Quote:
Originally Posted by Cincinnatus
So what do you count?
Last round had a rather largely changed access system add for alliances, while this doesn't seem to be a big thing, it does mean that every alliance page had to have quite a few changes each, as well as several other pages that uses alliances data/values in some way. And for the players it does mean they get much more control over things themselves.
r30 had the addition of a bcalc, which to some might not seem as much but is quite a bit of work, and judging by the usage, has had quite a benefit and interest from the players.
It also had the alliance intel system added, which is somewhat small, but still provides help to alliances without their own and even established alliances use it.
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I'm not saying these changes aren't welcome or that they don't take time to implement. But in terms of improving the overall gaming experience and giving Planetarion a talking point that can attract new players beyond the same ones we had in r5 these changes have zero impact. Nobody is ever going to start playing a game because it's easier to add players to your alliance or because you have an ingame bcalc. Yeah, for the current playerbase changes like these help keep them around because it makes playing the game slightly easier. Would you try and sell a game based on what's been added to it over the last few rounds though? Not a chance.
Comparing it an actual computer game franchise or whatever what has happened recently is a number of patches and add-ons have been released. Nothing has been done to change the actual game itself and make it more interesting. Maybe everyone else is content with a game where we have around 1500 planets and 600 active players. Personally I'd like to see a genuine effort to expand the game again. And to do this you need selling points.
For the record the last major change in PA has been free accounts becoming viable, and even this didn't show any actual imagination (it did improve the gameplay experience for free accounts and made pa more accessible though so it should count).
Actual new changes for the future would involve being able to do different things ingame from what you can currently do. New ship classes, new forms of combat, new methods of interaction between players outside of combat, new ways of building ships, new research and construction paths and methods, a genuine use for population in some form, a new "geographical" shape to the game, different forms of resource gathering and usage, new approaches to fleet dynamics et cetera. Basically it comes down to two things. New things to do with your planet and new ways to interact with other people. That's what people look for in games.