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Just curious, would people still play Alamaze if it never had an update? Would you stick around if you were still playing with the original map, original rules, original kingdoms and such? Maybe a few games for the sake of nostalgia but the game would get boring after a while and people would move on.
That's the reason why we lost quite a few players since Alamaze became available. Updates took too long and players were stuck playing the same type of game as before. Playing the same game over and over just gets boring and people require new content to keep them interested. This is the main reason why the other PBM games aren't doing that well as they did back then. It's due to the lack of new content of their games.
As long as Rick comes up with new content every 6 months or so, Alamaze should stick around for a while. That's also why we need a new map, new orders, new themes, and new actionable items for the players to do during a game or they'll get bored and leave. It's not really a balancing issue with game theory or mechanics, it's all about developing new content to keep people interested (and developers too).
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It does depend on how rich the game is to begin with, but even the best games (I would include Alamaze here) would get boring eventually without updates. Even though I'm relatively new to Alamaze (the PBEM version, that is) and am still enjoying discovering the nuances of this world, I can't wait until the 3rd Cycle comes out. It sounds amazing!
By the way, I remember Earthwood too! Fun, but not even close to Alamaze. Did anyone ever play Star Throne? I liked that game, but only played it a couple of times before school became more intense.
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Yeah, in general, I think the kingdoms are pretty well balanced. For instance, I have used the BL to trounce the RA and have used the RA to trounce the BL (and yes, I have been trounced as well). And I have played both DE and AN and found them equally playable. But then I saw them against each other, and the DE definitely rocks that dynamic because of the ability to be Friendly in the AN region while AN is limited to Suspicious in the DE region. As Rick said, we learn something new every time we play this.
As for updates, those are cool but not necessary. I have just finished an AN game so I have played every kingdom, but I still have a few I did not play well so would be happy to try those again (GI, UN).
Over time, of course, some change is helpful and interesting. I am totally psyched for the Choosing, for instance. But I will likely also continue to play in Classic anon games.
In short, keep up the good work. And, as HH says a lot, comments (such as the DE/AN imbalance) are meant to be helpful for future design, not critical of current design.
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I still enjoy playing Clue and Risk and those games have not been updated. But I do like the new stuff that comes to Alamaze.
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since we are not getting the question answered may as well go fully off topic. Updates are good but must be managed and communicated. The frenzy of often undocumented updates in 2nd cycle drove more people away than not doing anything. I do really like that Ry Vor is taking extra care with 3rd cycle to really put a solid product out there. Even though I must wait longer.
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Actually, all of the responses following Mike's post were partial answers. Enough of those leads to a full picture.
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Well on the bright side in 3rd cycle there will be much less enemy declarations and no natural enemy so the magnitude of the DE advantage described will stay in 2nd cycle
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I prefer change... I get bored doing repetitive tasks. I would love to see updates more frequently.
"Introducing the 'Winged-back Elves'. Be the first to play elves that can take to the sky." ...Coming in December 2015.
"Wouldn't it be nice to travel to the far reaches of your kingdom, and to do it in this lifetime? Want to connect your population centers so they can share resources? Why not build roads?" ...Roads will debut in February 2016!!!
"New 6-region Primeval map in a land known as Star-Point. Each of 5 players start in a region that is separated by impassable terrain that meets in the center region controlled by the Humans" ...Available this April.
"Introducing the 'Kingdom of the Horse-men". A centaur race that has a affinity for the desert. Their muscular horse-like bodies offer great mobility and unusual battle tactics. On their top half sits a mutant humanoid form that even those with the highest constitution would find sickening to look at. Be the first to play the Horse-men." ...Coming in June 2016.
Our fall lineup includes new spells, a 9-point race alignment scale, and new population center buildings.
etc... etc...
Now, that would be awesome and exciting...
The Frost Lord,
Centurion in the Military War College
Pioneer of Alamaze
Buddy/Ignore List
