PVKII = Dead Game

ɉ◎ℕ · July 2015

It may not be that they don't want to do the objectives, and more that they don't fully understand them, at least that's how it was for me when I joined 5 years ago, and yes i'm not a big fan of all these new players coming, just makes for easy wins and lots of kills, but all the people are learning at their own pace with people on the same level as them. Unlike before where there would always be a couple of new players who got steamrolled by everyone else, then left the game forever, plus it just makes me happy to see all these people playing.

El Negro · July 2015

Ukyo Kuonji wrote:

dinahs

Can you please tell me what that means? I'm terrible with Internet language.

Nive · July 2015

Dinah is just what n o o b is censored in to.
I'm pretty sure the term stems from PVKI? Wasn't it the default name or something?
I wasn't around then.

MrMoho · July 2015

DInah means Diner, basically new players are considered fresh meat/food for veterans.

Trar · July 2015

I'd just like to say that going off the Steamcharts page, PVKII saw more peak players right after that French guy's video than the game ever had before - including mid-2012 when it was newly released on Steam. That's the biggest gains it's ever had. It'll fizz out, of course, but I'd bet money we've gained a couple permanent players.

Now I can agree that hordes of dinahs don't make for a good experience if you actually want to go for the objective and play skillfully. And as much as I admit to preying on them for easy achievements, and as large as this group of new players is, I'd say it's also a problem when certain high level players keep slaughtering them over and over without mercy, especially when the basic mechanics of combat itself has a learning curve.

I don't expect the devs to make the game easier. Setting up a 'dinahs ONLY' server would probably be like skinny dipping with starving sharks. And while it would be nice for some of our veterans (not all of them, some of them) to develop a sense of fair play with them, I'm not going to cross my fingers.

The problem, I'd wager, is bt_island. Surprised? High-level regulars keep treating it as a deathmatch map because they like to kill and socialize on what is effectively the de_dust of this game, and now these new players are treating it as a DM map because they don't know any better. I've seen a lot of DMing on certain territory maps as well that speak to a certain unfulfilled need.

The solution is dedicated deathmatch servers. Not arena servers, deathmatch servers, so people don't become discouraged if they're slaughtered. A DM version of Island would just be frosting on the cake.

Sphynx · July 2015

Trar wrote:

I'd just like to say that going off the Steamcharts page, PVKII saw more peak players right after that French guy's video than the game ever had before - including mid-2012 when it was newly released on Steam.

PVKII's Steam release happened a lot earlier. July 2012 marks the beginning of the Steam Charts records. The first spike you saw there was probably caused by three major events:

Sphynx wrote:

SeaNanners -> Sept 19, 2012

CaptainSparklez -> Sept 24, 2012

PVKII 2.5 -> Oct 24, 2012

Trar · July 2015

I stand corrected then!

I still want to see Markiplier play this game.

Ukyo Kuonji · July 2015

The main gripe I have is they won't stick around, guaranteed. They jump on all servers mindlessly and dgaf what the game is about. While they are p much sheep for slaughtering (and achievement hunting :icon_pirate2:

), they don't provide any real benefits to the community. Pubs just aren't good for any smaller and lesser-known games like these, especially since it's F2P. Look at games like Dirty Bomb, TF2, and any MOBA, for instance. The average player intelligence and skill level is that of a rock. Ofc not every newcomer is going to be bad, some may stick around, great. But the point I'm tryna make is that imo it's not a good thing to act like a surge of F2P dinahs = good. It's the opposite.

Trar · July 2015

So we'd want more serious, "hardcore" players for the long-term health of the game community. I guess I can get behind that.

Now, I still think we should have a certain amount of new pubbers coming and going. I don't think I could stand this game if every single opponent I fought was a super skilled 800-hour veteran.

Koryuumi · July 2015

Before Squeezie made his video, the game was empty of new players, now we have a bunch of dinahs for training ourselves and perform our combat skills without being touched or deal with more opponements alone.
Of course it's a little bit frustrating to see almost of the entire vikings team become beserker just for spam the axe/sword and charge on you without technic behind (do you need a technic for a charge a player with theses weapons?) and when the zerk is killed, he announces you're a hacker.
Of course it's silly to see almost of the entire pirates team become sharpshooter because of the guns and see them be killed without any difficulties.
Same for knights as archer.
I think it's an advantage for train, but a disadvantage for play the game normally.

El Negro · August 2015

Are there still servers that were put after the French invasion? I mean, we still got some "Leftover Frenchfries", but not enough to fill more than 20 servers.

ɉ◎ℕ · August 2015

I'm still seeing a bunch of French people, the game is hovering around 230 peak players a day, I would say at least half are French.

bonerific · August 2015

just a temporary influx soon we'll be back to just me shirleyting on all of you losers!

Hun With A Gun · October 2015

Aughgghhghgh, if we want more people we need more servers. That means that I won't be able to play on SBP(Custom) and I restrict to the stackening. Besides, 10-13 year olds don't find melee fighting fun. Unless they're like me.

ɉ◎ℕ · October 2015

Glad to see the games still getting a peak of over 200 players sometimes a day.

El Negro · October 2015

Hun With A Gun wrote:

Aughgghhghgh, if we want more people we need more servers.

I dunno but more servers means more empty servers when we got such a low player database.

KOKORONOKAWARI · October 2015

The steam exploit is currently the main issue which hopefully Valve fixes soon across the board (hence disabling of custom stuff by default)

Ukyo Kuonji · October 2015

To get more players, just do what everyone else does! Add in weapon camos and an inspection feature!^/s

MajorLunaC · October 2015

Assuming there are good populations at other times, I see a drop in population 8-12 hours from the time of this post. Maybe time zone areas? Maybe some major game review site reviews might help? I know going around at random gaming forums and sites and posting about the game helps (because I did that for another game). My only complaint is the freezing and stuttering on Linux, which I'm still waiting for a patch for.

Otherwise, with the current control system, combat system and damage balance, you could easily make numerous paid games (many genres/game-types) if placed on many indie game selling sites and advertised reasonably. Much MUCH worse stuff has sold ridiculously well. Strangely enough, it's been shown that people "want their money's worth", so they would actually rather pay for something than get it for free.

El Negro · October 2015

Ukyo Kuonji wrote:

To get more players, just do what everyone else does! Add in weapon camos and an inspection feature!^/s

I bet that's what a Valve dev said, and they thought he was for real. Then TF2 and CSGO happened.

Other than that, I really think the only best way to get more players is to pretty much make a well-known and well-named server, a place any person feels "safe". The more players play in a server, the more players want to play in that server, simple as that. Would you like to play in a server where there are 4 players when there are 20 in another (not taking your map likes here)? Unless you like killing lonely people or whatever, I doubt it.

So yeah, "server popularity" is dominated by player database, not maps, which is probably obvious anyway. Just my theory, NOT OPINION.

MajorLunaC wrote:

Otherwise, with the current control system, combat system and damage balance, you could easily make numerous paid games (many genres/game-types) if placed on many indie game selling sites and advertised reasonably. Much MUCH worse stuff has sold ridiculously well. Strangely enough, it's been shown that people "want their money's worth", so they would actually rather pay for something than get it for free.

Source. (And by that I mean proofs, you kno', not the engine)

Because I wouldn't pay for something that WAS free, no goddamn way!.

MajorLunaC · October 2015

I'm not saying sell something that is already free, I'm saying people would prefer to pay for a product than have a product for free (belief of expensive quality vs cheap/free scam/crap):

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140429161643.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121022121908.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150429113211.htm

El Negro · October 2015

People became sooooooo goddamn dumb that now they perceive GODDAMN PRICE as a GODDAMN "taste factor"?

C®apitalism is just goddamn bull fecal matter.

MajorLunaC · October 2015

Maybe they just can't taste anymore ... or maybe smell anymore (smell needed to taste) ... or maybe food is just really bland compared to how it used to be, so they turn to other criteria to judge food. Or maybe pompousness comes with wealth. What's the problem? It just means you can sell your gruel (made of man?) for a higher price and they'll love it even more!

Ukyo Kuonji · October 2015

Lol this is a game, not a full course dinner.

JollyRoger · October 2015

I was surprised by the french invasion and that even after there are more players, but things end up the same old bland archer/skirm LTS and vikings winning island unless stacks

Bagas · October 2015

There should be a limit in the servers for ranged classes like 2 per team (Archers, sharpshooters and "Bondis")

JollyRoger · October 2015

I feel there should never be any restrictions like that, maybe a dramatic change in classes people have been so comfortable with for years that they have to try again.

Nive · October 2015

There's no point in restricting classes like that, let alone just the ranged classes.
If you're getting your shirley handed to you by a team mostly composed of Archers and Sharpshooters, you're not playing right.
Both of them only have staying power at a range, once they're cornered, all they have are tricky maneuvers and parries.
You shouldn't make bee-lines straight for them while they shower you with projectiles.
Instead, put your shield up against incoming fire and take alternate routes to either flank them or just ignore them altogether.
They'll either chase you, which will likely end badly for them, or they'll forget about you, after which you can attack them while they're otherwise distracted.
Keep cover and corners in mind and use them to your advantage. Turn a corner and wait for them to follow you thinking you ran down into the distance.
Use their teammates as cover as well, if you can put yourself between them and another knight/pirate (especially non-ranged classes), they'll intercept their ally's fire.

El Negro · October 2015

Nive wrote:

There's no point in restricting classes like that, let alone just the ranged classes.
If you're getting your shirley handed to you by a team mostly composed of Archers and Sharpshooters, you're not playing right.
Both of them only have staying power at a range, once they're cornered, all they have are tricky maneuvers and parries.
You shouldn't make bee-lines straight for them while they shower you with projectiles.
Instead, put your shield up against incoming fire and take alternate routes to either flank them or just ignore them altogether.
They'll either chase you, which will likely end badly for them, or they'll forget about you, after which you can attack them while they're otherwise distracted.
Keep cover and corners in mind and use them to your advantage. Turn a corner and wait for them to follow you thinking you ran down into the distance.
Use their teammates as cover as well, if you can put yourself between them and another knight/pirate (especially non-ranged classes), they'll intercept their ally's fire.

This guy giving strategic advices is missing something; shouting.

Don't forget to keep RAAAAAAAAAARGHing when you're a viking attacking those satanbless archers!

KOKORONOKAWARI · October 2015

El Negro wrote:

Don't forget to keep RAAAAAAAAAARGHing when you're a viking attacking those satanbless archers!

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