Dajobo Posted June 24, 2015 Report Share Posted June 24, 2015 I hope we see an updated chart soon but at 8,141 Nations I fear the decline is accelerating.Maybe time for Admin to declare a winner and start a new Planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabcat Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Less than 8000 now. Shedding nations at the rate of 14 a day since the end of May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peonage Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 I hope we see an updated chart soon but at 8,141 Nations I fear the decline is accelerating. Maybe time for Admin to declare a winner and start a new Planet. Â I'd hate to see 8.8 years of age go away but I understand why that would be beneficial. Would definitely break up some of the monotony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Whimsical Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 (edited) i'd rather have admin institute a lockout with no new players joining and we'd see where we'd be in a month or so. That's not really a good business model, though! Edited July 1, 2015 by Emperor Whimsical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Aurelius Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 (edited) That data does not exist to us. We only started tracking a few years ago. It would be interesting though. Â It exists to me. Â Peak Cyber Nations occurred on March 3, 2007, with a total of 40,820 nations. Â I'd like to see you plot your recent graphs with the addition of my data set. Putting it together was a fun scavenger hunt. Â [spoiler]Column 1: NATION COUNT (291 entries) 6,179 8,002 8,680 11,261 12,858 12,820 18,551 19,099 19,125 19,159 19,908 20,137 20,472 20,995 20,813 20,915 21,059 21,798 21,919 22,077 22,544 22,544 23,120 23,897 23,832 24,387 25,554 27,913 30,732 31,264 30,717 32,355 32,813 33,230 33,169 33,635 33,636 35,634 37,361 37,926 38,376 38,798 39,306 40,001 40,520 40,770 40,820 40,804 40,774 40,420 40,522 40,461 40,577 38,613 37,691 37,509 35,326 36,326 37,311 38,695 38,895 39,080 37,524 37,795 38,157 38,401 38,283 36,994 35,354 35,430 35,407 35,243 33,751 33,318 32,961 31,596 31,503 31,272 31,315 31,535 31,865 31,885 32,037 32,108 32,115 31,860 31,726 32,150 31,964 31,637 31,202 31,335 31,317 31,443 31,305 31,176 30,933 30,980 30,884 30,906 30,898 30,918 30,950 31,030 31,196 31,515 31,446 31,336 31,177 31,171 31,286 31,312 31,537 31,429 31,299 31,307 31,242 31,032 30,874 30,776 30,803 30,790 30,724 30,819 30,899 30,707 30,624 30,700 30,575 30,603 30,329 30,203 29,194 29,078 28,868 28,775 28,708 28,790 28,905 29,056 28,752 28,394 27,629 27,720 27,723 27,733 29,053 29,253 29,408 29,443 29,271 29,787 30,103 30,364 30,396 30,342 30,345 30,236 29,920 29,842 29,807 29,881 30,037 29,602 29,275 28,316 27,626 27,558 27,002 26,709 26,563 27,022 28,098 27,970 27,027 26,993 26,873 27,134 27,069 27,083 26,803 26,626 26,511 26,546 26,365 26,175 25,771 25,883 26,025 25,964 25,955 25,596 25,547 25,580 25,518 25,708 25,762 26,002 26,143 26,181 26,108 25,606 25,214 24,934 24,942 24,956 24,809 24,925 25,490 25,441 25,146 25,089 24,975 24,600 23,935 23,733 22,941 22,761 22,695 22,596 21,945 21,890 21,872 21,104 21,152 21,086 21,059 21,021 20,947 20,853 20,669 20,672 20,681 20,634 20,661 20,697 20,754 20,790 20,763 20,514 20,078 20,053 20,039 20,466 20,540 20,765 20,483 20,270 20,546 20,281 19,580 19,492 19,420 19,274 19,194 19,098 19,077 19,031 18,368 18,315 17,465 17,430 17,342 17,280 17,171 17,068 16,761 16,490 16,382 16,354 16,197 16,046 15,928 15,678 15,799 15,809 15,778 15,564 15,521 15,809 15,409 15,189 15,128 15,120 15,111 15,080 15,106 15,009 14,878 14,782 14,731 END Column 2: Date Posted (291 entries) 4/8/2006 4/24/2006 5/9/2006 5/27/2006 6/15/2006 6/16/2006 8/14/2006 8/31/2006 9/1/2006 9/2/2006 9/14/2006 9/17/2006 9/30/2006 10/1/2006 10/3/2006 10/7/2006 10/9/2006 10/22/2006 10/23/2006 10/27/2006 10/30/2006 11/1/2006 11/6/2006 11/10/2006 11/11/2006 11/13/2006 11/21/2006 11/27/2006 12/6/2006 12/10/2006 12/12/2006 12/16/2006 12/21/2006 12/23/2006 12/29/2006 1/5/2007 1/6/2007 1/18/2007 1/29/2007 2/2/2007 2/3/2007 2/16/2007 2/20/2007 2/26/2007 3/1/2007 3/2/2007 3/3/2007 3/9/2007 3/10/2007 3/11/2007 3/14/2007 3/15/2007 3/20/2007 3/28/2007 3/31/2007 4/4/2007 4/8/2007 4/23/2007 4/28/2007 5/9/2007 5/14/2007 5/21/2007 5/28/2007 6/3/2007 6/14/2007 6/17/2007 6/19/2007 6/28/2007 7/17/2007 7/25/2007 7/30/2007 8/9/2007 8/15/2007 8/17/2007 8/19/2007 8/28/2007 9/6/2007 9/18/2007 10/2/2007 10/7/2007 10/19/2007 11/1/2007 11/7/2007 11/11/2007 11/15/2007 12/4/2007 12/11/2007 12/17/2007 12/24/2007 12/27/2007 1/19/2008 1/27/2008 1/30/2008 2/2/2008 3/9/2008 3/11/2008 3/15/2008 3/19/2008 3/21/2008 3/22/2008 3/23/2008 4/8/2008 4/10/2008 4/14/2008 4/21/2008 5/4/2008 5/9/2008 5/15/2008 5/18/2008 5/20/2008 5/29/2008 6/2/2008 6/8/2008 6/11/2008 6/18/2008 6/26/2008 6/27/2008 7/8/2008 7/15/2008 7/24/2008 7/25/2008 7/26/2008 7/27/2008 8/4/2008 8/7/2008 8/12/2008 8/13/2008 8/24/2008 8/27/2008 8/27/2008 9/6/2008 9/9/2008 10/6/2008 10/24/2008 11/4/2008 11/13/2008 11/15/2008 11/21/2008 12/4/2008 12/10/2008 12/15/2008 12/21/2008 1/16/2009 1/19/2009 1/24/2009 1/25/2009 2/5/2009 2/9/2009 2/13/2009 2/17/2009 2/19/2009 3/1/2009 3/4/2009 3/7/2009 3/11/2009 3/16/2009 3/19/2009 4/1/2009 4/5/2009 4/11/2009 4/19/2009 4/23/2009 4/30/2009 5/12/2009 5/16/2009 6/1/2009 6/9/2009 6/24/2009 7/12/2009 7/16/2009 7/19/2009 7/25/2009 8/17/2009 8/18/2009 8/30/2009 9/1/2009 9/4/2009 9/16/2009 9/21/2009 9/25/2009 10/4/2009 10/14/2009 10/21/2009 10/28/2009 11/1/2009 11/5/2009 11/20/2009 11/27/2009 12/22/2009 12/27/2009 12/28/2009 1/6/2010 1/10/2010 1/13/2010 1/17/2010 1/25/2010 1/28/2010 2/4/2010 2/8/2010 2/13/2010 2/25/2010 3/11/2010 3/28/2010 4/6/2010 4/17/2010 4/28/2010 5/4/2010 5/12/2010 5/21/2010 5/26/2010 6/7/2010 6/11/2010 6/13/2010 6/23/2010 7/3/2010 7/6/2010 7/26/2010 8/2/2010 8/6/2010 8/8/2010 8/22/2010 8/24/2010 8/26/2010 8/30/2010 9/17/2010 9/21/2010 9/25/2010 10/10/2010 10/19/2010 10/22/2010 11/10/2010 11/12/2010 11/13/2010 11/16/2010 11/29/2010 12/2/2010 12/7/2010 12/13/2010 12/16/2010 12/28/2010 1/10/2011 1/18/2011 1/18/2011 1/24/2011 1/27/2011 2/6/2011 2/16/2011 2/19/2011 3/14/2011 3/22/2011 4/19/2011 4/22/2011 5/10/2011 5/18/2011 5/22/2011 5/26/2011 5/28/2011 5/30/2011 6/19/2011 6/23/2011 7/23/2011 7/28/2011 8/2/2011 8/16/2011 8/24/2011 8/30/2011 9/17/2011 9/22/2011 9/29/2011 10/5/2011 10/12/2011 10/23/2011 11/1/2011 11/27/2011 12/7/2011 12/8/2011 12/22/2011 12/31/2011 1/2/2012 1/4/2012 1/7/2012 1/17/2012 1/27/2012 1/31/2012 2/5/2012 2/19/2012 2/23/2012 3/1/2012 3/11/2012 3/18/2012 3/24/2012 END Â The data's spotty at times, especially toward the end when there aren't as many people bragging about their nation rank :rolleyes: This would have taken five minutes to make if Admin hadn't put the demographics stat page behind a password wall in 06 and let Internet Archive crawl the thing. I could have plotted the number of nations that quit, and highlighted periods of good and bad player retention. Â [/spoiler] Â Seeing such a broad swathe of CN history really made it clear to me that this game leaves a huge wake of pissed off former players. In 06-07, it's all "look at this cool nation sim, let's make an alliance!" but by 08-09, anyone who brings it up gets shot down with "why are you still playing this ***** game?" There are few fond memories and fewer people who want to come for a second look, and the people who did enjoy it admitted that they liked it despite the game itself and portions of the community. Â edit: added 60 new data points, getting rid of most of the blind spots Edited July 8, 2015 by Marcus Aurelius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Wally Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 I hope we see an updated chart soon but at 8,141 Nations I fear the decline is accelerating.Maybe time for Admin to declare a winner and start a new Planet. Yep I tend to agree with this notion too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USMC123 Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Remember when admin used to shut down registrations for new nations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margrave Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Most of the nations disappearing right now are leaving out of the middle tier. Wonder what that's going to do for the price of tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucius Optimus Posted July 12, 2015 Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 Only 3 more years Why only three more years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenMorningstar Posted July 15, 2015 Report Share Posted July 15, 2015 It exists to me. Â Peak Cyber Nations occurred on March 3, 2007, with a total of 40,820 nations. Â I'd like to see you plot your recent graphs with the addition of my data set. Putting it together was a fun scavenger hunt. Â [spoiler]Column 1: NATION COUNT (291 entries) 6,179 8,002 8,680 11,261 12,858 12,820 18,551 19,099 19,125 19,159 19,908 20,137 20,472 20,995 20,813 20,915 21,059 21,798 21,919 22,077 22,544 22,544 23,120 23,897 23,832 24,387 25,554 27,913 30,732 31,264 30,717 32,355 32,813 33,230 33,169 33,635 33,636 35,634 37,361 37,926 38,376 38,798 39,306 40,001 40,520 40,770 40,820 40,804 40,774 40,420 40,522 40,461 40,577 38,613 37,691 37,509 35,326 36,326 37,311 38,695 38,895 39,080 37,524 37,795 38,157 38,401 38,283 36,994 35,354 35,430 35,407 35,243 33,751 33,318 32,961 31,596 31,503 31,272 31,315 31,535 31,865 31,885 32,037 32,108 32,115 31,860 31,726 32,150 31,964 31,637 31,202 31,335 31,317 31,443 31,305 31,176 30,933 30,980 30,884 30,906 30,898 30,918 30,950 31,030 31,196 31,515 31,446 31,336 31,177 31,171 31,286 31,312 31,537 31,429 31,299 31,307 31,242 31,032 30,874 30,776 30,803 30,790 30,724 30,819 30,899 30,707 30,624 30,700 30,575 30,603 30,329 30,203 29,194 29,078 28,868 28,775 28,708 28,790 28,905 29,056 28,752 28,394 27,629 27,720 27,723 27,733 29,053 29,253 29,408 29,443 29,271 29,787 30,103 30,364 30,396 30,342 30,345 30,236 29,920 29,842 29,807 29,881 30,037 29,602 29,275 28,316 27,626 27,558 27,002 26,709 26,563 27,022 28,098 27,970 27,027 26,993 26,873 27,134 27,069 27,083 26,803 26,626 26,511 26,546 26,365 26,175 25,771 25,883 26,025 25,964 25,955 25,596 25,547 25,580 25,518 25,708 25,762 26,002 26,143 26,181 26,108 25,606 25,214 24,934 24,942 24,956 24,809 24,925 25,490 25,441 25,146 25,089 24,975 24,600 23,935 23,733 22,941 22,761 22,695 22,596 21,945 21,890 21,872 21,104 21,152 21,086 21,059 21,021 20,947 20,853 20,669 20,672 20,681 20,634 20,661 20,697 20,754 20,790 20,763 20,514 20,078 20,053 20,039 20,466 20,540 20,765 20,483 20,270 20,546 20,281 19,580 19,492 19,420 19,274 19,194 19,098 19,077 19,031 18,368 18,315 17,465 17,430 17,342 17,280 17,171 17,068 16,761 16,490 16,382 16,354 16,197 16,046 15,928 15,678 15,799 15,809 15,778 15,564 15,521 15,809 15,409 15,189 15,128 15,120 15,111 15,080 15,106 15,009 14,878 14,782 14,731 END Column 2: Date Posted (291 entries) 4/8/2006 4/24/2006 5/9/2006 5/27/2006 6/15/2006 6/16/2006 8/14/2006 8/31/2006 9/1/2006 9/2/2006 9/14/2006 9/17/2006 9/30/2006 10/1/2006 10/3/2006 10/7/2006 10/9/2006 10/22/2006 10/23/2006 10/27/2006 10/30/2006 11/1/2006 11/6/2006 11/10/2006 11/11/2006 11/13/2006 11/21/2006 11/27/2006 12/6/2006 12/10/2006 12/12/2006 12/16/2006 12/21/2006 12/23/2006 12/29/2006 1/5/2007 1/6/2007 1/18/2007 1/29/2007 2/2/2007 2/3/2007 2/16/2007 2/20/2007 2/26/2007 3/1/2007 3/2/2007 3/3/2007 3/9/2007 3/10/2007 3/11/2007 3/14/2007 3/15/2007 3/20/2007 3/28/2007 3/31/2007 4/4/2007 4/8/2007 4/23/2007 4/28/2007 5/9/2007 5/14/2007 5/21/2007 5/28/2007 6/3/2007 6/14/2007 6/17/2007 6/19/2007 6/28/2007 7/17/2007 7/25/2007 7/30/2007 8/9/2007 8/15/2007 8/17/2007 8/19/2007 8/28/2007 9/6/2007 9/18/2007 10/2/2007 10/7/2007 10/19/2007 11/1/2007 11/7/2007 11/11/2007 11/15/2007 12/4/2007 12/11/2007 12/17/2007 12/24/2007 12/27/2007 1/19/2008 1/27/2008 1/30/2008 2/2/2008 3/9/2008 3/11/2008 3/15/2008 3/19/2008 3/21/2008 3/22/2008 3/23/2008 4/8/2008 4/10/2008 4/14/2008 4/21/2008 5/4/2008 5/9/2008 5/15/2008 5/18/2008 5/20/2008 5/29/2008 6/2/2008 6/8/2008 6/11/2008 6/18/2008 6/26/2008 6/27/2008 7/8/2008 7/15/2008 7/24/2008 7/25/2008 7/26/2008 7/27/2008 8/4/2008 8/7/2008 8/12/2008 8/13/2008 8/24/2008 8/27/2008 8/27/2008 9/6/2008 9/9/2008 10/6/2008 10/24/2008 11/4/2008 11/13/2008 11/15/2008 11/21/2008 12/4/2008 12/10/2008 12/15/2008 12/21/2008 1/16/2009 1/19/2009 1/24/2009 1/25/2009 2/5/2009 2/9/2009 2/13/2009 2/17/2009 2/19/2009 3/1/2009 3/4/2009 3/7/2009 3/11/2009 3/16/2009 3/19/2009 4/1/2009 4/5/2009 4/11/2009 4/19/2009 4/23/2009 4/30/2009 5/12/2009 5/16/2009 6/1/2009 6/9/2009 6/24/2009 7/12/2009 7/16/2009 7/19/2009 7/25/2009 8/17/2009 8/18/2009 8/30/2009 9/1/2009 9/4/2009 9/16/2009 9/21/2009 9/25/2009 10/4/2009 10/14/2009 10/21/2009 10/28/2009 11/1/2009 11/5/2009 11/20/2009 11/27/2009 12/22/2009 12/27/2009 12/28/2009 1/6/2010 1/10/2010 1/13/2010 1/17/2010 1/25/2010 1/28/2010 2/4/2010 2/8/2010 2/13/2010 2/25/2010 3/11/2010 3/28/2010 4/6/2010 4/17/2010 4/28/2010 5/4/2010 5/12/2010 5/21/2010 5/26/2010 6/7/2010 6/11/2010 6/13/2010 6/23/2010 7/3/2010 7/6/2010 7/26/2010 8/2/2010 8/6/2010 8/8/2010 8/22/2010 8/24/2010 8/26/2010 8/30/2010 9/17/2010 9/21/2010 9/25/2010 10/10/2010 10/19/2010 10/22/2010 11/10/2010 11/12/2010 11/13/2010 11/16/2010 11/29/2010 12/2/2010 12/7/2010 12/13/2010 12/16/2010 12/28/2010 1/10/2011 1/18/2011 1/18/2011 1/24/2011 1/27/2011 2/6/2011 2/16/2011 2/19/2011 3/14/2011 3/22/2011 4/19/2011 4/22/2011 5/10/2011 5/18/2011 5/22/2011 5/26/2011 5/28/2011 5/30/2011 6/19/2011 6/23/2011 7/23/2011 7/28/2011 8/2/2011 8/16/2011 8/24/2011 8/30/2011 9/17/2011 9/22/2011 9/29/2011 10/5/2011 10/12/2011 10/23/2011 11/1/2011 11/27/2011 12/7/2011 12/8/2011 12/22/2011 12/31/2011 1/2/2012 1/4/2012 1/7/2012 1/17/2012 1/27/2012 1/31/2012 2/5/2012 2/19/2012 2/23/2012 3/1/2012 3/11/2012 3/18/2012 3/24/2012 END Â The data's spotty at times, especially toward the end when there aren't as many people bragging about their nation rank :rolleyes: This would have taken five minutes to make if Admin hadn't put the demographics stat page behind a password wall in 06 and let Internet Archive crawl the thing. I could have plotted the number of nations that quit, and highlighted periods of good and bad player retention. Â [/spoiler] Â Seeing such a broad swathe of CN history really made it clear to me that this game leaves a huge wake of pissed off former players. In 06-07, it's all "look at this cool nation sim, let's make an alliance!" but by 08-09, anyone who brings it up gets shot down with "why are you still playing this ***** game?" There are few fond memories and fewer people who want to come for a second look, and the people who did enjoy it admitted that they liked it despite the game itself and portions of the community. Â edit: added 60 new data points, getting rid of most of the blind spots We started tracking in March of 2012 so that would make his a full dataset. Pretty interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Aurelius Posted July 16, 2015 Report Share Posted July 16, 2015 It's what I made it for. Data points are right there in the spoiler if you want them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereno Posted August 21, 2015 Report Share Posted August 21, 2015 (edited) I love all of this data. Â The biggest thing Admin could do to "save" the game is make it more graphical; that is, actually give us some game to work with, rather than just text on a screen. There have been plenty of competing simulators that have tried and failed because, at the end of the day, CN is sort of like the WoW of its genre. The one game with staying power that sorta got everything right. Â But it's been almost a decade since 2006 and anybody who wants to can play much better games in similar genres. I run EU4, Vicky 2, and CK2 all on a laptop without a dedicated graphics card. I can also play MMOs, which have historically had worse graphics, specifically to widen the userbase and allow more casual/impoverished/less-computer-savvy people to play. Â So if I can get my political fix and my people fix elsewhere, running garbage hardware, why WOULD you stay here except for the community, which is dwindling pretty rapidly? Especially when the majority of playing the game is sitting on IRC and going through spreadsheets, clicking buttons to see text come up on a screen. It's just outdated as $%&@ and it was already a low-tech sort of game to begin with. Just making it a !@#$@#$ flash game or using Java or something to make it a bit interactive would go bounds and leaps as far as getting people to stick around. It wouldn't even have to be mandatory - it could be optional to use the new interface, like how Runescape did when they upgraded all of their graphics. Â There are ways to fix things and keep things interesting, but part of me feels like part of the reason Admin hasn't done !@#$ is because he's scared of screwing up the balance and killing the game. Well, the game is already on its way out, so you may as well either try something new with your knowledge, or experiment and see what you can do to make things work. But text-based games have risen and fallen and there are a ton of other options not quite like this but enough like this to make playing this game not worth it. I mean even !@#$@#$ clash of clans is graphical, can be played on your phone, and has a similar free to play but pay to win model. And I know a TON of people who play or have played every single game I've listed here. LEARN from them. Edited August 21, 2015 by Hereno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Aurelius Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 (edited) I think "the WOW of its genre" is NS. It's been around a few years longer than CN, has over 100k players, and at its lowest point had a few thousand more players than CN had at its peak. It also has no combat system, which makes it 100% debate and community, and might be the thing that kept it going for so long. It could be that people can see themselves joining a community and still being a part of it ten years down the line, but few people can see themselves playing a game for that long, especially not continuously which was the case before inactivity mode. The war mechanic screws that up because people who aren't fully invested in the politics game see their hard work destroyed every few months, and the grind turns to burnout. As for improvements, things like tech and pricing could be rebalanced in a way that flattens the game and makes it relatively quick and easy to get to a strength tier where a new player feels useful, but getting to upper tier would be more of a grind. Tech would be cheap enough to buy on your own to a higher level, but returns from massive tech levels would diminish, so that someone with 2x your tech would not have 2x your military and NS multiplier. That way, powerful players could still be threatened by weaker players and noobs wouldn't feel like they can never catch up to the oldsters. I hear the kids are all into those internet phone things, so a good mobile game client and forum reader wouldn't hurt either ;) . Edited August 22, 2015 by Marcus Aurelius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChairmanHal Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Only 3 more years  Trend line crosses zero some time in early summer 2019.  However, the game will have become essentially unplayable by the end of 2018.  Only Admin knows the real end date, that being the point at which the game is actually costing him money to keep running rather than at least breaking even or generating positive revenue.  Note that there is also the possibility that we'll find a "floor" somewhere above 5k nations and that it will become easier once again for the number of nations created to exceed the number of nations lost the closer we get to that figure.  Of course if we bottom out at a higher figure that would be even better.  Ultimately though new players are what's going to save CN, and those are brought in by advertising and positive news stories about the game, whether that happens after a reset and improvements or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mogar Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 There are ways to fix things and keep things interesting, but part of me feels like part of the reason Admin hasn't done !@#$ is because he's scared of screwing up the balance and killing the game. We've been past that point for a while now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Aurelius Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 Â Ultimately though new players are what's going to save CN, and those are brought in by advertising and positive news stories about the game, whether that happens after a reset and improvements or not. Â And as I've mentioned, this couldn't be more ridiculously different from what's actually happening. The last reviews are more than half a decade old. The last good buzz is from about 06-07 when people were first discovering it. About a year later is a wave of incredibly pissed former players cursing the game out. After that are sporadic mentions followed by questions of whether the game is still here and still dying, and a few old former players actively discouraging new people from joining. This is what potential players will see when looking for what this game is about. Also the Urban Dictionary and Encyclopedia Dramatica pages. Those are always a good thing to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChairmanHal Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015  And as I've mentioned, this couldn't be more ridiculously different from what's actually happening. The last reviews are more than half a decade old. The last good buzz is from about 06-07 when people were first discovering it. About a year later is a wave of incredibly pissed former players cursing the game out. After that are sporadic mentions followed by questions of whether the game is still here and still dying, and a few old former players actively discouraging new people from joining. This is what potential players will see when looking for what this game is about. Also the Urban Dictionary and Encyclopedia Dramatica pages. Those are always a good thing to have.  The older players have pretty much made up their mind at this stage whether or not they want to play to the end.  Odds are if you are still here, you'll be here then.  That said, life happens, even if you aren't one of the people who makes a deliberate choice to quit.  There will always be a certain amount of "evaporation" of the player base as a result.  As the management, you have to come up with ways to compensate for that and perhaps grow the player base a bit over time, at least enough to offset any increase in expenses so that you have a steady revenue stream.  Taking the long view here, I think you can easily go back to 2007 and see where the game started having the issues that have gotten us here.  Part of them where player issues--harassing people out of the game (including IC and OOC attacks), and the general attitude as expressed by a member of NPO in 2007 though certainly shared by others that there were "too many people playing already".  Part of them were management issues--serious problems with moderation of the forums and the game (I'll refrain from detailing those here), a general negative attitude by some of the staff toward players, and long periods where there was no new development of the game, and indeed a number of attempts, some successful, to get changes made to the game to help secure/improve the position of some players at the expense of the long term health of the game.  We can go on and on about everything we perceive to be wrong with the game, but ultimately if there is to be a genuine attempt to save it, then we all need to step back and figure out where to go from here.  Is the existing player base salvageable and are they open to radical change?  If not, how do you create a new one?  How do you create a competitive environment that demonstrates that the lessons learned from the mistakes of the past?  I still think that divorced from all the baggage of the past, this is still a pretty cool game in need of some modifications, both to plug glaring holes and to update the interface for the future.  But it needs more than just TLC, it needs someone who can market the shit out of it and generate interest.  Believe it or not, there are millions of potential players who have never heard of CN and don't care if you had a bad time playing it 5 years ago and are willing to give it a try.  But unless and until Admin asks himself the hard questions and acts on the answers, we're here trying to have fun (at least I hope we are...) and I'm learning to take things more one day at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartfw Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 I am looking forward to the Pirates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mogar Posted August 22, 2015 Report Share Posted August 22, 2015 It's only been what? 2 years since that was announced? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigrun Vapneir Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 "Updating" the best text-database browser game on the web to java and flash and pretty pictures sounds like a certain way to put a stake in it's heart to me. Â Why not accept that it is and will always be basically the same thing it always was, whether you love it or love-it-hate-it you wouldnt be here if you didnt have at least a little love for it as is. Â There's nothing wrong with minor updating/expanding as much as admin feels like doing, without making any radical changes, but the calls for radical change have always puzzled me and continued to puzzle me. I like this game, it 's not perfect but I like it a lot, or I would certainly not still be here playing it. So why would I want any major changes or 'updates?' If it aint broke dont fix it. The more radical and recent changes are the worst parts of the game imhop, and the proposals for even more radical changes are very troubling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Zigur Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 (edited) Need to make it mobile friendly, develop an app on android store, I think plenty of people with smart phones would be attracted to this game. Edited August 23, 2015 by Immortan Junka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caladin Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 "Updating" the best text-database browser game on the web to java and flash and pretty pictures sounds like a certain way to put a stake in it's heart to me. Agreed. Just make the game more accessible. As much as I hate to agree with IJ, giving it an app would be the best way to do that, with push notifications for things like wars, aid, not collecting taxes etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Zigur Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 There has to be a phone geek somewhere in this game, all Admin would need to do is put out in-game feelers looking for someone to help, then maybe offer some kind of compensation (cash or in game). Shouldn't take that much effort on Admin's part and would suddenly increase the games reach while making it more convenient for many of us existing players. It's a win-win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus Aurelius Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 How accessible are the forums from a mobile browser? Getting people in the game's nice and all, but there needs to be a direct way for them to get into the politics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mogar Posted August 23, 2015 Report Share Posted August 23, 2015 Forums aren't terrible from a mobile device, people just don't care enough. As for the mobile app idea, it's never going to happen because Admin evidently does not want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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