[quote=Mzyxptlk;3208532]I've thought a bit about this the last few days and I'm leaning in favour of the sleep mode proponents.[quote]
Welcome to the league of the sane.
Quote:
|
Just look at WoW, look at Eve Online, or any other MMORPG. There are millions of people who are quite willing to spend an eternity playing a game. But look at it from the other side: what if all the interesting aspects of these game were only available between 2 and 8 o'clock?
|
I can't tell about Eve.
But World of Warcraft is slightly different. Apart from the tiny fraction of high end guilds (probably about the amount of planetarion players, honestly), you'll struggle to set up a raid that goes through night times.
Even high end progress guilds do it for a 'week' or 'few'. And it's once every now and then, four or so contents a two-year. These people simply take the time off work (ie. real life vacation) and grind it through. It's not the vast majority of the playerbase. The majority spend their time online during peak hours, they sleep at night.
God forbid if you queue 3v3s on Rampage or Cyclone between 01: and 04: game time. You'll get a 15 minute queue which bounces you into a 1900 MMR team you can either win for +1 rating or lose to for -49 rating.
tldr: World of Warcraft peak times are after people get home from work/school and before they go sleep. It's a game that allows you to very flexibly set up the times you want to play it on. This is the 'optimal' aim - a game that has enough content to satisfy a lot of grinding, but at the same time can be played in depth with a pair of hours a day.
Quote:
|
There are a few caveats, of course. No analogy is perfect and this one is no exception. The unique selling point of Planetarion is the very fact that it's a real-time game.
|
Of course there are caveats. However, it's fair to say that the unique selling point isn't selling all too well here is it now. If your product isn't selling, there's something wrong. In a game where social constructions and networking provide for 'content' (if you get what I mean here), selling to a wide population is what makes the game 'good'.
Quote:
|
It would be foolish to throw the out the very thing that made (past-perfect) PA successful. I believe there is still a market for a good real-time browser game, but no game, no matter how good, can afford to let all the action in it take place during periods when most people aren't around to experience them.
|
I believe times were slightly different partially due to the lesser dominance of other social online games. I can understand you'd argue with this and that here (UO etc), but MMOs have come a long way in 10 years. You have a lot of more competition, on all pitches. It means you'll have to be seriously more attractive for people to put an effort, especially an effort anywhere near what Planetarion requires.
Quote:
|
That is a valid argument, actually, but not one that can't be overcome. For one, the rate at which attacks land is not a fundamental aspect of PA, unlike other constants like as the time between launch and land, which below a certain threshold potentially destroy playability. However, in the larger scheme of things, it makes absolutely no difference whether your land rate is 25% or 75%. We've had enjoyable rounds both with defensive and offensive stats.
|
As you say about stats. It's a valid argument but at the same time it's not much more than a result that can be fixed by adjusting parameters. Ship statistics and game mechanics can play a dramatic role on how much you can land, and it really can't be that difficult to adjust in the end. It's a very limited data set. It's so easy to fix in the end that I can barely see it's relevance.
While it's fun to play with caveats and whatnots, it's easy to take the blunt facts and understand this:
- it's a diminishing playerbase with no signs of upwards trend.
- the time requirements are not only demanding but intimidating.
- would you think the average joe rather plays
a) a great game that consumes the majority of his life
b) a mediocre game that allows him to pick his schedules
(hint: he'll play world of warcraft, with a 3v3 team around 1100-1200 range, and he finds random dungeon heroics difficult)