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So...

Well, I seem to have taken a rather epic and massive dive under the radar after my painfully brief RSW opening.

So I figure I'd come out of my cave and address the issue. Is there some reason why the feedback's dried up so quickly? I notice my DL count's slowed to a crawl as well. So maybe RMN can give me some insight on the matter. Is it the engine? The way in which the game has been compiled? Or is it the game itself?

If you haven't played the game yet, then let me ask; what's preventing you from doing so? If you have played the game, then I ask; why no feedback? Even a short anecdote of what you liked and disliked during a brief stint of play time would be helpful.

Now I'm not asking to be popular. In fact I'm quite comfortable where I am, working in the shade as I have been, but generally, one cannot make great strides of improvement without varied opinions to reference from. And that is what I am currently lacking.

So RMN, help me out. Tell me what's wrong, if you would please?

Posts

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Wait, this game was available!? God damn it! ><;

EDIT: Upon further development, it seems I can't even download the game, it says I need a premium or some shtuff. Might wanna fix that first. :P
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
Sorry, SF. I actually started playing it, but if I remember correctly I found the mechanics a bit too complex at the time, which caused me to put it in the back burner. What specifically it was, I don't quite remember. I know this is not too helpful ... I'll have to revisit the game at the some point to give you better feedback.
author=J-Man
Wait, this game was available!? God damn it! ><;

EDIT: Upon further development, it seems I can't even download the game, it says I need a premium or some shtuff. Might wanna fix that first. :P


Wow, that's actually true. What the hell Speedyshare?

Okay I'll reupload elsewhere.

author=edchuy
Sorry, SF. I actually started playing it, but if I remember correctly I found the mechanics a bit too complex at the time, which caused me to put it in the back burner. What specifically it was, I don't quite remember. I know this is not too helpful ... I'll have to revisit the game at the some point to give you better feedback.


No need to apologize. It's not your obligation to play after all. But I'll appreciate anything you can give me when you find the time. Thanks a bunch.

As for the mechanics, Apparently I need to simplify their presentation even further still. I've been working on that.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
author=Skie Fortress
As for the mechanics, Apparently I need to simplify their presentation even further still. I've been working on that.


Also explaining things a little bit more or doing it more slowly in order to not overwhelm the player (that's probably what happened to me) couldn't hurt!
author=edchuy
Also explaining things a little bit more or doing it more slowly in order to not overwhelm the player (that's probably what happened to me) couldn't hurt!


I'll have to work on that then. Maybe a tutorial area specifically for getting acquainted with the systems.

Also the demo's been reuploaded. Sorry for the trouble. I had no idea Speedyshare decided to cockblock like that, hah.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
Yeah, when I downloaded it tried to trick me into paying, but I found if you clicked the right text you could actually download directly without doing so ...
Well, I can say I've never heard of this game, but I'm so busy with other stuff that I wouldn't have time to play. But I've noticed that people don't comment on stuff much anymore. Friends will comment on their friends games, and some of the younger kids are commenting on each others low quality games. When something interesting is seen for the first time there's a little buzz, of course some things take off, but even that doesn't last long. There seems to be a large amount of cool content that is going unnoticed. I couldn't say exactly why or what to do about it, other than to keep posting new things about and hope that sparks some comments. Add images, blogs, media, stuff like that. If you sit around waiting for something to happen, it's less likely to happen.

Looking at the images, this looks cool. That battle system seems cool. Is it similar to what I saw in that contest where people submit bosses, or something? Didn't you win with a battle system like that? I remember seeing a video of it. Do you post any of that code, or whatever you did to alter the DBS?
It's definitely not a popularity thing. My game is also going lightweight on the feedback. I don't know why that is, either. RMN's visit count is up 50-100% year over year.

I'll have to analyze how the visibility of games is working/not working.
I haven't tried your game yet, as I haven't had the chance, but I did play your battle system demo back when you released it for the boss contest. I have to agree, it was a bit confusing for me. It just didn't really get through to me when you had the NPC explain it all before I jumped into the battle. I think you should have multiple battles that step people through the different functions, then set one up where they have to apply what they've learned.
There are some people who has issues with Molebox/Rm2k3 not working on their PCs (Kread told me SEM crashes on him on startup) so that could be one of the main issues.
author=kentona
It's definitely not a popularity thing. My game is also going lightweight on the feedback. I don't know why that is, either. RMN's visit count is up 50-100% year over year.

I'll have to analyze how the visibility of games is working/not working.


Does that visit count tell you if it's people with/without accounts? It could be that most of that new traffic is people without.

I wonder if it's possible to give incentives to people who post on other ppl's game pages. Not sure what kind of incentive that could be, though. Maybe some kind of hidden stat that increases when you give feedback, and you get some kind of...reward for you own game. Like....buzz? If you buzz other people you get buzzed back? I dunno, just thinking out loud.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
author=CyrusBlue
I haven't tried your game yet, as I haven't had the chance, but I did play your battle system demo back when you released it for the boss contest. I have to agree, it was a bit confusing for me. It just didn't really get through to me when you had the NPC explain it all before I jumped into the battle. I think you should have multiple battles that step people through the different functions, then set one up where they have to apply what they've learned.


This is exactly what I was talking about. It's probably too much to absorb from the NPC in one shot. Being introduced to things more gradually and, if possibly, interactively (meaning testing as you learn) would help a lot! Now I'm convinced that's why I gave up.

author=kentona
It's definitely not a popularity thing. My game is also going lightweight on the feedback. I don't know why that is, either. RMN's visit count is up 50-100% year over year.

I'll have to analyze how the visibility of games is working/not working.


is that so? Intriguing. I'd be interested to know what that research yields.

author=Link_2112
Well, I can say I've never heard of this game, but I'm so busy with other stuff that I wouldn't have time to play. But I've noticed that people don't comment on stuff much anymore. Friends will comment on their friends games, and some of the younger kids are commenting on each others low quality games. When something interesting is seen for the first time there's a little buzz, of course some things take off, but even that doesn't last long. There seems to be a large amount of cool content that is going unnoticed. I couldn't say exactly why or what to do about it, other than to keep posting new things about and hope that sparks some comments. Add images, blogs, media, stuff like that. If you sit around waiting for something to happen, it's less likely to happen.

Looking at the images, this looks cool. That battle system seems cool. Is it similar to what I saw in that contest where people submit bosses, or something? Didn't you win with a battle system like that? I remember seeing a video of it. Do you post any of that code, or whatever you did to alter the DBS?


Yeah, sitting around and waiting for something to take off definitely isn't the way. Not that I'm looking to 'take off' really. I'm just after some feedback, not internet fame, haha. But I suppose that the two might actually go hand in hand a little.

And yes, I submitted this exact battle system to the first boss contest a while back and apparently won. This is the game that it came from. I haven't actually posted any code or tutorials regarding it, but this is basically just a massively altered DBS with some legwork done by patches.

author=Archeia_Nessiah
There are some people who has issues with Molebox/Rm2k3 not working on their PCs (Kread told me SEM crashes on him on startup) so that could be one of the main issues.


So molebox may be part of the issue as well. That's a little disheartening to me. I'd like to encrypt my work, not just for my sake, but for the sake of those that contributed as well.

Well, on one hand, I doubt that anyone would get away with using anything from the game without it sticking out like a sore thumb, but it's also simply the principle of the matter to me. I'll have to think about it.

author=CyrusBlue
I haven't tried your game yet, as I haven't had the chance, but I did play your battle system demo back when you released it for the boss contest. I have to agree, it was a bit confusing for me. It just didn't really get through to me when you had the NPC explain it all before I jumped into the battle. I think you should have multiple battles that step people through the different functions, then set one up where they have to apply what they've learned.


Yeah, the boss contest demo had all of it's information stuffed into a single moment for the player to learn before they got into the battle, but the actual story demo tried to circumvent this by breaking up the systems and unlocking them bit by bit as the game went on.

I guess I need to do more breaking up then! Thanks though. I guess explaining mechanics isn't really my strongest suit.
Sailerius
did someone say angels
3214
If you haven't played the game yet, then let me ask; what's preventing you from doing so?

2k3 games don't run on Windows 8. As much as I've been looking forward to the game, I'll have to miss out on it. :/
author=Sailerius
If you haven't played the game yet, then let me ask; what's preventing you from doing so?
2k3 games don't run on Windows 8. As much as I've been looking forward to the game, I'll have to miss out on it. :/
2k3 games run on Windows 8. 2k3 games don't run on your machine.
author=kentona
My game is also going lightweight on the feedback. I don't know why that is, either. RMN's visit count is up 50-100% year over year.

My layman's assumption is that it's because there're only so many ways to say "looks good", and people feel redundant saying it too often (because there is a lot of good stuff here).
I do notice that the way Tactics Ogre and the first Final Fantasy Tactics game handle tutorials is that they have it as a separate option in the menu for those who want to know how things work while not having it interfere with the game.

The former has some scenes in the beginning where some of the basic mechanics are explained during battle through character dialogue (i.e. a wizard explains how magic works, a knight explains how elements work, that sort of thing).

It's something you might want to look into if you're interested in a way to have clear cut explanation on how mechanics work in your game while still having a core gamer friendly experience. I'm assuming that's what you're aiming for since none of these systems scream casual gamer friendly regardless of how well things are explained.
author=kentona
It's definitely not a popularity thing. My game is also going lightweight on the feedback. I don't know why that is, either. RMN's visit count is up 50-100% year over year.

I'll have to analyze how the visibility of games is working/not working.


Less forum userbase, more random visitor base, maybe?

Maybe only the userbase that knows you and knows of SE are following closely? And maybe, random site visitors are skipping over this because of the engine, in favor of games made on newer ones. Which would explain your download count. I mean your blog blew up with responses within minutes. Somebody's paying attention.

Dunno, though.
edchuy
You the practice of self-promotion
1624
I don't know about you guys, but I was subscribed and there are 30 others ...
I haven’t tried the demo out yet because I’m so lazy -- LAZZZZZZYYYYYYY!!!

But on a more serious front, I’ve been following this game and this series for a long time now. I remember playing the original “Sacred Earth: Bonds” WAYYYYYYYYY back on Gaming World many, many moons ago and I was just…wowed by all that pretty, pretty custom artwork and edited sprites; it just was amazing back then. And there was Gunnar. AND THEN THERE WAS GUNNAR! Although this isn’t my favorite RM game in the world, since I’m not a big fan of “dungeon crawlers” in general, *bIeh* I still had some fun with this one and some memories to take back from it. (yes, bad pun)

But…

I have noticed that the series, and this game, just isn’t quite was it used to be. Maybe it’s just me, but here’s my two cents about why you ain’t so popular anymore, Miss Fortress:

1.) No / Lack Of Hype For This Project

Other than the “Release Something Day Demo,” there hasn’t been that much new information about this game in quite some time. And although you do have that blogsite you often post updates on, it really doesn’t seem like there is much new information coming in. You need to hype that shit up, sister! Maybe not as much as some of the other, more spammable hype machine games around here *cough* *cough* but it would be nice to receive some additional information once and awhile on this game.

2.) Nobody Knows Who You Are Anymore!

I rarely see you here anymore. If you swung by once and awhile, other people would look at your profile page and go like, “Oh, yeah. I remember her. She made that game with that “blue haired” freak and that extremely long ass dungeon that is so frustrating to explore. I WANNA GO PLAY THAT GAME AGAIN!!!” I know you’re busy, but you gotta “comingle” like you used to do back then. On Gaming World, you were a regular just like me at the time. Now, nobody knows who you are anymore. (well except for the usual suspects)

3.) This Game’s Old News

I know that “Memory” is a separate entry – but let’s face it, this game is old news, now. Everybody has already played either one of the many different versions for this series, so there isn’t that much left to hold on to now.

4.) Confusing, Confusing Mechanics

WHY IS THIS GAME SO BLOODY HARD!? Maybe it isn’t as difficult for everybody else, but I just never seem to stand a chance against anyone in these newer games of yours. Grrrrrrrrrr…!!!

5.) Changes, Changes, Changes

To be honest, I personally thought that you should have stayed with the original entry to this series; I thought it was great. There really wasn’t any reason to go fix or change anything or even do a sort of “side story” to it all; just concentrate on doing another game in the series altogether. You were on the right track by doing “Sacred Earth Bonds 2” after finishing up the first one, which looked pretty promising. And even though it was a sequel to the original, it still had enough “uniqueness” about it to be rather inciting. But then you cancelled that and did “this” game in its place.

And then…what the hell happened to Gunnar, man!? He used to be the rational fuzzball that made me fell in love with him because of his “cowardness”. And then you introduced him to Ryan Braun’s secret stash and made him all mucho-like. You basically killed him with once false swoop of the pen.

Anyway, I’m going on and on about this, so I’ll just wrap this up. Probably the reason why feedback had been dwindling and it seems like nobody just gives two flying aces about this game anymore is probably because it’s summertime; there’s better, more newer games out there to play; or maybe that the support IS there (I mean, you have 30+ subscribers sitting around for a reason) but they’re just waiting for a more “full version release” to come along. (or maybe they’re just lazy, like me) Either way, don’t be bothered too much about all this. Besides, this blogpost has already guaranteed you a couple of extra downloads -- so you’re on the right track. ^_-

I my advice to you is to just relax and continue working on this. I’m sure things might pick up in the not to decent future. Besides, if you still love working on this game, no reason to stop. Not every game is a success at first. I still do follow the series, more for curiosity purposes, but I can’t help feel that it may be time to move onto a different game, or just refix the old version and release that one on here. Anyways, I still believe in ‘ya.

…And even after saying all that I’m STILL too lazy to play the demo. Sue me. I rather go play the original. WEEEEEEEEE!!!
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