How To Win Playerbase Back

[atempleton 123]

It's no secret to many that Day Z's playerbase is at the smallest yet that it has ever been in a long time. Since the game was first released nearly four years ago as a Standalone game, the population continues to slowly drop as they have given up waiting on Beta and then of course the Final Release, whilst the game continues to sell on the Store at $35USD - a price many nearly complete games would charge, if not outright complete games. My fear is with this in mind, that once Beta and finally the full release of Day Z comes out, that it would have been too late to win back all those players that Bohemia had back in 2013/2014 hyped for the game. At the same time, I am not hearing much about marketing strategies/tactics being employed by Bohemia to win those players back, so by the time that the full release of the game comes out within the next three years, that all the effort would have been pointless as there are no customers/players left anyway!

So what is going to happen to ensure that players come back with the Beta and full release?

[green_mtn_grandbob 594]

1 hour ago, atempleton@live.com.au said:

So what is going to happen to ensure that players come back with the Beta and full release?

They all may never come back and i hope the ones that just view dayz just as a shooter never come back. They have all kinds of shooters to play, but when the new dayz is finished , the ones who get what dayz is about  will come back and the new players will come because their isn't a game like dayz standalone .2 out there.  

[Sqeezorz 839]

Bohemia will start the marketing and push if they consider it useful.
The game is not finished, so BI is not interested in the fact that there are more players to buy NOW.
There will be some (many?) Sure to come back to beta, there will surely be some (many?) Which will start it only then.
The game is now 4 years, during this time many "new" players have grown, and do not forget the story with the console.
We are worried too much, BI will already know what they have to do as and when.

I also understand the concerns of many players, because I know what it means when a MMO is no online players (pure pointlessness), there is no reason to play this because it is designed as MMO. (DayZ is not a real MMO, and is thanks to the permadeath system always different).
Our worries are the servers and communitis, which simply suffer from it, and we suffer because the hype has caused a huge variety of servers and communitis, which are now starving with the modest player numbers.
I'm convinced it will be all right, but some Comms / Servers will have to die by then, it's natural selection, and that's good, because Beta DayZ will not be the same DayZ as many people know.

Just hold your thumb firmly.

[Mantasisg 172]

There will always be some people who will have their "this is what DayZ is all about", "DayZ is not for you" opinion.... It is rather pathetic argument over the how "exciting" the game is ATM. Obviously there will always be some folks who will love how reality is, and will not want anything to change.

The userbase is dropping rapidly, now it is under 3k average players in last 30days, which is still something, but what I have noticed that most of the players which I met in my last playtimes were non-vocals, KOS'ers... Clearly all is left are the people "who knows whats the DayZ is all about".

How to bring players back ? make the game and they said they will finally for 0.63, well... lets waaaaaaaait, I mean waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait.

No wonder so much people quit DayZ:
 

• People naturally gets bored after thousands of hours spent running mostly
• It is not too enjoyable to have lootless servers
• It is not too enjoyable to play with noobs, KOS'ers, non vocal children and retards. Creative community is not really very active.
• Smarter people realised that they will get bored of DayZ before it gets finished, so stopped doing it. And it was easy because since ~0.6-0.59 the game was majorly unexciting
• Very low chance to get a vehicle, and actually benefit from it
• Players got scattered all across the map and interactions became fewer, and their quality got much worse because of that
   

IDK if there is way back. Last time I have played DayZ i was running around inlands for hour and didn't find any loot. Why should I be spending my time like that ? I'll leave it to you guys, who are enjoying pretending to be survivng, just existing basically. I need adventures, interactions, and action. 

It is not funny anymore.

[Ree' 0]

I would say as its a hot topic, base building, it would add the survival aspect and give players something to work towards, also allowing mods so we could get the content Dayz so very needs 

[exacomvm 101]

11 hours ago, green_mtn_grandbob said:

They all may never come back and i hope the ones that just view dayz just as a shooter never come back. They have all kinds of shooters to play, but when the new dayz is finished , the ones who get what dayz is about  will come back and the new players will come because their isn't a game like dayz standalone .2 out there.  

Disagree, DayZ is actually one of the finest survival shooters due to its realism, so i don't see why you should not view it as a "shooter", well but we still have Escape from Tarkov which is also pretty decent, but unpopular for some reason, seems like ppl hates realistic games nowadays.

Here's my opinion and that's actually the best idea also the same reason why PUBG is so popular, atleast 40% is playing only for money.
Talking about the microtransactions there could be official servers where these items apply and custom/private servers for ppl who hate "pay 2 win" so these items would be unavailabe there.. profit.
Even im pretty big DayZ fanboy and slightly against microtransactions, sometimes i hate the running and looting and have not much desire to play ( last played on 3 Aug ) i would really love to invest in some DayZ items and use them right on the spawn and have some fun immediately.

Edited August 18, 2017 by exacomvm

[BeefBacon 1185]

3 minutes ago, exacomvm said:

Disagree, DayZ is actually one of the finest survival shooters due to its realism, so i don't see why you should not view it as a "shooter", well but we still have Escape from Tarkov which is also pretty decent, but unpopular for some reason, seems like ppl hates realistic games nowadays.
 

Tarkov isn't on Steam. That alone, I think, probably hurts its sales. But yeah, realistic games aren't as popular as arcadey games. They never have been. People prefer easy-to-learn gameplay over complexity, and there's nothing wrong with that any more than there's anything wrong with people liking, I don't know, flight simulator games. Some genres and gameplay elements will never be immensely popular. Even DayZ was always pretty fringe, and a lot of mods moved it away from the survival element. That's just the way it goes.

 

As for bringing players back, I think players "giving up" is misleading. I've not given up on DayZ, even though last night was the first time I'd played DayZ since 0.62 released. I've not "given up" on DayZ, I'm just playing other games while I wait for a more substantial update. Once beta hits, I expect a lot of players will return, and we'll see a steady uptick in players over the course of the beta as more features are added.

[ImageCtrl 719]

19 hours ago, atempleton@live.com.au said:

 marketing strategies/tactics... So what is going to happen to ensure that players come back with the Beta and full release?

Reading the status reports... I guess it is based on three columns. I'm not 100% sure. Maybe I'm total wrong.

1. Beta, finished engine, few nice videos, not more. (game feels fluid)
2. DayZ 1.0 is what they have promised, a hardcore survival game (for the real supporters in the forums, to keep the promise, the vision of dean, the anti game, moddable... .).
3. A surprise, the unexpected (I guess this is for the mass of players)

 

Edited August 18, 2017 by ImageCtrl

[Guy Smiley 534]

Hmmm, I bought Rust in 2013 and guess what?  That game is still in Alpha.

 

Long story short, games aren't made in a Day so quit bitching about the length of time it takes to create a goddamn game, especially ones from scratch and not on an already premade game engine

Edited August 18, 2017 by Guy Smiley

[Inception. 9443]

2 hours ago, Guy Smiley said:

Hmmm, I bought Rust in 2013 and guess what?  That game is still in Alpha.

 

Long story short, games aren't made in a Day so quit bitching about the length of time it takes to create a goddamn game, especially ones from scratch and not on an already premade game engine

He wasn't really bitching - just asking a valid question.

[sneakydude 480]

Dayz is what you make of it, you can Role Play it any way you see fit. Just because someone says this isn't the way you play it, don't listen.

When there is more base building, aka features to the game people own it already and will return on "New Reviews" nothing can be done until the full features are added.

The devs just need time to finish the full engine, and sub engines so they can focus on improving it.

Edited August 19, 2017 by sneakydude

[Arthur Dubrovka 376]

Although Im not playing DayZ right now, its the game in my steamlibrary with the most hours ingame (shortly before ArmA3). I know I will be back with 0.63 and many of my mates too. And I think I´m not the only one. Right know the Devs are doin special Events, Livestreams with the stuff they´re able to show off. I think thats mostly intresting for the core playerbase. With new patches and new functions to show, they will force more marketing etc., lets see what the demo of .63 will show us at gamescom :) 

[Mantasisg 172]

I hope 0.63 will not be another issue of "check the update - still bad - waiting for next iterarion". Millions of people has bought the game....

[OliverPlotTwist 458]

56 minutes ago, Mantasisg said:

Millions of people has bought the game....

and? 

[Mantasisg 172]

......aaaaaand it peaked 5K in the last 30days

http://steamcharts.com/app/221100
 

Also it is weird how often people doesn't use what they buy, but I guess it happens a lot with first world little children and immature audiences in general. But now....  I don't blame them. My causin bought DayZ few months ago, he launched the game, died and has never played again, speaking of realism he is doing it right lol because if you die you die. 

If it is true that couple of millions bought dayz it is really weird to see such low numbers. I'm trying to be hyped for 0.63, but it is getting difficult to me, I may need to take some DayZiagra.



 

Edited August 19, 2017 by Mantasisg

[green_mtn_grandbob 594]

2 hours ago, Mantasisg said:

......aaaaaand it peaked 5K in the last 30days

http://steamcharts.com/app/221100
 

Also it is weird how often people doesn't use what they buy, but I guess it happens a lot with first world little children and immature audiences in general. But now....  I don't blame them. My causin bought DayZ few months ago, he launched the game, died and has never played again, speaking of realism he is doing it right lol because if you die you die. 

If it is true that couple of millions bought dayz it is really weird to see such low numbers. I'm trying to be hyped for 0.63, but it is getting difficult to me, I may need to take some DayZiagra.



 

May i ask why do you give a damn anyhow?

[Mantasisg 172]

52 minutes ago, green_mtn_grandbob said:

May i ask why do you give a damn anyhow?

..... what kind of question is this ?  I'm not happy with the game, if I'd be the only one, or part of minority - I wouldn't. Numbers says that I'm not the only one, so I'm confident to be honestly disappointed by various things.

But seems that I'm one of the very few who aren't enjoying the game, but still cares about it.

Big hopes for 0.63, but I keep expectations low. It very likely could be the last chance for DayZ.

If you don't like me, maybe you can ignore me IDK. I may still care till 0.63 will be released. 

And as I have said, I hope that this promised update will really bring the players, and not just to check whats new, but for good lol 

 

[stinkenheim 249]

What is it you think .63 will have? Why do you think that will bring players back for the long haul?

 

I guarantee the first month of .63 will see dayz being one of the more popular steam games. The problem is, even with a new and polished engine the game will be effectively the same as it has been for the last couple of years.

I love this game, it's probably my favourite game ever but there are only so many times you can loot the same town and do the same basic things before it gets dull. Part of the problem is that a lot of players are not interested in interaction which reduces the unique feel of the game in areas, I've not been handcuffed and forcefed disinfectant for a year or So, no I just get shot in the back of the head when drinking from a well or something.

As much as I don't want the players diluted I think the only time you'll get a constant upsurge in numbers is when nodding is released, until then there are games like PUBG which offer a similar level of gameplay (in terms of the shooting element) without the Labour intensive looting and sparse map population.

[Mantasisg 172]

Well I just guess that 0.63 should work because Devs has pointed out that it is finally about gameplay. Gameplay was really poor the last two years, two years.... 

Before tech side got improved it had much better gameplay, as you say things happened, I used to experience tons of unique adventures and events, it was incredibly fun. Right now it is just run, loot, and get shot game, as you say. it is totally because of how rare the interactions are, it disbalances everything. Also most creative people definitely doesn't play. And this game needs creative people and many interactions. No creativity, no interactions - no DayZ. Slightly more loot and some more ways and chances to travel not on foot all the time would also help.

Having less points of interest would also be good, fewer "go to" places would definitely make things more intense. Or if there are going to be so many, then there better be more chances to travel fast and 150players as visioned in early days. 

0.63 could literally just adjust the loot economy in such way that there would be more interactions and it would bring the gameplay already. IDK what was the point for TISY and almost empty coast areas if there barely are any ways to travel fast to those distant places, the game pace is horrible, the amount of KOS is horrible, lack of interactions is horrible, I understand that no loot should add apocaliptic immersion, but it is also horrible and adds no immersion at all.... 

PUBG is very fun game, it is awesome. But it has something like only ~10percents of what DayZ should be.

Modding should be awesome, but if there would be ~1000avg players by the time modding comes, modding might not spark

[Guy Smiley 534]

Lol, I love these "the game is dead, no one plays it anymore" whiny posts.  Get it through your head that a lot of people didn't understand how early access worked and now a lot of players are actually waiting for beta and full release.  Hell, I don't even play the game that much anymore.  Not because I don't like it but because it's not where the game needs to be but I understand that because I clicked that goddamn button every fricking time I started up the game.

[Mantasisg 172]

That button means that there might be issues, which is allright and understandable. But when that issue is totally stripped out gameplay, then that is different. Surely being an early access means that there may be issues, but it doesn't set off devs from responsibility to deliver something what people would enjoy, and the most enjoyable elements of DayZ are stripped out strategically. Thats why most of people doesn't see any game there when they run around the map for a few hours, finds few meaningful items, for example an axe, a sporter and a few .22s if lucky. Meets someone in quite rare occasions, and mostly those are noobs, who doesn't even know that they have to press Caps Lock to talk, or inevitable killing on sight happens.

It was different before techside got much better, tech side got better and the gameplay "somehow" changed completely.

I'd call it simply a poor gameplay design, or on purpose. It has nothing to do with being an early access.

 

[Guy Smiley 534]

11 hours ago, Mantasisg said:

That button means that there might be issues, which is allright and understandable. But when that issue is totally stripped out gameplay, then that is different. Surely being an early access means that there may be issues, but it doesn't set off devs from responsibility to deliver something what people would enjoy, and the most enjoyable elements of DayZ are stripped out strategically. Thats why most of people doesn't see any game there when they run around the map for a few hours, finds few meaningful items, for example an axe, a sporter and a few .22s if lucky. Meets someone in quite rare occasions, and mostly those are noobs, who doesn't even know that they have to press Caps Lock to talk, or inevitable killing on sight happens.

It was different before techside got much better, tech side got better and the gameplay "somehow" changed completely.

I'd call it simply a poor gameplay design, or on purpose. It has nothing to do with being an early access.

 

You clearly don't understand and honestly, you really shouldn't post any more.  You offer nothing constructive and just bitch for the sake of bitching.  Go read a book, make friends outside in the world, eat a snickers.

[emuthreat 2837]

12 hours ago, Mantasisg said:

That button means that there might be issues, which is allright and understandable. But when that issue is totally stripped out gameplay, then that is different. Surely being an early access means that there may be issues, but it doesn't set off devs from responsibility to deliver something what people would enjoy, and the most enjoyable elements of DayZ are stripped out strategically. Thats why most of people doesn't see any game there when they run around the map for a few hours, finds few meaningful items, for example an axe, a sporter and a few .22s if lucky. Meets someone in quite rare occasions, and mostly those are noobs, who doesn't even know that they have to press Caps Lock to talk, or inevitable killing on sight happens.

It was different before techside got much better, tech side got better and the gameplay "somehow" changed completely.

I'd call it simply a poor gameplay design, or on purpose. It has nothing to do with being an early access.

 

After two hours, you should be full kitted if you know what you are doing.  Finding interactions is a matter of ingenuity on the part of the individual.  Doing the same things over and over, expecting different results, is just spinning your wheels and repeating learned behaviors that are no longer viable.

Lately, I have made friends with an English speaking member from a clan of Brazilian PvPers, and have negotiated with him to cook our steaks in exchange for easy re-gearing at our main base.  NWAF is always poppin' on those BR servers...

[Mantasisg 172]

1 hour ago, Guy Smiley said:

You clearly don't understand and honestly, you really shouldn't post any more.  You offer nothing constructive and just bitch for the sake of bitching.  Go read a book, make friends outside in the world, eat a snickers.

You'd be great friends with DayZTV admins. I have done good providing constructive opinion, I'd say you have no ability to welcome any oposing opinion to yours. Perhaps I've already presented my opinions about the current state of DayZ enough times, but when people asks how to bring the players back, I have an opinion, and i post it. Don't tell me to stop posting, even though I probably will because there is nothing left unsaid about current problems of DayZ. 

1 hour ago, emuthreat said:

After two hours, you should be full kitted if you know what you are doing.  Finding interactions is a matter of ingenuity on the part of the individual.  Doing the same things over and over, expecting different results, is just spinning your wheels and repeating learned behaviors that are no longer viable.

Lately, I have made friends with an English speaking member from a clan of Brazilian PvPers, and have negotiated with him to cook our steaks in exchange for easy re-gearing at our main base.  NWAF is always poppin' on those BR servers...

Perhaps, it depends on what you call fully kitted, I'm usually perfactly happy with anything what shots 357 or has a scope. Last time I think I knew what I was doing at Novy and Stary Sobor and then NWAF, and haven't got any amunition. It was public server. I also have 500+ hours in DayZ, still a noob in a gunfights, but I'd say I know the basics. Prove that doing same things will not bring different results in DayZ, going same paths in DayZ each time can bring anything unpredictable (things used to happen more often in the past), I dig that you should know the hot points of the map if you want to get into something, but there are many of those by now. 

I'm happy that you lately had some nice experience in the game, I suppose it is rare now. Maybe will have to check those BR servers. If will ever feel like playing DayZ again.

The passion still kicks in sometimes.

 

Edited August 20, 2017 by Mantasisg

[Lexman61 78]

In spite of its great success at release, time has proven that DayZ was probably never meant to be a game for the masses. The developers made it clear from the start that this was going to be a hard core survival game and have slowly but surely followed  the outlined path. This fact alone was inevitably going to appeal to a limited audience and make DayZ a niche game for a niche community of players.

Obviously, other factors have taken their toll on the player count, but I believe the main reason was/is simply what stated above. I hold no contempt for those players who might have preferred and/or expected a more action oriented game (PUBG is the simple and obvious example although a completely different category), they just left when realizing DayZ was not living up to their (wrongful) expectations.

The people who still stick around are the truly dedicated and passionate players, but to expect a massive influx of new and former players when 0.63 is released or when the game will finally be finished, is a somewhat naive belief bordering on wishful thinking.

Paradoxically (especially for a game that was originally developed only for the PC), a successful release on Xbox and PS4 would create a snowball effect creating renewed interest also on the PC and thus potentially adding new players and a larger player base. If this will happen remains to be seen. Personally, I'm skeptical about console players flocking to DayZ when PUBG will also be available to them. The more "casual" gaming nature of console players is undeniable (no offence  intended).

So let us put our minds to rest and accept that DayZ will only be for a few of us.

Regards