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Will the community grow, or shrink?

Will the community grow, or shrink?

What do you guys think? Will the community grow or shrink over the year. Since this game will be more heavily updated than other RTS, it may attract a lot more people back or even new players. For example, they have plans for adding clan features, replays/observer modes, more demigods, more items etc. etc. Not just that, Stardock have awesome support which we can all say with comfort.

Im hoping it will grow as some cool extras are added, but I would be happy if it stayed the same size. However, if it shrunk (like most RTS's do), that would suck.

 

33,823 views 105 replies
Reply #26 Top

SC2 isn't a universal means of RTS for everyone. Though i'm really pumped for it :)

Demigod will keep it's small niche community for awhile but kinda shot themself in the foot with this release. Pre-release i had friends interested in buying it since they were Dota fans but I'd be a bad person to recommend this to anyone in it's state and eventually went into a refund and read these forums on occasion to observe drama lol

Reply #27 Top

I'm new to the game, got it a tad over a week ago, in fact my hard copy has not even arrived yet ( $10 for shipping and its over a week now?! I bought HDMI cables from newegg with standard delivery, and those took 3 days with free shipping.....) and honestly, I'm kinda of bored with the seven maps already.

 

I'm for the most part easy going, don't mind playing against the AI for some stompage when online doesn't work out, but yeah.... 7 maps.....not enough. Kinda of the same problem with DoW 2. Gotta get rollin with some updates, or people are going to move on. Hell, I technically don't even have the game yet, and I'm looking to move on.

Reply #28 Top

its clear they released incomplete and way to soon.  The side effects of that will be a quick death for the community.  Unless the game pulls a 180 in a month or so I dont think it will be a strong game for long.

 

 

Reply #29 Top

Well based on what I read here it sounds like there's little point in expending more resources on this game and we should all just move on.

Is that what I'm hearing here?

I mean, if people are ready to move on, why should we hang around? We can certainly oblige with another patch or two to make sure MP works as it should have on day 1 IMO but beyond that?

GPG's working on SupCom 2.  Stardock has Elemental.  Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

Reply #30 Top

I think what Demigod is missing is what you intend to add -- real online competition.  Right now its just a multiplayer game, but the reason I was excited about it was a few key points.

1) A rating system tied to matchmaking.  I want to be able to play good players who don't rage quit because quitting will adversely affect their ratiing.  This is what Demigod can offer that games like DOTA cannot.  A true matchmaking system.

2) Clans.  Being able to do clan matches or team matches at the very least will be very nice.  My biggest recommendation there is to borrow borrow borrow.  Use World of Warcrafts Arena rating and matchmaking system.  Allow people to join clans and then do a 2v2,3v3, 4v4 or 5on5 with whatever current clan members are logged in.  That way if I want to play a game, and only one friend is on, we can log in, queue up for a 2v2 and get matched with another set of people looking for the same thing.   (And I would recommend this over 'scheduled' matches, unless of course the population is just too small for it to be feasible, but I think that can be fixed with the demo, and some free content coupled with the increasingly better connection code)


Seriously that would be great, and would be in the realm of 'doable' for an expansion.

I think this game is great, I just want some more consistent ratings/scoring.

Reply #31 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 4


GPG's working on SupCom 2.  Stardock has Elemental.  Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

 

That seems to sum it up pretty well. It comes down to the fact that people who own it are not playing it, and that current/future sales will not replace the amount of initial adopters who have "put it on the shelf" fast enough to sustain the community.

It would be nice if when getting into the online area and looking for a game it would display the number of users playing online (like relic does for COH). It would give me as a player a sense that the community is alive and X number of people are playing.

While I still get a game of demigod in here and there, the rook is just fun, plain and simple, most of my friends have moved on already. :'(

 

Reply #32 Top

And by the way.  League of Legends?  Now *that* is a Dota clone.  They didn't even go with their own art style.

 

Reply #33 Top

I know from our when v1.1 comes out we intend to send an email blast to everyone who has the game.

We also have budgeted 3 Pantheon tournamants ($1,000 in cash and prizes in each one) but that will only happen once we're satisfied with the robustness of Demigod posting its data to our servers.

The other things we want to do (obviously need GPG's cooperation on) are the Clan Wars free DLC and open modding (people submit mods, can download them and from within Demigod can load them up and then play others who have the same mods). 

The community size has remained pretty steady if not growing a little bit and that's despite the issues.

But I won't kid you, the budget for extra content and features comes from sales.  The game has sold pretty well but if it's all doom and gloom like it sounds like from reading the comments then that budget can be transferred to other projects.

Reply #34 Top

sc2 and dg are 2 different games

 

from what i see the game wont grow unless it gets the bad rap from it.

did it get better fromlaunch yea but its no where near done.

balance issues need to be addressed.

more dang maps there is no reason why no new maps have not been added.

the thing is if it does not get rid of that bad rap it got from launch. when LoL comes out it will take over.

since those 2 games are so close in game play dg will get effected. however if dg can get a good word that its all fixed then people will not leave.

i love dg i mean i have not played a game as long as dg since wow but it is also a very frusterating game to play ATM

Reply #35 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 4
Well based on what I read here it sounds like there's little point in expending more resources on this game and we should all just move on.

Is that what I'm hearing here?

I mean, if people are ready to move on, why should we hang around? We can certainly oblige with another patch or two to make sure MP works as it should have on day 1 IMO but beyond that?

GPG's working on SupCom 2.  Stardock has Elemental.  Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

 

Well I certainly hope you folks don't take this approach but keep in mind the frustration is two way here and only one side really knows whats going on and what's in store. The gist of what I've read is that if the game isn't fixed soon or more isn't offered you can expect folks to move on. That is a reasonable expectation. I think I can safely speak for most on here when I say we'd love to be proven wrong. That patch 1.1 will usher in a new era of 99% stable matches so that we can, will full confidence, recommend this game to all of our friends. That task is entirely out of our hands and all we can do is whine to each other.

You've got a great game here and honestly if people didn't enjoy it as much as they did or couldn't see the potential in it once everything ran smoothly, they wouldn't bother posting, they'd just move on.

If you need any proof of how awesome a game you got here, Demigod pulled me away from WoW. That's right, I cancelled my wow account so I can play this game more.

Reply #37 Top

Stryker, Starcraft 2 will pull lots of people away from EVERY game for a brief period. The question is whether the Demigod players come back here or play something else after that.

I think the Clan Wars DLC has the potential to bring people back, as well as tempt new people. Look at things like TF2, and the UT3 free weekend/large patch schemes, they are bringing large numbers into the game which is better from nearly every perspective. I'd like it if we saw something similar with the first major content patch, and I think it's too early to say whether the community will last or not.

Reply #38 Top

Well based on what I read here it sounds like there's little point in expending more resources on this game and we should all just move on.

Is that what I'm hearing here?

I mean, if people are ready to move on, why should we hang around? We can certainly oblige with another patch or two to make sure MP works as it should have on day 1 IMO but beyond that?

GPG's working on SupCom 2. Stardock has Elemental. Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

-Dont stoop to our level your the CEO, we all know theres 10 more months of patches. Though if this game is exactly the same 3 months from now.. yah cut bait and move on.- 

Reply #39 Top

They need to do a serious evaluation of what Valve has done for TF2. That's a license to print money AND have a wicked community.

 

This game also needs more universal depth to become appealing. At the moment almost all of the DGs LOOK cool but the voice acting etc. is so bad you wanna push them off the edge of prison.

Reply #40 Top

This game is a blast to play. I'm enjoing every minute playing it.

There are some issues but it's not that bad. I do not have connection problems
only 1 of 6-7 game crashes.

Looking forward to 1.1 patch, hope it will be soon and that community will grow.

Reply #43 Top

Looking forward to 1.1 too. Bring it on.

I'd say that there will be a pretty steady community for this game as long as the patch comes out in a timely manner and the connectivity issues are resolved ASAP. You have a rabidly loyal following already.

From my perspective I like a game or two a night of demigod. Even with all the connection issues (And I've had a lot) I've had it's still is an absolute blast to play. I play other games but this is the only good multi player game I've played in a long time.

Keep up the good work Froggy and remember that forums are only frequented by a small proportion of your gaming population. I'm sure there are lots of lurkers like myself who read more than post. I would suggest getting some marketing out there on the web though to bring more attention to the game after the patch. Its a little hard to find much about the game. I for one will be trying to help you guys out in the forums I frequent.

Reply #44 Top

Will the community grow

yes, if we get alot more demigods (30 imo) and more items.

the more variety the better. and the more favor items, the longer people will say ;)

sorry thought it was a wishlist type of question haha.

or shrink?

it cant really, unless 1000s of people get refunds.

 

Reply #45 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 4

GPG's working on SupCom 2.  Stardock has Elemental.  Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

 

That is a very good idea. It may be embarassing for the Demigod community but if more resources can be implemented into both SupCom2 and Elemental at the expense of Demigod i will vote 100% for it. I doubt both GPG and Stardock would want their next upcoming games to have the same kind of release that Demigod had, i don't think the community wants it either.

Reply #46 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 4
Well based on what I read here it sounds like there's little point in expending more resources on this game and we should all just move on.

Is that what I'm hearing here?

I mean, if people are ready to move on, why should we hang around? We can certainly oblige with another patch or two to make sure MP works as it should have on day 1 IMO but beyond that?

GPG's working on SupCom 2.  Stardock has Elemental.  Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

 

I would partly agree. BUT I would say an addon could push Demigod to way higher publicity.

And I have to state: You twisted the logic pattern :P

If some(!) people start to move on this is mostly an indication that something runs wrong with demigod.

Your logic is twisted in the way that it would be logic to put in some work to keep them AND more important to get more customers to demigod. And it appeals unlogic to me that you make the effet to the cause :) Especially in the long run. Since no one will buy a game where no active community exist no matter how good it is.

 

And I have to appologize for this but: If you stop patching Demigod soon that could taint the fame of GPG drastical. This would remind me of Hellgate: London. Which was a great game as well but missed to implement/correct simple things so it never really started being famous. And I think people today kinda hate Flagship for that. Could, but hasn't to, end for GPG in a simliar fashion.

Reply #47 Top

Evanescent, what are you babbling on about? These games are not the direct descendants of Demigod. They are wholely different games. I like the concept of Demigod. Don't ruin my game with talks about "the community". I don't think any developer/publisher would do such a stupid move to ruin the credit they receive. For example Valve and Left 4 Dead. Overhyped game. Promises about free DLC ala TF2. In affect? L4D2. Consumers don't forget promises made to them.

Heck, I don't even mind paying for more support. It is called MAINTENANCE.

Reply #48 Top

It really depends on what the patches bring. I really have little to no desire to play anymore with the current state of of the game.

Pantheon and Skirmish are not working properly and custom games are either premades stomping all over randoms or ragequitters.  My choices are basicly get to rick rolled by a premade or play 10 minutes and have some one rage quit.

I want to play, I really do, and I still lurk the forums everyday, but I fear the community is just to sub par to save the game in the long run.  Don't get me wrong there are a lot of good community members on the forums, but overall the whole community is devolving into what the DOTA community is (quitting, hacking (the forums), immaturity, no sportsmanship).

If pantheon gets fixed sometime in the near future, myself and my friends will come back. We love the game, it's outstanding, but connection + community is lacking.

Reply #49 Top

Shrink.

Despite favorable reviews the mouth propaganda only reports bad things about Demigod which overlap with misleading magazine reviews (even the favorable ones).

Magazines: "Has no single player mode."

Complainers: "Multiplayer doesn't work."

No one in their right minds will buy something like that based on this kind of information.

 

 

I see only one way to salvage this disaster: A fucking expensive marketing campaign with lots of really cool videos AFTER multiplayer works reliably.

And does anybody see both things happen in the near future ? Because in a month Demigod is "an old game".

Reply #50 Top

Quoting Frogboy, reply 4
GPG's working on SupCom 2.  Stardock has Elemental.  Sounds to me you're making the argument that we should just cut bait and move on.

Quoting Frogboy, reply 8
But I won't kid you, the budget for extra content and features comes from sales.  The game has sold pretty well but if it's all doom and gloom like it sounds like from reading the comments then that budget can be transferred to other projects.

What an unbeliveable attitude, coming from noone else but the person in charge of things.

*) You're basically saying with this "thank you for your money but we basically fucked you and gonna use that money elsewhere". How do you expect any success if you don't beleive in it yourself.  The netcode fix is a basic functionality that is missing.  Without it, you have falsely advertised and sold a non-functional product.  I'm pretty sure you can be hold legaly accountable for it.

*) For a MP based game, there is additional bare minimum of functionality that is needed for the game to have any chance of success.  I don't know if it is already too late, but without that functionality there is 0 chance of the game succeeding.  And I won't even get into why you agreed to release a product that didn't have most of this functionality from day 1.  Didn't you as a publisher have a producer on site that had at least a basic understanding of what a MP based game needs?  Didn't you cover these issues in the agreement?

*) IMHO Demigod had a chance to make a hit AAA title, but the involved sides blew it.  Why isn't GPG taking a more active role in fixing this?  Is it even their responsibility to fix it?  Yeah GPG is the developer but didn't you provide the part of the libs (the impulse reactor) and wasn't this part the one that caused the initial 3 week falldown??  I mean, cmmon 3 weeks...I know I'd be pissed...

*) The past week all my respect in Stardock has been shattered, mostly by your attitude.  I respect your honesty and involvent in the forums, but you definitely need to think twice about the content of many of your posts.  The quantity and quality of information you provide is worth an applause.  The attitude towards your customers not so much.

*) Stop pushing Elemental in pretty much every single post of yours in the DEMIGOD forum.  You agreed to do technical support in your publishing contract.  Can you please stick to it!  And ffs - stop accusing customers of asking in the wrong place or the wrong people.  THIS IS THE OFFICIAL DEMIGOD SUPPORT FORUM!!!  There is no other place for us to go to?

*) And the fanboys cheer even after this... For crying out loud, 2 MONTHS after release and this is a barely functional product.  I don't know who's responsibility it is to fix it, but it's obvious that someone is incompetant to do it.  I know it will take some serious convincing to get me to buy another Stardock or GPG product again!