How is it going to look in the long run, after the number of Spacetime games continues increasing and people see only the most recent games get constant care. Of course new games are getting more players/revenue; they have more features.
Imagine the quality of PL if all the effort had been poured into it.
I honestly never thought Spacetime had the staff to keep all the games running with constant care after AL was announced.
I am glad we got a dev update on the status of the game and appreciate the responses in this thread. It's just disappointing to many as the PL community has invested so much.
Justg, we understand you have moved on to bigger games. I think all we need to make us happy is a quick fix to the pvp balance, and an alternative method to recieve the three piece bonus. Fixing these two will create huge revenue for you and continue to grow your fan base because all new people will not be deterred by the bonus pieces all the older members have.
Just fix these two things and everyone can be totally happy. Think about it....If things stayed the way they were at the 56 cap, and 61,66,71,76 never came i think everyone would have been totally happy!!
My two cents, and first I'll say that I haven't read this entire thread. I'm just responding to the first post.
I have been playing pocket legends for years, and got distracted and sucked into other games during the many months when STS ignored PL after the mount fang update. I played SL for a little while, but I'm not at all impressed with it. It's pretty much the same game, except that the emotes sound hollow and it's in space. I played DL for like two days, but I couldn't get past the fact that it looks like an old Atari 2600 game. I don't even know why they made that game. And I played AL for a week or two, and I'm wondering why they made that one either. There was so much excitement in PL when STS said they would add pets, and then all they did was add vanity pets that circle around you. Then they made AL which is all about pets with powers... Why didn't they just add pets with powers to PL, instead of scattering their energy with a new and less fun game?
Four games now... Five? Battle dragons, really? I won't even try that one. STS needs to get back to the game that made it famous among mobile gamers, because all these other games are just a waste of time.
The one thing that keeps me at PL is how smooth it is. I went to AL for like a week, and charging skills and stuff is just...meh. It doesn't feel right. But everything at PL just makes sense. Now if only the devs could understand that, and maybe fix some of the simple problems, like spawning.
Oh PL.. You've left me so many good memories ( and some bad ones too).... I really don't want it to collapse.. If only we could go to another dimension. Where PL was still at 55 cap and STS decided just to pour all their efforts into just one game. I've tried other new Sts games. None of them gave me much fun more than PL. STS, things can be fixed if they've gone wrong. It's better to be late than never.
The game isnʻt dead, donʻt treat it as such.
-------AEO-------
Chill guys, ik you all want an update, but their a company they need to concern most to the game that gives most provit, We all just need to wait and something will come. As G said "We are doing our best" Means they're. Ik we all get frustrated after long time without cap, Maybe you can things you can do to kill boredom, I did soloing L1-55 It sure kills my boredom, But main factor I stayed was for pvp. You all just need to find something you haven't done ingame, It helps me a lot..
~Extreme
Judgementals, Retired Officer of Rated M.
I've noticed 2 things after reading threads about PL
1. Those threads show how PL community cares n is concerned about its survive o.o
2. The Absolute silence from Sts
Lady Viviane
If only they would concentrate everything into PL. Launching out new awesome skills like massive DoT skills from SL to PL. Drop systems from DL really makes me excited.. Dat gem dropping onto the floor and we have to collect it is just fun. AL? Attacking pets ofc. If only everything above is focused into PL, it would be AMAZING. Having caps over 100 and rival maple.
They can't do that though, Doodle. Sure, in our sake it would be awesome. But this same problem is going on with SL (other than the fact that PL was made first, and AL has the same theme as PL). However, how would you feel if they dropped everything onto SL, just because of one thread a forumer made?
As Necro said, the game isn't dead yet. Perhaps if everyone voiced their opinions in a respectful and mature manner, we would be answered more. Most of our threads have turned into rants when we demand more of PL (which includes me ) Please avoid sounding spoiled - if we just keep wishing and wishing and bashing on PL, we can't expect anything to happen. STS realizes this already! They are well aware of the situation, and it's truly from business in which PL is simply not prioritized. We have to respect that and be patient.
@JustG, if I may ask - Is there some sort of penalty in relation to profits if simple bug fixes were made? I'm thinking more in terms of End Game PvP where it is extremely unbalanced (the minute end game PvP is balanced, the minute I start making tournament after tournament) - is something preventing STS from making changes? Does it have to do with prioritization, time, staff members, or money?
Edit: I don't mean a new level cap, I just mean simple stat changes as well as the amount of skill damage one can have - stuff as simple as that. I'm just curious from a business perspective.
Last edited by XghostzX; 08-19-2013 at 09:29 AM.
Being a marketing man myself and understand the fundamentals. I have no hard feelings towards the decisions. I understand many have hard feelings to "No new cap announcement" But the fact is if they dont make hard decisions...we will NEVER have a new cap. SL is my 1st and favorite game..still love it today. Much love "G" and the rest of STS devs (and Delphi ).
Last edited by octavos; 08-19-2013 at 09:52 AM.
PL-Ghosts | SL-DL-AL- Ghost | SL-DL-AL-Octavos
Since the dev responses have been focused on the business aspects of running the games, I'll respond in kind.
Nobody denies that the business climate around mobile gaming is a tough one. I get that it's a high stakes business, and bad decisions have big consequences. It's a cut-throat world and you gotta do what you gotta do to stay alive. Point taken.
You must remember that the business you're in is not selling a product. You're selling an experience. There is a huge difference here. When selling a product, it's perfectly acceptable to make something, work it for a while, then move on to the next new thing. Nobody expects a company to make, say, a digital camera, then support that model for 10 years. Technology advances and new models have to come out to remain competitive.
In gaming, and MMOs especially, this "make, milk and move on" model doesn't work, at least not in the long-term. STS has created a series of games, moving its attention on in a more or less linear fashion. What this ignores is that people get into a game because it's going to be there for them: content, community, etc. This is why you would never launch a new game by saying, "We're going to support this game for two years then shut it down". Nobody would start because they would know from the beginning that their investment is wasted. However, this is the model you've fallen into (whether it was the plan all along or not).
If you guys were really savvy, you'd realize it's not an "all or nothing" proposition. Naturally games will need different amount of focus as their development plays out. But pouring all your effort into the "new shiny" while completely ignoring all the others is doing yourselves and your player base a massive disservice. A game like PL needs only a minimal investment in development time to sustain it. We all know the pattern of new caps and content, and the game doesn't need a massive rework in its features or basic mechanics. It can continue to provide enjoyment, and therefore revenue, with skeleton crew maintaining it. Not only does this earn money more cheaply than the "all hands on deck" development strategy on brand new games, but it also honors your long-term player base.
In every business, it is far cheaper to retain a loyal customer than convert a new one. This is especially true in an "experience" business, because an alienated customer is lost for ALL your titles, i.e. lost for good. And there are only so many MMO gaming players and hours to go around. I certainly won't invest any more of my time and money in any new title you produce because why should I invest in the "next" one only to have that one shelved on me too? Alienate enough people this way, and that becomes your reputation. Does WoW release a brand new title where everyone has to start over every year or two? No, they maintain their game and community. People buy in because they know it's still going to be there in 3, 5, 10 years from now.
People get frustrated because you guys use this all or nothing strategy that's ultimately self-defeating. It alienated the loyal community when it would have been so easy just to maintain a low-level of support to keep the game alive. That's certainly far easier than building out a whole new game and community, which is what you keep foisting on yourselves. You completely ignore the existing game, which makes the community back off and reduce its investment in the game, which creates lower revenue and "justifies" the lack of attention...even though it was the abrupt withdraw STS itself did that set the whole chain in motion. Many people talk as if it's perfectly normal that you'd completely abandon a title in order to get the next one out...as if that's the only possible way to operate. Well I'm here to point out that's not the only way to operate, and in fact it's not the optimal way either. A little bit of investment goes further in the established game, and also shows that you aren't going to just pull up stakes and ride off when the next idea comes along. And that makes it "safe" for the loyal following to come along with you to that new game, because the community's investment (and yes, WE invest our resources in your games just like STS does) will be respected.
I know the devs we talk to here don't set corporate strategy, so this isn't going to make any difference at all in the trajectory STS seems hell-bent on following. But I put this out there because I wanted you to know that yes, we do realize this is a business and yes, it doesn't do anyone any good if you guys close down for lack of profit. But here were are, your customers, telling you how it is on our end, providing direct customer satisfaction and retention data most industries can only dream about. It should be clear you can only afford to abandon and move on so many times before you run out of fresh customers to survive on. I hope the people in charge realize this before it's too late, because I and many others obviously want to keep you guys around.
Well said strike
Wow Strike, really well said. Thanks for the feedback, you should consider building your own thread off of that. Seems like you have a pretty solid idea
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