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-   -   There was once a time when there were 70 people online. . . (http://www.wyvernrpg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1708)

Salkand 09-19-2008 08:37 PM

There was once a time when there were 70 people online. . .
 
When I fist started playing wyvern it wasn't uncommon to log on and find almost 80+ people playing for most of the day. A year later that number based around 60+people. In 2006 that number was 50+ people. Today we get an average of 20+ people during high time. What has changed and why?

Of course it is most likely impossible to narrow down the reason into one specific area. I believe it is because there are now a significant number of players who are level 25+ and there is nothing for these players to do other than RD. RDing is boring!

Well, I didn't open this topic to rant about RDing, Welcome ladies and gentlemen. . . and crier because he likes to ruin these things. Welcome one and all to the wyvern player base theories!

And your theories are. . .

themadhobo 09-19-2008 09:09 PM

Well I know there are a few major factors.

1. The game being down for a year.

2. School just started a month ago.

3. A lot of significant game changes that ruined the playstyle of many players.

4. People simply grow bored of games over time.

Crier 09-19-2008 10:18 PM

(I'm all giddy about being mentioned in a Salty post so my reply may not be too good, anyways)

I believe the two biggest factors in lower player base are:

When the game was down for so long, people moved on to other games and got addicted to them.

And two, like Hobo said, changes made to playing style that people couldn't adjust to.

anatil 09-20-2008 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crier (Post 27812)
(I'm all giddy about being mentioned in a Salty post so my reply may not be too good, anyways)

I believe the two biggest factors in lower player base are:

When the game was down for so long, people moved on to other games and got addicted to them.

And two, like Hobo said, changes made to playing style that people couldn't adjust to.

After the game was down we had a player cap limit (I think it was like 68) and that limit was often reached...so it isn't that. And as for moving on to other addicting games, I've gotten addicted to about 10 different games...and still play all of them and wyvern (though not as much as I used to).

And I'll also have to agree with hobo, after the spam healing nerf...the majority of people found the game unplayable and left, ever since that players online cap limit has yet to be reached (to my knowledge). Add to that the fact most players found out that the game is going to get even more nerfs and eventually is going to get a massive reset (as bin hilariously pointed out with the 'reset button' in minath a few days ago).

So to the point, with all the nerfs and the fact that the only thing interesting in the game anymore is the socials, rds, a random lq (which is only won by the big fatties), and of course the whole...lag thing. Needless to say most players lost interest. Wyvern isn't the ever evolving world it was 3 years ago...the only 'evolving' wyvern is doing these days is in the opposite direction

blazerv 09-20-2008 03:51 AM

Yeah, I miss a lot of my old wyvern friends.:(

Arilou 09-20-2008 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anatil (Post 27813)
Add to that the fact most players found out that the game is going to get even more nerfs

Actually, we've said that we're looking to balance the game, not just nerf it (balance is a two way street). Following the change made to spam healing, the idea was to look into ac problems so you guys would be better off and to take a hard look at various monsters (and areas) that might've been made too difficult during the spam healing era. Then some following tweaks were going to made to healing issues (both what you would consider to be positive and negative) and there were some things that were discussed which would make combat more interesting. So overall, the idea was to try to make you better off than you currently are and aside from spam healing, top priorities mainly included various bug fixes that the players would generally either be quite pleased with or couldn't care less about.

Quote:

and eventually is going to get a massive reset (as bin hilariously pointed out with the 'reset button' in minath a few days ago).
Nothing on the stat wipe front has changed recently. We've always said that Rhialto was reluctant to have to do one, but with all the things that have been abused and all the balance issues that have come up it (or a lesser type of wipe) may have to happen...someday. That hasn't changed and regardless, I doubt very much that many of you would still be around by the time enough work is done to get the game in good enough shape to where that will be an issue. So it's not something to quit over.

Quote:

Wyvern isn't the ever evolving world it was 3 years ago...the only 'evolving' wyvern is doing these days is in the opposite direction
You mean four. Anyway, the game is actually making quite a bit more progress now than it was in 2005, just with less players around to see it.

Salkand 09-20-2008 05:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arilou
You mean four. Anyway, the game is actually making quite a bit more progress now than it was in 2005, just with less players around to see it.

A very good point one that easily removed most game fixes, the state swipe, and game progress from the possibility of having a low player base.

So that brings us back to the original question. Why do we have such a low player base when compared to 2004. Is it because people level too easily and the game is less challenging in the long run, resulting in a drop out of most medium to high level players?

Crier 09-20-2008 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anatil (Post 27813)
After the game was down we had a player cap limit (I think it was like 68) and that limit was often reached...so it isn't that. And as for moving on to other addicting games, I've gotten addicted to about 10 different games...and still play all of them and wyvern (though not as much as I used to).

Trust me on this, I had many friends that came back to the novelty of Wyvern when it was finally back up, but then that began to fade, because most people have moved on, and because most people have moved on, they haven't been talking to their friends about Wyvern, and less and less new people are hearing about it...due to the fact that a "large" player base wasn't off talking about the game.

Salkand 09-20-2008 12:58 PM

So a lack of publicity and advertisement?

Unfortunately that cost money, yet could we someone get free advertisement on game forums or some such thing?

Penny 09-20-2008 07:29 PM

Well I moved on to WoW, and there are a few reasons why I like it better:
1. Conversation on WoW isn't anywhere near as limited as it is on Wyvern. On Wyvern there are a lot of words you can't use and only a small variety of things that you're actually allowed to talk about.

2. Wyvern is an extremely simple game and gets boring easily. You just stand there when atytacking using melee.. and magic and archery aren't all that complex either. The only part of the game that really takes any skill is training, which is just common sense (max find weakness, strength, and your main combat skills, five merchant, spam healing, etc etc... not much to it, really). And training is just killing monsters over and over again, which gets old fast, on WoW you get xp for completing quests.

3. PvP is extremely boring and not even remotely balanced. Archers stand no chance against anything other than nagas that are too stupid to shift out of hydra form against us, cavie stone giants kill everything, and mages insta-kill anyone who doesn't have resists. On WoW it's a matter of knowing when to use what move, character movement, and of course your talent tree and equipment (most people wear use the same armor and weapons on Wyvern so it doesn't really matter).

4. Grouping on Wyvern and RDing isn't even half as fun/challenging as grouping on WoW and running instances. RDing on Wyvern doesn't really require any teamwork other than 'me smash, you cast resists' (and meleers can use scrolls and armor for resists anyway so most people RD alone). In instance on WoW you need a tank, a healer, and DPSs. The tank has to hold aggro, the healer has to heal the tank and sometimes the DPS, and the DPS have to make things die faster; if someone doesn't do their job or messes up the group gets whiped. There are also special bosses for each instance, all with different abilties which you have the acknlowedge and figure out a strategy to kill. And the loot is better too and you roll on it rather than just seeing who can pick it up first.

5. There are more people to talk to.

6. There are more choices in the game... like things to do, ways to train, armor to wear, skill sets, server type, horde or alliance, etc.

And that's all I can think of right now. Basically Wyvern is only about 1/4th of what WoW is.

Slowlight 09-20-2008 07:38 PM

I used to play Wyvern daily for hours, but now not so much - I thinks It's because the things I found fun are gone.

1. PK, haven't seen much since it comes back, the attempts at organized PK events are plagued by spell lag and an eventual crash
2. LQ, it was always fun to have random LQ when you were playing at 5am in the morning, gave you something to do.
3. Scores, this might just be a personal thing for me but I really liked climbing up the list checking the different categorizes to see how I had progressed. Sadly I can't do much more score wise, and it doesn't help that the autoupdate is broke.
4. Random banter, when I have logged on, no one talks anymore laughing at idiots was always a highlight for me.

All these things have pretty much gone, these are the reasons why I'm not on as much. I think it's the reason why a lot of other people aren't logging in either.

-slow

edit - @OP compairing WoW to Wyvern is nonsensical.

Crier 09-20-2008 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slowlight (Post 27822)
3. Scores, this might just be a personal thing for me but I really liked climbing up the list checking the different categorizes to see how I had progressed. Sadly I can't do much more score wise, and it doesn't help that the autoupdate is broke.

Many people played just to see how high on the lists they could get.

themadhobo 09-21-2008 01:44 AM

Yeah thats one I forgot. I used to love trying to climb to the top of the fastest players with my pixie, I think I made it to 41st at best, then the game went down and healing was nerfed. All of a sudden I have to cast full heal or switch to a regeneration ring to heal, while a single cast of minor healing used to heal over 50% of my hp. Slowness = boring. Regeneration healing on a mage = boring. Full healing a pixie = boring.

Salkand 09-21-2008 02:17 AM

What I am starting to understand from most of these post is, the game becomes boring after a short period of time.

If I were to make a assumption I would say, it is because the game isn't really designed for players who are level 25 +. For them it becomes too easy/mundane.

Iro 09-21-2008 04:42 AM

They've all flown south for the winter.

Of course, they've done this far too early.

Binyamin 09-21-2008 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penny (Post 27821)
Well I moved on to WoW, and there are a few reasons why I like it better:

1. Conversation on WoW isn't anywhere near as limited as it is on Wyvern. On Wyvern there are a lot of words you can't use and only a small variety of things that you're actually allowed to talk about.

[Massive Binyamin Snippage of Garbage]

And that's all I can think of right now. Basically Wyvern is only about 1/4th of what WoW is.

I'm not going to berate all her points. Just a couple.

Penny moved on to Wow. Good riddance.

1) Conversation on Wow is not as limited because Blizzard wants as much money as it can get. Wyvern is free. Wyvern, also, is a family game, where Wow is rated Teen--with the exception that online playing may change that rating. Duh. You can't play Wow offline. Stupid notation they have there. Basically, what Penny is ranting about here is that she can't cuss like she wants to be able to do on Wyvern. And be rude to others--a role reserved for my magnificent self. We try to keep Wyvern rated G--at most PG. Never PG-13 or higher. Horrors upon horrors! We try to keep a clean chat!

2) We're 1/4 of Wow. Of course. There are a handful of Wizards working on Wyvern vs the HUNDREDS (perhaps even thousands) of Admins working on Wow.

As usual, she shows she's a dull penny.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Salkand (Post 27825)
What I am starting to understand from most of these post is, the game becomes boring after a short period of time.

If I were to make a assumption I would say, it is because the game isn't really designed for players who are level 25 +. For them it becomes too easy/mundane.

I can't believe I'm actually quoting/answering Salkand and not tearing him apart. <<paw/face>>

Yes, that is one of our biggest problems. But--the game was never designed for players to get that high. HoF was all you were supposed to get--level 25. Then you were to retire that alt and roll a new one. <<shrugging>>

New blood, though, is good. Advertising on game forums is good. Any other ideas? Other than weekly human sacrifices?

Logwad 09-21-2008 10:38 AM

Competition in the amount of other games to play has increased over time.

During the time wyvern was down, it gained no young players, it only had those who knew about it sticking along and waiting. When it came back, they flooded back for a while but over time they went back to other games. Also keep in mind that those who know about wyvern have aged, and as people get older there is a tendency to play less computer games because of disposition and real life. The only game I myself have really played in the last two months is the original red alert (with mods), and that's just been a few times.

It also doesn't help that certain wizards have grown increasingly comfortable in being rude and insulting. Yes it can be considered "RP", yes many of the people they are talking deserve it, but it just does not help anything. Does being put down change peoples minds and make them wiser and nicer? Or does it do the opposite? Just something to consider.

themadhobo 09-21-2008 02:03 PM

I have to agree with your point Logwad. I used to find my playing experience far more fun when the wizards didnt intervene as much in player conversation. Its all good fun when they join a conversation, but more often than not someone gets put down, the conversation dies, then people just start logging off or RDing with earmuffs. The game lost a lot of its RP quality when a wizard whispered at me to shut up in the middle of a player conversation about the usual non-sensical nothingness.

Also, I think some of the more hardcore RPers have left wyvern, which removes a core group of players that encourage others to RP.

Warcow 09-21-2008 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logwad (Post 27829)
It also doesn't help that certain wizards have grown increasingly comfortable in being rude and insulting. Yes it can be considered "RP", yes many of the people they are talking deserve it, but it just does not help anything. Does being put down change peoples minds and make them wiser and nicer? Or does it do the opposite? Just something to consider.

Lay off the wizards, they are guilty of nothing more than the sin of hubris... The wizards look down on us from their workrooms, and they’ve let their power and responsibility separate them from the very people they’re trying to protect.

As sad as it may be, there probably isn't another way.

Salkand 09-21-2008 05:27 PM

I don't think the problem is the wizards being mean. Because that works both ways. . . For example, I for one get a great amount of joy out of listening to the wizards berating a player. Even when that player is me. it's just so funny! I am sure that I am not the only person with such views.

The wizards attitude might result in 10+ player loss, but we are talking about near 50+ people at all times.


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