Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

skullz17 · 2015-03-28 15:05:55

It would also help to make some items cheaper, able to buy more at a time, or even infinite. For example, buying signs takes too long imo.

mrjawapa · 2015-03-28 15:12:19

I changed the prices of everything. Action blocks are around 400-500 energy cheaper. You get 5 portals now, signs could be a bit higher... maybe also 5.

But with the thing we are planning you wouldn't have to buy these items over and over again. Essentially it would be a like an infinite builders club for action blocks only.

BEE · 2015-03-28 16:13:36

Personally, I think new players have the most debilitating limit with their lack of worlds.

I mean, throw them a bone and give them a handful.

Insanity · 2015-03-28 16:16:37

It's too simple and basic to be considered not "casual"

Tamashiimizu · 2015-03-28 20:33:11

I agree with a lot of things here.
But what breaks my heart is that there's A LOT of great maps made, that can only be found in the forums. If a new user could see (at least some of) them in the lobby (like in the featured tab), not only it would be fun to log in the game and try them out, but it could also serve as inspiration. Right now there's 3 options in the featured tab, and one of them is 200 Lava Minigames (not sure why it is featured)

Creature · 2015-03-28 20:34:14

JaWapa wrote:

But with the thing we are planning you wouldn't have to buy these items over and over again. Essentially it would be a like an infinite builders club for action blocks only.

Seriously? I always wanted infinite signs to build some cool worlds.

MIHB_casts_confuseplayer · 2015-03-29 00:42:24

Nou wrote:

im not sure what you mean by them possibly viewing it as a game rather than a sandbox. what's the difference, what are the implications?

Basically, a game is something where at least some play is fundamental, due to gameplay implemented by the developer. Simcity is a game, WoW is a game, GTA is a game, Candy Crush is a game, so forth.

The implications of "game" is that its coherent. With EE, coherence would mean some elements that players can take from one location to another. Thats what leads to such nonsense as potions: items that you can buy outside of a world and take to any world you want (or at least, worlds that haven't said "potions suck, don't bring them in here").

EE is a platform. Think of it like deviantart: deviantart provides no art, it is not art, its not a place where you carry some art themes from one picture to the next or one user to the next (unless the user or users have decided to make it so). Hell, I don't even know if they have a way to say if something is art or not. Basically they just give you the ability to upload something where you used a bunch of pixels filled with different colors. Sound familiar?

EE has more of a "sandbox" element because you can actively make the item by playing with stuff on EE, rather than just doing it elsewhere. Think of EE as DeviantArt with a built in copy of photoshop or gimp, that won't let you upload pictures, you have to make them on the site. Now, theres no good reason you have to make them on the site, but they don't provide you with a good way to make them elsewhere. But you still have total control of what shows up in a "picture", or map, subject to the tools you have (photoshop), and Deviantart lets you do make whatever the hell you want, subject only to (I imagine) some moderation for vulgarity and copyrighted content.

With a game, you tend to think of the community as a single element: individual players playing an individual game, groups of players all playing in the same world. Some games allow minor elements of player choice (games that allow players to go on small servers and play with specific people). The elements of sandboxiness get stronger and stronger as it shifts from game over to platform; Minecraft has no ending (that people really care much about) and is largely a tool of self expression. But it still comes packaged with very specific gameplay: you generate the world and your hunger bar is counting down, right then.

EE lacks that entirely. There is no gameplay in EE except for what the world creator makes (and the stupid potions). Its not a game, its a platform with sandboxes for content creation. With things like DeviantArt, the site itself doesn't do a damn thing to shape the content. At most it will remove the content completely, for vulgarity or whatever. It lets the users make their own content, then helps visitors find content to look at through various systems, like the "whats hot" section and the search bar.

A user-generated content community should NOT have any more than the most basic of content created by the platform itself (such as example photographs on DeviantArt, or the tutorial level on EE). The job of a platform owner is NOT to impact the content that users create in ANY way. The job of a platform is to enhance the ability of the users to find content and the ability of the users to create content. For those platforms where the platform itself creates content (such as a news discussion forum where a post is made by the site administrator giving their opinion on a topic), research shows that the result of the platform creating content is that users generate less content in response.

Any element that the EE creators make that can objectively be construed as actual gameplay (potions being taken from world to world, ninja smileys that can go invisible on map, even the chat system itself) simply takes away power from the content creators themselves, and they will create less content as a result. Every action taken by the EE developers should center around 3 questions:

1. Make money, based on current and potential revenue streams
2. Improve the ability of creators to create maps and have control over the experience of the player, subject to the need to make money
3. Improve the ability of players to find the specific maps or kinds of maps they want to play, subject to the need to make money and the limits of what content the users have made.

Now, if the developers decide to treat EE more as a game than a platform because they see it as the best way to make money, thats fine; 2 and 3 both depend on how the owners can best make money. But, unless they want to change the way EE works entirely, those three goals should shape the thought process; any action that breaks one of those rules will most likely hurt EE and/or be a waste of resources.

Side note:
If you've been asking me for what my plan would be, its simple: I have no plan, because I don't know what money EE makes, what aspects of EE make the most money, or the owners' ability to allow companies to advertise through EE. I also don't know how much money the owners are willing to invest, how much they want to make in return, or what the time frame is that they want to make it by. Answering question 1 is always the first and most important thing, and theres no point to generating a plan if you haven't answered question 1.

Miasmic, skullz17, Nou

Tamashiimizu · 2015-03-29 06:38:05

I agree with MIHB. If you imagine EE without all the worlds created from users, all that is left is a black space, where you can go left, right and jump.
Just like EE, in minecraft you walk around and place (or destroy) blocks, but there's music, time lapse, enemys, health, hunger, and other things. If you take away all the user generated content, all that is left are the things listed above, which can already make minecraft playable.
I may be wrong, especially because I don't know much things about this subject and program, but I consider EE as a platform just like RPG maker. All you have is a blank space, tools, and possibilities.

Miasmic

iPwner · 2015-03-31 05:50:35

There is a much, MUCH simpler solution... stop caring.

Pyromaniac, Miasmic, Onjit, ILoveBaconYUM

skullz17 · 2015-03-31 18:20:10

iPwner wrote:

There is a much, MUCH simpler solution... stop caring.

Stop caring about life and you will never have any worries! You won't even have to eat or drink!

drstereos, SPT, ILoveBaconYUM, mrjawapa

iPwner · 2015-03-31 23:52:20

skullz17 wrote:

iPwner wrote:
There is a much, MUCH simpler solution... stop caring.
Stop caring about life and you will never have any worries! You won't even have to eat or drink!

Facepalm_(1).png

This isn't life, this is a game

ILoveBaconYUM

iPwner · 2015-04-01 00:29:47

Boh wrote:

iPwner wrote:
skullz17 wrote:
iPwner wrote:
There is a much, MUCH simpler solution... stop caring.
Stop caring about life and you will never have any worries! You won't even have to eat or drink!

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2013 … lm_(1).png
This isn't life, this is a game
This isn't a game, this is a platform with sandboxes for content creation...

It is a game that also serves as a platform with sandboxes for content creation, if it was only a platform with sandboxes for content creation there would be no interraction between players and you would merely have your sandbox to create your own creations.

iPwner · 2015-04-01 00:38:43

Boh wrote:

iPwner wrote:
It is a game that also serves as a platform with sandboxes for content creation, if it was only a platform with sandboxes for content creation there would be no interraction between players and you would merely have your sandbox to create your own creations.
people...interaction = life :o

How is this interraction with people ?;p i said players, who might as well not be people because they only exist as names on a screen and their chats. O_o is there any PROOF that we are even people? we might as well just be random usernames ran by robots that blurb content into the game. :3 there isn't really any interraction, as in LIFE, you are actually just sitting in front of a computer and "touching" it. it is possible that in fact we are SLAVES of the computer, and we are only "touching" it for it's pleasure. why do we touch computers? computers should touch us to give us pleasure. ;D anyway, i'm kind of rambling off here in my own thoughts... but the point is it's not life~

tak4n · 2015-04-01 00:48:10

iPwner wrote:

Boh wrote:
iPwner wrote:
It is a game that also serves as a platform with sandboxes for content creation, if it was only a platform with sandboxes for content creation there would be no interraction between players and you would merely have your sandbox to create your own creations.
people...interaction = life :o
How is this interraction with people ?;p i said players, who might as well not be people because they only exist as names on a screen and their chats. O_o is there any PROOF that we are even people?

*Cough* Cyph1e *Cough*

mrjawapa · 2015-04-01 00:59:34

EE may not be life itself, but it is part of life for many people. And a rather large part.

Just because the game doesn't mean anything to you, doesn't make it meaningless to everyone else. There is a lot of memories in EE, a lot of good stories, a lot of happiness. Why would we just give up on it and let all of it slip away.

Different55, xen90

BEE · 2015-04-01 02:52:03

Jawapa, your beautiful speech about the phiosophy of life has been corrupted by April Fool's day lol

Different55, Xfrogman43, skullz17, SPT, xen90

Pyromaniac · 2015-04-01 03:10:55

The whole first post is golden now

skullz17

skullz17 · 2015-04-01 21:00:57

Pyromaniac wrote:

The whole first post is golden now

holy crap

MIHB_casts_confuseplayer · 2015-04-01 21:13:40

Ha! I am unaffected by the plague infesting the forum.

I am a god! Bow to me, peons!

skullz17 · 2015-04-01 21:20:50

fite me irl m9

Xfrogman43 · 2015-04-02 00:15:33

-Fites-
Oh wait, wrong guy.

Pingohits · 2015-04-02 02:22:03

Official Everybody Edits Forums

#26 2015-03-28 15:05:55

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#27 2015-03-28 15:12:19

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#28 2015-03-28 16:13:36

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#29 2015-03-28 16:16:37

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#30 2015-03-28 20:33:11

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#31 2015-03-28 20:34:14

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#32 2015-03-29 00:42:24, last edited by MIHB_casts_confuseplayer (2015-03-29 00:53:08)

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#33 2015-03-29 06:38:05

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#34 2015-03-31 05:50:35

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#35 2015-03-31 18:20:10

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#36 2015-03-31 23:52:20

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#37 2015-04-01 00:29:47

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#38 2015-04-01 00:38:43

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#39 2015-04-01 00:48:10

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#40 2015-04-01 00:59:34

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#41 2015-04-01 02:52:03

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#42 2015-04-01 03:10:55

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#43 2015-04-01 21:00:57

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#44 2015-04-01 21:13:40

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#45 2015-04-01 21:20:50

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

#46 2015-04-02 00:15:33

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

-Fites-Oh wait, wrong guy.

#47 2015-04-02 02:22:03

Re: Why this game has a small community - a counterargument

creature actually discovered this before all of you

so HA

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-Fites-
Oh wait, wrong guy.