This essay is not about 17th in particular. I'm sure there are other reasons why this, as any other zone, gradually lose their population . But at least one serious is the overzealousness of those who create the zone to make the "perfect zone", as they see it.
Many admins fail to realize what makes their zone popular. What makes Continuum, in the first place, popular. Their fail to realize the difference between a small, old game like Continuum with a small dedicated core, and a big new releaze like Halo 2.
Some of the most common techniques that end up backfiring:
- "Balance at all cost" principle
- Nerfing ships and other settings
- Overlistening to whiners
- Trying to imitate other games
- Overemphasize teamwork, dynamics, and any other "hot idea"
- Overemphasize graphics and other media
- Change for the sake of change
Subspace is not about the ultimate balance or ultimate teamwork. It's about having fun. It's about preserving it's charm and preserving the nostalgic spirit that keeps veterans here and not sends them off elsewhere.
BALANCE/NERFING/WHINERS:
Sometimes, your zone is unbalanced in one way or anothers. THAT'S FINE. No need to change it just for the sake of balancing it. You may lose more than you gain. A good analogy for 17th was, long time ago, the removing of the ICBM weasel and replacing it with a more traditional ship. I'm sure you did it because people were complaing "omgwtfbbq get rid of that stupid wizzel with cloak and 1-hit kill". So you did. But by doing so, you ruined the fun for others, not just those who liked the weasel, but the community in general who were used to the weasel the way it is, who, while sometimes not realizing it, were enjoying the challenge and uncertainty the weasel brought. Sure, they often cursed it, and sometimes even whined about it, but once removed, people suddenly lost their "favorite enemy", and felt a lot of the point about the zone gameplay was lost.
I roll my eyes when I see Trench Wars following suit now with nerfing the Lev. They will step in the same beartrap. They may please a few whiners, but those who whine will tend to whine anyways, they'll just find something else to whine about, while a large community of those who enjoyed LT-ing, or hunting LT's, will lose a challenge, and gameplay will become boring for them.
IMITATING OTHER GAMES:
Many zone admins fall for the carrot of "modernizing" Continuum to catch up with newer games. THAT DOES NOT WORK. I repeat, THAT DOES NOT WORK. People do NOT play Continuum because they want the hottest graphics, sounds, teamplay elements. It does not matter how much you modernize Continuum, how much you'll invest in making new graphics. Guess what, the graphics are going to suck no matter how much you modernize them. And that's fine! Those who play Continuum do not give a damn about the crappy graphics or the decades-old concept of a 2d spaceship game (see my name). If they did, they would not be playing Continuum, and no amount of "modernization" would bring them back.
People play it because they like it the way it is. There will not be many players who like it this way, but your changes will not bring in fresh blood. All they will do is alienate existing veterans. You may think its fancy to have supercool 3d graphics. But, apart from the fact that 99% of those graphics are poorly done and look stupid, that's not what people play for. 3d gamers will NOT suddenly pick up Continuum because you changed 2d sprites to 3d sprites. They'll stick with Unreal Tournament and Halo 2. You may think its fancy to make the game have an "uber team spirit", but you never realized many players LIKE milking with flags, duelling, spawnkilling, and doing other "lame" stuff. Take that away, and people quit, period. Either to another zone, or from SS altogether. And no, you will NOT get a replacement. Those who want the ultimate tactical teamwork game will go play Battlefield 2 or the like, not Continuum.
Do NOT try to compete with Halo 2, Unreal Tournament, or Conter-Strike. You'll fail. Miserably. Stick with what works, with what makes Continuum unique. Let players play the way they want to play, not the way you want them to play. If the majority of people like mindless spawnkilling, or flag fraying, do NOT stamp that out because you find that lame. Sometimes allowing people to be lame is the best thing you can do, because laming is do damn fun!
CHANGE FOR THE SAKE OF CHANGE:
If your zone has been around long, and had a stable (even if small) population, that means players like it the way it is. It doesn't matter if YOU think your new upgrade is so friggin cool and will make the zone much better. Think about whether your players will agree with you. For most part, they don't. If they stay at the zone, is because that's how they are used to play. It doesn't matter if you think the gameplay is unbalanced. It doesn't matter if you think the map sucks. Your players' presense is the ultimate seal of approval that the zone works the way it is.
Sometimes the best way to preserve a zone's popularity is just don't screw with it. Change is not always good. If it's not broken, don't fix it, as simple as that.
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Of course, I realize that's not the only reason, and sometimes not the most important one, as to why zones die out. Sometimes it's about the zone staff giving up on maintaining the zone or keeping players interested by hosting events and such. Sometimes players leave for another zone. There are many reasons. But very often I see zones start to decline because of admins deciding they want to bring about change that simply wasn't called for.
One thing to always remember: Vast majority of Continuum players are veterans. The turnout rate is very low, not many new people come, and not many old people leave. But if your changes cause old players to leave, it will be VERY difficult for you to find replacement.
Something to think about. |
Old setts were perfect.
