Poll: what's next for Twilight Heroes? YOU DECIDE

[Ryme]

Now that retcon is calming down and most of the biggest bugs are fixed, I'm starting to think ahead to the next project. I've got a few more days of cleanup ahead of me, then a well-deserved weekend getaway. But after that it's back to the grindstone.

I've got 5 major contenders for the next big thing to work into the game. The first two (leagues and malls) have been on wish lists for a long time and take a lot of coding, and won't have much direct entertainment value, so much as facilitating player connections or adding convenience. The other three would contain a lot more creative content, and are already worked out conceptually. All five are likely to go in at some point, but whatever doesn't get picked up right away might languish for a long time before I get around to it.

I'm not normally one for just putting this stuff up for a vote, but in this case I'm equally interested in completing all of them, and they're all kind of in wildly different directions, both in terms of content and mechanics. So, here's your shot. Let me know what would really brighten your TH experience. If it's none of the above, you can write in a vote, but I'd say the odds are very bad of my doing anything large before I do a couple of these five.

Choose wisely: like I said, if it's not the top one or two, it might get put off for a very long time.

[Ryme]

Me, I'm voting for "Take a longer vacation, Ryme, we don't need anything new until December!"

[zillow]

Looks like Mall is at 100%

[Corrupt Shadow]

Malls!

[Carygon Nijax]

Me, I'm voting for "Take a longer vacation, Ryme, we don't need anything new until December!"

I'd vote for this one two. but it isn't in the list..

So I vote something else

[Ryme]

In my experience, when a game creator starts asking the players what they want him to work on next, it really means he doesn't want to work on any of them right now.

That's half right, I guess. Obviously I've put off malls and leagues for four years, and yeah, the truth is I don't really want to work on them. Because a bunch of uncreative interface stuff that's crammed full of details that will break the game if I do it wrong, and doesn't give me any real entertainment (not even a joke to laugh at, or a pun to make), is among my least favorite kind of thing to do. For the most part I don't even get to see people having any fun with these things. Clan chat will pull people out of the public channels, and the rest of the stuff will go on where I'm not paying attention, unless it's to fix bugs.

On the other hand, the two puzzles were basically things that I brainstormed while taking a break from all the retcon work. I got really excited about both, think they'd be fantastically fun to code, and I also get to *see* the players having fun with them in chat. I really want to do them.

Level 12 has been mapped out for more than a year. At this point I think I'll keep the higher-level stuff optional (possibly subject to change at some future date, with a lot of warning), but obviously the Mick showdown leaves you with questions, and I'd like to be able to start to answer some of those, even if it's only answering questions with questions. Quests are always fun to work on, and there's good material just sitting there not being used.

So, mostly, the poll is here to see if I can find an excuse to work on the things I want to work on rather than the things I don't want to. Since people know about malls and leagues, that's what they ask about. Most people don't know about these other wonderful options just waiting for a few weeks of my time, so I'm putting them out as teasers, too. So it's not always just the mall or leagues on people's minds.

[Harry Dresden]

You should mix it up. Work on the "fun" stuff for a week, then do some of the boring stores/leagues coding for a week. That way we get it all eventually and you don't get burned out.

[Ryme]

I do better when I pick one thing and just keep hammering at it. If I stop to work on something else, it's even harder to drag myself back to the less fun stuff. On top of that I forget where I was and have to re-learn a bunch of stuff.

[NardoLoopa]

I guess I'm going to vote for Mall, but what I'd really like is a crafting interface where found recipes are saved. You know . . . something like that other game. Wouldn't have to be as fancy, of course.

[Cristiona]

Level 12 has been mapped out for more than a year.

Yes. Yes it has.

[Ryme]

I guess I'm going to vote for Mall, but what I'd really like is a crafting interface where found recipes are saved. You know . . . something like that other game. Wouldn't have to be as fancy, of course.

While I'd love to have stuff like this, it simply won't happen until we have a staff. If that other site couldn't do it until three years after their version of retcon, your ballpark scenario is for me to need at least another three years to do the same thing.

[Cristiona]

Nah, we could do it now: we'd just need to poach CDM.

[Jick]

Ahem.

I'm seriously looking forward to a Mall at this point. Having started doing retcons, I'm really regretting some of the IotMs I didn't buy.

Luckily, I bought extra copies of a lot of early ones, and I'd really like to translate that into some functional gear.

[blackmatter615]

Me, I'm voting for "Take a longer vacation, Ryme, we don't need anything new until December!"

Voted

[Muhandes]

While I hate the AH, I don't really care that much for mercantilism (the word probably doesn't apply but I wanted to use it for some time) so I vote for more content. Level 12 quest seems the closest to this.

[darkzumi]

The mall is boring! I say the level 12 quest!

[acidcat]

Me, I'm voting for "Take a longer vacation, Ryme, we don't need anything new until December!"

With retcon there it's added quite a lot to the game, so more may be spoiling us. I'd rather have a constant stream of stuff, so retcon will keep me happy for a nice while.

I'd like to anti-vote for leagues for the same reason as you. Global chat is quiet as it is, so we don't want it getting silenced, and 500 new guilds, each only with one player. Or we may end up with two guilds with almost all the players, so we may as well have them chat in global. Until we get some kind of useful PvP for guildwars, it's not really useful anyway.

[Patojonas]

I voted for level 12 quest...but I guess before all this the skill points stuff needs to be concluded...

[Kurg]

All of these things sound interesting but I voted for the Mall. It would make trading SO much easier.

[TeKRunneR]

Retconners are very quickly going to want easy access to all kinds of stuff (computers, software, consumables, old iotms...). Especially people who, like me, were dragged back into the game by retcon after a long hiatus (I've seen several people in a similar situation in chat, so I know I'm not alone). I'm pretty sure a mall would make a lot of people very happy.

[seventhcross]

I'd enjoy both the mall and the leagues, but you bring up some very good points about the downsides involved there. and the puzzle ideas sound fantastic, but ultimately I'm more interested in the story. Especially with that teaser after the Mick fight.

Thanks for all the fun stuff Ryme!

[Strlikecrazy]

Voted for mall, purely for buying needed items. I'm happy with retcon at the moment, so i personally don't need anymore story line content at the moment.

[TheK3vin]

I voted for the mall, in hopes of it improving the economy.

Feel free to choose number 6 though. You deserve it

[Cristiona]

Honestly, I think the mall is what's most needed right now.

The economy is still all screwy, and it's not going to normalize until a mall goes in. Even if you don't like commerce, having a stable economy helps everyone. If nothing else, it will allow people to unload generic equipment that's acquired every run. Due to the existence of the recyclonizer, even the most useless of gear will be bought, as enough of it can be turned into something useful. Furthermore, speed runners are going to want to be able to buy certain items to fuel their runs (exigens, stroop, gumdrops, computers, etc.)

If the mall is what ends up being implemented, I've a couple of suggestions:

2.) Let us set a silver star price. IoTMs use silver stars for currency rather than chips, so it'd be nice if we were able to ask for 15 stars for an IoTM in our store (or a UR) rather than chips.

Honestly, once the economy stops being a basket case, and once the game grows, that won't be necessary. Right now, star demand vastly outstrips star supply, so big ticket items only sell for stars because chips are "worthless". Once things normalize, star prices will find equilibrium and selling old IotM for chips won't be an exercise in futility. And people will actually have the chips to do so.


While I would prefer the level 12 quest (and that's what I voted for), I freely admit that it's a selfish request. While it might be drudgery, I think the mall will be the best choice for the game itself.

[Strlikecrazy]

I really would like to have a chat with people I'm familiar with and who won't tell me I'm bad when I have no idea how to play this game.

People tell you that your 'bad at this game'? That's not cool.

[Ryme]

Like Strlike says, I think the crowd around here is small enough it's still pretty friendly and supportive. People do step on each others' toes now and then, but it's (generally) not too bad. Now that I'm arguing against the fun of clans, just saying I don't think we're big enough to get some of the "anonymity of the masses" that lets people think they can be really big jerks.

[Corrupt Shadow]

Ryme, Cris called me a booger head the other day in chat, and didn't ban herself...

[Ryme]

All right, I'm going to call this poll closed. Feel free to continue to comment if you like, but the decision is made. Looks like there's a pretty hefty inclination toward the mall, so I guess that's going to be top priority. I do accept some of the arguments presented, that the AH is less workable with retcon, and something like a mall would probably be a lot easier to work with. I also think it might help make silver stars more liquid, and less of a secondary market.

There's a pretty big push for Level 12, so that's likely to be second.

The others ... save them for sometime when I'm bored or inspired, I guess. They are still likely to be finished before I pick up any other major projects, but that's not a formal guarantee. I tend to get my best ideas for other things when I'm procrastinating working on big things.

I will also continue to work on other, smaller, components as we go, of course, particularly when I need a break from the big stuff. Some cleanup of the skills and skill points falls into that range, and probably another b-quest or two, along with an occasional interface upgrade and the usual bevy of bug fixes.

[Corrupt Shadow]

...that the AH is less workable with retcon, and something like a mall would probably be a lot easier to work with. I also think it might help make silver stars more liquid, and less of a secondary market.

This.