I'm sure many of you are aware, it seems s.o is once again dying. Activity has been put to a crawl. In order to fix this, we need something that would make a lot of players be interested again. If you log on now, most of the time you will see that there is only you online. This discourages people from playing, you log on, you see there's only you online, and you log off. This creates a never ending cycle. I think to fix this we need new players.
My idea, is for Meiun to consider the idea of letting someone, or himself post a topic on the GMC. Making sure to say V2 is not in development, making sure to tell people that this is just a gift, and that all dedication is going towards V3.
We could run into the problem where there's too many players, creating too much of a strain on the server. Most of you've experienced it, where at places like tournies, if a large amount of people move there is a d/c. We could solve this, simply by putting a limit on the accounts registered. Once that many accounts are registered, Meiun could make it so you can't register any more accounts.
Getting a nice amount of new players would also make senior members play more. The main reason a lot of people don't play now, is solely for the reason that there are no people to interact with. A game like s.o needs a social aspect to it. If we don't fix this problem somehow, V2 will die.
I'd really like Meiuns and your guys input on this idea. If you can think of any problems this could cause, I'm sure we would be able to figure out a way to fix this.
Posting to the GMC would definitely bring in a bunch of new players. There aren't a heap of MMOs on there at the moment (about 5 years ago there was a new one being posted daily).
We do have to wonder though, do we want it posted there. Most of us that joined Stick Online between 2005 and 2008, when it was still in development, were very young, I must have been 10 or 11 when I first joined. I have memories of the old forums with the likes of myself, Lucifer, RobMarinade, Torch, etc. and we were all very young and immature and created a new topic in the suggestions section every week asking for Meiun to add trading.
My only caution about posting it on the GMC in it's current state is that we may get a new batch of really young guys. Now once V3 is out I think there is definitely room for that and I will be excited to have them when V3 is out. But while the game is not currently being updated it could be frustrating having a large group of 13 and 14 year olds joining in right now.
Just some food for thought.
That's a good point, I first joined s.o a very long time ago when I was also young and immature. But it still worked out. When v3 is released, there will be a ton of young new members most likely anyways. I feel as if it's a risk that is worth taking. We may get a bunch of young kids, but we'll get some older members too who can become respected members in the community. Even that, if some kids joined, it's not to say they can't be respected. Think of how many members here started playing when they were just children or young teens. Now they're respected members of the community.
We'll get young annoying kids sure, but we'll get kids/adult that are good players, that we can enjoy to play the game with. Most people who used to play s.o, probably doesn't even know that there is a forum, or that it's even still around at all. If we bring in a lot of players now, young or old, that's more people who will play right when V3 is released.
Thanks for your opinions matty, I appreciate the feedback :).
I'm not totally against the idea of it being posted somewhere, but I definitely would not want that place to be the GMC. The majority of the trouble-makers seemed to come from the GMC. Back when V2 was at the peak of popularity and we had a GMC topic of over 100 pages, I actually had that topic deleted voluntarily (the game was sustaining it's popularity far well enough without the GMC), and in doing so reduced the flow of trouble-makers and rule breakers by probably 90% while still maintaining a pretty strong rate of new player registrations. Not really a situation I would want to revisit, especially for such an old and out of development game.
Quote from: Meiun on May 22, 2014, 10:21:03 AM
I'm not totally against the idea of it being posted somewhere, but I definitely would not want that place to be the GMC. The majority of the trouble-makers seemed to come from the GMC. Back when V2 was at the peak of popularity and we had a GMC topic of over 100 pages, I actually had that topic deleted voluntarily (the game was sustaining it's popularity far well enough without the GMC), and in doing so reduced the flow of trouble-makers and rule breakers by probably 90% while still maintaining a pretty strong rate of new player registrations. Not really a situation I would want to revisit, especially for such an old and out of development game.
That makes sense, I wasn't aware most of the trouble makers came from the GMC. If you're not totally against posting it somewhere, do you have any ideas of a place that would be suitable to post? I have absolutely no idea where else you'd be able to advertise a game like s.o. I appreciate your input meiun, thanks.
Quote from: ToxicDuck on May 22, 2014, 11:19:34 AM
Quote from: Meiun on May 22, 2014, 10:21:03 AM
I'm not totally against the idea of it being posted somewhere, but I definitely would not want that place to be the GMC. The majority of the trouble-makers seemed to come from the GMC. Back when V2 was at the peak of popularity and we had a GMC topic of over 100 pages, I actually had that topic deleted voluntarily (the game was sustaining it's popularity far well enough without the GMC), and in doing so reduced the flow of trouble-makers and rule breakers by probably 90% while still maintaining a pretty strong rate of new player registrations. Not really a situation I would want to revisit, especially for such an old and out of development game.
That makes sense, I wasn't aware most of the trouble makers came from the GMC. If you're not totally against posting it somewhere, do you have any ideas of a place that would be suitable to post? I have absolutely no idea where else you'd be able to advertise a game like s.o. I appreciate your input meiun, thanks.
I'm not really sure where else could be any good. I never really spent much time advertising it in the past (most of it was done by fans posting stuff and word of mouth). Either way, I don't think I'd want to be posting anything myself as I think that would send the wrong kind of message in terms of future support for V2, but if anyone has any suggestions for a player driven approach to this that might end up working.
Yeah, I understand why you wouldn't want to post it yourself, since then it'd be more like the game is being released, rather than someone just talking about it. Back when I used to animate, I was apart of a forum for a website called stick page. Perhaps that would be a good place to post it? Would you be alright with me making a topic, if I clarify that I didn't make it, and that I'm not apart of the team and such? I also remember s.o used to be on a free mmorpg lists website. I don't remember what it's called, but that's where one of my friends found the game. So maybe that would work also.
Quote from: ToxicDuck on May 22, 2014, 12:32:49 PM
Yeah, I understand why you wouldn't want to post it yourself, since then it'd be more like the game is being released, rather than someone just talking about it. Back when I used to animate, I was apart of a forum for a website called stick page. Perhaps that would be a good place to post it? Would you be alright with me making a topic, if I clarify that I didn't make it, and that I'm not apart of the team and such? I also remember s.o used to be on a free mmorpg lists website. I don't remember what it's called, but that's where one of my friends found the game. So maybe that would work also.
That would be fine with me as long as you do mention all of those details, and are also sure to emphasize that this is a really old version that has been out of development for a while, and that any/all development attention the game does get is being focused on the entirely new remake (V3).
This is great idea. I admit myself I do log on daily to see if anyones on then log off is anyones not :(
Quote from: Meiun on May 22, 2014, 07:46:32 PM
Quote from: ToxicDuck on May 22, 2014, 12:32:49 PM
Yeah, I understand why you wouldn't want to post it yourself, since then it'd be more like the game is being released, rather than someone just talking about it. Back when I used to animate, I was apart of a forum for a website called stick page. Perhaps that would be a good place to post it? Would you be alright with me making a topic, if I clarify that I didn't make it, and that I'm not apart of the team and such? I also remember s.o used to be on a free mmorpg lists website. I don't remember what it's called, but that's where one of my friends found the game. So maybe that would work also.
That would be fine with me as long as you do mention all of those details, and are also sure to emphasize that this is a really old version that has been out of development for a while, and that any/all development attention the game does get is being focused on the entirely new remake (V3).
Thanks for your permission meiun, I'll make sure to include all of those details.
Quote from: darkflash on May 22, 2014, 08:04:49 PM
This is great idea. I admit myself I do log on daily to see if anyones on then log off is anyones not :(
I've also been guilty of this quite a few times :(.
To add to this idea, I'd like the old style pvp system where you could attack people with pvp off. Made things a lot more interesting imo
Quote from: Mr Pwnage on May 23, 2014, 02:58:52 PM
To add to this idea, I'd like the old style pvp system where you could attack people with pvp off. Made things a lot more interesting imo
I also miss the old pvp system. I remember being killed by others, it made it so that my main motivation was to get stronger, which made me play much longer.
Quote from: ToxicDuck on May 23, 2014, 04:08:42 PM
Quote from: Mr Pwnage on May 23, 2014, 02:58:52 PM
To add to this idea, I'd like the old style pvp system where you could attack people with pvp off. Made things a lot more interesting imo
I also miss the old pvp system. I remember being killed by others, it made it so that my main motivation was to get stronger, which made me play much longer.
Yes.
Even with my efforts, over the last week and a half or so, I've only been able to obtain four new people. I'd really appreciate it if anyone knew of any websites that would allow people to post games like s.o.
Meiun, I know you're against the GMC due to most trouble makers coming from there. I know if it was posted there, there would be a decent amount of players again, I also know that right now Dan is the only active GM, and it may be too much to moderate. I was hoping that there was a slight possibility I could get you to change your mind. If it was posted at the GMC, and it did bring in too many people to moderate, perhaps you would be able to employ another GM, I'm sure at least one of the respected members that has been playing for years here would be up for the job. I know what I'm saying has an incredibly minuscule chance of you approving of it, but I figured I'd at least try to give it a try.
Or, since Meiun has explicitly said that the game is definitely not being changed or altered in any way and he doesn't have the time to 'train' any more moderators to deal with issues, we let the game go where it is going.
I enjoy the game, but at the same time, I know it is on its way out and has been for a while. Just find something else to occupy your time until the next iteration of the game is ready.
We're all still very lucky that he has kept the server up for this long. Just be happy you can even log in at all at this point, years after it was not being developed anymore.
Quote from: ToxicDuck on May 31, 2014, 12:42:09 PM
Even with my efforts, over the last week and a half or so, I've only been able to obtain four new people. I'd really appreciate it if anyone knew of any websites that would allow people to post games like s.o.
Meiun, I know you're against the GMC due to most trouble makers coming from there. I know if it was posted there, there would be a decent amount of players again, I also know that right now Dan is the only active GM, and it may be too much to moderate. I was hoping that there was a slight possibility I could get you to change your mind. If it was posted at the GMC, and it did bring in too many people to moderate, perhaps you would be able to employ another GM, I'm sure at least one of the respected members that has been playing for years here would be up for the job. I know what I'm saying has an incredibly minuscule chance of you approving of it, but I figured I'd at least try to give it a try.
I really don't want it on the GMC. If people have other places that may be fine, but I decided along time ago that I wanted to disassociate the game with the GMC, and I'd really like to stick to that decision.
Quote from: Meiun on May 31, 2014, 07:18:44 PM
Quote from: ToxicDuck on May 31, 2014, 12:42:09 PM
Even with my efforts, over the last week and a half or so, I've only been able to obtain four new people. I'd really appreciate it if anyone knew of any websites that would allow people to post games like s.o.
Meiun, I know you're against the GMC due to most trouble makers coming from there. I know if it was posted there, there would be a decent amount of players again, I also know that right now Dan is the only active GM, and it may be too much to moderate. I was hoping that there was a slight possibility I could get you to change your mind. If it was posted at the GMC, and it did bring in too many people to moderate, perhaps you would be able to employ another GM, I'm sure at least one of the respected members that has been playing for years here would be up for the job. I know what I'm saying has an incredibly minuscule chance of you approving of it, but I figured I'd at least try to give it a try.
I really don't want it on the GMC. If people have other places that may be fine, but I decided along time ago that I wanted to disassociate the game with the GMC, and I'd really like to stick to that decision.
The GMC is worse now. They decided to take down the YoYo Games Forums, and their members migrated to the GMC...
Quote from: igufed on May 31, 2014, 07:04:52 PM
Or, since Meiun has explicitly said that the game is definitely not being changed or altered in any way and he doesn't have the time to 'train' any more moderators to deal with issues, we let the game go where it is going.
I enjoy the game, but at the same time, I know it is on its way out and has been for a while. Just find something else to occupy your time until the next iteration of the game is ready.
We're all still very lucky that he has kept the server up for this long. Just be happy you can even log in at all at this point, years after it was not being developed anymore.
Right, the game is dying so it's better to just do absolutely nothing about it, and not even try to get the player count up. About the GM thing, that's why I said it was a miniscule chance, but I figured I'd at least TRY to think of something to fix the incredibly low activity.
I am happy that we can still log on, I'm happy that now we can make new accounts. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to fix the player count. It's not like the game needs a ton of players to be fun again, just recruiting 15-20 regular players would fix this problem, and hooray s.o would be fun again.
I don't understand how s.o not being developed anymore, means we should just sit back and watch V2 die.
Quote from: Meiun on May 31, 2014, 07:18:44 PM
I really don't want it on the GMC. If people have other places that may be fine, but I decided along time ago that I wanted to disassociate the game with the GMC, and I'd really like to stick to that decision.
Alright. Thanks for your input, meiun.
Quote from: 11clock on June 01, 2014, 12:17:42 AM
The GMC is worse now. They decided to take down the YoYo Games Forums, and their members migrated to the GMC...
So, I take it that means there was a large influx of young kids :S?
Quote from: ToxicDuck on June 01, 2014, 03:12:09 AM
Quote from: igufed on May 31, 2014, 07:04:52 PM
Or, since Meiun has explicitly said that the game is definitely not being changed or altered in any way and he doesn't have the time to 'train' any more moderators to deal with issues, we let the game go where it is going.
I enjoy the game, but at the same time, I know it is on its way out and has been for a while. Just find something else to occupy your time until the next iteration of the game is ready.
We're all still very lucky that he has kept the server up for this long. Just be happy you can even log in at all at this point, years after it was not being developed anymore.
Right, the game is dying so it's better to just do absolutely nothing about it, and not even try to get the player count up. About the GM thing, that's why I said it was a miniscule chance, but I figured I'd at least TRY to think of something to fix the incredibly low activity.
I am happy that we can still log on, I'm happy that now we can make new accounts. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to fix the player count. It's not like the game needs a ton of players to be fun again, just recruiting 15-20 regular players would fix this problem, and hooray s.o would be fun again.
I don't understand how s.o not being developed anymore, means we should just sit back and watch V2 die.
Quote from: Meiun on May 31, 2014, 07:18:44 PM
I really don't want it on the GMC. If people have other places that may be fine, but I decided along time ago that I wanted to disassociate the game with the GMC, and I'd really like to stick to that decision.
Alright. Thanks for your input, meiun.
Quote from: 11clock on June 01, 2014, 12:17:42 AM
The GMC is worse now. They decided to take down the YoYo Games Forums, and their members migrated to the GMC...
So, I take it that means there was a large influx of young kids :S?
None of us
want the game to die per se, but we do have to realise that this game hasn't had any new content in like 4 years and it won't have anymore content in the foreseeable future. Even if we had a bunch of new players, without a solid amount of active experienced players, they would quickly get bored.
There have been countless efforts to regain momentum and try to increase activity that have worked, but only for a little while. Christmas events really only have people playing during them, Official tournies only make the game active for a few days. The mini-tournies worked really well at the start but by the last one we did the amount of people there was a lot less in comparison.
We also can't purely rely on Dan to keep the game active. Yes it is difficult when he is our only GM as it does limit things but realistically we aren't going to get a new GM before V3 comes out.
I think the best thing we can do is to continue to enjoy it when we can. I'm sure we'll do a bunch more things over time (we've still probably got a couple of years before we see V3, though that is my, completely uneducated, assumption) and we'll have spikes of activity.
Quote from: Matty_Richo on June 01, 2014, 07:19:53 AM
None of us want the game to die per se, but we do have to realise that this game hasn't had any new content in like 4 years and it won't have anymore content in the foreseeable future. Even if we had a bunch of new players, without a solid amount of active experienced players, they would quickly get bored.
There have been countless efforts to regain momentum and try to increase activity that have worked, but only for a little while. Christmas events really only have people playing during them, Official tournies only make the game active for a few days. The mini-tournies worked really well at the start but by the last one we did the amount of people there was a lot less in comparison.
We also can't purely rely on Dan to keep the game active. Yes it is difficult when he is our only GM as it does limit things but realistically we aren't going to get a new GM before V3 comes out.
I think the best thing we can do is to continue to enjoy it when we can. I'm sure we'll do a bunch more things over time (we've still probably got a couple of years before we see V3, though that is my, completely uneducated, assumption) and we'll have spikes of activity.
When V2 first started there weren't really any experienced players, but it still worked out. I'm aware of the efforts to try and make the game active, and it's really great that the community is trying.
I do enjoy s.o the way it is now, it's just it can be much more fun like it used to be. There will be more efforts from the community to try and increase activity, but just like it does now, it will most likely only bring activity up for a very short amount of time.
V3 is probably still far away, that's why I don't think V2 should be dead just yet. Just because it's not in development anymore, doesn't mean player count has to drop substantially. I think the only way we can increase activity for the long run, is by being aggressive about letting people know about it. If at any point, we somehow were able to recruit a lot of new players, that would most likely make a lot of experienced players play again. I know if I logged on and saw 15 people on, even if it was just new players, I would be on for a long time. Instead of just logging on, seeing three people on, and then logging off.
When most of us first started playing, there was like a quarter of the content there is now, and to us, that was still quite a bit. New players wouldn't be upset about no updates, just because there would be so much for them to explore.
I know my efforts are probably pointless, but I still feel like I should try.
Also, sorry if I sounded like a dick Igu, I was a bit frustrated.
Tox, I appropriate the effort you are putting in! Even without development S.O. is a blast with a few solid members online. Stick-Online is a very unique game that has been a blast for all of us throughout most of our teenage years. I would love to play S.O. with a more active community and although I am busy this summer I would do my best to help and support any actions taken to improve S.O. numbers.
Igu, why even come here with that negativity? Stay off the forums if u don't care if the game dies. If Tox feels moved to give S.O. a shot at revival, then we should help out if we can. Instead of commenting on how hopeless his efforts are. Maybe try offering advice that would help S.O. grow for us few people who still want the community to grow.
I think if there is a way to revive S.O. that we should try for the time being! If we have the V2 community moving when V3 comes out then it will make the transition easier. We will have a steady group that can transfer to V3.
My suggestion (not very good unfortunately) have a summer event!!!! Which combines Halloween, Christmas and Easter event!!!!(so it takes no extra work)!!!!! totally epic :P
Well an update/event would be cool, that summer event idea reminded me that S.O has no sun :o That leveling competition would go nicely with an event.
I'm ok with the game not being updated. (Though I wouldn't mind if it did get updated :P)
Who wants to play, I just played a bit and killed a blue jelly thing :D
Midnite