So lets talk about player retention in this mod...

[President Bossk]

Another factor is consistency. I don't like to point this out because I have great respect for those involved and their efforts, but the fact of the matter is the tendency to revamp/redesign systems each patch instead of hone in on what is established and make small, careful tweaks to it also plays a role in the player base. There is security in consistency and when the system changes so significantly each patch, people likely feel it is unstable and would rather wait it out or just not play at all.

These are a great points. No offense to devs, and I appreciate your work, but you change things really fast. Sometimes things are totally broken, and you just say "We can just put out a hotfix." but what if a new player joins during that time? He might say "Game seems really unbalanced and buggy.", leave, and never play again. Something needs to be done about this. Also, making game easier to record could also help increase popularity.

 

[Pepsi]

In my opinion, all those guides and tutorials are fine, but it's surely not the top task in terms of player retention. Library is good enough, and youtube is full of those videos. Of course, never is enough...

Some people kidding that movie battles is a chatbox with a game sticked to it. Some roleplayers loving it. Some people having fun together in a very weird manner. Like, not a long time ago I found myself losing my duel against an opponnent at Lunarbase and retreating, with hopes of finding some teammates. And I found 2 commanders, who's running big circles around us and spamming "There's noone here" by voice cmds. I am sure, you can make few examples of simillar behaviour by yourself.

Eventually it's becoming boring to grind frags in a lone wolf manner. People either found their community, or they leave. In Movie Battles not so much ways to show the affiliation, so people huddling together into a clans, small communities. I think, some encouragement of those communities may benefit mb2's population greatly.

 

[Pet a van]

[...] from what I understand, since the removal of JAMME, things aren't as simple as they once were/could be.

And yeah, I know I can just use a screen recorder, but what about capturing the angles? IIRC, when viewing demos you can basically free float around like you are there in the game.

True, but you can still make it work:
mb2-i - Streamable

 

[Juvia]

We don't need to talk about it almost a year later.

 

[JamJarBinks]

I uninstalled this mod some time ago but I've had the itch to play it recently, and I'm trying really really hard not to re-download it. It's definitely one of the better PvP games out there and the best Star Wars game. For what it's worth, the devs should be very proud of what they've built.

 

[Lindsey]

I uninstalled this mod some time ago but I've had the itch to play it recently, and I'm trying really really hard not to re-download it. It's definitely one of the better PvP games out there and the best Star Wars game. For what it's worth, the devs should be very proud of what they've built.

Check back around the time EP9 hits in December, theres alot of stuff under the hood being worked on. Its quite normal for people to "retire" for a period of time then check back in when an update drops XD

 

[JamJarBinks]

Check back around the time EP9 hits in December, theres alot of stuff under the hood being worked on. Its quite normal for people to "retire" for a period of time then check back in when an update drops XD

Someone from the team emailed me asking permission to use one of the maps I made. Ever since I've been wanting to come back, lol.

 

[Defiant]

Check back around the time EP9 hits in December, theres alot of stuff under the hood being worked on. Its quite normal for people to "retire" for a period of time then check back in when an update drops XD

I'm not saying we use hypnotic suggestion, but, anyone who reads this post will have the irresistible urge to find out what's happening with MB2 in exactly three years time.

 

[SeV]

I'm not saying we use hypnotic suggestion, but, anyone who reads this post will have the irresistible urge to find out what's happening with MB2 in exactly three years time.

Maybe by then we will have a sabering patch that isn't completely shit.

 

[SneakDissing]

Maybe by then we will have a sabering patch that isn't completely shit.

yknow, you keep saying that but as every patch comes out the sabering just gets worse and worse

 

[SeV]

yknow, you keep saying that but as every patch comes out the sabering just gets worse and worse

This is not true.

 

[JamJarBinks]

Sabering in mb2 is better than any other sw game, even Jedi Outcast.

Every time you old timers complain about sabering, I picture:

 

[SneakDissing]

This is not true.

tHiS iS nOt TrUe

 

[Blazer]

It's been some time since I've been on these forums.
Nothings changed.

The truth is that this mod doesn't really have a good retention for players (duh). My brother discovered this game a few years back and I ended up seeing him playing it, so thats when I downloaded it to play it with him, but this mod, as I've said many times before, is way too complex and needs to be way simpler. Any 'casual' person trying to play a star wars game is NOT going to be retained by this game, because no casual gamer wants to learn the 6 different saber styles, how to beat them, the different moves that do things, the bp count, the force points count, why they are getting force pulled at times but then they cant do it to other people at times, why they arent deflecting shots, or why they cant shoot jedi, and the other 450 things that a casual gamer really wouldn't know about unless someone told them or they put tons of hours into this game.

The fun thing about JKA was that any half-brained neanderthal could load that shit up and start chopping some fools up and start shooting guns at people, but that never meant that they were good players, because the good players still had skill, and used that. The not-so-fun thing about MB2, was that any full-brained individual that loaded it up had no idea what they were doing and after dying hundreds of times to bullshit they never knew about, quit after that.

Everything I say is first-hand experience because the very things I said above, are the reason my brother quit 2 weeks after he downloaded it, and why I didn't: Because I'm not much of a casual gamer, I play games to be good at them, and when I'm good at games, that's when I really have fun. I can tell you that if I was playing just to have fun and goof around: I'd have quit WAY quicker.

I've said this a bunch like a broken record, but, sabers need to be simpler. It's just not fun trying to calculate hundreds of things.

 

[jewbacca]

Any 'casual' person trying to play a star wars game is NOT going to be retained by this game

True, but...
You know, hardcore gamers are humans too, like real living beings with dreams and stuff. This is important, because there are barely any games able to please glowstick nerds the way mb2 does.

Unlike casual gamers, we, hardcore gamers LOVE to die hundreds of times to bullshit and learn the 6 different styles. Look at the forums, any change is considered good as long as it deepens this abyss. More variety in combat, more tricks to pull off, more tecniques to learn. In truth we like to learn new stuff so much we force our poor developers to remake saber system every year, so we can master it all over again. It was an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Truth is, you can't please both audiences. You either cater to 'casual' gamers or 'hardcore'. Make sabers easier to master, but how? Not a lot of options for you. You can:
a) Make game better explain itself. More flashy suggestive indicators, better tutorials, etc.
b) Make game easier by reducing amount of what player should keep in mind
Option A won't make casuals any happier, option B will ruin fun for nerds.

We're not elitists, steep learning curve is not a result of us wanting casuals to stay away. It simply there because such complexity is our heart's desire.

It's just not fun trying to calculate hundreds of things.

It is, bro

 

[SK5]

bla

shit tier

 

[Tylenol]

shit tier

We're not elitists

 

[Blazer]

True, but...

Good points, and I agree, that's why I stayed so long on this game because of what I said: " Because I'm not much of a casual gamer, I play games to be good at them, and when I'm good at games, that's when I really have fun. I can tell you that if I was playing just to have fun and goof around: I'd have quit WAY quicker."

But we're talking PLAYER RETENTION here, and why I make the point that it's great that this game has some complexity, but there's reasons why there's no player retention for any casual gamer: Because it's TOO complex.

I mean, just look at the community, basically the only players that play anymore are the dudes who downloaded this mod and play for a week and quit after getting destroyed without any idea how they are, and the tryhard dudes who've been playing forever, there's no in between.

shit tier

you're right. the real reason i quit was because i was too ez, and i couldnt stand having any neckbeard stand over me and tell me that he was better than me. broke my soul and crushed my spirit.

 

[Blazer]

Unlike casual gamers, we, hardcore gamers LOVE to die hundreds of times to bullshit

Truth is, you can't please both audiences. You either cater to 'casual' gamers or 'hardcore'.

I completely disagree with these statements though. You CAN cater to casuals and hardcore players. Like I've said before, look at JKA. Anybody can pick up that game and swing a saber and fucking LOVE it, and thats why its related as a great starwars game. But then the people who wanted to become 'hardcore' at JKA and actually get good, DID. JKA was a game where half the map was occupied by the hardcore jedi masters who used skill and techniques to win their duels, and were really good at what they did, and the other half of the map was occupied by the dudes who were swinging sabers and just chatting and having fun.

The game worked for casuals and hardcore.

 

[SneakDissing]

shit tier

baby tier