What we need is young blood

[pcw27]

For the longest time I've been trying to come up with how to counter the slow player bleed that still afflicts Battlemaster. It dawned on me a while ago that I first started playing Battlemaster in Highschool. A lot of the players I know in real life started around a similar time. Now we're all adults with mostly adult peer groups so it's hard to recruit. People our age are less likely to have the free time it takes to learn a new game.

We need to find a way to reach out to college and highschool aged players.

[Sacha]

They just want to Crush Candy and skateboard on the sidewalk!

[De-Legro]

While we could pick up some younger players, we need to realise the sort of game and entertainment they are used to are very different from BM. When I started BM for example there was really no such thing as graphic intensive web games, now you can play 3D games through a browser.

[Glaumring the Fox]

I suggested ages ago a type of write on Reddit and Something Awful etc but no one was interested. You want to reach lots of potential players... Reddit...

[Eirikr]

I started in high school alongside many other more advanced games... Just sayin'.

[Wolfsong]

I don't think the problem is getting new players in. I think the problem is, and always has been, player retention. BM loses more than it keeps, and until things change, will continue to do so. Thus - the steady decline.

[Anaris]

This is why I have never been one to push for any big recruitment of new players. In my opinion, the game is still just too newbie-hostile for it to be worth the effort.

Furthermore, if you get someone to look at BattleMaster once, and they don't like it, and leave within a week, they're not likely to try it again, even if you tell them "but it's totally different now, man!"

So I will get behind a big push for new players once I'm satisfied that the game—and its ancillary material, including the Wiki—are in a condition that I think would be helpful and attractive to new players.

[pcw27]

This is why I have never been one to push for any big recruitment of new players. In my opinion, the game is still just too newbie-hostile for it to be worth the effort.

Furthermore, if you get someone to look at BattleMaster once, and they don't like it, and leave within a week, they're not likely to try it again, even if you tell them "but it's totally different now, man!"

So I will get behind a big push for new players once I'm satisfied that the game—and its ancillary material, including the Wiki—are in a condition that I think would be helpful and attractive to new players.

I don't think the game has changed all that drastically from when I first joined in terms of how attractive it is to a new player. The biggest hurdle is getting over the fact that the game is just a bunch of text windows and a world map. If a player is ok with that I doubt they'll be chased away by few faulty mechanics. I really think what's changed retention is the age group that new players are coming from. Maybe we should have a poll to find out.

[Zakilevo]

We lack the eye candies needed for younger generations. Period! Anyone got photos of hot chicks or something for the game?

[Thehatter]

.... If you are in Taselak or stabbity, you might consider this hot....

http://tinyurl.com/p8s8o54

[pcw27]

We lack the eye candies needed for younger generations. Period! Anyone got photos of hot chicks or something for the game?

There were plenty of flashy graphically appealing free web games when was a teen. I played them too but most bored me within a month, yet I still play battlemaster.

[GundamMerc]

While we could pick up some younger players, we need to realise the sort of game and entertainment they are used to are very different from BM. When I started BM for example there was really no such thing as graphic intensive web games, now you can play 3D games through a browser.

You really sell the younger generation short if you think all of them care only about graphics. If that were true, Minecraft wouldn't be a thing. The Binding of Isaac is a 2D dungeon crawler of the old school variety, and it is incredibly popular.

[Anaris]

Exactly.

Our problem is not that we don't have smashing photorealistic 3D graphics and loads of action. It's that we're just not that newbie-friendly. Most people can't easily pick up BattleMaster and really understand a) what it's all about, b) how the mechanics work, and c) how he should interact with other players, without playing for a little while to see how other people do stuff.

There's also enough mechanics that are unintuitive or just not that fun (whether it's because they're broken or just poorly designed), that I have plans to change, that I'd really like to get to before making any major recruiting drive.

[Zakilevo]

Mechanic wise, I think it leaves too many people wondering. After playing this game for years, I still need to ask the dev about many things.

Maybe in time, things can be more clear cut instead of leaving people to figure it out over years only to have them changed to relearn things again.

Also, since we are talking about the game being not newbie friendly, why not make every new character start in the capital while allowing people to pick up an estate before starting their characters? That way, you don't have to tell new players to get to the capital. I've seen a number of people quit while they travel to the capital.

[Sacha]

Being newbie is an immense drag nowadays. Most realms barely acknowledge you, you have no idea what to and where to do it. It's no wonder so many of them give up a few days after playing. Back in the old days, being a newbie was decidedly easier. You started in a region, became a vassal of that particular lord, your taxes came automatically and you were part of an army.