The Castle Doctrine Forums

Ludicrosity

Member

From: US

Registered: 2013-06-22

Posts: 144

Re: Not enough players

Yeah, that's true that different servers won't work so well when there are only 15 houses, but remember that there are (in theory) a lot more players actually out there, it's just that their houses are being robbed and taken off the list. So if newcomers had their own server, where their houses might last longer, there would probably be more than 15 on the list at any given time.

My idea is not so great anyhow because how does one enforce it? But I'm not sure what else to suggest.

The problem is that making houses that are difficult to newer players is harmful to the game, but advantageous to the players doing it. It's similar to reasons why the recession hit America - banks were harming the financial system, but had no incentive to stop because they were making boatloads of cash.

This is a great analogy.

Last edited by Ludicrosity (2013-08-13 23:24:04)

joshwithguitar

Member

Registered: 2013-07-28

Posts: 538

Re: Not enough players

A lower starting salary could make restarting a house quite a pain and make it harder for the top houses to be challenged. I like that the salary at the moment lets you build up a decent house in a few days if you've got the spare time to do this, I think the problem is that someone with less time on their hands can never get a house started as you won't be able to invest you salary into security before your house gets too tempting. What I think might work better (though might be hard to implement) is if you could choose between a higher or lower salary (maybe change jobs?) but the minimum salary increases with your house value.

Cent

Member

Registered: 2013-07-25

Posts: 41

Re: Not enough players

I'd really rather the game not be casual catered... A game with heavily punishing mechanics can still be popular, even if its hard for new players to pick up on all the intricacies on their first day. Just look at DayZ. Yea, veterans are going to kill you a mile away, and it's permadeath. Doesn't mean they cant retain a playerbase. They didn't need to hand everyone night vision or sniper rifles right off the bat to keep them playing.

pottage

Member

Registered: 2013-07-01

Posts: 37

Re: Not enough players

I also agree that I don't think this game should be made much more 'casual catered' - Yes, when I first loaded the game before looking at any tutorials or lets-plays I was pretty overwhelmed with all the different building items that could be chosen, but once I got to grips with it, understood most of the game mechanics and made some decent houses the sense of achievement was great, matching my mind against the other top players in this game. The steeper the learning curve, the more satisfying it feels to finally get to grips with it.
I think the comments that the people who tend to gravitate to this game are generally interested in engineering, computer science, physics etc. could be quite relevant. I've got a masters degree in maths, and am studying for a masters in computer science, so I think that is why I became so addicted to figuring this game out when I first played it, wanting to 'master' the system. And if TCD doesn't end up with a huge mass-market appeal, instead fosters a smaller, more inquisitive and creative group of fans, I think that would probably be a good thing.

bey bey

Member

Registered: 2013-04-20

Posts: 386

Re: Not enough players

I also agree that I don't think this game should be made much more 'casual catered' - Yes, when I first loaded the game before looking at any tutorials or lets-plays I was pretty overwhelmed with all the different building items that could be chosen, but once I got to grips with it, understood most of the game mechanics and made some decent houses the sense of achievement was great, matching my mind against the other top players in this game. The steeper the learning curve, the more satisfying it feels to finally get to grips with it.
I think the comments that the people who tend to gravitate to this game are generally interested in engineering, computer science, physics etc. could be quite relevant. I've got a masters degree in maths, and am studying for a masters in computer science, so I think that is why I became so addicted to figuring this game out when I first played it, wanting to 'master' the system. And if TCD doesn't end up with a huge mass-market appeal, instead fosters a smaller, more inquisitive and creative group of fans, I think that would probably be a good thing.

I'm a humanities grad student and not that deep into anything mathematical or programming related etc., but the level of "depth" of the game is great as is, especially since the non-technical people like me can work with psychology and get quite far too.

---

In fact you can be batman.
(if he robbed houses and murdered families.) - Dalleck

jasonrohrer

Administrator

Registered: 2013-04-01

Posts: 1,235

Re: Not enough players

Hmm... letting you pick from two different salary levels is interesting.  Or maybe set your own level?  Maybe you could decide how much you want to earn per hour, from a range.

Still, it seems like a kind of distraction away from the core mechanics of the game.

Separate servers has been considered.

One idea was that the number of deaths you have would dictate which houses you would be able to see, and who could see you.  So maybe the 1-20 death folks would be grouped together, and then they'd eventually graduate into the 20+ death group.  Or maybe something simpler, based on number of hours played.... something.

After all, the new players aren't all that interesting for the experts to play with... they're just easy prey, maybe.

Sill, I worry about splitting the community at this point.

Cent

Member

Registered: 2013-07-25

Posts: 41

Re: Not enough players

Yea splitting an already small community would be bad.. and deaths is a poor measurement. The better players are going to be the ones with fewer deaths, and newer players that just rush into houses and die instead of reading tutorials before they start playing are going to find themselves stuck in a much higher bracket than they're comfortable with.