10 Years Later...

[Aaelefein]

(Turned out longer than expected - such is my curse)

My agreement with the OP is tempered...

For me, graphics has never been the deciding factor as long as it isn't so high end that I can't play it. Personally, while there are a few glitches here and there, I actually prefer Istaria's graphics over that of WoW, EQ and EvE. ESO has by far the best graphics, but then that should be expected from an Elder Scrolls franchise, but sometimes simple is nice.

"Nothing has changed" - Considering the trials and tribulations this game has gone thru in these past ten years, I think the latest owners/developers have done a monumental job with what little (IMO) personnel and financial resources they have. I think to expect 'BIG' changes trying to oversimplify the idea of adding content to a game, dated or not.

"Client is still Buggy" - Yes, it still has hiccups, more so it seems on my Win8 vs. Win7 machine - BUT - I'm not re-launching the game every 15-20 like I used to, or after every other port. Now it's more like 2-3 hours, sometimes more depending on what I'm doing. I can only assume that these are some of the things that are going to be addressed throughout the rest of the year.

"Intuitive Use" - Well to be honest here I'm not exactly sure what you are referring to. From what I am gathering, it seems much of it is tied to key-bindings which you can change on your own to suit your preference. I have found a couple controls to be 'different' from other games. I actually prefer Istaria's character movement using both mouse and keyboard because to me it actually feels more natural than some of the other games I play which seem more like they are ports from console controllers with little regard for ease of use.

"Server/Backbone" - Can't disagree here, but again things are improved over the way they used to be. Sadly, from the way I understand things, this may not be an easy fix until/unless they start working on the client itself - though it could be something as simple as some code streamlining and DB efficiencies.

"Crafting and multi-classing" - have to totally agree here and I think it is Istaria's strongest point. I have yet to hear of a game that has such a richly detailed crafting and multi-classing system. The crafting more than anything else is what keeps me coming back because there is no game that comes even close. Yes, many games allow you to craft your weapons and armor (ESO might actually be better in that regard) - but how many allow you to own an actual piece of the real estate (not an instanced 'suite') where you can plan and build it to your heart's content?

"Why would a player pay real money?" - GAHHHHHH! This one thing right here is what ticks me off the most. Why does just about everyone and their brother think they should be able to play these games (any of them, not just Istaria) for free? It takes time, infrastructure and people to make and run these things. By saying you want it for free you are saying that stuff doesn't matter and the people running/programming shouldn't get paid either. Paying $15 a month for a game, whether it be Istaria, EVE, or ESO is probably the most cost-effective entertainment option out there:

Go to a Movie: 2 hours of entertainment on average and you've got travel time/costs and unless you are doing the matinee and sneaking in your own food/drinks - well that one movie easily cost more than a month of game playing

Going to a Bar/Club: HAHAHA! If there's a cover charge well that can range from $5-$25 and even drinking sodas like I do (when I used to club) it's still easy to spend that $15 in an hour or so...again don't forget travel time/cost/parking

There are many scenarios I could play out for you, but in probably 90% of them you'll spend the cost of a month's subscription in a couple hours - whereas how much time you spend in the game world (game doesn't matter) - whether it's an hour a day, several hours a weekend or significantly more - you're talking cents/hour for your entertainment.

Bottom line: Nothing comes for free and there aren't many more cost-effective ways to spend your entertainment money than an online game (excluding those P2W games with cash shops)

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"Kickstarter/GoFundMe/IndieGoGo" - I like your proposal here and it's been suggested several times in the past. I'd want to know first before they try to do something like this - what would it cost to make these changes, new art, music, developers/programmers, etc.? Time line? What happens to the current game? But unlike your comment about being 'ambitious' - DONT be too ambitious as that has been the downfall of many of these crowd funded plans - be realistic and to the point, don't oversell or people will sniff that out in a heart beat.

You also touched on one other thing that I haven't seen in any other game yet either that is also one of Istaria's strong points - it's players! Partly I think it's because there is no PvP here and IMO too many games are taking this route and making it the prime mover. Other than that though, other than ESO I have yet to see a game where the people are as friendly and helpful as they are in Istaria. Maybe it's because of that niche-size population or something else I don't know.

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Now whether you see me as a 'fan boy' I don't know...like I said there are some things I can agree with. At the same time I'm able to take in the age of the game, the complexities of running such a game on a small bankroll/workforce and roll with it. I'd much rather see the game hang around for another ten years as is than simply disappear because they tried to bite off more than they could accomplish by going with a crowd funding option.

[Vahrokh]

"Kickstarter/GoFundMe/IndieGoGo" - I like your proposal here and it's been suggested several times in the past. I'd want to know first before they try to do something like this - what would it cost to make these changes, new art, music, developers/programmers, etc.? Time line? What happens to the current game? But unlike your comment about being 'ambitious' - DONT be too ambitious as that has been the downfall of many of these crowd funded plans - be realistic and to the point, don't oversell or people will sniff that out in a heart beat.

Hello,

Kickstarter would not work with Istaria and would actually be a self kick in the eye.
I have followed and follow a lot of indie games. Now I can smell which ones are going to "win" and which ones will actually get a credibility blunder after having failed to get funds.

Games that succeed follow a certain path:

1) They build up general MMO playerbase awareness. A lot. This means, throwing money to some sorts of advertisment, mouth to mouth talk, heavy and active social media presence.
Basically, if you start a crowdfunding project, you MUST be sure people actually know you even exist. Istaria has an exceptionally low score in this regard. 95% of those who would love to play a MMO featuring playable dragons, don't ever get to know Istaria exists. I have to tell them and they wonder why nobody knows about his vintage (I don't say: "old") game.

2) They show a concept video about the new features. I have followed how this process works: unless you have skilled in-house artists (Istaria is on a very small crew now), expect to spend no less than $40,000 and this just to hire a minor video production company.

3) At a certain point (sometimes, replacing posting the concept video), the company going for crowd funding HAS to post a deliverable demo of their product. In example, if Istaria wanted to gather funds for a 2.0 version, they would HAVE TO produce a pre-pre-pre alpha featuring most of the 2.0 new elements (to show off they are actually able to deliver what they promise).

There is more, but my time is running short.

Some of the above points may be skipped or altered in case you have an highly, credible, well known charismatic CEO or producer or marketing guy. As much as I have undying admiration and respect for Amon (tangibly shown by just having yearly renewed my sub(s), running since Istaria day zero), I don't think he's well known enough to make the difference just using words and promises. Crowd fund investors have learned how many of those projects never see the light of the day. These days you must deliver facts, videos, demos etc.