What happened to Magicduel?

[Sasha Lilias]

What happened to Magicduel?

 

For the last year and a half I have been on and off Magicduel sporadically, it seems everything changes apart from one problem: the lack of players.

 

Now, I know many of you will say "But MD is ticking along just fine", which I don't disagree with at all,but I call this a "problem" because, personally, I quite enjoyed having a fresh wave of beginners come through, most with their unique little roles, stories, ways of thinking and everything that creates a diverse population.

In the last 12 (and probably more) months, we seem to have lacked a quantity of new players. With older players now becoming more and more inactive, I can't see this as a "ticking along just fine" concern.

 

The effect is visible; the once most densely populated alliances now have around 4-5 members, you can pass through area after area without seeing another person, less and less role play happens and it's more common to see someone idle that it is online!

 

So again I ask:

What happened to Magicduel?

 

Is BFH still the primary advertiser? If so are we getting enough traffic to the website? Is advertising being maintained? Do people just not want to play the game, if so...why not? Is it not user friendly or interesting enough if you're brand new? Or is it altogether a different reason?

 

MD has been around for a very long time and a lot of us have been a part of it for just as long. I don't want to see something that has been worked on so hard and has such loyal followers to just fade out with time.

 

MD may only be a "game" but it is also a legacy. Without MD some of us would have never met (be it in game or in real life) and never spoken.

 

I'm sure there are many of you that have something to be thankful to MD about...

 

I know I do.

 

~Sasha Lilias, Ghost of Fortune

 

[DARK DEMON]

It must be considered that MD isn't a full game yet.

 

For now we just have to hope that the wonderful yet strange kind of "bonds" we have formed here in MD, all of us amongst each other, hold on tight.

 

MD isn't ready to be "introduced" openly, as it would seem. A25 plans to change that, and there is important development needed before we can ensure that people stay in MD. No point in advertising and bringing even a hundred new people, if they don't stay. BFH did state a while back that he can indeed bring people to MD but he will not do so yet.

 

 

For now we should just help in any way we can and hope for the best. Not to mention that we must motivate and put faith in those who really work hard for MD.

Edited December 23, 2014 by DARK DEMON

[powle]

i think advertising has been put on hold and is to be re-opened when a25 is released.

[Sasha Lilias]

It must be considered that MD isn't a full game yet.

 

For now we just have to hope that the wonderful yet strange kind of "bonds" we have formed here in MD, all of us amongst each other, hold on tight.

 

MD isn't ready to be "introduced" openly, as it would seem. A25 plans to change that, and there is important development needed before we can ensure that people stay in MD. No point in advertising and bringing even a hundred new people, if they don't stay. BFH did state a while back that he can indeed bring people to MD but he will not do so yet.

 

 

For now we should just help in any way we can and hope for the best. Not to mention that we must motivate and put faith in those who really work hard for MD.

 

That's very understandable, but I'm not just talking a few months...I'm talking a year, possibly two.

 

I think, as you pointed out, the area that needs working on is how we get people to stay.

 

Change suggested and interesting idea about giving new players roles. Perhaps there could be a generic role when you begin and, to progress to another role, you need to fulfil requirements of the current one?

Edited December 23, 2014 by Sasha Lilias

[DARK DEMON]

 

That's very understandable, but I'm not just talking a few months...I'm talking a year, possibly two.

 

I think, as you pointed out, the area that needs working on is how we get people to stay.

 

Change suggested and interesting idea about giving new players roles. Perhaps there could be a generic role when you begin and, to progress to another role, you need to fulfil requirements of the current one?

 

Precisely this is what has been planned and being put into effect. :)

Along with similar more changes designed to make people 'stay'.
 

[Sasha Lilias]

We could just make leashes for all the beginners, force them to stay and be our slaves? Problem sorted. They'll be so busy fulfilling our every whim, they won't have time to leave!

[DARK DEMON]

We could just make leashes for all the beginners, force them to stay and be our slaves? Problem sorted. They'll be so busy fulfilling our every whim, they won't have time to leave!

 

Such things will only delay the more important work that you mentioned yourself :P

[Chewett]

i think advertising has been put on hold and is to be re-opened when a25 is released.

This

 

----

 

Read the 3000th announcement, I think it addresses it.

 

A25 is working on fixing the tutorial, Mur and I have just started discussion how we are going to rip out (quite literally) storymode to add in the new tutorial which will give a lot more staying power.

 

Things take time. Lots of changes are happening :)

 

Read: Ann. 3246

[Koshu Farsight]

I've known MD for some years now, but haven't been active enough to gather a single year of AD.
I can't be sure of how consistent this inactivity of the realm is, but it seems a lot more inactive than it was 5 years ago.

 

Right now, with the [topic='15951']legacy documentation[/topic] we are working on, along with the A25 project, as DD already mentioned, I believe we are setting the bases for a more both player friendly and developer friendly MD.

What I fear is the game becoming "too" friendly on the long run, but I guess that the essence of MD will remain untouched.
It seems the era of role playing is decaying, and we will start moving into a "game" playing era. I hope that this expansion of game mechanics re-ignite the role playing activity.

 

 

About the removal of story mode... 
I must admit I find that idea a bit uncomfortable, I like how much it can change on each run, and the different insights it offers with each branch.

What's the main reasoning behind the idea of ripping it off, if I may ask?

Edited December 23, 2014 by Koshu Farsight

[Chewett]

What's the main reasoning behind the idea of ripping it off, if I may ask?

 

Its being added back in as something similar, but not as the main starting part.

 

As a tutorial its where we lose 90% of members that start the game, This cant go on becuase we lose so many people that might become great roleplayers.

 

Its a too good filter. We will make the system more "gameier" so that those core "MD people" will stay because they can game with the gamers, and hopefully get and keep more "MD people"

[Muratus del Mur]

a25 is a total concept adjustment, md will change 50% after it, but still respecting some core concepts and using most of its current assets.

Don't worry, you will absolutely love it i am sure. I designed it in a very smart and unique way, yet a way that is easy to assimilate by players already trained to play games a certain way.

Md wil not be easier but will be a lot more playable and relaxing than it is now. For hardcore amateurs, deeper stages will remain intact...concepts will remain intact, just disimulated in a much more commercial form, so that nowadays players can cope with them.

 

 

I estimate less than a year till md will die, unless i finish a25...yup.

 

You wouldnt believe it how easy a community based game could die..once you drop under a certain player number, it becomes an unstoppable chain reaction. Money will prevent me from keeping it online anymore, and its structure that was build based on active players does not support single player mode(!!!), so a new start is nearly impossible.

 

Thats why i am so agitated to get a25 done, because it is the most important thing i could do to ensure md does not die suddenly.

 

 

..not to mention i have a strong feeling this is the last major change i will do in md myself, so it has to come out right, or it won't matter at all.

 

...

today i visited my martial arts teacher...and i realized we know eachother for 18 years..much of how i ruled md was influenced by his teachings (non-verbal/physical ones). I realized his school became a lot more commercial, for the same reason..people are more and more used to comfort and are less available to get out of their comfort zone to learn new things. So he made it more easy for them to assimilate, less painful and less scary...but for old timers, he keeps private training sessions. This is something i will not do...i guess my learning stops here. I will not split md in old timers and newcommers ...even if i wanted to do that initially. There won't be any private quests for old players from this 'era'...MD is enough splitt as it is. Even if it will be much more easy and commercial in the first part, the deeper parts of the gameplay will remain hardcore as they are now, for everyone.

 

By hardocore i mean , ..it will still be the sort of gameplay that crosses the border of virtual and comes into your life and changes it.

 

MD will not turn into a casual game, it will just pretend to be one, so that more will give it a chance.

Deep inside i still believe we are not all brainwashed consumers and that somewhere there, there are still people of real value.

[Eagle Eye]

Thank you Mur

[Ary Endleg]

Don't worry Mur, players will keep splitting themselves into elite vet groups just like they did before.

[Azrafar]

 

Its being added back in as something similar, but not as the main starting part.

 

As a tutorial its where we lose 90% of members that start the game, This cant go on becuase we lose so many people that might become great roleplayers.

 

Its a too good filter. We will make the system more "gameier" so that those core "MD people" will stay because they can game with the gamers, and hopefully get and keep more "MD people"

 

I didn't had a bad experiance with the tutorial. But it might be just me, one of the 10%

 

I am sad to see MD strugling. Maybe because I am relatively new to MD I can compromise with the changes. But there will be the elitist old timers, they are always present in every game.

I wish I had joined MD while it was in it's prime. :(

 

Oh and for the old ones. Don't go "Back in the old days..." on new players  :P

[Sasha Lilias]

 

I didn't had a bad experiance with the tutorial. But it might be just me, one of the 10%

 

I am sad to see MD strugling. Maybe because I am relatively new to MD I can compromise with the changes. But there will be the elitist old timers, they are always present in every game.

I wish I had joined MD while it was in it's prime. :(

 

Oh and for the old ones. Don't go "Back in the old days..." on new players  :P

 

You know, back in the old days we weren't so old...

 

Don't worry Mur, players will keep splitting themselves into elite vet groups just like they did before.

 

Don't worry. We'll have the Elite Vets, Vets, Noob Vets, Oldies and Noobs. That gives you quite a range of groups to work your way through. ;)