I think one of the issues causing problems is the way the chat window/friends list currently works, one of the keys to retention is to have people not just invested in the mechanics, but also the social aspect of the game. (which is why when you pass a certain lower threshold you hemorrhage players like crazy, because the social draw fails. Honestly, the graphics are always going to put a certain sort of person off, they could be AAA quality and people will still bail because it's not to their taste, the wobbly arm thing is a little offputting, could use a fix, but... generally, the mechanics are so solid and interesting that your target crowd is likely to be forgiving. The main thing that I think can be done about the social issues is a bit of chat interface tweaking, and perhaps a friends list. Which, I'll grant you, is likely the most boring thing in the world to code and is interesting to.. pretty much no one on it's own.
here. in list form, for no particular reason.
1) the chat window seems to clear when you change zones sometimes, this makes it kind of hard to follow a conversation, particularly if you're looking for a safe place to read the last few lines, and the safe place is in the next zone ... and.. whoops, no conversation there to read.
2) friends list, people might be more social if they had a way of keeping track of people they've met, I don't know why right clicking a name and hitting "send tell" under a drop down is perceived as easier than typing out a / command, but it is.
3) theres a message early on drawing your attention to the "press shift to sprint" command (and there probably should be), but I think there ought to be a message early on kind of pointing out chat. It's super obvious when you've been playing a while that you can talk to people, but it's not as obvious in the first hour or two which is when people are most likely to become frustrated.
4) the... action failed commands pop into user chat, so if you're in combat, and you get stunned your chat log gets spammed right off the screen with "you can't do that you're stunned" or whatever the appropriate message for that is, that really ought to go into it's own chat bar, or perhaps the one that shows xp gain, not in the main chat window.
5) a note on acquisition, I'd like to second a suggestion from the blog a while back that said roughly "see what you can do about massively's beta watch. I've tried out a number of the betas featured in there that were WAY less finished than where gorgon is now, and I suspect a large number of other people have as well. Also, something that might bear a bit of looking into.. perhaps there is a forum or reddit for people who play muds, I've played a lot of them and I think the people who still play them might be extremely pleased with what you've put together, it feels a bit like a mud, I know when I tried out wow, years ago, when it first started I thought "this.. is ok.. but it dosen't feel anything like a mud" gorgon kind of does. just a thought.
ok, this has gone a bit rambly, I should probably cut it off now before it derails further. thanks ^.-
here. in list form, for no particular reason.
1) the chat window seems to clear when you change zones sometimes, this makes it kind of hard to follow a conversation, particularly if you're looking for a safe place to read the last few lines, and the safe place is in the next zone ... and.. whoops, no conversation there to read.
2) friends list, people might be more social if they had a way of keeping track of people they've met, I don't know why right clicking a name and hitting "send tell" under a drop down is perceived as easier than typing out a / command, but it is.
3) theres a message early on drawing your attention to the "press shift to sprint" command (and there probably should be), but I think there ought to be a message early on kind of pointing out chat. It's super obvious when you've been playing a while that you can talk to people, but it's not as obvious in the first hour or two which is when people are most likely to become frustrated.
4) the... action failed commands pop into user chat, so if you're in combat, and you get stunned your chat log gets spammed right off the screen with "you can't do that you're stunned" or whatever the appropriate message for that is, that really ought to go into it's own chat bar, or perhaps the one that shows xp gain, not in the main chat window.
5) a note on acquisition, I'd like to second a suggestion from the blog a while back that said roughly "see what you can do about massively's beta watch. I've tried out a number of the betas featured in there that were WAY less finished than where gorgon is now, and I suspect a large number of other people have as well. Also, something that might bear a bit of looking into.. perhaps there is a forum or reddit for people who play muds, I've played a lot of them and I think the people who still play them might be extremely pleased with what you've put together, it feels a bit like a mud, I know when I tried out wow, years ago, when it first started I thought "this.. is ok.. but it dosen't feel anything like a mud" gorgon kind of does. just a thought.
ok, this has gone a bit rambly, I should probably cut it off now before it derails further. thanks ^.-