On 2016-03-25 01:51, Alcedo wrote:
I understand completely what you are saying Pantheon, and most of us players have known this, and we appreciate the time and effort you and others have put into this game (like I mentioned to you personally a few times), but the fact is that DS was much more fun to play a few years ago than it is now. It's just a great pity that the game couldn't have entered this "stagnant phase of development" then. That's all I'm trying to say.

For me a playable game with fun and a (although small) playerbase is better than a game with no fun and almost no players.

On 2016-03-25 05:34, Pantheon wrote:

Quote: On 2016-03-25 01:51, Alcedo wrote: I understand completely what you are saying Pantheon, and most of us players have known this, and we appreciate the time and effort you and others have put into this game (like I mentioned to you personally a few times), but the fact is that DS was much more fun to play a few years ago than it is now. It's just a great pity that the game couldn't have entered this "stagnant phase of development" then. That's all I'm trying to say. For me a playable game with fun and a (although small) playerbase is better than a game with no fun and almost no players.

It essentially doesn't matter what version we'd be on in any stagnant phase of development. Every version has had its issues that made it "unplayable" to many, and lack of development would have the same outcome as now. You're of course welcome to your opinion, but many here (as you will/have seen) will tout the same response but for a different version. Yours will be 1.5x, some will be 1.480, some 1.483, some another number entirely.

On 2016-03-25 10:36, Alcedo wrote:


I understand, but the fact still remains that the game experienced a huge reduction in players with 1.67 and the versions that followed it. I'm sure the game would have had more players now had it stayed at 1.5x or even 1.6.

On 2016-03-27 13:24, Cold Death wrote:
I want to see hundreds of players battling

On 2016-03-27 13:24, Cold Death wrote:

Quote: On 2016-03-25 10:36, Alcedo wrote: I understand, but the fact still remains that the game experienced a huge reduction in players with 1.67 and the versions that followed it. I'm sure the game would have had more players now had it stayed at 1.5x or even 1.6.

That's nonsense.

If you just keep the same version, it gets boring real fast. Case and point: DarkSpace right now. The last update was a year and a half ago. Prior to that, I remember updates coming out with less than a year between them.

It doesn't matter which version you run, if you don't improve the game to meet current standards in the industry, it's going to be stagnant anyways.

Lets be honest, DarkSpace doesn't stand a chance against it's competitors. EvE is probably the only game which is roughly from the same time period as DarkSpace, and even it was released several years after DS. Not to mention EvE gets expansions every month or so. It's just out of the question.

What keeps me from playing is mostly the lack of combat. Yeah, 5v5s might be fun, but I don't think that's what DS is about. When I go into the Metaverse, I want to see hundreds of players battling over a battlefield several systems in scope.

That's the reason many people play EvE, apart from the spreadsheets. Yeah, the game is mostly boring as snap and you mostly fly through HiSec or LowSec space to mine and deliver stuff. But once in a while, you and your corporation will get involved in a war. Or a skirmish. Or something. And that's what you've been preparing for. All those ships you have, all that experience you've gathered, it comes to use in massive battles that you participate in.

DarkSpace doesn't have this. The player-base is too small, fleets are too disorganized ( because the player-base is small ) and apart from combat, there isn't much to do. If I had a reason to log in every day, I would. But I don't.

My only reason is to check and see if anyone else is on so I can stalk them with my ship and maybe kill them once or twice before they log off because I'm being obnoxious. MMOs can't function like this.

DarkSpace, above all, requires players. Not keyboard warriors such as myself who log on to the forums every 2 months to regurgitate their opinion at others. The current community is stale. People don't have the time anymore to dedicate to this game. Most of us have moved on.

Get the word out there. Somehow. Advertising isn't as expensive as you may think. Sure, if you want to post an ad through Google AdSense on YouTube, it would cost you a small fortune. But you don't have to do that. You can start small and work up from there.

Additionally, the website could use some sprucing up. Get some new assets made and smack 'em in place of the old ones. Heck, maybe find a nice custom font to replace the current one. You don't need to change the layout, just made it look better.

Get active on social medial. Facebook, twitter, reddit, youtube, those are the places where you can advertise without having to pay a single penny. Not everyone who notices you has to play the game. Only some. But if enough notice you, those some will turn into a rather large clump of players.

And the last two things, you can combine them. Shove a "Share on Twitter/Facebook/Whatever" button somewhere. Even Google+ would be something.

Finally, I'd like to thank the devs for everything they've been doing for these past who knows how many years. This game has no right to be alive, considering it's age. And yet, it is. I want it to continue. When I get to uni, I want to have something else to waste valuable studying time on, and I want that something to be DarkSpace. So thank you, Palestar & co. I hope the next time I swing by I see something better to respond to. Something along the lines of "We need to expand the servers! Too many people are trying to get on!".

[ This Message was edited by: Alcedo on 2016-03-28 01:06 ]

On 2016-03-28 01:05, Alcedo wrote:


I agree with you, but I think you misunderstood my point. point is not to stop development of DS, but if it really has to stop, then at least stop at a popular version. Any game would be better off if it stops development during a version with a playerbase, than stopping in a version without one.

On 2016-03-27 15:00, Demorian wrote:
Most things are best illustrated with an illustration, Jack.

-Dem

On 2016-03-28 03:07, Fluttershy wrote:
I offered to help with programming a while back but you guys were scared to death to show more than small snippets here and there. On top of that, I'm generally disliked and got bored and fed up with the game and players in general so I've moved on to other things.

Would it help at all if DS was remade in another engine, one with a large community and plenty of support and which might be more likely to get the attention and help that it needs? An engine that largely takes care of memory management and networking for you?