Note for Uber: effectively expanding the playerbase

As a big fan of this game and someone interested in both the eSport and casual side of PA, I would like to ask for the developers at Uber to have a brief look at my comments below regarding the short- and mid-term future of the game. They are not just my own, personal thoughts, I represent two gaming communities - one based in Spain and another with members in the UK and Germany - so the ideas exposed below come from a wide range of RTS gamers, most of whom are still dubious about purchasing PA themselves. Here are some comments that try to point out ways to make PA into an appealing modern RTS so as to overcome the hindering effects of unfair early reviews and overall negativity about the game.

• Competitive 1v1. This area has been visibly improving rapidly in the last weeks (as @jables has shown lately: ranked matchmaking, leaderboards, balanced maps, tweaks for unit balance...) so I am hopeful that, at this pace, 1v1 ranked games will become a very attractive part of PA quite soon. Nevertheless, here are some elements of the 1v1 experience that should be considered with care:
  • Map Pool. Completely balanced maps in terms of mex and terrain are mandatory (I know this is on its way). A set of pre-designed maps (which may change with time) appeals to a wide RTS audience who have in mind the competitive scene of classic RTSs e.g. SC2. Also, randomised maps that preserve symmetry (hence balance) are very interesting for allowing other sets of skills to play a more important role in the games (adaptability, scouting/charting), something similar to the semi-random maps in AoE II. Having the posibility of playing ranked games of both types - either as an option when queueing for matchmaking or by including one "symmetrical, random map" (generated from scratch each game) in the list of pre-designed map pool - will definitely maximise the overall appeal of competitive 1v1 PA.
  • User Interface, Hotkeys and Options. There has been quite a lot of fuss about the use of UI mods in ranked games lately and understandably so. The general feeling that I have noticed among most of the players I know personally is that the UI options available in the vanilla game are far too limited and so mods have to be used to compensate for the lack of customisation. A hotkey configuration system similar the one provided by the wonderful HotBuild2 mod and some little options, e.g. set factories to infinite build by default (note: this is not autobuild), are missing from the vanilla version of the game. If all mods are restricted for ranked games and the options/hotkeys menus of the game don't get updated I wuold forecast a sharp decline in interest by many current players and it will not help attract new ones.

• Competitive 2v2. Although the focus should be on the 1v1 at the moment, I think it is important not to forget that there are very little or none competitive 2v2 games with the potential to become eSports. After playing some serious 2v2, shared armies games, many gamers in the communities I run believe that PA does indeed have the potential to become one such game. If this is done correctly, PA could partially fill the niche and hence appeal to players looking for a dedicated competitive 2v2 experience. For this aspect of the game I would, in fact, simply repeat the same comments I made for 1v1 (assuming that equivalent matchmaking, ranks and leaderboards are implemented specifically for 2v2).
• Commanders. Given the special feature of PA of having singular units, commanders, with which the players indentify themselves - something new in a competitive RTS - I think Uber should make full use of it. Of course, the unit in-game stats must remain the same to keep balance without complicating the game and making the collection of commanderst into a MOBAish hero roster but the appearance may change to fit the taste of the player. The current Armory system is a simplistic (although valid for the time being) approximation of what the ideal system could be. After discussing the issue with some people, we concluded that it will be very interesting to be able to buy cosmetic accessories or parts for your commander so that it feels personal when it appears in the loading screen of a game against other players. Maybe the current models can stay but things like badges, armour, weapons... could be added to the Armory for players to buy. An other interesting idea could be to grant exclusive items to those players who achieve a specific rank so that they can show off their status on the loading screen and in the commander model in-game. This feature, if well-implemented, could ensure the longevity of the game by generating a continuous income for Uber which, in turn, could help reduce the selling price of the game so that it becomes yet more appealing to a broader audience.
• Casual and Modded Games. Keep improving the lobbies and the visibility of mods and modded games. I think everyone agrees that the thriving modding community, together with massive games like FFAs or big team games on multi-planet systems allowing for some PA-exclusive features like planet smashing and planet laser, give players the opportunity to taste the "awesomeness" of the PA engine and enjoy some fun and longer (note: saves will help improve this aspect) games. I am sure that eXodus eSports will provide us with a continuous stream of awesome events involving games of this kind in the future.
• Tutorial. If the game is to expand the playerbase it needs to feel welcoming to new players. A game-mechanics tutorial and, in general, some guiadance including links to community pages, e.g. very useful eXodus eSports, or clan pages, will contribute to many new players sticking around for long enough to become regular in PA.
• Visibility and Publicity. This is, possibly, the most important aspect that needs to be taken care of, since all the other aspects of the game could be perfect but, without the right information, potential players will not purchase the game and become active in PA. I am sure there is a marketing strategy for the long term trayectory of PA but, given that many of the features mentioned above were missing at launch, it is important that, as soon as they are completely implemented, they are properly announced and advertised to the general public. A big announcement when a feature (like competitive 1v1, competitive 2v2, future expansions...) is fully implemented and working properly will be more effective than small updates. This is meant for the general gaming public, not the PA-dedicated community (the forum updates keep us constantly informed). The official sites of the game should reflect the updates clearly as well as the game logo, videos, news and description that appears in the Steam Store.

Hope this comments help a little bit shape a bright future for PA.

Alrighty uber we have an actually well thought out and nicely made suggestion thread

Please take something away from it and expand... It all seems great

The tutorial CANNOT be emphasized enough. Many reviewers have unfairly slammed the game because they couldn't wrap their heads around the concept of spherical planets, much less multi-planet gameplay. This game has a bevvy of tools that streamline the UI, but they are never explicitly introduced to the player.

A lengthy, step-by-step, exhaustively detailed set of interactive tutorial missions - click here, press this button, etc. - is needed to have any hope of getting new players not to play for 5 minutes and drop the game.

I'd add some body parts to find in Galactic Wars' systems, or trophies for defeating enemy commanders there, not just buying.

.

Speaking of the hotkey system currently in place I found the old one where you could bind any unit to any key very useful all I would do is bind the 2-5ish things I needed most power and mex to speed up early play I found to be awesome, I have never used hot build but due to the couple key strokes that I need to press with the current default it takes longer to do so plus memorization of where everything is, I currently click everything and use the odd hotkey for attack moves uber cannon and to make the planet line up with North so I don't get confused... I can see the current hotkey system being useful to some but I would enjoy having the old option back aswell just have a setting where I could switch between the two options and save them?

Thats a really well written post Zaphys, I agree pretty much with everything you have said.

Well......nothing here for me then.

I approve of this message, couldn't have done it better myself. Although I would add a couple of things:

• We as a community don't have to wait for uber to get the game in the public eye, that's actually our job. Spreading this game through social media, reviews on sites like pc gamer, and even saying "Have you played this game?" to a friend
• From what heard somewhere uber actually uses code the the modders create on occasion, because we don't have development goal for the day and if we don't like something, someone somewhere will change it

The second point I don't know if it's true or not, if not then it might be a good idea uber.

I think the tutorial and publicity are one the THE most important things atm. The ladder and all is really nice for the community. It isn't nice for newbies though cause they just want to learn to play and most of them probably get stomped in the ladder.

There have been so many hints on so many reviews that they miss a proper tutorial of how things work and even I see newbies having no idea that they can ubercannon the **** out of the pesky dox and getting horribly annihilated.

The videos and documents are nice however I think most of the new players just want to learn ingame by playing with it.

Maybe in the future some pre builded bases with save points where newbies can practice uber cannoning and how to manage the eco. Creating these kind of scenario's might be done by the community if we can save and load up games.

About some of the publicity. Maybe rereleasing PA as a 2.0 version (ofcourse with a cooler name) like Gamma as soon as the game has gotten into a lot more changes. I remember that gamma had a lot of publicity (I could be wrong though).

Competitive games don't necessarily need perfectly mirrored maps. This is just a common player assumption predicated on a historical reliance on games such as Starcraft.

All very valid points, I coudn't find anything in there I disagree with.

To others who post on similar matter's this to me is a perfect example of "constructive criticism" and I'm sure its very valuable to uber.

Great post - definitely think there is potential for competitive 2v2 games. I've been having a blast playing 2v2 games with my friend, refreshing change from 1v1s.

Tutorial has been sorely needed for a long time :/ I feel like a lot of players new to the game got put off due to the lack of tutorial. Hopefully one is coming.

A very cheesy way to give existing players the incentive to invite potential new players to the game is to add some sort of reward system. "You have invited 5 people into PA and they all played for more than 20 hours, Take this reward!" I'ts really cheesy, but it actually works.

And on the OP, I can't find anything I don't agree with. It's well written with good arguments. Take my like

Spotlighting community created content with such stickers is also another way to get people involved.

Make a map, spotlight the map, get a sticker for creating and playing on this user made map!

Answering several of the previous replies here I leave an "Additional Remarks" note for my original post.

On Tutorials. (@Alpha2546 @LeadfootSlim @zihuatanejo )

Indeed, comprehensive introduction and tutorials, with specific scenarios that show all the different mechanics of the game, are crucial for new players to enjoy the game from the beginning and, eventually, become regular players. Community resources are a good temporary substitute but, ideally, they should be replaced with in-game instruction.

On Commanders and Cosmetic Items. (@netnazgul @rivii )

Once the Armory includes items and badges for commanders, so the game supports the display of these, it will be a good idea to be able to obtain cosmetic upgrades through several means. Microtransactions for random decorative and "cool-looking" stuff , specific items for achievements and rewards for inviting new players, badges that identify the rank and the seniority of the player, etc. Some have even suggested (e.g. in the forums @foerest ) that making PA F2P and having the Armory as the only source of income from the game might work well for PA, in any case, making full use of what the Armory could offer can only do good to the game's future.

On Mirrored Maps. (@Gorbles )

Symmetry in 1v1 planets, with adecuate spawn options, ensures automatic balance. Nevertheless, balance may be achieved by good terrain desing and mindful mex placement.

On Publicity and Visibility. (@maldor96 )

Of course, we members of the PA community need to spread the word and I think we are doing a good job so far (note that the Steam Store now shows a "mostly positive" label for the player reviews of PA) but Uber should advertise their product as they are still working on it. As was agreed by many others in different threads, big announcements for major updates and future expansions will definitely help in the future.

So are you going to address the people who play the AI mainly or is this all a multiplayer, but mostly competitive side (for grouping non-competitive games with modded games like they are the same thing) of things?

I just grouped them together to make clear that the competitive structure is not needed for those games, although it is quite obvious that they are very different aspects of the game.

Maybe the guys at Exodus could start some kind of 2v2 league? If the teams are the same, you could just rank each pair of players in the same way as one player (e.g. use an ELO/Trueskill kind of algorithm).

I agree, if not a full league, at least a 2v2 swiss tournament with specifically designed maps that shows the potential for real competitive 2v2 play in PA. What do you, exodus people, think? @ZaphodX @proeleert @totalannihilation @Quitch @wpmarshall