Buddy/Ignore List
01-28-2023, 07:38 PM
There needs to be a way, a quick and easy way (an automated way, if possible), for anyone, be it active players or people just browsing the forum, to see which game(s) of Alamaze are currently in the Game Queue. Why? Because it is one visual way to generate interest in the games that are forming - and hence, in need of more players.
![[Image: Alamaze-Game-Queue-1-01-28-2023-158PM.png]](https://playbymail.net/Alamaze/GameQueue/Alamaze-Game-Queue-1-01-28-2023-158PM.png)
Yes, you can do it manually, like I just did, above, but that is a time-consuming method.
1. I did a screen capture.
2. I pasted the image into a graphics editor program.
3. I cropped the image.
4. I saved the image.
5. I uploaded the image to a webhosting account (that I already had).
6. I was then able to insert that image directly into this Alamaze forum discussion thread, so that others who are browsing the forum can see what's actually in the Game Queue (at least, as of the time that I did the screen capture).
A LOT about and associated with gaming involves the concept of temptation. You see someone else playing a game, and it just has an innate way of grabbing your eye and tempting you. Alamaze needs to do a much better job of tempting more people to play it.
I'm basically new to exploring the Game Queue feature of Alamaze. Thus far, I've never seen more than one game forming in it, at a time. Does it display multiple games in the Game Queue, if more than one game of Alamaze is simultaneously forming?
From my perspective, a perspective based upon exploring the Alamaze site and the Alamaze forum over a week or so, growing the player base of Alamaze simply isn't the actual priority. Everyone associated with Alamaze in any capacity - whether as the owner, as the programmer, or as a player - wants to grow the player base. That said and conceded upfront, what is the actual plan to accomplish such? Furthermore, what is the actual projected time frame to accomplish such? Additionally, what are the specifics of this plan?
For me, when I publish issues of PBM unearthed, that is done purely as a hobby interest of mine. Alamaze, by contrast, is a business. Yes, it's a game, but it's also a business. Is there a list, somewhere, of initiatives that have been tried, to include both what has worked and what has failed, as far as growing the player base is concerned?
I''m not trying to give anybody a hard time. Rather, I'm just trying to ascertain a range of different things that have been tried, and which shows some degree of progress or success or failure.
I'm no expert on Alamaze. For expertise on Alamaze, I would turn to the designer, the programmer, the most experienced players, and the most enthusiastic players.
However, not being an expert does not preclude me from discerning that Alamaze, as a game, has enough "meat on its bones," that is should be able to attract a larger player base than it current enjoys. So, what that signals to me is that either the current approach to showcasing and "selling" Alamaze to the gaming public doesn't work, works insufficiently, or there is no actual current approach of size or substance to showcasing and selling Alamaze to the gaming public.
Those of you who have been around a while, tell me, what, in your respective view, works. What about Alamaze sold you on it, and continues to sell you on it? Me? I've known Rick McDowell for a while (online, not in person), but that's not the same thing as knowing Alamaze, itself.
Even though I am "new" to Alamaze, I did try Alamaze decades ago, back when Reality Simulations, Inc. ran it. I think that I played for maybe two turns, before dropping out of it, back then. I can tell you, it is my first-hand experience that the current Alamaze is far and away more tempting of a game to play, than was the Alamaze of old. Does it feel as polished as, say, Fall of Rome did, back when I played it? Nope, it doesn't. That said, though, Fall of Rome always felt generic to me. Here, with this newest incarnation of Alamaze, this 4th Cycle Maelstrom, there's a ton of different kingdoms to choose from, and their differences are palpable. Maybe not in every last instance or way, but in many ways, certainly. The kingdoms stand out from one another. All of the kingdoms do not all possess the same powers. The troop units are not all clones of one another. There's lots of flavor to tempt people with. Hell, when I was signing up for my first multiplayer game of Alamaze, I was like, "Wow! Which of these kingdoms do I even go with?"
And that is something of substance!
How does anyone expect to "sell" the gaming public on Alamaze, if one does not tempt them? And if you don't visually tempt them, then it becomes both harder to tempt them, and your path to tempting them becomes a narrower path of temptation.
If one wants to view the Game Queue, without even logging into the game (which requires that you have a player account already created), then how do they do it? You can't, right? This is madness!
This data point, the Game Queue Signups, needs to be exported. It is, after all, an advertising point, in one sense. It is current temptation of a visual sort. Yet, it goes wasted, where the gaming population at large is concerned. Yes, an anonymous game of Alamaze might be different, but the very fact that Alaamze offers anonymous game variants is another selling point. You can't really advertise who is playing what, where anonymous games of Alamaze are concerned, but you can still advertise that they are being player (and signed up for). Possibly, some Alamaze anonymous games could have their kingdoms being signed up for and played advertised, just not the players. If you don't have a way of getting the word out about such games, though, then how do you expect the gaming public at large to latch onto the game? Most potential Alamaze players are wholly and utterly oblivious, currently, that it even exists.
Yes, you can do it manually, like I just did, above, but that is a time-consuming method.
1. I did a screen capture.
2. I pasted the image into a graphics editor program.
3. I cropped the image.
4. I saved the image.
5. I uploaded the image to a webhosting account (that I already had).
6. I was then able to insert that image directly into this Alamaze forum discussion thread, so that others who are browsing the forum can see what's actually in the Game Queue (at least, as of the time that I did the screen capture).
A LOT about and associated with gaming involves the concept of temptation. You see someone else playing a game, and it just has an innate way of grabbing your eye and tempting you. Alamaze needs to do a much better job of tempting more people to play it.
I'm basically new to exploring the Game Queue feature of Alamaze. Thus far, I've never seen more than one game forming in it, at a time. Does it display multiple games in the Game Queue, if more than one game of Alamaze is simultaneously forming?
From my perspective, a perspective based upon exploring the Alamaze site and the Alamaze forum over a week or so, growing the player base of Alamaze simply isn't the actual priority. Everyone associated with Alamaze in any capacity - whether as the owner, as the programmer, or as a player - wants to grow the player base. That said and conceded upfront, what is the actual plan to accomplish such? Furthermore, what is the actual projected time frame to accomplish such? Additionally, what are the specifics of this plan?
For me, when I publish issues of PBM unearthed, that is done purely as a hobby interest of mine. Alamaze, by contrast, is a business. Yes, it's a game, but it's also a business. Is there a list, somewhere, of initiatives that have been tried, to include both what has worked and what has failed, as far as growing the player base is concerned?
I''m not trying to give anybody a hard time. Rather, I'm just trying to ascertain a range of different things that have been tried, and which shows some degree of progress or success or failure.
I'm no expert on Alamaze. For expertise on Alamaze, I would turn to the designer, the programmer, the most experienced players, and the most enthusiastic players.
However, not being an expert does not preclude me from discerning that Alamaze, as a game, has enough "meat on its bones," that is should be able to attract a larger player base than it current enjoys. So, what that signals to me is that either the current approach to showcasing and "selling" Alamaze to the gaming public doesn't work, works insufficiently, or there is no actual current approach of size or substance to showcasing and selling Alamaze to the gaming public.
Those of you who have been around a while, tell me, what, in your respective view, works. What about Alamaze sold you on it, and continues to sell you on it? Me? I've known Rick McDowell for a while (online, not in person), but that's not the same thing as knowing Alamaze, itself.
Even though I am "new" to Alamaze, I did try Alamaze decades ago, back when Reality Simulations, Inc. ran it. I think that I played for maybe two turns, before dropping out of it, back then. I can tell you, it is my first-hand experience that the current Alamaze is far and away more tempting of a game to play, than was the Alamaze of old. Does it feel as polished as, say, Fall of Rome did, back when I played it? Nope, it doesn't. That said, though, Fall of Rome always felt generic to me. Here, with this newest incarnation of Alamaze, this 4th Cycle Maelstrom, there's a ton of different kingdoms to choose from, and their differences are palpable. Maybe not in every last instance or way, but in many ways, certainly. The kingdoms stand out from one another. All of the kingdoms do not all possess the same powers. The troop units are not all clones of one another. There's lots of flavor to tempt people with. Hell, when I was signing up for my first multiplayer game of Alamaze, I was like, "Wow! Which of these kingdoms do I even go with?"
And that is something of substance!
How does anyone expect to "sell" the gaming public on Alamaze, if one does not tempt them? And if you don't visually tempt them, then it becomes both harder to tempt them, and your path to tempting them becomes a narrower path of temptation.
If one wants to view the Game Queue, without even logging into the game (which requires that you have a player account already created), then how do they do it? You can't, right? This is madness!
This data point, the Game Queue Signups, needs to be exported. It is, after all, an advertising point, in one sense. It is current temptation of a visual sort. Yet, it goes wasted, where the gaming population at large is concerned. Yes, an anonymous game of Alamaze might be different, but the very fact that Alaamze offers anonymous game variants is another selling point. You can't really advertise who is playing what, where anonymous games of Alamaze are concerned, but you can still advertise that they are being player (and signed up for). Possibly, some Alamaze anonymous games could have their kingdoms being signed up for and played advertised, just not the players. If you don't have a way of getting the word out about such games, though, then how do you expect the gaming public at large to latch onto the game? Most potential Alamaze players are wholly and utterly oblivious, currently, that it even exists.