Callan S. wrote:Thanks for the info, Rahl, much appreciated!
So I'll just ask you more!
You're welcome, and go for it.
Callan S. wrote: What sort of premium items did you have that people would buy?
At the start it was very basic, donator days came with the engine, and some extra gains (energy brave etc) came with the basic packs, I left those in. Over time players asked for more, better bank interest, unique items such as pills that allowed a better gym session. I had an item that blocked attacks for X minutes, and a number of other things all user driven. That's the key to selling; listing to the buyer.
unfortunately they are fairly common to see on such games now, and you would have to make them extra special for them to be unique. Can still be done however, for example search the streets, a common feature, could be done with a 2d map, and interaction with bots. Just one example.
Callan S. wrote: Also did you advertise all over the place to get in a bunch of players? That worked out well, I assume?
I did, and I didn't. I had something most game owners would kill for; a network of gamers. I played a few games in the past, and it's what drove me to create the game in the first place, and with it the friends/allies I had from those games came with me. I advertised on top list sites (CE being one of them), and ran referral competitions where genuine sign ups got all members a prize (10 new members reach level 5 all members got 30 donator days for example). I was also active, and got my members to be active, on several forums. Well I was on developer forums they were on gaming forums and a simple referral link (looked good due to a signature modification showing level, last on, and rank) got a few members. Beyond that I did some paid advertising.
For today I would highly suggest Facebook, allow wall posts when they get an achievement, post referral links when they join. It helps a lot in driving traffic.
What a large number of MCC owners missed (at least when I first checked out CE) was that to gamers the code means little. It's YOU that needs structure, but they don't really care. They need features, and speed/reliability(to know the game will be there tomorrow) I remember reading "clean code" as a USP for a game and thinking... why?
To sum up players feedback is key - they tell their friends, they drive the game.
Callan S. wrote: Did your game have a nice CSS layout (it's one of the areas I neglect and have been looking at it more recently)?
Back then it was ok... today I wouldn't touch a site like it. Design has moved on, and your site needs to stand out. Advertising everywhere means nothing if they never make it past the first page.
Callan S. wrote:Sorry, seems an interesting topic to me, so I thought I'd ask, if you've got the time
Ask away. I'm happy to help where I can. If anyone wants to give some opposing view I would love to hear them.
Edit -
Jackolantern wrote:I would also be interested to hear more about it. I have also bombarded
MonsterMMO with questions too lol. It is great to ask questions to people who have had success with browser games when you are working on your own
I just had a quick flick through of that thread, and I think he summed it up amazingly -
MonsterMMORPG wrote:
yes totally community composed
i am just doing the coding
Found here I know the reference was to game assets but ideas are just as valuable.
I feel that feedback from a player is always worth more then most developers give it credit for. It's normally worth getting feedback as you're going if it's possible.
