To many players quitting and not trying to win.

[RELLGAR]

I have been in several games lately and still in one where players are quiting with viable kingdoms and also not trying to stop other kingdoms that are real close to winning. This is really messing up the dynamics of the game and making them frustrating to play. 

Some of these players after quiting, I see joining a new game immidiatly after quiting. Maybe its because they have no chance of winning and dont want to increase their service level. Can we not count a game toward service level after say turn 20? You already made $ on the setup and 20 turns of service level. This would incentivise people to stick it out untill the end of a game and still join a new game. When I see players do this it makes me want to attack them in other games to make them quit without actually having to conquer them and because I wasnt happy they quit the last game. Do you all realize this hurts your game play, by quitting?

Why not try and stop another kingdom from winning in a silent game or anon game? Where there agreements made?

[Ry Vor]

Rellgar, I believe this was a short term phenomenon corresponding to the switch to a new server which put us off-line for two weeks.  Otherwise, the only early drops we see are from new players who are lost and don't reach out. 

Yes, I think I get your point, that we have to have as players a tolerance for adversity at some point(s) in the campaign.  Alamaze is no easier to win than The Game of Thrones.  Lots of things have to break your way as well as displaying your skill. 

Generally, we try to communicate it is bad form to drop before turn 12.  After that, if a player is not feeling it in a particular game, they can drop with honor and get a fresh start. 

We have had private games before, where 10 or 12 players agree through email who is in and all the details and just ask to be setup as they detail.  Then you know all the nitty-gritty on the players and can have 12 Iron-Willed in one game.

[RELLGAR]

I understand Ry Vor, but it was not just new players. All the games had both new and veteran players quit.

[Ry Vor]

I understand Ry Vor, but it was not just new players. All the games had both new and veteran players quit.

Yes, I know but I think people got screwed up with the server transition, not that people are dropping more now.  Not that Mike could have done any better: we are lucky we moved everything over as quickly as we did.  Pick it up in a month if you think its still happening.

[unclemike]

I think we just need more players. If we had 500+ players, no one would complain about stuff. Some suggestions to get more players:
 
Conventions
   Pass out flyers is a low cost way of advertising the game. I'm not talking about something huge like GenCon but local conventions that will be cheaper to place a stand with flyers. Here are some links for attending conventions in the state of Texas (where Rick lives).
   https://www.cosplayconventioncenter.com/...as/sci_fi/
   https://www.upcomingcons.com/cons/state/texas
   (+ more)
 
Library/Card-Gaming Stores
   Ask if you can place a stack of flyers at your local library (sci fi/fantasy section) or card/gaming store. May get lucky in attracting a few new players this way. My local library has a bunch of flyers and other advertisements in the local area.
 
Dragon Magazine
   I'm not talking about a full page ad but a small corner ad. In fact, that's what got me interested in playing Alamaze. I saw a small corner ad about Alamaze and was willing to give it a try (with the Pegasus flying horse picture). It shouldn't be that expensive to place a small ad in Dragon magazine but the potential is pretty decent in attracting new players.
 
Kickstarter (previously mentioned by Calidor)
   Could be a decent way of gaining new people and more money for development than just me!
 
College Sci Fi Clubs
   Start an email campaign notifying college sci/fi and fantasy clubs. Even though it may take some work, there's hundreds of colleges in the U.S. and we could get lucky with a few of them. Here are a few links:
   https://www.siena.edu/student-life/getti...aming-club
   http://pages.jh.edu/hopsfa/index.html
   https://codscificlub.blog/
   http://www.enigmaatucla.com/
   http://cravencc.edu/students/clubs-and-o...ming-club/
   https://thelink.wheatoncollege.edu/organ...gamingclub
   (+ more)
 
Local City Gaming Clubs
   Start an email campaign notifying local city gaming clubs. Some links:
   https://sites.google.com/site/friscolibraryboardgamers/
   http://www.wnygamersclub.com/
   (+ more)
 
Gaming Hubs
   Start an email campaign notifying major gaming hubs. Some links:
   http://grognard.com/GamingClubs.aspx
   http://www.dundracon.com/Community_Clubs.php
   (+ more)
 
Meetup Groups
   Place ads at Meetup groups (where people gather to play card/board/tabletop games). Main site: www.meetup.com. Heck, not just post about the game on their online bulletin boards but actually attend some meetup places and pass out flyers.
 
Social Media
   facebook, twitter, wiki, .etc.
 
Board Game
   Create that Alamaze board game! Should bring in more players for our online version of the game too.
 
So there's actually plenty of ways to gain new players. It will take some effort though and will include a high failure/rejection rate of the advertisements but need to continue. The important point is not to become discourage like I would be after a few rejections but continue in promoting the game throughout the year. We could have 10,000+ players if there's serious effort and some luck go our way.
 
BTW, that's the main reason why I've been trying to fully automate Alamaze this year. The Game Queue is necessary to handle a large number of players since Rick can't manually create that many games in a day. Also, the New Player Registration website (https://www.alamaze.co/sign-up/) is now automated and automatically handles the creation of new accounts for us. The only piece left to automate is billing/subscription and then we'll have an environment that is ready for a major advertising campaign (like the above) to attract new players.

I'm currently working on the Solo/Tutorial game which will offer free and unlimited play for new players to try out Alamaze. Solo games will only be 9 turns or so and not a full game but they'll be long enough to experience Alamaze). That should help bring in new players since we've had some that didn't know what to do when a game starts and just quit.

 

[Diws]

Maybe get some discussion going on Lloyd Barron's Road of Kings website ( www.warbarron.com ). There is some shared history with Hyborian War and probably some old school Alamaze players who have not tried any of the new iterations.

[Drogo]

I recently had to quit a game in which I had had, at one point a very viable kingdom. Due to a string of really bad luck and planning I missed 3 out of 5 of the last turns and it wrecked things. I don't mind playing a decimated kingdom but I sort of lose enthusiasm when its because I missed too many turns. So my drop in 548 was self inflicted and atypical.

[Calidor]

Nice list Mike. An Alamaze board game would be cool! That's also an opportunity for Kickstarter which would help fund the creation of the board game and also raise interest in the main game.

[Ry Vor]

Yes, the Gray Mouser had a similar experience in 548 around the time of the server transition.  I think several players got thrown off kilter in those couple weeks and unfortunately it did kind of ruin a couple games like 548.

I agree Diws, I think getting players already familiar with other PBM style games are the best source.  Its just I would be overtly a troll if I started posting at say the HW site or MEPBM.  I'd love if players of Alamaze also members of those sites would drop some hints there.  I just don't know how viable these other games are going forward.  Has HW changed anything in 30 years?  Has ME in the last ten at least? 

What seemed promising was Grimfinger's introduction of Suspense & Decision, but despite being the most prolific and probably passionate contributor, I don't know that we got any players from those efforts.  We might have.  Its strange we ask new players how they heard about us, and we almost never get an answer.

I think reviews have been the most helpful in the past, but print magazines are disappearing by the week. 

I went all out at Origins, with banners, flyers, a six foot tall barbarian model, speakers, huge monitors, and had just won Game of the Year there in a ceremony.  We didn't really budge much for players.  So that was the biggest convention, with the best materials I could produce, in the space Microsoft (yes, not Microprose) let go.

I spent a lot at Google Ads for a few years with Fall of Rome.  Oddly, I was invited to participate in a class action suit against them for their pay per click campaign. 

The main thing it seems to me is for current players to contact old players they played with before, or for players to attract friends to Alamaze and mentor them.   I guess that sounds like passing the buck, but I have tried the other techniques.

I do think once we have a tutorial we will at minimum retain most of the new players we are currently losing because they don't know what to do, and don't reach out for understanding. 

We do have a few promotions like a free Duel and two months for the price of one for returning players.  It's never been clear what the elasticity of demand is in PBM as regards pricing. We've occasionally heard from some sabbatical that times are tough, but normally when a player leaves its some real life event.

[unclemike]

Well, that's not very encouraging. After providing quite a few options to try out, your response was the same as before in that we should get our friends interested. We've done that and it's not bringing in new players. About returning former players, you've tried to bring them back and even offered them free games but they're not interested. Since both of those avenues aren't resulting in success, that means that greater effort is needed in order to attract more people to the game (as in the above).

I think attending a local Texas convention would be best to start with. It's easy to do and should be cheap since it's a local event. Check out the links above or search for them yourself. At a convention, you can personally make your case to sell the game and pass out flyers to remind them.

If you're serious about expanding the player base, which is not only good for business but also provides greater gameplay for the rest of us, then the next step would be to hit the conventions. Heck, you may even like talking to people as you sell your product but I wouldn't brush off the above and depend on us to do the work.