Denis
Pukovnik
Posts: 423
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Post by Denis on May 22, 2017 2:44:07 GMT 1
Hi guys. I was thinking a lot about the community and status of the game. There are some of my thoughts.
I realized we suck in every aspect of developing/publishing new content.
1. Community
Probably the biggest problem at this point is the community itself. Beefs, spam everywhere, lack of cooperation, lack of criticism....Russian community seems to have common goal - make gzm great....and it works. We on the other hand totaly lack cooperation. Everyone has a different opinion how to make the best mod ever (especially me) but thats fine. More creative stuffs the better. But we should cooperate to some extent. At this point we waste a lot of time and energy for totaly useless content....We should also cease this beef forever and hire some moderator for fuk sake.
2. Quality of content
I dont want to sound like total assholes. I am horrible modder myself because I am just lazy noob. I appreciate everyone who create at least something for this game. There are some guys who create truly amazing content. On the other hand there is a lot of shit, useless and noncreative content. There is total lack of constructive criticism. It seems like community is afraid to criticize someone. Everyone want to be friend with everyone and say how 'amazing and detailed his stuff is" even when its not. Or maybe none want to risk another beef, i dont know.... Some stuffs dont even hold with vanilla standards which is shame. Creating same noncreative content (with worse quality than before 2005) again and again is just boring and it doesnt make the game better. it seems like some guys dont even want to improve and they are happy with their work even when its bad....Cmon guys, its 2017. We should make this game better....
3. Promoting the game
Another aspect we totaly fail at. Even if we manage to create something cool we dont know how to promote it. There are no videos on youtube to present gameplay, there are no mods on moddb ( ok some are), there is no BK portal where we could download maps and skins, there is no facebook page or some other socia media to show new content. Name of this forum is honestly bad which doesnt help either. Everything is extremely difficult to find. How do u expect new players or old players to come back when we dont show them anything?.
I hope none feels ofended by this post...
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bb
General
Blitzkrieg junkie (tried to quit several times).
Posts: 1,377
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Post by bb on May 22, 2017 4:23:42 GMT 1
Well, as I allreday said, the biggest problem is we have very few active players today. I'll give a example: the last MK map, the most popular mod here, made by Stanenberg didnt have one single comment! Also the few surviving players became very specialized (like myself). So is not like in the old times of BKP when you released a map and you will have 500 download in one weekend. I believe there are some new players around because of the release of BK in Steam, but to manage the mods probably is a very hard task to the rookies because there are too much mods around (also the new versions of windows makes everything worse). The developers, BTW, dont make things easy: most mods have a great number of patches and versions, maps usually have resources files and people release skins and models spread in threads with 500 pages... I think a portal could help, but who would manage it? There is just one [BKP] and he is (virtually) death now. So, in my modest opinion, we cant make too much things to change this situation (Ok, shoot me for defeatism): people are here just because they like to make maps and mods, even if few (or any) people will try it. BUT, still, there are two simple things which could improve the things very easy: First, people should put all the links for their works in one sigle place (for example, the first post of their threads). Second, the threads in the "latest releases" should be cleaned. But this just the Aleksandar can make it. P.s. about the Russian portal, I think they have a very different culture and is easier to develop one single project. This is imposible here. |
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Post by Stanenberg on May 22, 2017 12:47:12 GMT 1
Actually i get pretty decent download numbers, but none comments anything. They rather praise some new skin for a single unit, which is fine i guess because that seems to be what the community wants  |
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Post by longfellow on May 22, 2017 12:47:25 GMT 1
Hi guys. I was thinking a lot about the community and status of the game. There are some of my thoughts. I realized we suck in every aspect of developing/publishing new content. 1. Community Probably the biggest problem at this point is the community itself. Beefs, spam everywhere, lack of cooperation, lack of criticism....Russian community seems to have common goal - make gzm great....and it works. We on the other hand totaly lack cooperation. Everyone has a different opinion how to make the best mod ever (especially me) but thats fine. More creative stuffs the better. But we should cooperate to some extent. At this point we waste a lot of time and energy for totaly useless content....We should also cease this beef forever and hire some moderator for fuk sake. 2. Quality of content I dont want to sound like total assholes. I am horrible modder myself because I am just lazy noob. I appreciate everyone who create at least something for this game. There are some guys who create truly amazing content. On the other hand there is a lot of shit, useless and noncreative content. There is total lack of constructive criticism. It seems like community is afraid to criticize someone. Everyone want to be friend with everyone and say how 'amazing and detailed his stuff is" even when its not. Or maybe none want to risk another beef, i dont know.... Some stuffs dont even hold with vanilla standards which is shame. Creating same noncreative content (with worse quality than before 2005) again and again is just boring and it doesnt make the game better. it seems like some guys dont even want to improve and they are happy with their work even when its bad....Cmon guys, its 2017. We should make this game better.... 3. Promoting the game Another aspect we totaly fail at. Even if we manage to create something cool we dont know how to promote it. There are no videos on youtube to present gameplay, there are no mods on moddb ( ok some are), there is no BK portal where we could download maps and skins, there is facebook page or some other socia media to show new content. Name of this forum is honestly bad which doesnt help either. Everything is extremely difficult to find. How do u expect new players or old players to come back when we dont show them anything?. I hope none feels efended by this post... Regarding 3 ..... We need a showcase......  |
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Post by Warlord on May 22, 2017 15:35:56 GMT 1
Lads, I know I'm new around here, and maybe I shouldn't be requesting because I can't produce yet, but, IMHO, BK outside GZM is too focused on certain theaters of operations (Western Europe, that is) while it almost completely forgets about the Far East - at least with quality work - barely covers Greece, and goes to Africa in half-hearted mode.
IMHO again, diversifying could attract new players, and most importantly, new creators, that would then help to put more new life into the game.
By the way, I wrote this a while ago, and will do again: I offer myself to help with chores that don't require the technical skill I'm still learning; if you need a brickie, you have it.
Now, just to mention them, I have a lot of ideas that maybe one day I'll be able to design myself, but that right now might serve as fuel-for- thought for you accomplished modders/mappers:
- Historical maps (that could easily be organized into a decent chapter), about the Malayan campaign; Kota Bahru, The Ledge (Krohcol), Ipoh, Slim River, Gemas, and one or two on Singapore.
- The Greek campaign, including maps like the Sfakia retreat (on Crete), but on the Allied side.
- Palembang, Borneo, Dutch New Guinea, all about the attack on the NEI.
I know jungle maps can be a bit dull, with almost nothing but greenery around, but if you base them on historical fact, then things get a lot livelier.
Finally, there are some good but rather old mods for Vanilla that focus outside WW2; shouldn't that (updated) be another approach to this subject? Indochina, Korea, the Middle East, Spanish Civil War, other back-alley brawls of the Cold War...
P.S. IMHO (yet again), the more historically accurate content is, the more attractive it becomes, and it also requires better quality; a design challenge for the Old Guard, and a good offer for would-be BKers.
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Post by longfellow on May 22, 2017 17:06:04 GMT 1
Actually i get pretty decent download numbers, but none comments anything. They rather praise some new skin for a single unit, which is fine i guess because that seems to be what the community wants Pretty sure I mentioned before that I think your MK series of maps are great...I keep part 1 of your add on in my MK folder all the time...keep up the great work....everyone has their niche. I am always up for a job well done I should mention I am noob when it comes to the technical side of things ..I just like playing the maps. |
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Post by mirankohnic on Dec 3, 2017 23:23:48 GMT 1
Good idea. Following
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