Well, since Tom needs convincing that it isn't just a lone few voices, I believe we should have a petition to show that we aren't just a few people. Please try and spread the word, especially to new players who didn't have the chance to experience them like myself.
As someone who never got the chance to experience the constant warfare that was the War Islands, I sign this petition for the return of the War Islands.
Names will be collected here (by family name or forum name), periodically from those who reply:
Gustav Kuriga
Anaris
While I like the idea of the war islands.
Two things I think ought to be mentioned:
1. Isn't this list supposed to be for 100 players that would "return" to the game that aren't currently playing?
2. Will making the war islands cause everyone to become less interested in the non-war islands?
Quote from: Dante Silverfire on July 18, 2013, 09:28:11 PM
While I like the idea of the war islands.
Two things I think ought to be mentioned:
1. Isn't this list supposed to be for 100 players that would "return" to the game that aren't currently playing?
2. Will making the war islands cause everyone to become less interested in the non-war islands?
1. That was what I understood
2. I don't think so. The war islands might even be a good way to bring in new players.
You can add me to the list.
I thought 1 was true too, but I would venture my name for the list if that wasn't so, as well.
There were times where the only character I cared about enough to log in daily was my war island character. Never a dull moment for me there.
Also, I feel that the WI might help with keeping new players interested, since they wouldn't be bothered by too many off-putting details or general boredom. They just pick a side and jump straight into a perpetual war. If they like this 'simplified' version of the game, they'll be less inclined to drop out of the game because their non-WI realm is boring because of a lack of warfare or active players.
I votes yes.
Quote from: Dante Silverfire on July 18, 2013, 09:28:11 PM
2. Will making the war islands cause everyone to become less interested in the non-war islands?
Will having another sibling make you love your existing one less? ::)
Quote from: Lefanis on July 18, 2013, 10:41:59 PM
Will having another sibling make you love your existing one less? ::)
if the new one is better, then relatively, yes.
Quote from: Dante Silverfire on July 18, 2013, 10:56:59 PM
if the new one is better, then relatively, yes.
So your issue is that it would be better? ???
Quote from: Gustav Kuriga on July 18, 2013, 11:00:59 PM
So your issue is that it would be better? ???
Um yes. I don't want the War Islands to get people so excited that they quit playing the rest of their characters because it can never compare.
Already we see people swarming realms that are at war and leaving in droves from those that are at peace. While this makes sense, it can be a devastating side-effect if not considered.
Then hopefully it will spur the peaceniks into action to make their own realms more interesting. This game is called BattleMaster for a reason.
Quote from: Dante Silverfire on July 18, 2013, 11:23:16 PM
Um yes. I don't want the War Islands to get people so excited that they quit playing the rest of their characters because it can never compare.
Already we see people swarming realms that are at war and leaving in droves from those that are at peace. While this makes sense, it can be a devastating side-effect if not considered.
I thought we already agreed that the character on the War Islands wouldn't count against your character limit? So how would this lead to people quitting their other characters en masse?
I called for 100 people who would return to the game. People currently playing don't count.
It's not that I don't value you - on the contrary. It's just that it was claimed that re-opening the South Island would bring lots of people back to the game. That is the claim I want evidence for.
mm so the search is on to see if I can pull old email address up out of space haha this will be fun.
I would like to see the War Island once again. Bring back old players is not so important than get fresh players and give to the game and its loyal players an opportunity to play again in such great war experience... while I love every aspect of another islands and of the game in general, I will never forget that good time playing in Ikalak with a character that encouraged me to go deep in another continents while at the same time I had a place to forget about secular politics and food aspects to just march and kill enemies.
Opening a new island will not attract new players. How will it?
The only thing that will attract new players is advertising to make more people aware of the game. Once they get here, war islands may help keep them.
I agree. The same about close islands... none will solve the problem. However, once we have more players, the war island can keep them, as you said.
Also, I believe it will please and keep a lot of people already playing the game.
Tom,
Opening a War Island may or not "bring" new players to the game. It all depends on the marketing.
I am not certain, mainly because I was not here then, but from what I've heard from other players having this war island may actually retain 200 new players that would otherwise log on for a couple of weeks, not get hooked because of the lack of battles and quit.
Quote from: Forbes Family on July 22, 2013, 02:34:24 AM
Tom,
Opening a War Island may or not "bring" new players to the game. It all depends on the marketing.
I am not certain, mainly because I was not here then, but from what I've heard from other players having this war island may actually retain 200 new players that would otherwise log on for a couple of weeks, not get hooked because of the lack of battles and quit.
And here is another example of 88% of statistics being made up on the spot. (Not saying that it won't help with retention) :P
The BW:WI (the War Island minigame) forums haven't seen a post in months (other than one that was put there by mistake). Are we sure that adding back SEI/SWI is really going to make a big difference?
Just because a map was shared between them, doesn't mean BM and War Islands have much in common gameplay-wise.
Quote from: Vita on July 24, 2013, 05:22:53 AM
Just because a map was shared between them, doesn't mean BM and War Islands have much in common gameplay-wise.
I know; I've played on both. But since the War Island mini-game isn't popular, I'm not sure that the original SEI/SWI will be the boon that people are making it out to be.
I think that the problem with the game is the players, myself included. When I started playing, I was 23 and had no kids. Now, I'm 29 and have 2 kids. I simply don't have the time to write big roleplays or scheme or politic or whatever; I even have an empty character slot because I'm barely able to play 3 characters, let alone 4. The character base has aged, and has more things to do.
I really don't see the point you're making between the mini-game's unpopularity versus the regular BM game's potential popularity (not saying it will or won't be popular, just saying I don't see your connection). But I do think you may have a point about the aging playerbase. When many of us joined, we enjoyed being silly (badgers, squirrels, and various other nonsense), but we aged and enjoyed the realistic game. I think that there should be a 'silly' island culture and an 'SMA' island culture so as to appeal to both these player types.
Really? I'm quite sure the same people who disliked that stupidity then still disapprove of it. The aging player base comment is true, but because many of the old diehard players simply can't dedicate enough time to the game. Time to recruit newer, younger people, in the student demographic that BM enjoyed 5 odd years ago.
Agreed--I think we've perhaps cracked down on the "silly" a little too much. Perhaps a designated island of silliness would help bring in younger players?
Quote from: Lefanis on July 24, 2013, 07:14:26 AM
Really? I'm quite sure the same people who disliked that stupidity then still disapprove of it.
Some people grow old, some are born old. I definitely enjoyed Makar with the drinking and goats and Sordnaz's mom jokes, back in the day--but I don't play there anymore.
Some are born old, some achieve oldness, and some have oldness thrust upon them.
War island was the biggest reason I donated ages ago!
I would again donate if I could play on war islands. War is fun!
I am willing to donate my spare time too to the war islands if needed. Test some stuff. Code some stuff. You name it!
Sign me up for the War Island Rebellion.
Quote from: egamma on July 24, 2013, 07:16:07 AM
Agreed--I think we've perhaps cracked down on the "silly" a little too much. Perhaps a designated island of silliness would help bring in younger players?
So long as it's out of Dwilight, I think all continents should have at least one silly realm. A realm of funny hats, strange custom, and absurd region descriptions. Too much uniformity in realms these days.
Bring them back.
That is all.
Yes pls and also need to be able to roleplay about getting massively drunk again, but we are all nobles these days, so much for that.
Check player stats for when war islands was removed and dwilight added If I recall correctly the playerbase dropped significantly.
As a player whom left the game, I guess I fit the bill of the petition.
I would like the war islands to return.
Quote from: Dante Silverfire on July 18, 2013, 11:23:16 PM
Um yes. I don't want the War Islands to get people so excited that they quit playing the rest of their characters because it can never compare.
Already we see people swarming realms that are at war and leaving in droves from those that are at peace. While this makes sense, it can be a devastating side-effect if not considered.
I'll reply to an old message, since this thread was just revived...
I have not seen war increase noble count. Maybe back in the days, but not so much noaways. D'Hara has a considerable noble growth for a while. Then we had war. We expected that more actual would mean higher retention and recruitment, but no. Our nobility count shrunk. And I've seen this happen elsewhere, too. Enweil was at war, it is basically empty now. Are you going to say because it's so hopeless? Riombara crushed it like a bug, sure aren't hopeless, and they lost a bunch of nobles too. Farronite Republic was at war for quite a while, and that didn't seem to prevent bringing it down.
More and more realms are shrinking despite being at war. The old adage that war makes things lively and increases fun, retention, and player count is just no longer true, if it ever was. If anything, war is when interactions decrease and when we leave things more to game mechanics.
War helps. But just being at war isn't the only thing that does it. You have to have an exciting, dynamic, active realm. You have to talk, and actively engage people. That's what really attracts and retains players.
Quote from: Indirik on January 16, 2014, 04:51:59 AM
War helps. But just being at war isn't the only thing that does it. You have to have an exciting, dynamic, active realm. You have to talk, and actively engage people. That's what really attracts and retains players.
My experience is that war does not contribute to having a dynamic, active realm. Quite the opposite. A lot of talk is often steam rolled by war measures and justified by the urgency that war creates. In all of the realms I've played in, once wars started, I'd see this kind of thing going, and not only by rulers on a power trip, but by all ranks of nobility.
Quote from: Chénier on January 16, 2014, 01:13:23 PM
My experience is that war does not contribute to having a dynamic, active realm. Quite the opposite. A lot of talk is often steam rolled by war measures and justified by the urgency that war creates. In all of the realms I've played in, once wars started, I'd see this kind of thing going, and not only by rulers on a power trip, but by all ranks of nobility.
Hmm... my experience is usually the opposite. Realms at war have more messages, more discussion, more participation. Yes, it is almost all war-related. But the game centers around warfare, so I hardly think that's a negative.
Now, trying to cause trouble is often stamped on harshly during war times. I can agree on that. But simply talking, RPing, or discussing the war and the related strategy? I haven't run across that.
Quote from: Indirik on January 16, 2014, 05:57:59 PM
Hmm... my experience is usually the opposite. Realms at war have more messages, more discussion, more participation. Yes, it is almost all war-related. But the game centers around warfare, so I hardly think that's a negative.
Now, trying to cause trouble is often stamped on harshly during war times. I can agree on that. But simply talking, RPing, or discussing the war and the related strategy? I haven't run across that.
Well, orders and scout reports have about 0 interaction value in my book.
And I wasn't talking of explicit trouble making, but rather a number of issues that can often create dissent if properly discussed: government appointments, lordship allocations, food and wealth distribution, religion, general politics and diplomacy, and so on. Most of these are often hastily handled because there is "no time" or there are "greater priorities", skipping conflictual scenarios completely.
If your realm is at war and the only thing said are orders and scout reports, then it doesn't surprise me you lose nobles.
Quote from: D`Este on January 16, 2014, 10:14:44 PM
If your realm is at war and the only thing said are orders and scout reports, then it doesn't surprise me you lose nobles.
Indeed, but my point was that war reduces the ammount of non-order/reports that are sent, in at least a significant number of cases, making it thus debatable that war truly has a net positive impact, at least not in all cases.
Quote from: Chénier on January 16, 2014, 10:16:53 PM
Indeed, but my point was that war reduces the ammount of non-order/reports that are sent, in at least a significant number of cases, making it thus debatable that war truly has a net positive impact, at least not in all cases.
I have generally not seen this to be the case.
Quote from: Chénier on January 16, 2014, 10:16:53 PM
Indeed, but my point was that war reduces the ammount of non-order/reports that are sent, in at least a significant number of cases, making it thus debatable that war truly has a net positive impact, at least not in all cases.
If that's the case, you're doing war wrong. Lyonesse was fairly quiet for quite some time until the war with Darka broke out, and its more active than ever as a result, and the amount of non orders/scout reports crushes the number of orders/scout reports sent/received in the realm.
I would like to request the closure of this thread.