Why don't we do this anymore?

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RPC
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http://neurohack.com/transcendence/foru ... ews#p27107

I tried to do an IRC mod competition but it died, and here it was already being talked about?
I have a feeling that the community back then was so much more warm and personal and in touch with George, what happened?
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ThePrivateer
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To be honest, I think it's just a thing of time.

The oldest people joined around 2007, the first people aboard a new idea. I joined two years ago, and still there are new people joining now.

Unfortunately, though, all the older people are getting well, older. My census last year, proved we were (all) men, (mainly) in late teens, but now, we're all getting older.
Myself, I'm in tertiary education, and I simply don't have as much time as I used to, to be involved in a community every day, particularly a very small community that really isn't self-sufficient yet.

The entire community is being single-handedly maintained by just a few experienced moderators.

As for the love with George...to be brutally honest, I think he's taking a long time to deliver what we all wanted and hoped for. I know that sounds harsh, but it's true - and I perfectly respect that George is an indie dev that works on this in his own spare time, and probably has a family of some sort, and other real-life committments.

Version 1.1 has been a very long time coming, and with endless beta's being churned out, it seems like we're grinding to a halt to get things going.

With all the recent posts about expanding the community, I think now is the only time we're going to have to save the community, or else, I see Trans fading away into 'that cool game I used to play'. If we can get more people, get the Multiverse working, get more content, more mods, a mod-rating and reviewing system, more hi-scores and results from other players, perhaps even a novel online Battle Maximus for matches between players, then maybe, we can pull the community back from the brink.

Obviously, I haven't been around for that long in the long-term of things - I think I just passed two years, but I agree that the community has become disillusioned and faded away.

Now let's all pull together, and start working towards the future - may 2013 be the glorious year for Transcendence!
RPC
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Yes ThePrivateer :D
I'm starting a community thing with WillyTheSquid, want to help?
I know you don't like IRC but we could stay in contact with Facebook or PM's.
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Der Tod ist der zeitlose Frieden und das leben ist der Krieg
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I don't want any sort of copyright on my Transcendence mods. Feel free to take/modify whatever you want.
RPC
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Location: Hmm... I'm confused. Anybody have a starmap to the Core?

I think your census is very true though. The only thing we need now is newer, younger blood to pass on the torch to :D
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I don't want any sort of copyright on my Transcendence mods. Feel free to take/modify whatever you want.
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ThePrivateer
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RPC wrote:Yes ThePrivateer :D
I'm starting a community thing with WillyTheSquid, want to help?
I know you don't like IRC but we could stay in contact with Facebook or PM's.
Lol. I also don't like Facebook. Don't even have an account, something I'm actually proud of. :shock:

(shelters from the incredulous looks of flame)

But, I really should get back on the IRC more, yes. For now, I'm content with forums - I've always preferred them. :D
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ThePrivateer
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RPC wrote:I think your census is very true though. The only thing we need now is newer, younger blood to pass on the torch to :D
Yes, that's why we need to expand the community. :D
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Ttech
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Expanding the community is easier said then done. We have the resources to do it, and I'm willing to help out where I can. Right no we have two groups on facebook - one officially and one for fans. We have a subreddit for Transcendence and we may have twitter.

But what we lack is "viral" marketing and advertising. The way this game was released and represented is no more. We cannot continue to use the same methods we used then to get users now.

We need to change what we are doing, there are many opertunities for this game to get promoted and used. I have said it before, we need to get a kit together for schools - this will allow school to teach XML and (dare i say) lisp and the basics of graphics and game design. The game is not violent, its fully customizable. This is a very good thing for secondary schools and probably should be looked into

Secondly, we have facebook and a subreddit if we can actually commit to mod reviews we can post them there, along with updates of the game. This will help advertise the game is under development and probably will help the community.

We also need to make the game interesting for people who have played it for years - the old timers as you put it - know I am getting into that rage too (how strange). How can we do this? New content, get their input? Things like this.


Lets not let this community flounder ! If we are here, then something is right, and lets keep the steam moving!

Again, lets get ideas out there and start doing!
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ThePrivateer
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Ttech wrote:We need to change what we are doing, there are many opertunities for this game to get promoted and used. I have said it before, we need to get a kit together for schools - this will allow school to teach XML and (dare i say) lisp and the basics of graphics and game design. The game is not violent, its fully customizable. This is a very good thing for secondary schools and probably should be looked into.
Hm, I know for a fact that there's no way that would even work in Australia, but it could work better in America - I don't know how free US schools are to adopt a random, indie game as a teaching tool.
Ttech wrote:Expanding the community is easier said then done. We have the resources to do it, and I'm willing to help out where I can. Right no we have two groups on facebook - one officially and one for fans. We have a subreddit for Transcendence and we may have twitter.

But what we lack is "viral" marketing and advertising. The way this game was released and represented is no more. We cannot continue to use the same methods we used then to get users now.
Yes, viral marketing is key here. And yes, that's harder said than done. I don't have a good answer for that one -- there's only so many ways you can try and get the word out, and I'm not sure any PC/Gaming magazines anymore would be interested in picking something like Transcendence up.
Ttech wrote: We also need to make the game interesting for people who have played it for years - the old timers as you put it - know I am getting into that rage too (how strange). How can we do this? New content, get their input? Things like this.
Yeah, my enthusiasm for Trans has waned heavily - now, it's the game I play on my netbook, but I very rarely pick it up and play anymore. Something, some kind of spark has been lost. Modding works okay, but every time I return, Transcendence still just feels a bit...stale.
Ttech wrote: Lets not let this community flounder ! If we are here, then something is right, and lets keep the steam moving!

Again, lets get ideas out there and start doing!
Nobody wants to see the community flounder, but I think we're already floundering, if it's coming to this. But I have come up with a solution, at least to get out there more.

The indie gamers database: http://www.indiedb.com/
This is a really popular site, that anyone can register for and upload an indie game (AFAIK). Here, we could get maximum exposure to new users.

Same deal on tigsource: http://db.tigsource.com/
Again, lots of exposure, free to put a game up there.

And http://www.indiegamereviewer.com/ is a site I found that reviews indie games. again, somewhere to ask if they might mind reviewing Trans.

Just suggestions and thoughts.
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Ttech
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You would be surprised, schools look for a pitch, if you can pitch it, you can do it. It depends on how you sell the game to a school (figuratively)
I know in past I have talked with many teachers and they expressed interested into bringing Transcendence or a game like it into their curriculum.


I don't think I agree with you on the floundering bit, as much as stagnated, and I think there is a difference here. Transcendence has never had a huge community of thousands of modders at a time, however the people with the biggest voices are also the people who have been here the longest now. We need to encourage new people (part of the reason I wanted to do IRC day was this) to get out there and get their ideas heard and start making this game awesome. Think about what made this game fun for you, why you wanted to be a part of the community, those things are what we need to now do - mentor I suppose would be the word.
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ThePrivateer
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Ttech wrote:I don't think I agree with you on the floundering bit, as much as stagnated, and I think there is a difference here. Transcendence has never had a huge community of thousands of modders at a time, however the people with the biggest voices are also the people who have been here the longest now. We need to encourage new people (part of the reason I wanted to do IRC day was this) to get out there and get their ideas heard and start making this game awesome. Think about what made this game fun for you, why you wanted to be a part of the community, those things are what we need to now do - mentor I suppose would be the word.
I think the randomly-generated aspect of the game is always going to be the biggest drawcard. For instance, triple-A games like The Elder Scrolls get their value from being massive and immersive; our closest indie rival SPAZ get's its own value from being randomly generated. The X series of space games is known for being a realistic economy (much like EVE).

So for me, I think Transcendence first and foremost is powerful because of the every-play is different. Much like Spelunky, which went from being a 2d GameMaker game, to being on the XBLA.

Maybe we need to get stat-tracking in the game -- when do most people quit the game/self-destruct, and what do they have in their cargo when they do? Work out when it is that new people stop playing the game?
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Ttech
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ThePrivateer wrote:
Ttech wrote:I don't think I agree with you on the floundering bit, as much as stagnated, and I think there is a difference here. Transcendence has never had a huge community of thousands of modders at a time, however the people with the biggest voices are also the people who have been here the longest now. We need to encourage new people (part of the reason I wanted to do IRC day was this) to get out there and get their ideas heard and start making this game awesome. Think about what made this game fun for you, why you wanted to be a part of the community, those things are what we need to now do - mentor I suppose would be the word.
I think the randomly-generated aspect of the game is always going to be the biggest drawcard. For instance, triple-A games like The Elder Scrolls get their value from being massive and immersive; our closest indie rival SPAZ get's its own value from being randomly generated. The X series of space games is known for being a realistic economy (much like EVE).

So for me, I think Transcendence first and foremost is powerful because of the every-play is different. Much like Spelunky, which went from being a 2d GameMaker game, to being on the XBLA.

Maybe we need to get stat-tracking in the game -- when do most people quit the game/self-destruct, and what do they have in their cargo when they do? Work out when it is that new people stop playing the game?

Stats is being worked on! We got the leader board which does a lot more then meets the eye. :P
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