Closing Islands ?

[Anaris]

Yes also require a proper comunity manager and a monetization plan to elevate the game to a more professional level.

Make it a brand, with professionals dedicated to it full time.

If that was even close to the direction we had ever intended to go with BattleMaster, we would have started moving on it long ago.

Obviously it's in Tom's hands, but I feel pretty darn confident stating that BattleMaster is, and will remain, a free game, with no advertising, and no "freemium" features beyond the minor donator bonuses there have always been.

[vonGenf]

Yes, I would love to be able to say, "Here! Here is the brand-new mobile BattleMaster site, guaranteed to be at least 5000% better than before!

You know, the mobile site as it currently stands is pretty good and does the job well. Half of my playing time is from a mobile. It has allowed me to stay connected.

[Chenier]

If that was even close to the direction we had ever intended to go with BattleMaster, we would have started moving on it long ago.

Obviously it's in Tom's hands, but I feel pretty darn confident stating that BattleMaster is, and will remain, a free game, with no advertising, and no "freemium" features beyond the minor donator bonuses there have always been.

And I doubt making it a paid game would help, it would likely just kill the game, and reduce it to a handful of hardcore players.

[Naidraug]

If that was even close to the direction we had ever intended to go with BattleMaster, we would have started moving on it long ago.

Obviously it's in Tom's hands, but I feel pretty darn confident stating that BattleMaster is, and will remain, a free game, with no advertising, and no "freemium" features beyond the minor donator bonuses there have always been.

Monetize a game does not mean make it paid or filling the game with ads. There are many other ways to m8netize a free game. That would allow it to achieve a more professional lvl with plans to retain players

[Tom]

it would be interesting to reset all islands,

Over my dead body. Since the game started, I have made a promise to the player base many times that BM will NEVER experience a complete reset.

[Tom]

Yes also require a proper comunity manager and a monetization plan to elevate the game to a more professional level.

Make it a brand, with professionals dedicated to it full time.

It exists (well, coming into existence). It's called Might & Fealty. Can't be done in BM because I would have to break many, many things to make it a reality, including the promise that BM will always be free.

[SaDiablo]

I did apologize in advance I had not read through the 30 pages of comments in this topic.  You really did not need to throw out a big sign like that, a simple comment saying Tom said he did not want to make any more maps would of been fine and polite.

Since that is the case, your going to piss people off, oh freaking well, they will either adapt, quit, or conquer.  Games evolve and games decline, doing what is best for the game overall is the right choice.

[pcw27]

For about the 480th time:

This has not been true for years. The FEI has no special features to it (except seasons, for some reason).

Not even that is unique. Dwilight also has seasons.

[Naidraug]

It exists (well, coming into existence). It's called Might & Fealty. Can't be done in BM because I would have to break many, many things to make it a reality, including the promise that BM will always be free.

So,Tom if you don't mind the question, what is the plan?

Keep BM alive for those who are here already, without much thought on how to attract and retain more and new players to it (that should go to Might & Fealty instead) until the game naturally "dies" and everyone moves to the new game

or

Keep BM alive for an indefinite amount of time, attracting new players and restoring the game to an level that you can have a lot of islands for players?

If it is 1 then yes, closing one or more islands is a good idea, and your idea 2 of how to do it is a good and interesting one, it will keep everyone interested and players won't have that "now I have to start all over again" feeling when they join a new realm

If it is 2 then, it will need a little more focus and a better retention plan for players.

[Tom]

Keep BM alive for an indefinite amount of time, attracting new players and restoring the game to an level that you can have a lot of islands for players?

This, of course.

If it is 2 then, it will need a little more focus and a better retention plan for players.

Everything in that direction takes a lot of time, but we need to do something to stop the bleed now. Nobody ever said that closing an island is the last thing we'll ever do. We will continue to make the game bigger again. This is just one step.

[Valast]

Change is and always will be something that causes people to leave.  I am reminded of my Grandparents church growing up...every decade or two it would split and a new church would spin off and grow on its own... what was the cause of those splits?  Change.  New younger more energetic preachers would come in and draw in a younger crowed... This would create friction between old and new understandings and teachings...until one group or the other would move on together.

When I found this game...it was the perfect balance between role play and mechanics for me.  It was exactly what I was looking for.  It still maintains that balance but has become much much more complicated as we all work to see it improved.

Yet throughout all the improvements we have seen, each one brings a bit more change and a bit more complexity.  For example...I have no idea how to be a banker and only limited ideas on being a marshal.  I have been both but before changes that make them how they are now.

While change and evolution of the game is important...and well done... it does create an environment that can cause players to become detached from the way they have learned to play the game.

Imagine the look on a returning player who logs in and expects to see battle groups and a General who can still stab a ruler in the back, but finds that the system of government is now much more complex.

It is a good thing...but it will and has cause players to leave.  Refreshing the player base is the job of the players...I know I have failed to bring more people into the game in a few years.

[Gustav Kuriga]

I would disagree. I do not think the main responsibility of the player is to bring in more players, although that would be a good thing to do. The main responsibility of a player is to have fun, and if he can't have fun, they shouldn't play.

[Naidraug]

A player can bring another player to the game, but yes, it is not his responsability.

Also it is not his responsability to make sure that the friend he brought in to play with him likes and stay in the game.

As Gustav said: if a player can't have fun, he shouldn't and he won't play.

[Valast]

Adding words when quoting someone is rude.

Never said it was the main responsibility... just that it is the job.  You want to play a free game and not invite people to play then the game will not get new people.

We are provided with a free game to play that we love... Tom puts his time in to keep the game going... seems the right thing to do both for the game (which is also for ourselves) and for our friends who we think would like the game (also for ourselves to play with them) to invite people.

I am also being very general with that statement.  Maybe I have no friends... point is it is a social game so invite the society around you to play.

[Swiftblade]

I agree with Valast wholeheartedly that the community needs to do more to bring more players in, and that the players need to try and bring more players in.

For me its like a shop. There are 2 reasons I would go into a shop. If I needed what it had, or if it had good advertising. Now for me, I barely even look at radio/tv/physical ads anymore, and only pay attention if they bring up something I had previously wanted. However, I am definitely likely to go into a shop, or try a restaurant/food joint if it was recommended to me, and I had even the slightest interest in the stores products. Word of mouth is an extremely powerful advertising tool.

The thing is, not a lot of people go looking for a roleplay heavy, medieval war simulator that is mostly text based. You would have to have quite a bit of previous interest in the subject, or see a review on it from a reviewer you liked to actually try it out. Currently we have Battlemaster on Facebook, but its extremely passive. Facebook is massive, but you still can't expect to just post things and have the masses arrive on your door step. Now if every player recommended the game to 10 people, even if they knew those people might not play, and you got a 1-10% conversion rate on those players, thats between 100-1500 new players. The games not big enough right now to pull, sustain and grow a player base by itself.