Where is everyone?

viperboy0612 · March 01, 2012, 09:07:54 AM MT

I just started playing a couple of days ago and I am loving this game thus far. The only downside is I have no one to play it. I convinced 2 of my roommates to play and they also like the game. I would be interested in supporting this game by buying the character packs, but I can't get myself to if I won't be able to use it against human players. I am signed in pretty often throughout the day keeping an eye out for players, but there are barely any. It's almost like a ghost town. What happened?

Ross Przybylski · March 01, 2012, 03:49:36 PM MT

That's a great question, and one that deeply perplexes me. Hero Mages is one of the few games out there that offers a combination of turn-based tactics and strategic card play- and it's got awesome multiplayer support for pretty much any device. Where are the players, indeed. It's the age old circle problem: players don't come because they hear no one is playing, no one plays because nobody comes.

I struggle a lot with this- I do my best as a developer to create all the features everyone asks and build a solid and stable game that's fun as can be to play. Player support is very important to Hero Mages- I rely on the players to promote the game just as much as you rely on me to keep developing. That's why I appreciate your post, viperboy. Getting your friends online to play is the first step. If each player brings even one or two additional friends to the game, our community will grow quickly, and, before long, it will be bustling with tons of opponents to battle against.

What other ways can players help bring more friends onboard? Write awesome feedback in the marketplace., post recommendations on other forums, create Youtube videos proclaiming your love of Hero Mages to the world? I'm eager to hear your ideas and support in anyway that I can.

viperboy0612 · March 01, 2012, 08:14:06 PM MT

Thanks for the quick response! I'll be sure to keep telling friends about it and trying to get the word out. Hopefully the community can grow a little bit more.

viperboy0612 · March 01, 2012, 08:24:57 PM MT

I have an idea to get more traffic. Maybe you can partner up with another site. Have you ever heard of boardgamearena.com? They have a lot of board games on their site and a pretty steady stream of players. Not sure what you can offer in return because I don't know the business side of websites/in-browser gaming, but just an idea floating around. I feel that if you google board games online, a lot of people get redirected to boardgamearena since that is one of the best places to play online board games.

Ross Przybylski · March 02, 2012, 12:30:39 AM MT

That's a worthy suggestion! I'll look into it.

Gorstak · March 27, 2012, 10:09:41 PM MT

i realy hate being forced to play with comps cas thers nobody else to play with.

Trasd · March 28, 2012, 10:27:02 AM MT

I am new too, and was wondering the same thing.

I am going to start pushing HM at my DDO guild site (here). Right now it is word of mouth, but when I get a chance, I will write a nice promo. I'm currently on a beta Android version, so I don't know if it will work with others, but when I am done with some pressing matters, I will give it a try. I may move to the desktop while learning, but I like it on the tablet because I can play when I'm hurting and sitting at the big system is just too much.

I agree, this game is awesome! I love strategy - this is exactly what I was looking for when I went looking - but right now I am only beating the AI (when I get a chance to play) about 50% of the time, and that is against a single opponent and using only two arenas! I have a lot to learn, still.

I feel like my learning will be stymied until I can play against real people.

diesbudt · March 29, 2012, 10:17:04 PM MT

I am on every now and again, though it is rare as I have just obtained a new job in middle of Indiana and have been busy moving to and getting prepared there.

Ross Przybylski · March 30, 2012, 03:45:29 PM MT

dies! Good to see you on the forums again! Congrats on the new job!

diesburgz · April 05, 2012, 09:32:56 PM MT

Well since my brother mentioned it to me, I'll be checking in now and then too. I like the changes Ross, they confused me at first but it looks good.

diesbudt · April 05, 2012, 10:18:17 PM MT

1 change I do not like is the text up top that states what is being done. If I didn't know every spell/ability/attack sound and animation by heart I would be so lost what that mage just casted, especially since the animation is so fast you don't get much time on the right side to see it.

Eggslake · April 10, 2012, 09:02:38 AM MT

Sorry if this has been asked before.....is this game cross platform? Can I play on my android device against ios and pc users?

Trasd · April 10, 2012, 12:16:46 PM MT

Quote from: Eggslake link=topic=415.msg2261#msg2261 date=1334048558
Sorry if this has been asked before.....is this game cross platform? Can I play on my android device against ios and pc users?

From my understanding, YES! That's one of the beauties of this system and one of the items Ross works very hard to make happen. If I am wrong, my apologizes in advance. Someone who has been around longer will have to confirm this, but I'm 95% positive it is transparent to the OS.

Eggslake · April 10, 2012, 06:13:05 PM MT

Thanks for the reply mate, I just tried an online match but no luck. It says versions are not compatible, my android version is 1.7.1 and the pc version was 1.7.0. The guy in lobby said he's played from his pc against android users before, so I don't understand what the issue could be?

Rial · April 11, 2012, 08:33:51 AM MT

Okay, I have just made a quick test and I was able to connect my Android phone (latest Silver app) with actual online Version. It was a little bit laggy (because of my slow phone connection here, I think) but it worked realy fine so far.

Back to the topic I must say, it was mere chance I have found Hero Mages and I was looking for a game like this a long time. To offer a coop crossplatform multiplayer option was the best you could make, I think.
Well, I only have made some little games so I can't say much about Hero Mages. But I play P&P rpgs and board games (like Descent, you know) a long time now and if I can make a suggenstion: personalization.

No matter if you play a rpg, a ccg/tcg or a board game like Descent or Hero Quest, a player wants to identify with the hero he play. On Hero Mages I don't have this feeling, it's more like a nameless figure I have to move around the board. I don't know if it's possible to make on Hero Quest but it would be a great motivation if a player can say "this is *my* hero, I have fight so many battles with him".

Another nice have: Coop multiplayer campaigns. Combined with my first suggestion I could imagine a gameplay like this: A "tree of levels" (maps). Depending if the player win or lose the next map is chosen.
To look at personalization it would be possible mages get more spells, mana, life, etc. from map to map.

Kind regards,
Rial

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