Ideas on Revitalizing CN

[IYIyTh]

[quote name='Melancholy Culkin' timestamp='1313565377' post='2782717']
I mean personally, (OOC reasons aside) as long as they don't spew their pony !@#$ everywhere and contain it to announcements then I could really care less. It's just fun to see everyone's reactions :>
[/quote]


I know, imagine the outcry if they were white supremacists.

[Melancholy Culkin]

[quote name='IYIyTh' timestamp='1313574372' post='2782743']
I know, imagine the outcry if they were white supremacists.
[/quote]

OOC can stay OOC for all I care. What they want to do away from CN is their prerogative. It may be wrong but I'm here to grow my nation and "contribute" to an online forum in a geo-political browser based game, not get my panties in a bunch over some injustice happening in a different part of the world.

[IYIyTh]

This is an OOC forum

I do find this post quite interesting when compared to your previous, however.

edit: fail

Edited August 17, 2011 by IYIyTh

[Melancholy Culkin]

[quote name='IYIyTh' timestamp='1313576619' post='2782747']
This is an OOC forum

I do find this post quite interesting when compared to your previous, however.

edit: fail
[/quote]

Please explain. I said I was OK with Horselords as an alliance as long as they don't turn this place into their own pony picture emporium. I will admit I find the whole concept of a 'bronie' disturbing as hell but I'm OK letting them be weird in peace. Just don't be surprised when people make fun of you.

Edit: "you" obviously not referring to |Y|yTh but the "bronies".

Edited August 17, 2011 by Melancholy Culkin

[zzzptm]

[quote name='HeroofTime55' timestamp='1313542667' post='2782509']
I love how everyone happily !@#$%*es about the problem on a bi-monthly basis, but the instant someone does something to help bring in fresh blood, he is instantly attacked, in a very OOC way, by so many people, for what he did.

Perhaps you need to re-evaluate if you really care about this situation, or if you just want CN to die.

(PS: CN isn't dying. Every community declines, but it hardly means it's dead, it just means it isn't the latest fad on the internet anymore. CN is going to keep going until admin decides he's had enough of us all and pulls the plug.)
[/quote]
OK, 50 new people brought in.

How many leave because they thought, "OK, now I know CN is REALLY irrelevant to my interests, what with this ridiculous new AA. No way can I take it seriously." ?

Then again, how many just [i]left[/i], full stop?

OOC, HoT, I think the new people in the UE thing you got going are fine here. You have an interest in preserving the community, and I can respect that and realize it'll lead to a modicum of restraint in posting here.

That doesn't mean I have to LIKE a pony alliance.

[nippy]

[quote name='HeroofTime55' timestamp='1313549113' post='2782579']
You really would like to know? I'm 22. And a lot of the people who just came over share that demographic with me. I didn't bring in an army of 12-year-olds, if that's what you're worried about. We're old and intelligent. In other words, the sort of people who could positively contribute to the community.

But, of course, none of that matters since we happen to enjoy a cartoon!
[/quote]

I guess what differs here is what a majority of the community considers a 'positive contribution'. You knew damn well that bringing in a !@#$-ton of people posting massive cartoon pony pictures would bring at least a modicum of dissent from 'normal' players here. You're not even doing it in an ironic sense...it's just pure in-your-face flamboyance for the sake of being flamboyant. We realize you desire attention. Why must it always be negative attention you seek? It doesn't matter what you say about the 'intelligent adults' you've brought to the game. When people present themselves as the kind of people that like to pretend to be cartoon ponies, they have to expect a reasonable amount of backlash.

[Sigrun Vapneir]

The persona may appear strange and even freakish, but it's still a huge step up from most players who dont bother with a persona at all.

[IYIyTh]

The irony itt could cause this thread to combust at any moment.

[JohnGulager]

tl;dr alert

One suggestion to "revitalize" the game would be to add a new wonders, and even a second class of expiring wonders. I suggest wonders to tweak in this way because it would seem that the game is changing to include many older nations, and making the new wonders perishable would keep older nations interested. Some new wonder ideas include:

Strategic Reserve: Allows your nation to pick XX of your connected resources to keep for XX days in case your trade is canceled or deleted abruptly.

Asteroid Mining: Randomly selected bonus resource, though unlike moon and mars mining, bonus resource should be unchangeable.

Premier League (Or Olympics etc.): Sporting events always make people spend money.

Nation Gift: A ONE TIME, no limit gift given by a nation to another, though nations can receive as many "gifts" as they can beg for.

The expiration of the wonders could vary greatly, such as the Strategic Reserve expires at 900 days and the Premier League expires at 100. The fee and payouts should be proportionate of course. Additionally, these new wonders would also be attached to others, such as Asteroid Mining requiring the space program etc., and the Nation Gift requiring the Federal Aid Commission. Some of the new wonders could also require nations to work with others, such as a Waste Removal wonder that would require two nations, one (or more) to choose to dump waste on another for a exorbitant fee or a Space Station wonder that works more efficiently with more cooperating (capped somewhere of course). Finally, some wonders could be paired with others so that one cannot be purchased until after the other has expired, much like the moon and mars wonders currently.

I apologize it got lengthy, just two cents.

[Vandal]

[quote name='JohnGulager' timestamp='1313623127' post='2783065']
tl;dr alert

One suggestion to "revitalize" the game would be to add a new wonders, and even a second class of expiring wonders. I suggest wonders to tweak in this way because it would seem that the game is changing to include many older nations, and making the new wonders perishable would keep older nations interested. Some new wonder ideas include:

Strategic Reserve: Allows your nation to pick XX of your connected resources to keep for XX days in case your trade is canceled or deleted abruptly.

Asteroid Mining: Randomly selected bonus resource, though unlike moon and mars mining, bonus resource should be unchangeable.

Premier League (Or Olympics etc.): Sporting events always make people spend money.

Nation Gift: A ONE TIME, no limit gift given by a nation to another, though nations can receive as many "gifts" as they can beg for.
[/quote]

Actually. Not bad ideas.


As far as revitalizing CN. Doubt if it could ever be revitalized to what it once was regardless of advertising. People want instant gratification. thus, they play their stupid little Zynga games on Facebook and click their lives away at a much faster pace. CN is old hat. New players know they will never be a top 5% nation and it takes a long time to build up. Anyone getting involved on OWF are usually bullied out of being involved unless they're already part of the 'established' community and interest dies quick.

I've had friends join, stay a few weeks, get bored and delete out. Hard to keep anyone around.

[zzzptm]

[quote name='zzzptm']
modicum
[/quote]

[quote name='nippy']
modicum
[/quote]

Clearly, the key to revitalization is to use the word "modicum" more frequently.

Modicum is the new plethora.

[Tarikmo]

I had 2-3 of my friends join, and they went inactive in about 2 months. It's probably been said 100 times, but it's hard to for newcomers to keep active nowadays.

[OrangeBeard]

[quote name='Vandal' timestamp='1313628710' post='2783138']
Actually. Not bad ideas.


As far as revitalizing CN. Doubt if it could ever be revitalized to what it once was regardless of advertising. People want instant gratification. thus, they play their stupid little Zynga games on Facebook and click their lives away at a much faster pace. CN is old hat. New players know they will never be a top 5% nation and it takes a long time to build up. Anyone getting involved on OWF are usually bullied out of being involved unless they're already part of the 'established' community and interest dies quick.

I've had friends join, stay a few weeks, get bored and delete out. Hard to keep anyone around.
[/quote]
Great ideas actually... I like those wonders, if properly developed and planned they could keep players interested. The problem, though, is that its not about keeping the gigantic nations involved, its about keep new players involved.

I think, eventually, CN will run its course. If some adjustments were made to TE (Aid!) then it could become the primary game. Its way more fun, casual, fast paced, and everyone gets a fresh start in 90 (100? Something like that) days. I've finished at the bottom my first round, 30-ish once, and this round I'll just miss the top 100. You never know whats going to happen... if it got featured more, and CN took a back seat, I think it could flourish for a lot longer.

[Groucho Marx]

These threads are always so productive.

[maxfiles]

I said this in the last thread..

start a world 2, use all the cool stuff from CN:TE that admin has played around with.. and make a new world 2 of SE. make it also a facebook app.

also make this game more web 2.0 and leave this basic version available to people for use on their phones and other smart devices.

the whole single ip thing is bs, most isp's use dynamic ip addresses so people are bound to change ip's a dozen or two times in a year.

advertising has not been done for this game.

And being told by the admin of this game to go and make new banners myself if I want to advertise this game outside of the two banners that are listed as referral banners is pathetic.

the mod staff needs to lighten up on things, and also people need to quit being whiners over everything and running to the mod forum to file a complaint over every little thing, take your beef into the game and use it as a reason for war or cancelling a treaty.

and one final thing.. do we really need to use this forum to post DOE's and DoW's and so forth? why not just goto the alliance you want to goto war with and go and post it in their embassy. that would change things, and it would sure make sure people are following what is going on in their embassies

[Proest]

Do you really want people to DoW in embassies? Really? Everyone would have to go sign up as a faux diplomat to read it. Then the spying accusations come.... that's a mess.

Granted, this forum really only gets used for DoW/Es, and occasional meaningful treaties, but.... it's something at least. I mean, either have those or doom and gloom threads all day.... take a pick.

[nippy]

[quote name='zzzptm' timestamp='1313630141' post='2783158']
Clearly, the key to revitalization is to use the word "modicum" more frequently.

Modicum is the new plethora.
[/quote]

There's a plethora of modicums up in dis !@#$%*.

[BastardofGod]

Let alliances that aren't in the top 12 to be able to load their flags. New forums come here often and they realize they will never see their flag on their nation's ever. How disappointing is that! It is a big deal to a lot of people. Besides that hit the reset button. I know you'll never hit the reset button o great holy admin. But by god bringing everyone back to zero would change everything.

Edit add:

Besides letting people being able to load their flags not in the top 12. Institute an idea I mentioned long ago and incorporate more sounds into your game. The cruise missle sound still works in internet explorer...well I hope I don't use internet explorer. Why don't you immerse the user into the experience with a nuclear launch attack sound, tank sounds, navy sounds, army sounds, construction sounds, riots sounds, and so forth. It's these things that make a game an experience and not just another browser game.

Edited August 18, 2011 by BastardofGod

[Ironfist]

[quote name='BastardofGod' timestamp='1313654628' post='2783690']
Besides letting people being able to load their flags not in the top 12. Institute an idea I mentioned long ago and incorporate more sounds into your game. The cruise missle sound still works in internet explorer...well I hope I don't use internet explorer. Why don't you immerse the user into the experience with a nuclear launch attack sound, tank sounds, navy sounds, army sounds, construction sounds, riots sounds, and so forth. It's these things that make a game an experience and not just another browser game.
[/quote]

Honestly? Hearing terrible sounds every time I do anything in a browser game [i]with or without[/i] the ability to turn it off would ruin what little fun there is to have. I'm fairly confident that the majority of CN players don't play the browser part of the game to add to the "experience". It's something done while you can do other things; be it a conversation on IRC, or RL study/work etc. But sounds? Sure, that'll make everything better.

The rules around here should be less harsh. Personally I don't do a lot wrong, because I can't be bothered getting agitated enough to warrant receiving warns. That being said, the idea that CN is a role play game is laughable at best, but if we the esteemed "ruler" of a, b, or c accidentally put our RL words in the wrong section of the forum we're warned. Get enough of them and you're banned from the main community of CN. Rules that detract from the idea of a game become counterproductive, overused power grabs; and that's not aimed at anyone, it's just a sad fact.

There's nothing that can be done with the game itself. People will always get bored with whatever is infront of them after enough time. That's the nature of games; that's why you'll find the best games have a dynamic foundation. Interestingly enough, the fact that CN's history, culture and political participation continues to exist at all is an admirable quality. And that should be the focus of a revitalisation attempt. I couldn't care less if I had to walk away tomorrow and find something (read: anything) better to do with my time. I guarantee the online friendships will continue to exist on IRC, and there'll still be grudges and an us-against-them mentality. We just won't have the browser game. Big deal. I realise many people have differing opinions on this. Some would absolutely hate to walk away from what is an [b]enthralling[/b], point and click exercise.

Take a look at the population of CN. It's main demograph is angry teens, angry students of higher level education, and angry why-are-you-playing-a-game-at-this-age adults. Angry being the key word here. It's the constant smirks when a new player does anything at all, and it's the blatant trolling of players that "no one" likes (and therefore they're fair game, once more blurring the lines of OOC and IC). That's what this community is predominantly made up of. And is that a nice place for new players to come into? Probably not, because they unpack their suitcases expecting to experience a role play game (you know, like it's touted from the moment you sign up), and when god-forbid they start playing the role of ruler and make their own alliance, they're hounded from the game as a newbie and therefore not important enough to waste time on. "Go join our established alliances and learn the game. Oh, and don't for the love of all that is right in this world [i]role play[/i]. Unless you're one of [url="http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?showforum=72"]these guys[/url]. Yeah we have a separate forum for that."

It's a quaint little village we have here, and I think the funniest part is that most people think they're simply hilarious. You sure showed that new player that you've been here for a year longer. Tell them something they don't know? Like, perhaps, how to get in on this game that everyone says is dying.

[zzzptm]

[quote name='nippy' timestamp='1313650439' post='2783572']
There's a plethora of modicums up in dis !@#$%*.
[/quote]
I heard that there's a new superbloc forming called MODICUM. It's an acronym for "Awesome Dudes That Will Nuke You", but they spelled it badly.

But it sounds REALLY COOL.

[OrangeBeard]

Turning this into a facebook app would be a tragedy unto itself. Creating a second CN that combined elements of SE and TE is basically my idea, revitalizing TE. I like it and it would probably be a success.

If you want less strict rules, play "a game". Way less strict, the mods play along with you, and it involves actual RP, unlike here.

Edited August 26, 2011 by HK47
Removed filter evasion

[JT Jag]

No need to turn the entire game into a facebook applet. It hasn't been updated in major way since, what, 2007? It should be relatively easy to make a streamlined secondary way to access the game through facebook without impacting the current infrastructure.

Sure, you risk attracting dumb people who might make a dumb Justin Beiber alliance, but this is the risk we run in keeping our game alive. Plus, more tech raid targets.

[New Frontier]

And we literally already have a pony alliance so I'm not that concerned.

[Ironfist]

[quote name='OrangeBeard' timestamp='1313711162' post='2784242']
Turning this into a facebook app would be a tragedy unto itself. Creating a second CN that combined elements of SE and TE is basically my idea, revitalizing TE. I like it and it would probably be a success.

If you want less strict rules, play [b]Na tion_States[/b]. Way less strict, the mods play along with you, and it involves actual RP, unlike here.
[/quote]

Okay, first of all, that's an extremely subjective thing to say. I think it would be a disaster because most people are only here for the novelty of it actually existing still. Secondly, you can get warned for avoiding a word filter. You're absolutely right, there's very little role play here, which makes the OOC rule very outdated. But that's not the topic of conversation here, so I shouldn't have brought it up in the first place.

[OrangeBeard]

The fact that the word filters include another browser game is pathetic... you can get warned for anything here. Thats partially, IMHO, why more people dont participate on the forums.

Another reason is ridiculous alliances. I mean, diversity is great, but pony alliances? Where does it end? Making this game facebook playable would only expound on that problem.