Frankly, with so many inactive games on byond, I am wondering, why does a game die in the first place?
And what makes them so popular also?
ID:152827
 Sep 14 2005, 4:36 pm
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In addition, it usually should have a "professional feel" to it.
An example of this would be eliminating the verb panel to use some other method (HUD, Browser). Also, finding other "original" ways of doing things in a way that they normally don't get done could help. For example, Last Robot Standing (The Earth Server never seems to have any players anymore :/) primarily is based off of the movement keys, and the browser. When you go to select a mob in line of sight, instead of some input box popping up, you simply click your target. This flows really well with the turn-based style of play. There are others, but I have to get to my bus stop by like 7:05 a.m., and it's almost 7. School is so boring. Hiead | |
Alot of myne have died to do bugs that I can't fix, or pure lack of wanting to work on it anymore, or a better idea.
Things like that get me and it makes alot of my games not work out. I usually, through the time I spend making my game, redo it from scratch about 1-3 times. | |
Big vague plans and not enough enthusiasm to follow up on it. A lot of people love to throw stuff up in the air about how their game is going to be "the greatest game on BYOND" but never live up to their words. They've got huge plans down on paper, but when they sit down and try to put it into something that works, they get frustrated. I've come to accept the fact that sometimes I'm in a Maeva mood, and sometimes I'm not. It's almost seasonal. I'll just stop working on it sometimes, but sooner or later, I find myself with DreamMaker open again, crackin away at something new. I've completely recoded Maeva about 3 times, completely redrawn entire sets of icons many times, but every time, it's beeen worth it.
Popularity can be a lot of things. The crappiest games can be popular just because everyone piles into one server just because it's a new title on the hub. This doesn't usually last, of course, unless it's got some lasting value. It seems like games with a good deal of direct competition seem to do well. Somewhere where someone can win and tell everyone else that they're n00bs. That's what I've observed anyways. Bomberman Arena always seemed to do really well when I hosted it, and everyone just ran around and tried to hoard as many powerups as they could to try to be some kind of bomberman god, and then immediately quit when they died. I have a tendancy to leave games almost immediately if I see a "GM" bossing people around, or if there's offers made about "GM" for hosting. | |
DerDragon wrote:
They've got huge plans down on paper, but when they sit down and try to put it into something that works, they get frustrated. Very true, but I always thought of this as to do with the game's development process, not the playable game. These things affect each other, but players only see and play the "finished product." Most of them have little idea that you can't make a BYOND game like a starcraft map. As for the topic, i'll give my theory. An original game attracts players, but the players don't like unfinished games. Players mean hosts, and hosts keep the game alive. People stop hosting if the game isn't being updated, if no players join, or if they simply get bored with the game. Newbies like a good walkthrough or explaination of the game. People will go into a game and ask what to do, but if your game is not that simple, it's hard to explain to them what to do and they basically leave. Few newbies will stay and try to figure out the game to see if they like it, which is sad. Original game --> Players, Players = Hosts, Hosts = Games' vitality, Updates and overall gameplay = Keep hosts, get new players. | |
In my eyes a game never dies.ITs just completely overlooked and ignored.
For instance,I make a games for the first few weeks its at 100+ clients then the numbers dwindle and dwindle till all thats left is you.The game didnt die because you see its folder every day.Its just gone erased from the memory of those who once played it because now its in the shadow of the game they are currently playing. Itanium | |
Itanium, players basically make the game. I don't think Dev was referring to the actual death of the game itself, I think he was referring to when the game stops being hosted or people stop playing it. Developous referred to "inactivity" in his post, not "death of the game." If you want to be literal, I believe the question could be modified to "What makes people stop playing a game?"
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In order for your RPG to not die, it will need to be better than a newbie RPG, and for it to become popular, it will have to be good enough to be in competition with the popular BYOND RPGs.