Typically what happens with games is that they come out, a community is formed, they peak, and then they die.
So how do we make sure Demigod avoids this fate?
Based on the # of users playing on-line, we're projecting that Demigod will reach its peak community (# of people available) around August. Left on its own, it would follow the path of most other games.
As I write this, there are 3,211 people currently either playing Demigod games online, waiting for games, or in lobbies. During peak hours, it’ll get to around double that.
So how do we make this number continue to grow over time or at least, once it peaks, stay there?
It’s a question we’ve been pondering since the late beta of Demigod itself. We think the answer is to pull forward some of the features we’ve been working on for Impulse that were originally scheduled to launch with Elemental.
The challenges of on-line play
In my years of playing competitively on-line, here are the problems that any such system needs to address.
1. A lot of people who play online are basement dwelling jerks who need a good flogging.
2. It is often hard to impossible to find decent human beings online. I myself rely on groups like QuarterToThree.com for people I want to spend time with online. That’s what I do with Left4Dead and with Steam. If you want to see community features done well, visit Steam’s community.
3. Even if you find those people, it’s sometimes hard to get them together to play a game as a team.
The solution in Impulse
Now, one obvious gamer question would be, why didn’t we just use Steam. I mean, I use Steam every day for a lot of my games.
The reason we aren’t using Steam is that, as good as Steam is, and it is good, we don’t want it to be the only option. Competition is good for not just consumers but good for us (Steam and Impulse). Doesn’t mean I’m not going to use Impulse to buy games when there’s something on it I want that isn’t on Impulse or use it for community. I just don’t want Steam to be my only option.
So with Impulse, we’re bringing forward a lot of community features in the next couple months. The clan features some people know about but the idea is to make it easy for people to find other like minded people to play games with (not just games on Impulse) no matter where they happen to be.
I am hoping we can get a beta of this going in the next few weeks so that we can custom tailor this. But the idea here is that we need to not just have a “lot of people playing Game X” but people need to be easily find the right people to play with.
Stay tuned.
where do u live? so cheap?
If demigod had WarIII level b.net backing it, there'd be atleast 20,000 if not 50,000 people playing right now and a year from now. I'm glad to see you guys see this as well and are trying to improve the multiplayer interface.
Regarding the demo: The demo isn't interoperable with the full game in online play.
Persumably though we can run the demo alongside the full version?
I think so. I haven't tried it personally.
I applaud the effort. I think this is a huge undertaking, and I hope it works toward keeping the DG community alive and well for a long time to come.
Many thanks - cross fingers, if we can't that would hinder the efforts to try and encourage friends to play alongside us to see this great game. The demo is still required regardless - hopefully it will be a huge draw
Tals
This is sooooo true! Steam was not always good, when it started it had many rough spots and even as good as it is today, it's still not perfect! Not to mention developers having to 30% seems a bit high to me. Hopefully if they're not the only gig in town it'll drop it down to 20%
I do wish that players had more options -- like being able to purchase stardock games on Steam or to be able to purchase Valve games on impulse...
Also the fact that impluse requires you to install or update Internet Explorer is a huge HUGE turn off to many of my co-workers (they use firefox and don't want to use IE in any way shape or form).
-Jara
This all looks like a pretty good step in the right direction. I don't own Demigod right now, but I have been keeping tabs on everything that is going on with the game. Pretty much the only thing holding me back from running out and buying it now is that none of my friends have it right now and that things are still being worked out. It certainly looks promising, and if you folks keep on heading in the direction you are headed right now, I think you'll be a huge hit.
I'm also assuming that since this has been a discussion largely about Impulse that all these changes would also affect SoaSE, which would be a good thing.
Replays are important for the community because then we get to see who pwns. I know you guys have been busy with connectivity but a replay system is really important for this kind of game, both for learning and sharing experiences.
Maybe get pantheon up and running first but you gotta get a good replay system going.
sounds great, I've managed to bring in two friends, and possibly a fourth and fifth in the coming weeks. The new system looks nice.
Really, I'm suprised no one has mentioned this yet, so I will.
Please, look at valve's Team Fortress 2. They have a very large community that stays strong, and as long as they keep treating their players like they do, it will stay there and even grow.
It's simple. Valve pumps out maps, game modes, and new weapons for the players, for free. There's also player made game modes and customization.
It's a recipe for keeping people playing, plain and simple. That, and a good core game behind it, of course.
Demigod has that great core game. Now we need you to pump out the demigods, items, and game modes (something more intuitive than what we have besides conquest, because that's all people play), and we WILL keep playing. It's all there is to it. More content keeps a game from getting stale.
We need editors too! Player made content makes an online gaming community THRIVE. Let us make maps, game modes, things like that. People love that stuff and love playing them.
Maybe we'll see the karma system implemented into this?
I want to point out that if this game was on steam, there would be more people online playing right now, and therefore more word to mouth, and therefore more updates coming.
You all know it's true.
it's true!why they dont change it now ? they would have a realy big succes i think...?
hey if it's good for DEMIGOD then I'm for it
Um what I bought in the store is that considered the BETA vs?
I am confused now? and demo and so forth? or am I reading old material here?
Ironic to claim impulse is coming to the rescue when in reality, it was the very existence of impulse that prevented demigod from being on steam and having the community features it needed.
Honestly all Impulse really needs is a working chat system and a notification that "your friend xxxxx has joined game yyyyyy" hopping into a game with a friend is way too hard to do casually right now.
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