I have watched our active trainer number dwindle down. I don't think MonBre is a bad game. I've tried to accomodate newbies as much as possible... made a tl;dr version of reference... a lot of other things to be newbie-friendly.
It's just hard, folks. Because I wake up every morning and I'm broke as shit, the only money I get is from working with my dad and the rare web design job I get. It's hard to say, "Alright, I think if we JUST add tile sets, the game will look pro and fun."
Because honestly I think that's what the game is lacking. I spent so much time worrying about whether or not people would care if I used sprites from other games for mobs, or coding things like raids, that I think somewhere along the line I lost my love. I lost the fire that made MonBre fun.
I try to pick it up with quests and I put in mob abilities so the PvE wasn't completely boring, but for some reason, people don't stay. I will accept people joining and then quitting soon after. I will, really. But I won't accept the feeling deep down inside that people join exploring, see a blank page, and feel like it's a complete grind fest.
Tell me any problems you find with MonBre, or problems you think people would have, particularly people who haven't just signed up; I'm talking when you get into the game and learn what it's all about. But if you have any suggestions on how to keep newbies, don't hold back.
like you couldn't tell already, but I like this game it's not time-consuming unless you let it be, you can stop in the middle of an exploration and finish it after doing whatever. No matter what, dont change that part.
I dont even know how it could be done, but I'd love some kind of customization for my monster. Maybe color options? I dont know really, just something to make mine feel like it's different from all others in some way other than stats, name, and owner.
�<-What's this? Well anyways- Most newbies don't like waiting to train their monsters and just want to fight straight away like pokemon, they just want to rush through the game but that can't be helped unless you had a team to make a bigger world with weaker monsters at the start, some just aren't patient enough...
-you need patience with the game(I am a patient guy) . after you work you need to wait 18 hours (only training is still useable) - exploring seems limited , just wandering around killing monsters (you need to have a strong monster) with low chance for drops/loot
hmm This game is fun if you are a patient guy(watch how your monster get stronger and doing quest) or do a lot of grinding until you get strong monster so that you can explore farther.
For the common new player that are impatient and doesn't like to grind a lot, to get stronger. For them the game is quite limited.
It is too bad that most new players are impatient, If you want to keep the impatient players, you need to give them a lot of options/things to do.
Just some suggestion. 1) check out other popular webgames/mmorpg games and watch what they do to keep new players busy. - For example WoW. Besides exploring, they have events,Profession(gatherings,produktion,services),.. - Did you play diablo? What make it fun for me/others is the amount of skills(skill tree) and loot. We do have a skill tree but it requires patience and it is kinda limited.
2) If we are going for the patient players , what long terms option do we have besides (fighting,quest,breeding,skill tree,clan)?
What I like to see 3) a lot more things to do for the impatient players. - expand the training arena(different rewards) , less boring even if you are strong - lvel your (new) skills/secondary skills/Profession - Pets with their own skill tree/skills - expand exporing (able to find items, food,...). Digging skill to find treasures for example.
First off, thanks for the first impressions, heavy! Glad to see you here and contributing.
Alright, I can definitely see what you're saying with the patience. I surprisingly like the idea of digging, and it doesn't seem too hard to implement. I'll really give that consideration.
In terms of the training center and whatnot, I actually *do* plan to spice it up a little, and I think I'll try your "different rewards" idea. I wonder how I can implement that...
The monster skills I don't really know about. What I've currently got in mind is a "monster ability" sorta deal that lets you put your own description and ability set for your monster. I'm really trying to focus on making the monsters more unique while not compromising combat in general.
Thanks a lot for the input. Look forward to tiles coming soon to exploring. Once they stop pissing me off...
dude it is always darkest before the dawn. stick with it and we'll be walking in nice clean little squares in no time!
I know, it's been done to death, and it shouldn't apply to every mob out there, but there should be some that are stronger than the others, with some unique ability, but also with a weakness that can be exploited with the right equipment... I'm thinking like the burning ability that comes with hydra hearts. Maybe environments hurt your monster if they haven't become accustomed to them yet? say it takes 100 steps or 1000 through a new harsh environment like a winter clime or a desert before the monster is able to take the brunt of that environment without being hurt, aka losing HP during fights like bleeding, but without the mob having to land a special ability, and that the environment does less and less damage up till that 1000 step mark where your monster is completely acclimated to the harshness of its new environment.
how hard would it be to throw in cave entrances in choice spots and then you could have whole underworlds without having to add any more clutter to the map?
yeah, want a storyline? It can be an expansion of your lore on the gods The main god guy didn't know it, but there were mobs living underground too, and the mobs that lived directly below the god challenge temples absorbed the excess manta put off by the defeated god stand-ins each time they were defeated, or maybe just the spell used to keep the god stand-ins animated was a little wasteful on manta and released small amounts all the time. Either way, the nearer you get to the areas directly underneath the god challenge temple places, the stronger the mobs get, and considering that the mobs have been there for the duration of the time that the stand-ins have been there, the mobs are actually twice as strong as the god stand-ins that are above them at this point. howzat?
The coloring thing wouldn't be really hard if you separated the outline of the monster from the coloring. U could just have the coloring be switchable when creating the monster and permanently stick to that monster's graphic until spliced, where it could be selected again. Maybe later, if you had two different colored monsters, a new color could be unlocked and selectable if the monsters were certain colors. (u know, a blue and purple monster could make indigo selectable.) But just stick to the first part if it's too hard/near impossible. I hope this can be implemented. (Especially the second one, because we'd be busting a certain virtual pet site's- To say subtly, "lower outer-organs".
Oh, and make more blogs unlockable for certain tasks.
If you wind up living in an illogical world, you must become illogical yourself. If you know your surroundings are of fantasy, you also know that your imagination controls your fate. Be unbreakable.
Hmmm.... The only Tamagotchi I know was the original. U know, the annoying-as-"F-bomb " thing that bothered you all the time and a few years later you said, "Why the H**L Did I care about that thing!?". The other ones are (I assume) for girls, because' that's who you see on the commercials. Of course, it's the media (News, commercials, etc.) that sets the view for the public for them (brainwashing) . Anyhow, I never looked at the other ones. To tell the truth, I was kinda interested, but my freinds (and even possibly my parents, understanding as they be) would think I was kinda.. Y'know...
I know that in Dark Cloud 2, the fish you get take on the length and size of their parent's split on average, (NO WAY we're doing that, all. Vael would have a lot of stress coding that, not to mention this is not 3D or Special Program-Based game. If you have an idea of that being put in, drop it.) but the color is as well, so I was trying to dumb that idea down.
P.S.: BTW Vael, I'm not beating on you. I just know (Since my Cuz' is a programmer and former moderator) that you've got a tough job coding by yourself, and I don't want a bunch of loose cannons saying, "Vael, Vael! When are you putting this in? When are you putting that in?" like little kids begging their parents for a toy. I'm just shooting off random ideas I've had in my head for a while to make stuff with Multimedia Fusion 2 and RPG Maker XP/VX. If there's something you think I could do with those programs for ya', E-mail me. I gotta warn you though, I'm not even on the beginner level yet.
If you wind up living in an illogical world, you must become illogical yourself. If you know your surroundings are of fantasy, you also know that your imagination controls your fate. Be unbreakable.
My sister has a Tamagotchi... I took out it's battery Actually that colour thing is more like Spore on the DS, it'll make monsters look "tacky", perhaps dark versions would be cool but it would make monsters lame with colour selection...
Depends on what colors. Slayer Denden Helper would be dark purple, green and crimson. It would go along good with the Reaper's rep. Purple (Darkness), Green (Poison), and Crimson (Blood). Heheheh... Creepy, I know. But I digress. I just thought to select colors for the monsters normal parts. exe. the Reaper monster that I used. (Scythe, Cloak, eyes/skull). No coat or stuff.
P.S. Spore was a bigger letdown than a gold magikarp that for some reason never evolved into Gyarados! I waited at least two years for that!! TWO YEARS!!! It sucked!
If you wind up living in an illogical world, you must become illogical yourself. If you know your surroundings are of fantasy, you also know that your imagination controls your fate. Be unbreakable.
It would definitely be cool, and you're right; it's not "that hard". In fact, as I say a lot, things for me at this point aren't hard, just time-consuming.
That being said... I highly doubt the coloring will ever come. One because it makes me feel like Neopets, and we are not at all a pet game and we never will be. We're a fantasy RPG and I make that distinction on the front page of this site. Another is that I'm not entirely sure it's needed. Weapon creation, that's a cool idea. Dungeons, absolutely, I'd love to write dungeons. If I can one day pull in real profits from MonBre, then I will be totally gung-ho about it. Until then, I wouldn't even say the colors were on the backburner.
You don't have to worry about nagging me, or even insulting me. I've had people come to this forum full of ignorance saying "THIS GAME SUCKS I CAN'T EVEN GET A MONSTER". Some games- no, most games -would just ban them. I'm not like that. You'd have to hurt MonBre in some way in order for me to take any authorative action against you. It's np. It's good that you're empathetic with my work load because it is a HUGE work load that only seems to get bigger and bigger with MonBre's progression.
Finally, about your program... you mentioned RPG Maker, which means you probably know that I took the tiles from there. If you can find a good amount of 8-dimensional (diagonal-moving) sprites, that'd help me SOOO much 'cuz I want that in exploring one day. 3D, I can't think of one damn thing to do for.
well u no u could put customer service where ppl c it more often and u can use my eamail address if u want.... ill sort through what i can and for those tough things that only admins can answer ill send it to you
i like monbre how it is ..its simple but makes u think strategize at the same time..atleast i do any ways..umm maybe u culd have like some kinda tournament between trainers or guilds ..ya know just to let others know u aint no slacker and neither are ur monsters..id like for the breedin to actually mix and create a whole other breed if they're not the same type..but iknow dats prolly sum hard bullsh!t to put in but i bet it wuld be kool
it's not time-consuming unless you let it be, you can stop in the middle of an exploration and finish it after doing whatever. No matter what, dont change that part.
Once they stop pissing me off...
But I digress. I just thought to select colors for the monsters normal parts. exe. the Reaper monster that I used. (Scythe, Cloak, eyes/skull). No coat or stuff.
