Why is Continuum Population rate going down?

[The Apache]

you aren't allowed to view it. it's too special.

[Incomplete]

Don't worry about Starport, it sucks. You have limited fuel and unless you want to wait days before your fuel recharges you have to pay for fuel. You make squads and your own planets but people take them over night and its just a load of !@#$%^&*.

[MikeTheNose]

Hostile Space is similer, a MMO but RPGish PVE.

 

https://www.hostilespace.com/Portal/screenshots.asp

[jacob hunter!]

But were they all made before or after ss?

[»doc flabby]

Worryingly these were made 5 years after, around 2002...and still being activly developed

 

my point being people actually play these crappy games.

 

subspace is several levels better than these games.

[rootbear75]

problem is

 

1. lack of development isn't offering anything new.

 

2. All the bull!@#$%^&* over who has the biggest e-penis is leading to damage of the community (zone get shut down/ moved, community is split up all over the place) which leaves people disillusioned as to what this game still has to offer and how long it will last.

 

3. player base is getting older and has less time / interest

 

4. other games that look more impressive are taking the population (mostly for reasons 1 and 2)

i think dav nailed it on the nose

i could not have said it better myself

[Trip']

Exactly, but thats going to be the biggest problem in any online game. Just gotta advertise, and continuosly make new add-ons to keep people interested.

 

Subspace is a great community, the thing is, communities need to change and grow to survive.

[»doc flabby]

Thats what i've been trying to say, people shouldnt get so caught up the 2d aspect. The number of d's doesnt matter. i mean look at starport, subspace has superiour graphics and was devopled 5 years prior.

 

What subspace/continuum needs is active devlopement & advertisments.

One play to look into advertsing would be at the http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/ comic site. Alot of our target audience (i.e. male aged 14-25) visit that site.

 

Devlopement is a more difficult problem...

[Dav]

we can hope ASSS helps solve the dev problem

[»Blocks]

Development is a problem, but I think a larger problem is a lack of having our !@#$%^&* together, so to speak. The SSCentral project is a great step forward, and when completed, will solve the problem for the SubSpace-wide community. Zones are different matter, however. My home zone is Metal Gear, and we do not have our !@#$%^&* together at all. The quality of gameplay draws players in, but we lose them due to a certain lack of organization and professionalism. We haven't had a website for a year now, and we're one of the largest zones in SubSpace. I'm not trying to blame anybody, after all this is a free game and nothing is expected, I'm just pointing out the sad state of things. Things haven't changed so much that you can't get hooked on Continuum, we just need to keep the players coming back.

 

edit: agreed on the ctrlaltdel thing, that's as good a place as any if somebody has some $ to spare

[Wormhole-Surfer]

I don't think it helps much that Trench Wars is by far the most populated

zone in Continuum/Subspace and in my opinion TW doesn't really give a

very good representation of the capabilities and potential of the game.

[Wormhole-Surfer]

we can hope ASSS helps solve the dev problem

 

I doubt that. If there is a development problem, it's not for a lack of "tools."

There are many possibilities with just a few simple mervbot plugins, for

example, that even the most popular zones haven't tapped into. The most

popular zones are hardly taking advantage of what they have available now

with Continuum as opposed to Subspace, so what makes you think they'll

take advantage of the possibilities of ASSS?

[»doc flabby]

TW's out of all the zones seems to me to one of the most imaginative zones that does make good use of continuum's features.

The main tw arenas do not use much of continuum's features, but the sub arenas do alot.

 

Best thing about tw is that downloading the main map takes about 5 seconds. I think that adds to its popularity. who wants to wait 5 mins for a level to download to try out a new game. Tw is also probably the only zone with a wormhole surfing arena ?go surfing in tw Thats the kind of unique event that makes people come back to tw.

 

I think another thing that tw does well is that it emerses you in a world, all the ships are distinctly different each has its own personality. Events are created around the personality of each ship. playing pretty much every other zone its hard to tell the difference between some ships.

 

The thing that seems to be lacking in alot of new zones is imagination. Thats why i was upset when HS got shutdown, it was one of the few innovative and imaginative zones about. It also had ships with personality, each ship was different.

 

I think making the ships sufficiently different from each other is important to the success of a zone.

[rootbear75]

...

Best thing about tw is that downloading the main map takes about 5 seconds. I think that adds to its popularity. who wants to wait 5 mins for a level to download to try out a new game. Tw is also probably the only zone with a wormhole surfing arena ?go surfing in tw Thats the kind of unique event that makes people come back to tw.

...

raising or removing the download cap might improve this.

[»Maverick]

raising or removing the download cap might improve this.

which is only possible on ASSS that new zones just don't use for their zone(s).

[»doc flabby]

raising or removing the download cap might improve this.

which is only possible on ASSS that new zones just don't use for their zone(s).

How many SSC servers offer ASSS hosting? I think hockey zone is the only SSC zone now that uses ASSS.

[Vile Requiem]

Random Suggestion Time:

1. ***Zones that Require .39 should list it in their description/zone name*** On the same token, ANYWHERE that it is possible to download CTM, .39 must be immediately emphasized with clear instructions for install.
   
2. A few people should get together (like Catid did for MERVbot) and program a few standard ASSS plugins for people to use. Like Linux itself, the learning curve must be broken in order to get everyone to use it. Make it easy. Make a tutorial. With Pictures.
   
3. Zones that insist on remaining on Subgame should optimize their main arenas like TW for ease of download. Zones that are a quick download should put a (Dialup Friendly) tag in their name/description. This tag isn't exactly antagonistic, so nobody should have a problem with it. The more people we don't piss off before they even download a zone, the better.
   
4. When SSCentral.com is complete, have ss.net point to it, and gc.com point to the download page on it.
   
5. If the SSC is just going to be a mailing list, create a seperate group to finance the promotion of SS. Someone in our community must work as a marketer or something. Someone else is probably good with finances. You can see where this is going.
   

I do a !@#$%^&*load of technical writing, and the cardnial rule is always to make everything simple enough for the lowest common denominator to understand. In this case, we're talking people who for some ungodly reason still use AOL.

[L.C.]

6. Accept non-SSC zone requests to be placed into the Subspace Navigation bar at the very top in the zone list. Perhaps even actually check out some of these zones and see if it's a serious or joke request (if someone is actually trying, give them a freaking chance).

 

7. SSC should be more open instead of eliminating "sucky," "unpopular," "lame," "empty," "nooby," "looks like a noob made it," zones. Instead of restricting everything down to where only zones that meet the standards (the opposite of the "phrases"), SSC should open up room for these kinds of zones to CENTRALIZE and UNITE. There is no security risk. If someone actually wanted to screw with SSC, they could have already popped a few SSC zones offline for a while. Netbans should remain, zone operator access given to the zones as normal. Etc.

 

8. Overall, stop closing up room for people, beginners, and noobs who try to make their own world in their own zone. Give them a freaking chance and let them have their pride. They'll realize sooner or later whether to give up and pack bags or continue, and this will be on their own. There's no reason to "discriminate" non-SSC zones.

 

How can you call it an attempt to unite the community when a chance for these zones are taken away and pissed upon? I've requested numerous times for Jackpot SVS to be added to the list and was rejected by PoLiX for perfectly the reason that it isn't an SSC zone. Screw you PoLiX.

[Incomplete]

The game just isnt what it used to be, i play far less now. I only log in to chat to a few people.

Plus a lot of people have problems with Continuum, either installing the game, running it or playing it. Just doesn't seem worth the trouble for a 2d spaceship game.

[KrynetiX]

I don't think it helps much that Trench Wars is by far the most populated

zone in Continuum/Subspace and in my opinion TW doesn't really give a

very good representation of the capabilities and potential of the game.

 

Exactly what I think. Trench wars for ASSS + new staff.

 

we can hope ASSS helps solve the dev problem

 

I doubt that. If there is a development problem, it's not for a lack of "tools."

There are many possibilities with just a few simple mervbot plugins, for

example, that even the most popular zones haven't tapped into. The most

popular zones are hardly taking advantage of what they have available now

with Continuum as opposed to Subspace, so what makes you think they'll

take advantage of the possibilities of ASSS?

 

Very true.

 

How many SSC servers offer ASSS hosting? I think hockey zone is the only SSC zone now that uses ASSS.

 

Actually, if you make a good ASSS zone your pretty much guarenteed instant SSC because we're trying to PUSH ASSS.

 

If you want to 'save subspace' learn create ASSS modules.

[Incomplete]

This game just can't compete with todays technology. Feels like its a race with a crippled granny.

[LiveForce]

I disagree. I think we should play up the chat part of the game. A web-based chat client might help, I guess. The gameplay is better than any other online game, but it just doesn't look as good. We just have to stop putting 'Ancient top-down 2d asteroids game' as our description (OK, not in those words, but you get the point), and put something dynamic. We need a team who will advertise. We need to play up the fact that playing for ages doesn't give you a huge advantage like it does in RPGs, for example. You don't level up, you just get better. Top-down gameplay means that tactics are easier as you can see exactly what is going on.

 

SubSpace CAN compete, as it's not just what looks best that wins, it's the easiest game to play, but with the best progression as you improve, with the best gameplay and player interaction. I don't play other games, but I gather that there's little interaction in most MMORPGs, and it becomes a question of how often you play, not necessarily how skilled you are.

 

SS is purely skill-based. Consider this: chess is still incredibly popular even compared with other board games like Trivial Pursuit, Hungro Hippos, whatever. It's because you know that there's no gimmicks: it's not about how good it looks, it's about how much fun and how challenging it is to play.

 

SS is good, we just need to market ourselves better.

 

Over and out.

[»D1st0rt]

ASSS is not a good choice for Trench Wars at this point in time

[rootbear75]

i agree w/ d1

 

i always say to my friends and other ppl in real life, that it's not the graphics that matter, but the gameplay.

 

Why do you think that Super Mario Bros are still a really fun game to play?

Why do you think that people still play all the retro games?

 

Not because of the graphics, thats for sure.

[LiveForce]

Continuum should be on EVERY free software site. We should take out paid advertising for GetContinuum.com (AdWords?). The council should make a separate team of people dedicated to SubSpace marketing and promotion. It has to be done.