Gemstone Population

[Ignot]

I have always played off and on for many many years and I have noticed the population go way down. What are some reasons you feel the population has decreased? What do you think can be done to increase the population?

[Shari]

Gee I dunno...price?

[Jolena]

Subscription price, and the introduction of pay-event-stone I think has had a great deal of influence as well, in my opinion. Also people just..find other games really. WoW was a big one to drain GS, I'm pretty sure.

[Shari]

Oh yeah, paid events for sure. But again that relates to price.

I remember paying 35 bucks for Ebons when it first went paid. That was for 250 people to attend. Now its 35 bucks for 500 people to attend. Total bullshit. And that goes for all ther other ticketed events. Yeah they haven't raised prices but there's double the people.

[HarmNone]

I think the lure of graphical games has had a major impact on the GS population. The AOL onslaught and the move to the web sent some running for the hills, as well.

GS is a niche market; however, I don't think that has ever been completely acknowledged by the PTB. They've tried to appeal to too broad a market. As a result, they've lost a significant number of people who would have stayed with the game had changes targetting a new (and highly dynamic) audience not made it less enjoyable for them.

[Artha]

GS just isn't that fun.

[Apathy]

Simutronics games are very time-consuming hobbies. If you can only dedicate so much time to one (or two) of them, it is difficult to maintain relationships with other characters.

Also, speaking as a new character that was recently started then promptly cancelled (2 years ago is recent to me) playing a new character may be way easier mechanically than it was in the past, but somehow it manages to suck even harder than it used to.

[Skeeter]

the actual gameplay is incredibly boring.

rediculous amounts of xp needed between levels is what killed it for me.

[Numbers]

Price.

New graphical competitors (this is actually a fairly small problem, as GS and games like WoW cater to two very different markets).

No marketing or advertising whatsoever.

Stale gameplay. No significant changes since GSIV. Projects take waaaaay too long to complete.

Absurd amount of time required to make any real progress.

[Wezas]

GS4 is what killed it for me. I was barely playing GS before WoW even came out.

Also I think as soon as people level up, they see that huge exp number they need to reach to get to the next level.

And I think the market for GS characters being sold has enticed a few to sell because they can make cash off of a game that isn't as thrilling as it once was.

If GS would invest the time/money into any number of things that Blizzard is doing right with WoW (better/useful crafting skills, mini-quests for exp, listening to users on what things would be beneficial and then adding them, etc) they'd be better off. But of course that requires money, which they don't like dishing out.

[Gan]

Subscription price vs. product offered (enhanced by the introduction of cheaper graphical based multi-player games WoW).

Inability to do timely enhancements, especially compared to other games.

Hesitation of SIMU to reinvest resources back into the game at a larger scale.

Appearance of selling out by focusing available resources on pay per events rather than enhancing the gaming environment for all subscribers.

I'm sure there's more, thats just what I can think of at the moment.

[StrayRogue]

Crappy customer relations.

[Gan]

Sheesh, how could I miss that one. :(

[Wezas]

I imagine all the hype/money they're spending on HJ and neglecting GS4 might have a part as well.

And I'll be extremely suprised if HJ doesn't totally blow compared to most graphical games now.

[Snapp]

Appearance of selling out by focusing available resources on pay per events rather than enhancing the gaming environment for all subscribers.

This is one of the things that actually made me contemplate quitting.

Luckily for them, I'm still an addict.. and I wouldn't want to give up all the time I've spent on my characters.

[Fission]

Price alone is a huge factor.... people bitch up a storm about having to pay $10 - $12 a month for graphical games, you can imagine what their thoughts on paying even more for text would be.

[Danical]

I imagine all the hype/money they're spending on HJ and neglecting GS4 might have a part as well.

And I'll be extremely suprised if HJ doesn't totally blow compared to most graphical games now.

Hahahaha. Ha.

It's gonna suck. I'd be surprised as well.

[Doughboy]

Hahahaha. Ha.

It's gonna suck. I'd be surprised as well.


I stand by my 3 to 6 months before it tanks.

[Gan]

I just hope they dont the few resources they currently have for Gemstone over to HJ when it rolls out.

:(

[Danical]

They keep saying they aren't on the officials . . . whatever that means.

[Alfster]

I just hope they dont the few resources they currently have for Gemstone over to HJ when it rolls out.

:(

You have 5 years to wait

[Stanley Burrell]

Price alone is a huge factor.... people bitch up a storm about having to pay $10 - $12 a month for graphical games, you can imagine what their thoughts on paying even more for text would be.

Those people are normal human beings, though.