My solution
Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 2:06 am
Restructure the whole Virtual Pool (vp) paradigm:
1) Strip out the AI players and make it online only.
Companies are making big money by having a captive audience;
we're living in a service industry now so I would suggest looking at
vp as less of a product and more of a means to aqcuire a user base.
2) Consider dropping gamespy and building your own servers
If vp becomes an online-only option for two-player mode (let's face
it if people buy the download version then they're online!) then
the whole structure of how people play each other needs changing,
fundamentally because there will be far more players of differing
abilities. Some kind of progressive league system would be essential.
Also, with your own servers you can either charge people each year
like gamespy does or use ad-placement - or a combination.
3) Employ me and I'll make you rich (email me for further details - reverse spam!)
It's early and I'm bleary eyed, these ideas are just off the top of my head.
However, I'd like to suggest that the DL version has killed the online
community, first because many people had the perspective that they
were paying for an update (I bought it) and second because there are
now two incompatible versions being used at the same time. Clearly this
isn't Celeris's fault and they should be applauded for trying to breathe
fresh life into virtual pool, although at the same time perhaps an equal
amount of effort needs to be put into an online community as is put
into developing the game - see 1) and 2).
Finally, at between 20 and 30 users on a typical night now and fewer and
fewer tournaments by the day (week) the lobby is in cardiac arrest - I
enjoy chatting in the lobby but most of the players there hardly type at
all, perhaps because English isn't their first language. When the die hards
start leaving (they have) then drastic action is needed.
Good luck with whatever direction you choose, but please choose one.
Brian (BA English, MSc in Computing)
1) Strip out the AI players and make it online only.
Companies are making big money by having a captive audience;
we're living in a service industry now so I would suggest looking at
vp as less of a product and more of a means to aqcuire a user base.
2) Consider dropping gamespy and building your own servers
If vp becomes an online-only option for two-player mode (let's face
it if people buy the download version then they're online!) then
the whole structure of how people play each other needs changing,
fundamentally because there will be far more players of differing
abilities. Some kind of progressive league system would be essential.
Also, with your own servers you can either charge people each year
like gamespy does or use ad-placement - or a combination.
3) Employ me and I'll make you rich (email me for further details - reverse spam!)
It's early and I'm bleary eyed, these ideas are just off the top of my head.
However, I'd like to suggest that the DL version has killed the online
community, first because many people had the perspective that they
were paying for an update (I bought it) and second because there are
now two incompatible versions being used at the same time. Clearly this
isn't Celeris's fault and they should be applauded for trying to breathe
fresh life into virtual pool, although at the same time perhaps an equal
amount of effort needs to be put into an online community as is put
into developing the game - see 1) and 2).
Finally, at between 20 and 30 users on a typical night now and fewer and
fewer tournaments by the day (week) the lobby is in cardiac arrest - I
enjoy chatting in the lobby but most of the players there hardly type at
all, perhaps because English isn't their first language. When the die hards
start leaving (they have) then drastic action is needed.
Good luck with whatever direction you choose, but please choose one.
Brian (BA English, MSc in Computing)