X_PennyWise

This sounds exactly like something a 5-year-old would say. Let the guy have his fun. EDIT: Correction, don't let this guy have his fun. I should have looked at the rest of the board. I stand by the the first line, though.

I'd play it about as much as I play Minecraft on my 360. Rarely. I play Minecraft on Xbox because it's the only way to reach my half-ass "gamer" friends with indie developed games. They're all CoD and Madden guys, so in that respect, I think it's a good idea to get those players to play SS. Buuuuttttt it would cost too much. We don't have millions like Notch does, unfortunately. Personally, I'd always prefer the PC client solely because of the customization aspect of it. I always felt that was the best part of SS, being able to create your own zone. Think about this approach instead. What if, instead of trying to code a new client for PC/Xbox/PS3/iPhone/Android, we try to make zone customization and hosting simpler? Run with me on this one. DCME was a great improvement to the horrid map maker (SSME? Idk, I forget what it was) that we had before. Let's improve DCME now. Make it sleeker, and simpler, and much more universal. Here's what I mean. Please forgive me if DCME has any of these features, it's been years since I've used it. -DCME will include a feature to directly access a tileset archive THROUGH the client. Browse the archive while your mapping to pick the perfect tileset. I used to hate having to download sets through ssdownloads, unzipping, then opening them only to see that the tileset is shit. Have it right there, in a clear window with clear screenshots of each set. -DCME will include a settings editor. The archaic settings editor within the SS client were a pain in the ass. Like I said before, it's been years since I've created a zone from scratch, so I don't know what people use to edit settings anymore. The point is to include a settings editor within the map editor. Also, dumb down the settings terms so even newbs can understand it. -DCME will include a testing feature which would launch your zone for testing instantly. My tiny understanding of programming makes me believe this would be the most difficult of features, but to me it seems necessary. You could elaborate on these, and even add some related features. The goal is to create a single editing program that is both simple and extremely useful. Now, for the kicker. Start a zone where it's primary draw is that it is purely player created arenas. The main map is a portal arena to the other player run arenas. Bots instantly upload arenas, advertise them, and track statistics of the most popular. Every week have a "Arena of the Week" or something. Once again, the simpler, the better. You could even include the upload feature within this new DCME I'm discussing, that would be ideal. Finally, bundle this new editing client WITH Continuum. Anyone that downloads Continuum, gets the editor right with it. Every once in a while, this community gets behind advertising in some way. The problem is we keep advertising the same thing. It's old news, and there's no reason for anyone to try the game for the first time. If you bundle this new editor, then you actually have something to advertise. "Hey check out Continuum with our new customization client that lets you create YOUR own zones instantly and easily." I think that just gave me a little wood. Put editing at the forefront of Continuum, it's what drew my friends and I to this game over a decade ago. Players want this now more than ever. You see the constant uproar about DLC and other crappy marketing practices by big name games, and companies like Ubisoft and EA have been trying to destroy the PC gaming community by denying the ability to mod more and more each year. I don't know, this is just something I've been tossing around forever. Maybe there already is something like this out there, but I think we should at least make customization the primary selling point on SS/Cont. Rather than trying to overhaul our client or port it, maybe it would be easier to make a single, simple, and universal zone editor?

The tricky part is keeping people there after the initial "MG is back" boom. It's tough. What exactly were they "harassing" you about? I don't understand how that makes a zone go under. I understand the reasoning that it was just dead, but I honestly can't believe you closed the zone due to player harassment, especially in a dead zone. And seriously, screw them. Polix, I have all the original files somewhere on my external HD. I'll have to search around for the .zip, but Kirk sent me them a few months ago and I added whatever was missing from my previous files. I'm not sure what Resol has added since he tried to start it up again, though. Just let me know, and if you need any help feel free to ask. I'm sure I could help in a limited role.

How would they know to download Infantry? Personally, I stop in SS here and there but keep it installed. What about the people who only install when they feel like playing for a few days? What happens when they install the client and see all zones down? I think it's a good idea, but I don't think you'll be able to get everyone to "make the switch" without butting a few heads. It could potentially make things worse. Some zones will merge, some won't, and that'll cause a whole bunch of unnecessary confusion. Now, going with what the Doc said, if you could prove that this would be a quick and painless switch, I'm all for it. If it's a simple process to switch over to Infantry, then I'm sure it'll make more zone owners make the merge. Oh and bring back MG.

You'd have to make a new client. That's the only way to keep the game from fading away. The thing is after you would complete the client, then you have essentially opened a can of worms. If you wanted to appeal to the regular people, you would need a staff willing to update/upgrade on a regular basis. A staff and updates/upgrades cost money. How do you get money? You advertise, but then the ownership issues come into play. The way I understand it was that as long as we didn't make any money off of the Subspace client, then we could use it without repercussions. I'm not completely sure how that understanding applies to the Continuum client, and how it would (or if it would) apply to a new client. I'm pretty sure it doesn't apply to us anymore, but I would personally be weary of VIE if you decided to start generating revenue from the game. I do agree with your initial point, though. I don't think you would necessarily need to make it in FB, but a mobile version would absolutely kick ass. Mobile is the future IMO, and social media could certainly help influence that. Like I said though, this all requires a new client. I've personally always felt that the ability to create your own zones or even arenas was what made SS/Cont special. I've always thought that if we could simplify the map and settings process so that the common peasant had the ability to create zones then it would improve the population. That's how I fell in love with this game, and we all know the PC gaming community loves the ability to mod their games. If it was simple to create the map and settings, and even simpler to get that zone hosted (even temporarily), then I think you could draw another last breath into SS/Cont. Don't let the pessimists deter what you want to accomplish. SS is full of them, and it seems they're the only ones left. If we didn't have people like you occasionally reminding us that our game is slowly fading away, then no one will do anything to stop it, even if it is inevitable.

If someone could magically drop 50k to benefit SS, we'd hire coders, and lots of them. After we did that, we could figure out what to have them work on. There's an endless list of shit that people would want in a new version of Continuum.

The only way it would work is if metalgearctf.net was back up. A sub-forum here would be a ghost town IMO. Old players like myself would still frequently check out the old mgctf.net address and see if anything was going on, and with a few exceptions I doubt those same old players check here. Bottom line, a sub-forum wouldn't help revive it's population initially, but if something was started, it'd be worth trying.