hardcore" that can afford to invest a lot of time each day to a game.
* Do you want to maintain the ability for the hardcore to continue enjoying the game they have and being able to reap the rewards of investing time and effort every day, to still be able to kill their enemies, have alliance wars and resistances.... or to remove that ability and say "Sorry you play too much, go away now and come back tomorrow/stop killing people it's a war game for casuals not a war game with death".
* Do you want casual gamers to have the opportunity to be the rank 1 ally? "Win the game"? To be immune? To never be able to lose more than X amount of troops or land? What is the point where you say "Ok casual gamers now have it sorted, their problem is solved."? There must be a defined line/goal to aim for.

If those questions have answers, and they are answers a large portion of players can agree upon, then I think the answers themselves will provide good brainstorming and headway for future improvements - or the answers will show that you can either only have a totally casual game or a totally competitive game.... or that casual gamers shouldn't expect high ranks or immunity in an MMO that is a strategy war game (as opposed to a sim-game, farming game, etc.) and it's just a ridiculous premise in the first place. I'm not saying it's any one of these things (I'm sure my wording implies I believe the last of those three statements - but I don't) - but one of those will come to light if some proper thought and discussion can go in to getting to the root of; Who are casual gamers? Who are competitive gamers? What should casual gamers be able to achieve that they currently cannot achieve? How will this affect, benefit, or detriment from competitive players? Will this remove the war from the game and turn it in to a sim, or keep the game interesting and competitive for everyone at all levels in a fair and fun manner?

So yes, blame me for all the problems in the world [of Bushtarion] if you want, but while you're doing that, could we get some friendly, useful brainstorming going on at the same time, so at least I see some use coming out of random hatred towards me as the creator of the game, rather than just have to sit and endure it smiling like an idiot and not being allowed to retort for fear of being called "Terrible at customer relations/PR" by the campaigners of Bushtarion.

If you want to answer these questions, I'd really, REALLY ask you to not click "Reply", but to head to suggestions (or Bushtarion Discussions in fact), click the create a new thread button, paste a quote of this message there if you want, and answer in a new, appropriate, and directed thread (if somebody hasn't already made a new thread before you - don't want 10 new threads ).

Only reply to this one here in this thread if you just want to gripe about my post, gripe about how awful and terrible I am, ask me on a hot date, or whatever else.

 

[f0xx]

Drastical changes to reduce tha activity and most importantly contactabilty that are required to play the game at competetive level are needed.
Yet again, Azzer is concentrating his work in a wrong durection to fix minor problems compared to this one.
This game has enough skilled vets to think of a way to reduce activity. All that is needed is will and desire for a change.

So yes, blame me for all the problems in the world [of Bushtarion] if you want, but while you're doing that, could we get some friendly, useful brainstorming going on at the same time, so at least I see some use coming out of random hatred towards me as the creator of the game, rather than just have to sit and endure it smiling like an idiot and not being allowed to retort for fear of being called "Terrible at customer relations/PR" by the campaigners of Bushtarion.

Yes, of course I will blame you for all the problems of Bushtarion, since you are the only person that can change things. If people have to poke you on IRC or MSN just to get you to read (and post your opinion in) a suggestion, then there is a problem.

Also, it is not a hatrad it is criticism. I cannot hate you since you have made a game which I've been playing for more than 5 years now. That is enough of a compliment for you and your work and despite of thinking you are gay, you are still one of the best (if not the best) administors I've met and played under the rule of, especially when we are talking about "customer relations/PR".

Now instead of throwing the ball back at me, you could have taken the initiative of creating such thread. You know why? Because I've already adressed the problem. I already have such a thread, a thread that is more than an year old and that has been bumped 3 times, a thread on which you are yet to reply. Even if you don't like the suggestion, even if the comment is negative.

So see, I have made more than you (up to the moment) in the direction of attempting to reduce the needed activity.

 

[aGit]

just make it 1h ticks instead of 10min, and voila! all activity issues solved!