OpenBracket

So you have finally finished coding your game! YAY! Celebrate. Drink. Be merry. Do whatever you want but walk away. One of the hardest parts of having a PBBG is not planning, or coding but maintaining player interest.

You may be wondering how you can do this. In reality, the idea is simple, but putting into practice is where it gets difficult. The idea is simply this: evolution. Ensure that your game is not constantly evolving, but pretty damn close to it. To many great games have fallen because the creators have just released the game and went no where with it. You want to be releasing new content, new updates, new events, new whatever you can once or twice a month if you can. This also depends on the game you have. For instance if you have a round based game you will want to wait until the end of the round before making changes but if you have a never ending RPG, you while want to release minor updates at least once a month and major updates every 4-6 months. By major I mean changing the way people play the game.

But, there is another side to this coin. So you planned out updates and features to add later. This doesn’t mean that people will stay with your game. Look at TornCity. It has evolve a LOT since it was released three years ago, but they add new features everyone month or two, but there is nothing to maintain player interest. Ya, the new features are cool, but the game play is stagnant. This is why you are not suggested to release game play updates every couple months, but it’s damn near needed to keep older players interested. I’ve been playing TC for 3 years and there has almost be NO changes to the game play. Almost NONE! Most of the older players are quitting since there is nothing left for us to do.

You do not want this to happen. I do not want this to happen. You have a duty to your players that have invest the time and money into your game to keep the game fun, interesting and involving as long as you possibly can.

Yes, you will eventually reach a point where you can’t make any more changes and you should be willing to accept this (don’t give it up entirely, but just switch focus). When you finally see that time coming, switch your focus from evolution to creation. Take everything you have learned and make a new game. Don’t make the same game with a few different features, colors, names. Make a totally different game with a different kind of game play entirely. If you have a loyal community, 70-90% of them will likely try your new game. The style may not grab them, but it will grab a good number, probably about 40% of the ones that try it from your other game will stay. Thats a large community for a new game.

So remember these points: create, evolve, and create.

As always, comments, input, questions, criticism is welcomed. I hope this has helped you or guided you in some way.