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terreferme
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 Subject: My feedback
After playing that game 20 days, as a registered player, I'd like give a rather comprehensive feedback on that game. I'll first say what are the problems I found and then suggest ideas to fix them.

* TIME AND MONEY
The only way to win at that game is to send time and/or money. I have nothing about paying for a game – as a matter of fact I did pay for it and I think any work should be rewarded. But you can't base a game just on time and money. Why? First of all because it's not fair, especially for new players (or poor players), and when it's not fair, people just don't enjoy the game after a while and eventually stop playing.

Then when you play, you like to think you're winning because you're smart. In that game, you don't have to be smart : you just have to stick to your computer for 6 month, never forgetting to train, to fish and to mine, and you'll be ahead of the game. My opinion is that it's even better not to be too smart in that game : that way you won't be bored when you meet for the 135th time the prince looking for the « bride » or for the 350th time psycho Steeve.

* INCOHERENT SCRIPT AND INTERFACE
The script lacks (and it's an understatement) coherence. I'm not sure one self-esteem is greatly improved when you're supposed to believe that you can live exactly the same experience hundreds of times, meet the same people, etc, being killed 5 times a day, during weeks and weeks. I don't mind looking for Steeve again and again, but I feel I'm playing a cheap game when I read it's supposed each time to be the first time I met him or his doctor.

The interface could also be greatly improved. I know that for some people, like Darth__Vader, a text only game must be boring and you just HAVE to lose hours clicking and clicking again, even if doesn't make sense. Hopefully, Darth_Vader wasn't heading IBM when it lauch the first PC, we wouldn't be able to play an on-line game today. As a matter of fact, most people don't enjoy much having to click 4 times to buy a weapon. I just can't count the number of clicks one need to unequipe a weapon, selling it and buying a new one.


WAYS TO IMPROVE THE GAME

* REWARD MORE INTELLIGENCE, LESS TIME SPENT
That's probably the most difficult part but eventually, if you want to have a dedicate (and paying) community of players, you have to do that. One way could be to make it easier to collaborate. You have a strong player attacking weakest player? Two or three weakest players just can't attack a stronger player together or loot his outpost. Weakest players should be able to team (I'm talking about weakest players, not camping players, see bellow) in order to improve. Some quests or actions should also include less brute force and more sensitive choices. The only quest that demand some kind of intelligence is the outpost one, even though it's flawned by the fact that with the sell of few helix, you can buy a huge number of outposts. Another option would be to allow players to pay “insurance” against specific players, balancing a little, with the help of money, the necessary unbalanced position of strong and weak players. I'm not an expert of thins kind of game and I don't pretend to have solutions for all. But I'm pretty sure the game can (and shall) be improved in a way better balance time spent and smart moves.

* A MORE COHERENT SCRIPT
That must be the easiest part. It won't cost much time to modify the script, so that when a player meets Steeve for the second time, he meets him “again”, not for the first time as the current script imply. Same think for killing or being killed. Why not taking about being “knock down”? It won't change the game and will be much more coherent. And fixing the interface, in order to make more actions in less clicks, is easy to fix, will even cost less (less trafic) and it will be appreciate by all. One last thing: use a new soft to admin the forum, it's quite complicate to read the answers.

An intelligent use of the community of players
Improvement doesn't need the staff have to spend time and money, the kind of thing they want the players do. It seems there's a dedicate community here and a lot of people would be happy to help fixing and improving the game. You need new quests? You might receive tones of ideas just asking, even very detailed quests, just giving few stones to the best ones. You might even receive ideas for games, addon, etc. Just start one competition for a new quest, you'll see the result.

* Add temporary (meaningful) quests
The community might help you creating new quests that might indeed give more sens to that game. The current game is less a game than a meaningless routine (once again, the more you play, the more you win, even if you're the most stupid player). It won't be hard to create temporary quests, that would not reward the time spent on line but the wit of the players. Not only you would that way involve and keep unite the current community but you will also make the game more attractive for all players, among them the new ones.

* Change the game's universe every 6 month
Being statical, the game is pretty boring. Once again, with help of the community (e.i. with little work), you might be able to offer a completely different universe from time to time. I'm quite sure a bunch of players would be quite happy not to have to put a feet anymore in the Dark Forest. That would allow you to improve the game, keep the players playing longer, etc.

* Make camping less attractive
Camper are killing the game. As far as I understand, camping is probably the most efficient way to win in that game. But it is also the most boring way to play. It means that you have to lose 6 month or a year of your life sticking to your computer, making sure you don't forget clicking thousand of times « F5 - Enter » when training or fishing. The game must be fun and that mean fun for all, including new players. If you have to wait 6 month to have fun, well just don't expect reaching a large audience.

* In a similar way, and once again, most of the successful games try to offer a kind of balance between strong and weak players, something totally absent in that game where when you're strong, you get stronger, full point. When you're weak, you can be “killed” 1000 by the same player and still can't do anything. You don't have a 1% chance to resist. The game could and should be more subtil.

* Filter the base
I'm sure that it might seems a good marketing stuff boasting having 150 000 players joining the game. But the few players indeed playing often feel they play in a ghost city. Of those 150 000 players, between 145 and 148 000 stopped playing but are still there, being killed every now and then, present in the ranking, etc. The impression one has realizing that is precisely opposite to the one wanted by the staff: player don't think “wow, impressive game, many players” but “wow, what a cheap game, more than 98% of the players stopped playing month ago and they are still part of the game”. A quick way to fix it would be to offer a filter, reserved for subscribers if you want, that would show only the players active the last 15 days.


CONCLUSION
This post is supposed to be a constructive contribution in order to improve the game. I'm in no way criticizing the work of the staff, I think they have done a good job but I also think they must improve now the game if the want to reach – and keep – a broader public.

As far as I'm concerned, I feel, after playing 20 days, that the game doesn't worth the time spent on it. It's time consuming and, as I said before, I see no point in having to spend days, weeks and month behind my computer, knowing that the only way to improve your character is not to be smart but only to spend your time behind your computer. That is my point of view and I nevertheless think that the website is pretty successful, since between 80 and 180 players are playing at any given time of the day. I also think that this community could help improving the game pretty fast. Good luck for all! (And don't bother insulting me, I leaving the game).

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Time Posted: August 15 2009 03:25 pm EDT
Last updated: August 17 2009 02:30 am EDT


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