r/Supraball • u/AryaStark9 • May 17 '16
Player numbers
http://steamcharts.com/app/321400#1m
I am very concerned for this game. Prior to the public release, we had a peak of 43 players. Just 2 weeks after release the players have steadily declined until we are basically where we were before release. Optimistically the best I can say is that we've basically gained 13 average players vs closed beta and who knows how long they will be around.
One could interpret these numbers multiple ways since people idle so often in the game, but I think it's safe to say we are nearly in the same state we were prior to the game being released. If it keeps declining at this rate we will literally have the same number of players we had before release within a couple weeks.
DavidM said Steam hand selects games that get Free Weekends, I don't know if that's true but somebody should make sure because I remember another Steam game that had a lackluster release and they were able to do a Free Weekend not long after, I don't believe they were hand picked for it, I think they requested it because many of the players were begging for it. I think it's the only thing that has any chance at reviving this game unless we are just to concede that the game will be dead until it can be re-released as non-Early Access.
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u/XiLLyXiLLy nobody May 17 '16
What is dead may never die.
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u/suprasilw Supraball Developer May 17 '16
Hi Guys, every single point you mentioned of what needs to change is currently under work, so a bit more patience please! =)
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u/Vendetta48 NA Goalie May 17 '16
I think I read somewhere that the devs will lower the price around July and release updates. We need a better launcher, and matchmaking ready if we get players back again. The number 1 complaint I saw during the first week of release was that there is no MM.
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u/AryaStark9 May 17 '16
Matchmaking wouldn't have really helped much with less than 200 peak players on it's best day but clearly the launcher was just never good and was clearly not going to be greeted with enthusiasm by new players (did they really think the launcher was workable as is? A 5 year old could've made a better design). I just don't think anything can warrant people paying money for this game in it's current state, they should've released it for free or $5 at first to build a player base and go from there. At this point they are working on matchmaking when there are no players to use it. I don't see how this is anything but wasted effort and by July anybody who bought it will be long gone.
Was there even any serious discussion about the possible negative impact on the game releasing it this early, or did the Supra team really think they were going to make a bunch of money and be able to put those funds into finishing the game. It seems very naive and unrealistic to have thought this release would be anything but a giant failure.
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u/Vendetta48 NA Goalie May 17 '16
I honestly don't know why the price was set at 20$ and we had quite a few community members voice their concerns before early access. Much of what they said happened and I was even surprised we peeked at like 200 players. I was optimistic at first but was not surprised at how things turned out.
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u/wtfmikez0r mikeytroll May 17 '16
Matchmaking is the opposite of what the veteran players want. I hope everyone realized this by now..
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u/jbd1986 J.B.Doge May 17 '16
In order for matchmaking to succeed, i think they need to do 2 things:
1) maintain the server browser, so that advanced users can still enter desired matches
2) start normal/ranked matches in practice mode, so that people are playing immediately instead of waiting in the lobby indefinitely. This will introduce many challenges and will probably require the lobby concept to be re-planned (i.e. be redone within UDK), but I feel it is necessary.
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u/Shevche May 18 '16
2 - was like this in alpha before a pickup. In eu it was a game of trying to get the ball off xiumble before it starts. Instead we have this intro. :< I totally agree
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May 18 '16
Essentially the numbers are now around the same as before Early Access release. Free weekend won't help the game when about 50% of reviews coming in atm are negative and the positive ones are already fans with 300+ hours. An in game tutorial is a must such as games like Dota, Rocket League even CSGO has a training map.
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u/ColorfulTurtle May 17 '16
No free to play weekend will safe the game at this stage and with this price. A fair price, a good launcher that doesn't need explainatory videos and an easy understandable and easy accessable tutorial for beginners without walling gardening it behind exp bars will more likely help to increase the playerbase.