FFR's future?

[YoshL]

Re: FFR's future?

edit2: make the game F2P with buyable content so that each player has a false-sense of being unique. Skins, UI content, kavaii moe blob announcers, you name it. Whatever could possibly make the player feel as if they can play the game but aren't getting the whole package unless they fork over a couple of dollars. The League of Legends route if you will.

This has always been a really tricky issue, because a really big selection of our song permissions stems from FFR being a non-profit organization.

I would fucking love it if the possibility of an in game store would happen though. I think however, the overarching reason is that the player gets to do shit that he wants to, and isn't limited to the default setup of the engine or whatever. I love customization, and love being able to make things my own.

There's a possible workaround that I think has been discussed somewhere, somehow, about taking any money generated from revenue and channeling it all into things like tournament prizes/prize money, like the little tokens that PrawnSkunk 3D printed out, or perhaps t-shirts, or something of the sort. That way, the permissions issue is mitigated somewhat

[andy-o24]

Re: FFR's future?

Is the non-profit stipulation pinned to the site as a whole or to individual users? Pooling any revenue to tournaments would work if it were a site-wide thing and not individuals. We'd have to talk to the artists who gave FFR permission under that restriction and see how we interpret that lest we interpret it ourselves and lose their permissions.

-o24

[YoshL]

Re: FFR's future?

Is the non-profit stipulation pinned to the site as a whole or to individual users? Pooling any revenue to tournaments would work if it were a site-wide thing and not individuals. We'd have to talk to the artists who gave FFR permission under that restriction and see how we interpret that lest we interpret it ourselves and lose their permissions.

-o24

I'm not entirely sure, there's people who can better answer this question than I can, but even channeling the revenue into irregular staff salaries (lol incentives to do batch judging even)

I think that most artists who allowed the usage were simply under the impression that their songs won't generate any revenue; so that ffr can't walk away with money earned because of the addition of their songs. Funneling all of the money right back into the community however may be fine, as i said before. Again, this whole issue is really sensitive and tricky, so it's tough to say much without talking to a whole ton of people.

[Arkuski]

Re: FFR's future?

We could always just make another rhythm game... like FourthStyle

[hi19hi19]

Re: FFR's future?

Serious question: does FFR have to "revive?"
Good games come and go... I'm playing a lot of Diablo 2 now, which is a 14 year old game (older than FFR!). Obviously the huge following D2 had has moved on, but the die-hard fans have stayed and some new people (like me) occasionally still wander into the community. Perhaps the gaming community as a whole has in general passed FFR on, but is that really so bad? Do we want to stay small and tight-knit?

[omega_grunt666]

Re: FFR's future?

Add some fancy UI for skill tokens and secret song unlocks, make it very visible/obvious and satisfying when you get something new. More stat-tracking in game, above genre select make an option for difficulty ranges and alphabetical (So instead of saying "rock/classical/etc, it would be 1-5/6-10/11-15 or a/b/c), and have a marker for passing all, full combo'ing all, and AAA'ing all within that category. Put Tier Points into the game-UI, makes the more obvious and easier to work toward.

For cash, start pushing merchandise again. Get some T-shirts made up, some other goodies with FFR branding etc. Nothing in-game should be sold, to avoid artist permission issues. Maybe try tiered supporter packages that come with IRL goodies and some bling for your profile (Badges/Forum Titles/etc) maybe extra replay-slots or trivial stuff like that.

Facebook integration would go a long way to advertise the game is still alive and kicking, you just need a facebook friends list that will show you are playing FFR. Maybe a shortcut from there to challenge them to MP. (Automatically move both players into an MP room with a randomly generated password when the other party accepts) Shouldn't be too hard to make a prompt for the player when they beat a score held by one of their friends, with an option to post about it to their wall with a replay. Maybe have it show up in in-game notifications so you can see who beat you at what since the last time you played.

Serious question: does FFR have to "revive?"
Good games come and go... I'm playing a lot of Diablo 2 now, which is a 14 year old game (older than FFR!). Obviously the huge following D2 had has moved on, but the die-hard fans have stayed and some new people (like me) occasionally still wander into the community. Perhaps the gaming community as a whole has in general passed FFR on, but is that really so bad? Do we want to stay small and tight-knit?

I wouldn't really use the D2 comparison because its post-development cycle. There is no new content being made, and in general most people looking for an ARPG these days are going to play something else (D3, PoE, TL, etc) Fifer still gets updates, we have official tournaments, the game is improving, the site will be revamped. I don't see a reason why we shouldn't be as public as possible, tight-knit groups will still exist same as they do now. Its not like adding more people separates you more from people you consider your friends on this site, in fact you would probably meet even more. I get a lot of people mentioning they used to play way back when and didn't realize the game was still around.

I wouldn't personally choose the term "revive", though plenty of people still believe the site is dead. (Not specifically people here, just people who don't know the site is back up from the downtime) There is a lot of work going into the game and site, what's wrong with putting it out there so more people see it?

[dAnceguy117]

Re: FFR's future?

Serious question: does FFR have to "revive?"
Good games come and go... I'm playing a lot of Diablo 2 now, which is a 14 year old game (older than FFR!). Obviously the huge following D2 had has moved on, but the die-hard fans have stayed and some new people (like me) occasionally still wander into the community. Perhaps the gaming community as a whole has in general passed FFR on, but is that really so bad? Do we want to stay small and tight-knit?

+1

this site can still work toward expansion to some degree if that's desired, but I don't think anything beyond that is necessary. I would personally be less drawn to this site and game if it again became what it once was.

ultimately, it's up to the people in charge to decide what goals to work toward.

[justin_ator]

Re: FFR's future?

Serious question: does FFR have to "revive?"
Good games come and go... I'm playing a lot of Diablo 2 now, which is a 14 year old game (older than FFR!). Obviously the huge following D2 had has moved on, but the die-hard fans have stayed and some new people (like me) occasionally still wander into the community. Perhaps the gaming community as a whole has in general passed FFR on, but is that really so bad? Do we want to stay small and tight-knit?

+1

this site can still work toward expansion to some degree if that's desired, but I don't think anything beyond that is necessary. I would personally be less drawn to this site and game if it again became what it once was.

ultimately, it's up to the people in charge to decide what goals to work toward.

I actually disagree, though I'm not going to try to change your minds.

I feel more that as a community run game that is built by parts of the community for the community in general it would benefit by community growth. We're going to get a bunch of people that people wouldn't care for but we're bound to get good ones too. And ultimately this game is made for enjoyment for whoever wants to play it. We've got some decent diversity already, why not have more? I don't want to sound harsh with this next statement but being preemptively judgmental about the "type of people" we may draw in is just dumb. There's no way to know. And it won't "destroy the community as it is now" either.

I dunno. FFR will always be a game with a userbase that comes and goes to play, and most won't use the forums regardless. But I still don't think we shouldn't reach out.

[gold stinger]

Re: FFR's future?

Whether the site gets a makeover or not, I want this website to be around so that my nephew can play this game.

[CaptainAhab]

Re: FFR's future?

I definitely think that small communities have their merits, but a larger community also has its positives, some of which have been mentioned already. Potential for more content at a faster rate would be the biggest benefit I could think of, along with undoubtedly larger tournament attendance.

However, with a larger community comes a generally "worse" community, meaning, more jerks overall. So far this community seems relatively nice as far as online games go, but I feel like that would slowly fade away if tens of thousands were playing FFR every day.

I'm certainly excited to see the finalized version of R^3, as well as the updated site that I have read a little about on various forum posts!

[dAnceguy117]

Re: FFR's future?

I actually disagree, though I'm not going to try to change your minds.

I feel more that as a community run game that is built by parts of the community for the community in general it would benefit by community growth. We're going to get a bunch of people that people wouldn't care for but we're bound to get good ones too. And ultimately this game is made for enjoyment for whoever wants to play it. We've got some decent diversity already, why not have more? I don't want to sound harsh with this next statement but being preemptively judgmental about the "type of people" we may draw in is just dumb. There's no way to know. And it won't "destroy the community as it is now" either.

I dunno. FFR will always be a game with a userbase that comes and goes to play, and most won't use the forums regardless. But I still don't think we shouldn't reach out.

disagreeing is allowed; otherwise there could be no discussion

those are very valid points. more users would lead to more user-created content, which is largely what this site is about.

I'm not concerned about the "type of people" who would be part of a larger base of players here. however, I think having significantly more users would change (but not destroy) the community as it is now.

as an analogy: I went to a high school with about 400 students. my experiences contrasted greatly with those of people I've talked to who went to high schools with enrollment in the thousands. everyone knew each other. conflict was pretty uncommon, as no one wanted to get into it with someone else who they'd be seeing day in and day out for the indefinite future. it was easy to understand why people acted the way they did when knowing them on a pretty personal level, which helped prevent misunderstandings.

there are pros and cons to small and large communities. I personally just like this one the way it is now, and I think I would be less enticed to frequent here if things changed drastically. I'm only speaking on my own behalf.

[justin_ator]

Re: FFR's future?

disagreeing is allowed; otherwise there could be no discussion

those are very valid points. more users would lead to more user-created content, which is largely what this site is about.

I'm not concerned about the "type of people" who would be part of a larger base of players here. however, I think having significantly more users would change (but not destroy) the community as it is now.

as an analogy: I went to a high school with about 400 students. my experiences contrasted greatly with those of people I've talked to who went to high schools with enrollment in the thousands. everyone knew each other. conflict was pretty uncommon, as no one wanted to get into it with someone else who they'd be seeing day in and day out for the indefinite future. it was easy to understand why people acted the way they did when knowing them on a pretty personal level, which helped prevent misunderstandings.

there are pros and cons to small and large communities. I personally just like this one the way it is now, and I think I would be less enticed to frequent here if things changed drastically. I'm only speaking on my own behalf.

Respectable point and I do see where you're coming from, because I graduated in a class of 30 kids from my high school. While I do agree that you're correct with what you say, I feel that the overall benefit could be potentially better than the issues that will arise from a bigger community.

Not to mention I think it'd be neat to see some new faces competing with the old ones for top scores (:

[Poison-]

Re: FFR's future?

Rhythm gaming has died out.

[Charu]

Re: FFR's future?

It will die out with that attitude, mister!

[JohnRedWolf87]

Re: FFR's future?

We can rebuild it. We have the technology!