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-   -   What would it take...? (https://www.piratesonlineforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40323)

Davy_Mcwrecker 06-20-2013 09:45 PM

What would it take...?
 
What do you think it would take to bring you back to the game if you've left, and if you haven't, what do you think it would take to bring others back to the game?

CarribeanThunder 06-21-2013 05:14 PM

I'm in between. I'm still around, but I don't really play too much.

Plain and simple for both versions of the question:
An update.

andyspins 06-21-2013 05:52 PM

I still play and love the game, I do however see why people would leave the game. Like CT, a plain and simple update.

Tiberius Fireskull 06-21-2013 08:42 PM

It's been well over a year since I left the game, but as you all probably know, I still haunt this forum like something of a ghost. I suppose it's sad, but that's how I've come to view my relationship with the game.

There were several reasons why I left the game. The main reason was a combination of the Shadow Sorcerors slowly losing activity and my lack of time (due to RL commitments) to devote to the guild at that point. The increasing amount of bugs and deterioration of the game was something of a factor, but not nearly as much as the former. The current lack of updates is what has kept me from strongly considering returning to the game.

So, with that in mind, what would make me come back? Like CT and andy have already said, there would need to be some sort of an interesting update so that I would have something new to do when I come back. Even though I left a year ago, there isn't any new content for me to do, other than finishing upgrading my ships, I suppose. Bug fixes and fixing the biggest issues of the game would also need to be thrown in with the update. Even if there were updates and bug fixes, however, I'm not sure that I would return for long. I would really need to know that I would have friends coming back with me, such as some former guildmates. Without the knowledge that I would be playing with old friends, I'm not sure I would really return for more than a few weeks.

Overall, I'm not so sure I would return at all, but there is a fair chance should all of those conditions be met.

Platinum Pirate 06-21-2013 10:34 PM

It will take two things: new game content and present community efforts to revitalize the game. Both must appeal to long time players and first time players. Granted, some players we friended never intended to be just as dedicated to the game. They honestly have moved on. Others were sail-bys. Just try and leave thereafter. But some stayed in spite of the game's shortcomings. They are the dedicated few.

Nothing new really. It happens in all online games. People have their preferences and both the gaming company and its dedicated fans need new people to try it out for the good of the game. Doesn't help if the community is bashing the company or the company is indifferent to the community. Any newcomer to their game will leave for something better. The rest will learn the hard way.

POTCO has its fair share of problems but those problems alone shouldn't be the reason why you're not playing as much as you use to. Either you can on your own and have the time for it, or you can't. If your happiness depends on others to be there, you'll never be happy. The guild you joined (or created) will become dead. The players you friended will disappear by their own hand or by your own hand for some good reason. The place outside the game where you hang out becomes a ghost town.

Yes, it would be nice if they came back because of some game update. But as Tiberius Fireskull admitted, having his set of friends and guildmates returning will cause him to play longer. He missed that community aspect of the game. Perhaps if the present community as a whole was doing something fun and worthwhile, his set of friends and guildmates might return to play for good. Same is true for others who are in a similar situation. There's no doubt that the present community have done as much as they could to keep the game interesting. However, let's be honest, whatever they've been doing hasn't been enough. The community keeps shrinking just like the number of servers have shrunk themselves from over 100 servers to a mere 15 servers nowadays.

I could go on but I said more than enough. For me, the greatest days for this game have yet to come. It will take both game content and community efforts to make it so. The latter driving the former, not the other way around. :SkullBullet1:

Davy_Mcwrecker 06-26-2013 12:44 AM

I guess I'll put my 2 cents in as well. I'm glad to read everyone's thoughts and opinions.

For me, honestly, just a content update. I don't mean new loot, ir new swords, just something more. Something like the Inventory update or the Invasions update. Just something to do. I for one am slow as a slug at leveling. (Still haven't reached level 50 on my pirate from about my joining the forums date) And the quickest I level is when I'm having fun doing a quest. If they made invasions more often, or brought back the Queen Anne's Revnge, I would probably come on occasionally for those.

In my opinion, the best way to get people back on is for Disney to invest. When the next POTC movie comes out, put trailers for the game on during the Trailers. Make some commercials on Disney Channel. Make people join and start to like it.

The 2nd thing would be to lower the UA prices. On most games I've played on, "Premium" (Or account upgrades or whatever you may call it) is $5 for a month and cheaper prices. In all honesty, $80 a year is a little on the high price for a game.
FOr a whole company, for example, Playstation+ or XBox Live, yeah - $80 a month isn't that bad since it applies to games. Plural.
They should lower the annual to about $20-$40 and make a Lifetime Membership that is somewhat more expensive.
This way kids can get their parents to buy them UA.

This game is extremely biased towards UA players. You basically don't even get to use 1/4 of the game without it. More like 1/16 is what you get.
Make it more F2P friendly so that people will stay, and with cheaper UA more people will buy. That's what I think.

TL;DR - Give a solid content update that's not like Infamy and the Clothing and more like Invasions and the Inventory. Disney Invest into the game. Put up ads and trailers on other Disney products. Make UA cheaper. Make a Lifetime UA. Give F2P's a slight bit more access to things.

Platinum Pirate 06-26-2013 01:07 AM

I agree with you about changing the price. Last year in November I suggested that POTCO should have a third option: Semi Access. Notoriety is capped at 20 or 21 while skills are capped at 10 with rank 3. For about $4.95, a player can enjoy some UA. They can unlock the Dagger and Grenades and make the most of them. Even those, who maxed all their pirates, can purchase SA instead of FA (Full Access). They can use all weapons and war ships as usual.

The only drawback is if at any point they decide to delete one of those four pirates, they can't create another. Must upgrade to FA to do that. It's a fair bargain all things considering. POTCO can place some reminders every time our screen loads to upgrade our account to FA. And for those who have FA and prefer to pay less, SA is offered. Anything but BA is the idea. Those with BA will obviously be offered either SA, or FA to enjoy greater play.

I think more people will be inclined to pay SA readily compared to FA.

andyspins 07-09-2013 01:50 AM

There are a lot of interesting ideas here. I think the main way to get new players is advertisement, I got into the game after (if I remember correctly from 4 or 5 years ago) a commercial. I saw it, and immediately went to my computer to make an account. The best way to retain players would probably be to either give more freedom to BA, or reduce the price of UA. A 3rd option as PP mentioned would work too. This is what I would do, but Disney probably knows all this. Compared to the rest of Disney's investments POTCO is a pebble (or as Tia would say, a drop in the ocean). From they're standpoint will they ever get enough return from they're investments? Would they earn more using the add space for something else? Would reducing UA costs cost too much short term? I'm not trying to sound grim, but it's a little worrying to me. All we can do is stay active, show our support, and stay hopeful.

ukebec 07-11-2013 01:21 AM

I could log into the game right now and find glitches that I've reported (conservatively) dozens of times, that are still not fixed. I'm a tester, for crying out loud! I can lead you right to a problem on Padres that I reported immediately after that island's redesign and it's still wrong!

The ever-loving memory leak that degrades game-play the longer you're on. The fact that all of these years later there's still not a second "Boss Battle", and by that I mean something like the long story arc culminating in the Black Pearl quest. That's what was originally referred to as a Boss Battle in this game. We were supposed to get another. If Raven's Cove was it, it's a sad exhibit.

If it wouldn't depress me so much I'd go back and find developer diaries and GM chats that nearly guaranteed we'd have a Kraken by now, that we'd have pets.

Disney has actually devolved their support for this game over the years, the most recent evidence being the removal of how many servers? Like shoving more of us onto the same sketchily performing servers is going to increase game enjoyment? GM events are even more awful now than ever before. It's a freeze-fest!

We're, what, a year and a half out from a new Pirates movie in theaters. They could use it as such a marketing, money-making tool to bring new players to this game. But I doubt they will, just like they didn't with PotC 4, because they seem unwilling to fix basic performance issues that would improve every players' experience.

Every couple of months I ask myself why I'm still paying for UA when I play this game maybe once every 6 months. The answer is nostalgia. I'm a Founder. I remember when the game was vital and exciting and fun. Now all that's left is grinding to a finite level. And then what? Your level is capped. Your gold is capped.

In my particular case, I originally loved this game because it was playable solo. Sure, some of it was very difficult, but it was doable. I solo'd the Black Pearl, which I don't think is even an option now. If I'm not mistaken you're REQUIRED to have a crew before you can even start it now.

Disney was very upfront when they made the decision to skew the game towards a more social, more player-interdependent game. If I were to create a new character now, that avi COULD NOT solo the game. That was not always the case.

I'd come back if they stopped trying to force players to be interactive, if they'd really address game performance issues, if they'd fix glitches and cheats and hacks they've been notified of hundreds, if not thousands, of times. And I'd come back if there was some increased goal to strive for.

I play a free-to-play game, with graphics that make PotCO look shabby, with far less performance issues, an uncapped character level, an uncapped gold level and a game universe at least 3 times the size. My best avi is a level 42 and I look forward to continuing to level her. It's varied, it's story-rich and it's fun. My level 42 sees level 100+ players running around in-game and I'm inspired to keep playing.

When I log into PotCO I fish a little, sail a little, try to freaking master her back up (she was mastered under the old master level) and then get tired of the lag and freeze and give up. The music is still good. *sigh*

CarribeanThunder 07-11-2013 05:28 AM

I agree with you in all aspects of your post. The game used to have such a touch to it that kept drawing me back each time I logged off.

But now, all there is left to do to make this game difficult is soloing the Treasure Fleets. And I'd hate to admit it, but even that has become a simple science for me.

As far as them making the Boss Battle impossible to begin without at least one other player? I'm not even sure if it matters. Last I remember, the Boss Battle was easy even when solo. The only way I could figure in making it difficult is soloing it at a level lower than Lv30.

With the whole glitches-never-being-fixed thing, I also see that such pattern. But not only that, the game has also had a history of some bugs and glitches returning even after they were fixed (let's not forget the whole PVP glitch ordeal). One bug I remember as an example is when a Flagship was crippled, firing Firebrand at it would cause it to instantly sink. This was something that I remember appearing on at least two occasions, one being around the time the EITC Expedition Fleets were first released.

Alas, I honestly can't help but feel like this game is still in some sort of Beta.

With Pirates Online going down for maintenance in a short while, I can only hope it would be for something significant rather than just a minor thing.

Edit: I'm sure someone would have mentioned this too. But I'd be OK with the server downtime too if it was to help free ships that were stuck at sea. Some bug fixes on the side would be nice too though.

Platinum Pirate 07-11-2013 02:11 PM

Speaking of maintenance, it just dawned on me and I don't know of anyone else pointing this out either. By all means, correct me.

I noticed that their maintenance coincides with the latest updates from Windows. They shut down their servers to get them downloaded and installed. Then reboot them and clean up the usual game clutter.

Only takes 90 minutes or less to reset all their servers when ships and enemies are stuck. Far less when hackers are reported for manipulating game files.


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