Too complicated you cannot just step into it, learning curve much more than vanilla (TS etc.), too much history, too many assets secreted away in our accounts and too many people looking to score points at someones expense.
Downgrade from 'game for all' to 'game for few' wasn't helpful much for the cause, you see. I don't think it is technically (and mentally) possible to rebuild the place so drastically, which might be required for the process (or not).
To add up on this I'd say Disco was a great game when it was closer to it's Vanilla roots being a Role Playing enhanced server with some extra ships and places, plus, people who really enjoyed being a part of it. And to address the objections for the slow development, hell, now it's like 100 times faster then it used to be.
But with time game was growing heavy of more rules, more complications and less freedom and thus fun. Examples are everywhere - well, almost all changes made looks good for a start but they take up the freedom be that new capship turret system (which was great on paper and honestly I was standing for it as well but yet now I'm in huge doubt if it was really a good idea) or even mining, well, mining was the first thing, was good for a start indeed - but mining, in fact, destroyed both trading and smuggling all together. Basically all the changes which looked good at start (or bad even) had their consequences in the end in form of a hit on freedom of choice.
Lack of that freedom might actually be the problem, at least I consider it so.
(02-28-2017, 09:05 AM)Curios Wrote: Downgrade from 'game for all' to 'game for few' wasn't helpful much for the cause, you see. I don't think it is technically (and mentally) possible to rebuild the place so drastically, which might be required for the process (or not).
That rebuild is already happening, and it's something admins and faction leaders can prompt, even more so than devs.
Start events, do events, get your members doing events, work on individual stories for people, create narratives, adventures, don't just PvP, also trade, not offplane but in areas people can catch you. Talk to people, don't get bitter, play the game.
The issue with traders is the mentality that "kill me it's cheaper", not to mention they are mostly silent through the entire encounter. As for the events and activity - I will be a bit bitter here, but I know as a former SIC of a niche faction in a niche house how hard it was back then to create activity. Without Devs' cooperation, creating activity for such factions is simply impossible in a long run.
Look at 343 which for over year of officialdom asked Admins many times to change ZOI, which limited indies and the officials. It was must-be for Exiles who moved from Bretonia and had no intention to come back.
In the end, activity for Exiles declinded, being the most limited ZOI-wise Kusari faction.
(02-28-2017, 09:30 AM)Calo Wrote: The issue with traders is the mentality that "kill me it's cheaper", not to mention they are mostly silent through the entire encounter.
The problem with "kill me it's cheaper" traders was always there, even during the gold era of activity. Same as "2milordai" pirates (just these days it´s often "5+milordai"). There is no solution to it, it is just more visible when there are less traders and less pirates. However it is symptom of low player count, not cause.
That is the problem in itself actually - I don't see a reason to complain for meeting a silent trader as a pirate, kill him and take his stuff - that's what you're here for, to plunder goods and wares off the traffic, not to look for an appealing discussion partner. Some people just can't simply play their role as pirate, trader, navy or so - they keep spreading fake RP quality standards, twisting weaker minds.
Misleading game title screen ( shows all-powerful Battleships which are not at all nearly all-powerful ) is not a problem ,
Trolish members are not a problem ,
Game is old excuse is not a problem ,
Shield running to strong is not a problem ,
Weapons designed that "Aces" cant be beaten by even gang of average players is not a problem ,
Story goes nowhere is not a problem ,
Official factions are not a problem ,
Lack of tutorial for newbies is not a problem ,
Fact that there is no-one to help newbies besides Jhonny Walker is not a problem ,
Fact that for above reason it should be in game message "Ask Jhonny Walker" for help is not a problem ,
"Kill me it's cheaper" or "2 M or Die" is not a problem ,
Galia and Kusari civil war is not a problem ,
Real problem is lack of Naked Chicks !
Every modern game have some erotic element , today newbie players only play games that have "GTA V" like Bikini Chick main menu look . Put some hot naked/half naked/girl in ( Liberty ) Navy uniform on any commercial we have , or title screen and you will have flood of new players . When they realize there is no chicks in game , it is to late , they have already been hooked to game ( or banned ) .
The problem of low player count, as I see it, simply comes down to advertising. How will we get new players if they don't even know the game exists? And obviously, the problem with advertising (at least the main one) is that it costs money. Disco is a free to play game. We don't have "Gold Packages" you can spend real money on (thankfully) to give you an advantage in the game. The admins, devs and mods are all working FOR FREE, on their own time, out of their love for this game and community. Unless there is someway to get the word out about us, without attracting unwanted corporate attention *cough* Microsoft *cough*, then, unfortunately, the player base is going to continue to shrink and eventually become non-existent. I try to do my part to recruit new people, showing friends who might be interested in this type of gameplay for example. Hell, I even post the link to DiscoveryGC in Facebook and other social media sites I see promoting similar games to try and pique someones interest. But in the end, one person, with limited visibility, can only do so much. Without some kind of public promotion, things will continue as they are until the end.
I would attribute the progress of the mod itself as part of the problem, honestly.
You can only play so much of a game that's barely changing, without much evolution, change or incentive to continue and progress. It takes around a year to push a massive update out, and most of the time it's just a couple of ships and a few new bases/allegiance changes. It rarely gives the push needed for a new/developed front, there's nothing changing for a year after it, usually. The Kusari Civil War is a good example - it brought nothing new besides a pair of bases changing allegiances and moving.
This is just one of the issues, but I think letting the game evolve with a strict near-annual basis without taking in the community achievements into account is something that might be drawing players away in the end.
I'd have to praise the current events giving the potential to move the story and create something dynamic. I can only cheer for player actions evolving into something more serious (Harmony-LSF rebellion, Core-Zoner conflict). The boom in the playerbase was very noticeable, iirc. There seems to be a lot more content and dynamics coming, thanks to @sindroms & co. that I imagine would be fantastic for the game.