Concerning the life of Simutronics

[imported_Kranar]

Where can I get some logs of how hunting in DragonRealms looks like?

[CrystalTears]

Sims DOES have a multiplayer game, and guess what, when they made SO many changes to the game that it changed what it originally was, many people stopped playing. TOO many changes breaks the fun component.

[Bobmuhthol]

Yes. I said The Sims has a multiplayer upgrade. It's still a single-player game.

[Gokkem]

Originally posted by CrystalTears
It's like they're taking a GI Joe, flapping fins on him and packing him in seaweed and pronouncing it a new fun toy (yeah I stole that from "Big"... sue me :P)

oooo, wasn't that Navy Seal Joe?

Excuse me for my lackluster attempt at humor.

[CrystalTears]

It's not an upgrade. It's a separate online, multiplayer game.

[Xcalibur]

Originally posted by Kranar
Where can I get some logs of how hunting in DragonRealms looks like?

www.zone.com
get a free account, start a dr game
i tried
oh man it's crap, it's all hidden!
I was a thief, i even got to the guilde, but got too bored

[Soulpieced]

Last I heard, there are over 10,000 GS accounts and over 15,000 DR accounts. I don't think Simutronics will fall for another 15+ years.

.

Actually, I have heard numbers along the lines of only 7000 different people have actually had Gemstone accounts. However, I don't know if that number was the CURRENT amount of paying accounts either.

[Bestatte]

Originally posted by CrystalTears
I don't think the concept of playing text-based games is going to die out because there will always be people who are more inclined to play those over graphical ones. However, I don't see the steady stream of PAYING customers when there are more out there that are cheaper and/or free to play. Gemstone makes way too many drastic changes to the game that makes it hard to stay loyal to it. Sure a game needs changes, but not so many that you don't recognize it anymore and ultimately damages the character you have been building and creating for years.

Text games will always be popular, paying for them won't be, IMO.

[Edited on 7/15/2003 by CrystalTears]

Wow, I would've posted pretty much the exact same thing. I would have, except if I did I would've been flamed for trashing Gemstone and trying to convince people to try free games.

So, I'll just let CrystalTears' post speak for me and say I agree.

[Parkbandit]

Originally posted by Bestatte

Originally posted by CrystalTears
I don't think the concept of playing text-based games is going to die out because there will always be people who are more inclined to play those over graphical ones. However, I don't see the steady stream of PAYING customers when there are more out there that are cheaper and/or free to play. Gemstone makes way too many drastic changes to the game that makes it hard to stay loyal to it. Sure a game needs changes, but not so many that you don't recognize it anymore and ultimately damages the character you have been building and creating for years.

Text games will always be popular, paying for them won't be, IMO.

[Edited on 7/15/2003 by CrystalTears]

Wow, I would've posted pretty much the exact same thing. I would have, except if I did I would've been flamed for trashing Gemstone and trying to convince people to try free games.

So, I'll just let CrystalTears' post speak for me and say I agree.

Sorry to disagree... but free games will never be as detailed as one you are paying for. They are more of a hobby than anything else. The makers will get bored and start looking for a real job.. there goes your character that you've invested 3 or 4 years to make.

No thanks.

[Bestatte]

Yes Parkbandit, there are dozens and maybe hundreds of games that are exactly as you describe. But there are MORE games that have existed, continue to exist, and continue to improve that started years before Gemstone was first created.

There are also other games that have existed, continue to exist, and continue to improve with a healthy lifespan of well over five years. Some are pay-to-play, some are "donations accepted," some are free, and some are hybrids with various skills or other in-game benefits for pay, but base play is still free.

And I agree with you (or whoever said it, maybe Neildo?) that some of those games posted on topmudsites claim to be one thing but are actually another.

But there -are- games that have staying power and have proven their ability to attract players over the years.

Achaea is one of them. A hybrid in terms of payment, it's free unless you want add-on game stuff. It has a -higher- player base than Gemstone and has been around for many years.

[edited to note: I do not play Achaea, nor have I ever played it, nor do I have any interest in that particular game. I just looked at their website and know a few people who do play it, and have read discussions on topmudsites about this particular game and it seemed like a good example to use here.]

As for whether or not text games will die, this is brought up regularly in discussion forums all over the internet. There are also a myriad of articles about this very subject, and the unswerving answer is: no. Text games will never die. And in fact their popularity is increasing.

But so are -all- internet activities. When I first realized the internet existed, there were only a few thousand people interested in it, who also had modems which could allow us to reach each other. This was back when getting on the 'net meant connecting to a BBS and posting in topics of interest.

There are millions and millions of people world-wide who get on the net now, and more people have home computers than ever before. They're more affordable now than they were back then. Text games are one very narrow interest compared with the rest of internet usage, and within the demographic of people who -would- be interested in text games, the population is increasing.

[Edited on 7-16-2003 by Bestatte]