JordanD Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 Although I've never seriously played one, I've seen games (mostly gangster/mafia) that have rounds that last 30 days or 90 days or whatever and then it resets the player stats and starts fresh with a new round. This seems to allow new players an opportunity to be the best in the game and creates a more fast-paced competition between players, but I wonder if it gets tiring or frustrating for long-term players who have to start from scratch after they have worked hard. I am planning a business simulation type game that I will probably be working on and releasing this summer and I have considered using rounds, but I can't make up my mind. What opinions do you guys have on round-based games? Do you see any positives or negatives besides what I listed? Quote
Cronus Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 One huge negative... people are a lot more resistant to purchase premium features when it resets, because they would lose what they paid for. Maybe make premium features that last an amount of rounds... instead of days. Also, if there is a "winner", you would need to give them a prize near the end. If you choose a real life item or amount of $$, you need to make enough donations to cover it in the alotted amount of time otherwise you are just digging urself a hole. Quote
Seker Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 I played on a network which had both round-based and continuous versions of almost all of their games. Rounds gave a cash prize + game credit to the winner at the end of each reset. Runners up also received some "points/crystals" for the new round. Personally, I always hated restarting. Once I'm at the top, I'd rather have people trying to catch up, rather than sending me down to join them. From what I've seen, though, the players who will play more than one round usually love it and will continue to play for many rounds. At least, until they can no longer afford it. I think it's pretty hit-or-miss with a round-based game. With a super large player-base, I could see the advantages. New players everyday would love to not feel like they're automatically in the dust just because they found the game after everyone else. Not to mention, game economy is a non-issue with round-based games. Quote
ColdBlooded Posted April 20, 2012 Posted April 20, 2012 One huge negative... people are a lot more resistant to purchase premium features when it resets, because they would lose what they paid for. Maybe make premium features that last an amount of rounds... instead of days. Also, if there is a "winner", you would need to give them a prize near the end. If you choose a real life item or amount of $$, you need to make enough donations to cover it in the alotted amount of time otherwise you are just digging urself a hole. One way around this is to set a jackpot system. For example, each user buys a membership pack which cost $10.00.. then $5.00 automatically gets put aside for jackpot/prize funds. In the end, the funds is used to award the top player(s) in cash/item prizes at the end of the round. It's a gamble.. have addictive features and promising prizes, then players will play and compete; spend heaps the $. I have seen this in action where 50% of membership funds portion goes towards prizes, 10% towards fees/admin costs, and 40% towards charity. Very successful. Quote
JordanD Posted April 22, 2012 Author Posted April 22, 2012 Thanks for sharing your opinions. I talked to someone a few months ago who was a co-owner of a mafia game that uses rounds and makes $5000 a month, but after hearing the views of those of you who have replied, I think I will just do another persistent game. Maybe I'll even try two versions of my game (one persistent, one round-based). We'll see how it goes I guess... Quote
dnenb Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 I know this is an old thread, but I'm facing the same issue right now. I have some players who have played a while - long enough so that new players will never catch up. I'm considering rounds or implementing a feature that lets you kill other players. What are you guys (everyone who owns a game here) doing? If I don't do something then the top players will get unlimited stats. Quote
sniko Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 I know this is an old thread, but I'm facing the same issue right now. I have some players who have played a while - long enough so that new players will never catch up. I'm considering rounds or implementing a feature that lets you kill other players. What are you guys (everyone who owns a game here) doing? If I don't do something then the top players will get unlimited stats. If you've players too high for anyone to catch up, and you reset them....You're going to have a bad time. - You will most likely destroy your own creation in 1 click. Perhaps introduce a version 2 of the game, a fresh start (whilst keeping your current version live) with new things? Quote
dnenb Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 If you've players too high for anyone to catch up, and you reset them....You're going to have a bad time. - You will most likely destroy your own creation in 1 click. Perhaps introduce a version 2 of the game, a fresh start (whilst keeping your current version live) with new things? It would be the same for everyone, and they'd get the message in good time before it happened, so I don't think it'd be so bad. And if I don't do something I still have the problem with unlimited stats. How are you solving it? Quote
sniko Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 It would be the same for everyone, and they'd get the message in good time before it happened, so I don't think it'd be so bad. And if I don't do something I still have the problem with unlimited stats. How are you solving it? True, however, If I spent $x donating to a game and x time playing it, to only get a message saying "We're going to change the game, and make it rounds based", I'd most likely quit. With unlimited stats, possibly change the datatype within the database, allocating more memory, thus, bigger values. Quote
Dominion Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 The problem can be solved differently for every game, for example your run away players (stat wise) or a higher level then all the others correct? You could simply add "safe haven" locations to the game allowing smaller players to avoid attacks. Items to protect themselves well online, and gang war rules to protect a larger gang/clan (or whatever you call them... if you have them at all) attacking the weakest without reason. An example on this would be a penalty (money, respect or anything really) if your gangs average level is X higher then those you are attacking. Protection for new members is always a good thing as well (first 10 days?). You would need to add in extra features to make it worth being number #1 of course... Look for options other then removing the achievements of your members. Quote
dnenb Posted June 27, 2013 Posted June 27, 2013 True, however, If I spent $x donating to a game and x time playing it, to only get a message saying "We're going to change the game, and make it rounds based", I'd most likely quit. My game doesn't have a lot of active players (wouldn't be a big loss), and they're all participating in the discussion about this in the game forum (they're in on whatever decision will be made). With unlimited stats, possibly change the datatype within the database, allocating more memory, thus, bigger values. It should be possible for a new player to join the game at a higher level, not always be way behind. I need to make that possible, and it won't be with just higher and higher values. - - - Updated - - - The problem can be solved differently for every game, for example your run away players (stat wise) or a higher level then all the others correct? You could simply add "safe haven" locations to the game allowing smaller players to avoid attacks. Items to protect themselves well online, and gang war rules to protect a larger gang/clan (or whatever you call them... if you have them at all) attacking the weakest without reason. An example on this would be a penalty (money, respect or anything really) if your gangs average level is X higher then those you are attacking. Protection for new members is always a good thing as well (first 10 days?). You would need to add in extra features to make it worth being number #1 of course... Look for options other then removing the achievements of your members. Thanks! I'm doing that with attacking already. Maybe I should do it in more areas of the game. Quote
Mint Berry Crunch Posted June 28, 2013 Posted June 28, 2013 Look at stuff like Supremacy1914 to see how non-persistent games can work along with premium service. Quote
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