Indie-Resource.com

Hi all
This topic is probably as old as gaming itself but i have been thinking about this recently and i have to say it
Do you think that games with out very good graphics and effects stand any chance? I mean, even browsers games have very nice graphics now most of them are 3D ect...
I remember o-game and bitefight from couple years ago and they were huge, at least in my country. I dont know about now coz i didnt have much time to follow game market.
From my experience and my point of view online games are all about ppl. No matter how awesome game would be its nothing with out good ppl to play it with and good few people online in general. Where am i going with this? well i was thinking about a game.
I was thinking about all different types of players and their preferences - some like pvp, others playing farm and buildng houses, others keeping a pets ect. so what if there was a game to connect them all !?
I know im walking with my head in clouds but imagine this game:
There is only one serwer, one for all nationalities just for everyone. World in game same as in real. People from different countries start in their place of living. Graphics brought to a minimum of "decent". It would be all about game-play. You can be a farmer, you can run a tavern if u like to chat, you can do quests, building castles, tons of a war machines, unique resources for regions forcing ppl to trade and travel, quests based on local legends so ppl could learn something about other countries ect ect ect. no lvls but tons of skills.
This "project" was sitting in head for agesss so i have tons of ideas in my head and i could write about it for hours What i want to ask you guys is:
- do you think that game with lets say 500k-750k users online on one server (map) is possible? What does it depend on?
- do you think game in 2d stands any chance now against 3d super productions ?

i know its probably stupid topic but hey there is no stupid questions
regards
Sebastian

Graphics mean little when it comes to indie games. Players look for game play.

Do not plan for 500k users at this stage. Build it first then worry about getting too many players later.

Design it build it, then deal with the issues. If you get 500k users then you will have the income to handle the issues or even get funding.

well besides gameplay there're people that also likes good graphics I think that makes the player to stay and return to play the game. I think that the graphics are like the first impression of the game, with good graphics they'll go deep and explore your game, well this is just my opinion

Ark wrote:well besides gameplay there're people that also likes good graphics I think that makes the player to stay and return to play the game. I think that the graphics are like the first impression of the game, with good graphics they'll go deep and explore your game, well this is just my opinion

Graphics are a first impression, but they are definitely not what makes players stay and come back to play it. When was the last time you played a game that was not fun at all for a long period of time just because it had good graphics? There is a list a mile long of games that came out with excellent graphics but bad gameplay that scored low with critics, and didn't even sell enough copies to break even. Then there is a list a mile long the other way of indie games that had graphics that weren't even last gen that have made a big splash (Minecraft would be a big example atm).

In my opinion, graphics are good, but they should not be the focus. They need to be a part of the experience. A development group cannot just hang their hat on good graphics, nor should a group feel their game isn't going to go anywhere because they have bad or even no graphics.

I think it's more important to implement some sort of chat room, and perhaps most importantly show a sample of that chatroom on the front page above the registration link. This shows that people inhabit the game (remember to get in the chat yourself as often as possible).

If your interested in people, people primarily gravitate around other people. So that's the critical thing. The most amazing graphics in the world doesn't fill in for that (it only indirectly helps by drawing people).

I find gameplay the most important thing, but I sadly admit that when you take your own direction in game design, alot of people just wont get it. In fact, in the early stages of a game design that might be a world sensation latter on, people will kind of not get this new thing and herp derp away. I bet seduku had this occur in it's early stages, as a simple example.

But the chat room thing largely gets around that.