(01-13-2022, 06:13 PM)Haxus Wrote: Here is my plan. Like all plans, this is merely guidance to move forward. None of this is guaranteed to happen.
1. Get Shores of Hazeron back up online as a pay-to-play game, via PayPal, like it used to be. Of the various things I have tried, that was the best way to keep out the riffraff and offset the cost of operation.
2. Finish up Hazeron Starship and publish it on Steam.
I know a bunch of people would love for Shores of Hazeron to be free-to-pay again, but I totally under the reason for liking the pay-wall to keep some of the more troublesome people at bay. Being able to make infinite free accounts and there by have infinite fully colonized solar systems means that any single player can easily drain more server-resources than all other players combined.
I would however suggest maybe lowering the price to be more inline with other games of this style and niche. Maybe $5/month is better. But I am no business major so I can't say if it would really make a difference, since most people are likely turned-away by any price-tag at all.
As for Hazeron Starship, it is nice to hear that you will be continuing that. Even better if you can be developing them both side-by-side.
(01-13-2022, 06:13 PM)Haxus Wrote: Suns are finally rendered as 3D objects.
Gold.
Citizens save their money.
Aquatic plants now exist.
Fog of war implemented.
Sounds like good changes that I am excited to see in game.
Slight start of some economy changes is nice, and the way it simply vanishes them into the void seems like a fine way to do it. But will have to play around with it before I can say much more about it.
Ringworlds not having map exploration can just be explained by the internal workings of the ringworld. The same way the ringworld provide basic electricity to cities, it can be said that it gives easy access to a world map from anywhere on its surface.
(01-13-2022, 06:13 PM)Haxus Wrote: Decay.
Neutral Zone was eliminated.
Noncombatant state of empires was implemented.
Not having to login every week to prevent decay was always the best part about the subscription pay-to-play era. Might be sad for people that have money issues in real life, but there likely isn't a solution that would easily satisfy everyone on the world.
I think getting rid of the "Neutral Zone" is a good call. It mainly divided the player base weirdly and made people sad when they found out they they selected the wrong zone to start in.
As Celarious nicely said on Discord earlier, Hazeron Starship will work fine as a replacement for the "Neutral Zone".
The "Noncombatant" feature sounds interesting. I am sure a lot of the more PvP orientated players won't like it, but that kinda leads in into the age old issue and question that I would like to ask.
The question is: What is your vision for Shores of Hazeron as a game?
I am not asking this to be mean or anything, but it is seriously a question that many players don't know the answer to. Most players has over the past decade thought of Shores of Hazeron as an empire building war game. And when changes are than made that contradict that gameplay it always causes a lot of confusion and sometimes uproar.
I would just suggest that you start sharing a little more about how you think Shores of Hazeron should be played, so we can all help suggest changes or give ideas to accomplish that vision.
Anyway, it really is nice to see you back. It has always been a joy to watch your development and play the game.