e-sports release?
okay, let's get a bit serious,
what are the problems of toribash?
1) being bounded to shit hardware requirements what lead to:
a. game is accessable for anyone ( thats good )
b. game appeal mostly by low internet and pc requirements ( core population are children who play on ancient old bother's pc, and it also mean that their payability as consumers is extremely low and this is very unlikely that they will ever spend any money on this game. not because they don't want, but because they can't. )
c. game stuck being the same for over 5 years. that not really good at all. 4 years ago tb appealed by being innovatiove and fresh concept. not like "i can run this game on lamp pc"
2) marketing flaws. game marketing model was supposed to be like: "if you want to look fancy, donate some usd", which got completely broken due:
a. developer have absolutely no controll over tc flow. at all. at one side it's good, that we have free market, but:
b. as result of uncontrollable tc flow people have no motivation to spend money on tc because:
c. it's not that hard to get tc due:
d. automatized tourney servers are quite good sourse of tc income for new player
e. betting is also another way to get tc without much effort
f. duels are also another way to get tc
g. where money, there people as result of d, e, f, most people stuck there and get tc from these sourses.
h. market. this is one of the main probems of current toribas marketing model. why people would want to spend money on tc to buy tc or items if they can huckster it all on market forum?
i. as result of all these points we have a situation where the only people who spend money on tc are people who huckster on market forum to get even more tc and then sell it for money. + toriprime/vip.
in other words people don't spend money for game but for forum due better profitability there and being able to earn tc by tourney servers, betting and dueling.
what mean no urge in spending money on game at all, and hey, due core population being VERY underage and play on very shit pc their ability to pay is also VERY questionable.
3) lack of willing to change the situation. as i can see most so called updates make absolutely no difference. market is still uncontrllable and all new features from list making earning tc from ingame more easy and even focus on these things. no groundbreaking updates, except triggers, completely no controll over mods section.
what can be done to fix the situation:
let's start from something very simple and not so groundbreaking:
1) iron out most of annoying bugs. no dq at aikido, random fracs, random dms etc etc. playerposition, playerrotation etc etc
if game will be polished and feel like finished quality product it will appeal as so.
for last 5 years game still feels like alpha or beta.
2) controll over mods list.
at the moment newcomer have no fucking clue what to play due clusterfuck modlist. mods aren't any cathegorized and noone moderate em. there should not be tons of fucking worthless mods.
there will be many, but not so fucking much as now, and they should be cathegorized. + mod approval. you can even reward players for creating new mods if they are hi quality and add their mods on list. in other words no new mods will be added to toribash unless they are approved. in this case person who just started playing will undertsnd what this or this mod is etc.
let's say
environment mods
-race/parkour course
-sparring/acro areas
-weapons
-andsoon
orthodox mods
-aikido type
-wushu type
-classic type
-andsoon
competative mods ( these with custom points system and so on )
basicly only dev team decide what mods should be included into mods list, or it can be done via voting on forum with hi quality requirements etc etc
3) controll over tc flow
the principle of "want to look fancy - donate" should be implemented.
at the moment you don't have any urge of spending money on tc at all, since you can earn it on tourney servers, betting, duels and marketing.
4) groundbreaking changes in engine. more shinny modern look. people who can't afford any okay pc aren't very good consumers, since they have literally no money and play this game only because they can't play anything else.
5) variety and deep gameplay mechanics
make the game finally improve. add more options for players ( zombie 0 ) and new possibilities for modders to create new mods. like custom points system where let's say 5k damage to dead will cound as 1 point and so on, i hope you get the idea, so it will add more variety and complexity.
6) user interface
a. friends list.
we use bigbro for ages and it's still not implemented in core game
b. hide servers you can't joid due qi
lots of people play and then get confused why they can't join same server they were playing before and quit.
c. more userfriendly/reworked game rules etc
d. tutorial that actually explain what are you doing instead of "do this and go ingame"
e. being able to watch replays like on wii version ( going to specific moments like it's a video )
IF ANYTHING OF THIS REQUIRE GROUNDBREAKING CHANGES - IT WORTH IT.
our young friends who can't afford any okay pc arent's any good consumers, since their ULTRA low pay ability.
7) correct marketing. game should be marketed as indie game and appeal by it's unique features instead of "you can run it on your grandfather pc if you/your parents aren't going to spend money on anything more modern"
actual game purchasing, steam, achievements and other crap.
OVERALL: controll over game, controll over game currency and controll over game content.
Keeping hight quality standarts and thats it.
i wasn't talking about clans and clan wars yet, because it would not change anything untill problems above will get solved.
ah, and btw, music, hair and flames would not solve it.
UNIQUE GAME DESIGN > "I'M BROKE 12 Y/O BUT I CAN RUN THIS SHIT ON MY CALCULATOR"
because broke 12 y/o have no money to spend and play this game only because he can't play anything else.
sad but true.
there is a law in marketing: any product will be bought if consumer a) know about it and b) see it (avaible)
may be thats something you should think about.
Last edited by snake; Nov 16, 2012 at 07:47 PM.