Yep. It's been two years now. That's how long I lasted in KoL. Quite the pattern. I think that's how long I lasted in Adventure Quest (that's the most boring and generic name I've heard for a game, looking back) too. Precisely, I started right before the public beta. I remember. I totally missed the invitation thread Ryme had put up. The game had been running for a freakin' year before I realized it existed.
Now, why am I going? It's a lot of the same reasons other people from here have left: life. Pretty general. But mostly school and a social need outside of the computer. I also feel that I've exhausted my own stay, although it's sort of weird because I was here for the first two years (basically) of this game, as opposed to joining after a couple years (like KoL). So I saw a lot of things I didn't see in KoL, although KoL has seen quite the progress over the last two years as well. Game wise, my interest is shifting to other things. Indie games, commercial games. I eventually want to do something in that industry, hobby or not.
I don't entirely want to leave yet. There's still so much stuff coming in the pipes and I really do want to come back when there's more meat around. Hence why I'm not giving up my account/items. And I'll still be within arm's reach (don't try to stick your arm in the screen, though), I've still got one huge project to do with/for Ryme (one I'm quite excited to finish up) and I'll be designing and developing another whole game (web-based also, but with a twist! Well, several twists. Like licorice.) with another someone in TH.
So I part with some criticism, to you, to Ryme and to things (Satan):
- Most of the problems I see stem from the fact that the development of this game is stemming from one guy who already has a full-time job. This, obviously, leaves very little time to do, well, anything. To think that Ryme's even gotten this far on his own (essentially), is really freakin' remarkable. Props, kudos and hats off to you.
- Right, so elaborating on that last thing: This game needs way more PR. Somehow. I've thought about this, but I'm not sure how you can maximize your attraction, besides, like, bringing KoL people over. And jayisgames or something, I guess. Hit up the casual sites and reviewers. ESPECIALLY remind them that this game is always in a changing state, one review is certainly not enough. The more words about you on the web, the more people you will get. This is true for ANY game, it's a simple marketing tactic (more words = more publicity). Just make sure they're good words.
- TH needs to move away from the KoL model. Well, a bit more, at least. I'm not sure where to go with this, especially since KoL's done quite a few things pretty damn well. But I think this is necessary, at least some point in the future if you want to get a bigger crowd.
- Going on the above: the code sounds like it needs to be redone. I don't know much about the code, but it sounds like there are quite a few limitations on what can be done and cannot be done with it. I know you're a one man team, and as a result, the code is much harder to manage, but I honestly think that fixing the code earlier (especially now that you have a better sense of what could be better) or even redoing the whole code base (this is what I'd personally do) will do you a lot more good than slapping more code in. I also know that it'll be intensely hard to convince you to do that, as this does take a lot of time in the short run, but it's definitely a saver in the long run.
- Gameplay stuff! Add leaderboards that encourage competition. The current leaderboards (most of them) are persistent, so it's basically impossible for newbies to join in. I think this could be fixed by adding boards that track the change instead of a grand total (like how much ASX you've gained in a day).
- Fix the economy. It's really really bad. I don't know how you could do it, but it needs fixing. Soon. A good economy will keep and draw new players.
- More low/mid range items would be cool.
And for other people:
- Remember when TH got malls? Yeah. I don't. Remember when TH got leagues? Yeah. I don't remember that either.
- Remember, remember, the...20th of...November...um, okay. Some of you will get this.
Memories!:
- League wars in the early days, where the winner was determined by who threw the biggest giveaway. Fun times. This is how a war is properly fought, with love, money and philanthropy. Not weapons and killing. Hats off to you, LoZ. May you rest in peace (or PIECES because we obliterated you). Right, to those who don't know, I'm in PFE. Which is still alive...sort of.
- 1018. Never forget.
- 42 and Walter Cronkite. Never forget.
People (no particular order):
- Cris. For being the snark queen.
- Malk. For being awesome.
- Satan. For not being awesome. Well, being awesome AT FIRST, and then not.
- neo22. For having a really weird name, being a hacker on games and liking math enough to go to a freakin' camp for it.
- Olaf. Bloop.
- Valera. Purple.
- Corrupt Shadow. For being both corrupt AND a shadow. Congrats on the marriage, man.
- The 3. For being awesome also.
- BongBob. For being Finnish (thus, by transitive property, awesome).
- Dician. For being awesome (but not Finnish).
- Jesus. HE IS MY SAVIOR! No seriously, for being awesome.
- Muhandes. Holy shit, a spader. A spader who spends waaaay too much time on an online game for his own good.
- Rombo. For being English (also by transitive property, awesome).
- bamse. For being Norwegian (transitive property of awesome). Also for bots and other stuff. I learned Perl because of that! Yay.
- TheK3vin. Fun times, arguing the hell out of something with you.
- OldJanitor. For being awesome.
- Therum. For being a teenager.
- Harry Dresden. For being awesome.
- Everyone else I've ever had contact with, including anyone I've ever seen online (or vice versa). For being awesome. You know who you are.
- Ryme. For being awesome. And, well, making this game.
If you feel a little empty in your heart, it's probably because I stole it. But fear not, I'm pretty sure I'll be around at least a couple more times to finish up said project with Ryme.
So long and thanks for all the fish.
