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User-rooms - Curse or blessing?!


Jola

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WARNING! THIS POST ONLY SHOWS MY OPINION! IT'S NOT MEANT TO TELL READERS WHAT TO DO OR NOT! WHO AM I TO TELL YOU WHAT TO DO?! :ph34r:

 

A few weeks ago user-rooms got added by the development. Rooms, which can be decorated by players as they want. The idea might have been a good one for giving players the options for roleplays in a local like area. Sounds exciting but the consequence is that local places got more and more empty.

 

Sure, there are still players at local places, but it became less since players can open their rooms just for friends. Actually this splits the community into several smaller or larger groups who are in their apartments.

 

For those players who are playing here for a longer while and have plenty of friends it’s not a problem, but did anyone think about new players who want to try out the game?

 

Just imagine you enter the game for the first time and everything you can see are local places where not many people are around. Then you see the open apartments, also mostly empty. What will you think?

Easy to answer: “This game is really empty and the community is small” :o  But you can’t see that there are a lot more people in their apartments, because you can’t see them.

 

I totally understand when people want to be for their own and have some privacy with friends or a bunch of people they invited. This is human. But I think all of us have some responsibility for this game, since it’s still in progress.

 

Or our development has this responsibility at least and should do anything to keep this game growing.

Now how to handle with this problem of user rooms? Removing them will make people angry and some might leave. Also which development ever removed new features? They get changed until all problems are fixed, what we all could see during the last weeks. Every update was for the user-rooms.

 

In my own opinion development should focus on other things right now. More stuff in public locations, which make those places more interesting again. Maybe some new furniture or special features which only work in public places. And those should stay at these places. If we get able to put everything in our apartments, why do we have public places?

 

We could do it like in Achat and have a dating portal and invite people to our apartment. Great idea! :blink:

 

Please development don’t reduce the public places to empty rooms, because everyone is somewhere in private. Make them more interesting to people will use them. Work more on those places to improve what we already have and what’s been good in the past.

 

Or bring this game back to Achat standard which will make many people cancel their subscription. [i included for sure] :mellow:

 

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Not sure I can agree with this.  There is a definite appeal to intimacy with friends, but there is also continued appeal to being in a public setting.  Does one lessen the other?  Yes, as is natural, but I don't consider it a problem.  People who are willing to interact with others still find themselves in public locations, but more to the point there isn't going to be unmanageable crowds.  Fact is, the locations in this game are not very large, are even quite small, and during crowded hours I wouldn't want any more, where chats must be pushed in private so as not to clog up local.  Keep expanding user rooms, I say.  The expansion of that, next to added character customization,is what will add most to this game.

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I totally agree to your statement about newbies feeling alone or thinking this game is deserted as features added recently made apartments much more appealing to hang out. Apartments are much more appealing then outdoor spaces now and gives much needed sense of privacy. I can finally hang out with only people in my friend's list or group without that asshole mastrubate on the top of me when I am having a delightful moment with a loved one...

 

Also, adding mini games or anything else that would give me incentive to go out and hang around those open areas would make me come out of my cozy apt more often.

 

And I do not mean a simpleton volleyball game...come on, I know devs can do better than that.

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well since me and Jola talked about this in game already.

I agree.... last few days ... peak of my friend list was about 16 people from which 13 were in friend rooms. Its not issue for me but new people are definitely missing out on great people.

 

We cant move community from one place to another if they want to be private like that.

However developers are influencing this by taking everything unique (music, bean bags, poles etc) into private lately.

I used to be lot in sin club ... now I kinda dont see point most of time friends tags into private homes even shows they did in sin they do in private now. (Sengi joke strip ;) )

 

What could be done against this is very simple ... FOCUS more on open world give us reason to be there please dont make everything for private.

 

 

 

What is happening right now and I see it is that community is separating into large and small groups.

I might not know everyone, but I been around for while I remember people who were always on beach or sin etc now almost always people are in friends apartments.

 

If this goes any further communities will shrink. For example look at modern online games - be it social or normal ones... You know how most of them died? They released paid feature or map pack that split community into parts ... those who have them and those who dont. Same thing is happening here but with friends.

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What is happening right now and I see it is that community is separating into large and small groups.

 

This is absolutely natural though. You cannot prevent this no matter what you do. We have limited attention span and limited time in our lives to dedicate this game and chances are we would like to spend this limited time with the people we feel comfortable to hang out with.

 

Even in open areas this is the case.

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Limiting creation is never the way to go in these sorts of games, though.  Limited features turn people off.  I bring RLC to the table for example.  Everything that can be done by the developers can be done also by users, and they often do so much better.  And yet...people often still find themselves hanging out in the entrance portal just chatting.  All this area entails is a small room with grey walls and portals elsewhere and no lighting to speak of.  Yet dozens of people will sit there and chat instead of going to their personalized apartments, often which are beaches, mansions, resorts, castles...  Why?  Because people still have desire to interact.  Maybe they just want a common meeting ground.  Maybe their friends aren't on.  Maybe they want to meet new people.  Or maybe they too are new and looking to chat.

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This is absolutely natural though. You cannot prevent this no matter what you do. We have limited attention span and limited time in our lives to dedicate this game and chances are we would like to spend this limited time with the people we feel comfortable to hang out with.

 

Even in open areas this is the case.

Well of course. I agree with that Frey

 

But in open world people have chance to meet you and join you. If you found them interesting enough. But also it makes game look alive. Look at love island / beach / yacht and even Sin club lately its been deserted almost at all times. which is something that didnt happen during my 3 months stay here ... they were empty before sure! a lot of time there was no one but now its totally dead >.<

 

edit:

I also talked with few newbies that play mostly in Europe mornings and early afternoons ... and question they asked was  - if game is always dead like this or if there's like only 30 people playing etc.

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Pesonally I find User-Rooms quite intriguing, I love watching eveyone (only armed with a limited amount of material) can make amazing places, each soo different the the other :) I love all your guy's n gal's creativity :) keep up the great work

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I understand your feeling... IMHO, there are almost always a lot of interesting people walking around.

I'm only using the game for 1 week but I have already about 30 friends (both), mostly they asked me (and I almost don't accept "colds").

 

I find the "friends-rooms" sometimes interesting but don't do it my-self. At first I went a lot to the open user-rooms but I don't like those orgies where you nearly get raped from the moment you enter.

 

I have more trouble with the so-called "zombies" (my name for them). People whi sit at the bar or are dancing while their operator is running errand, taking a nap or mowing the grass. They should better log-out then.

When a newbie tries to make contact with those "empty" avatars, he/she will get disappointed faster.

 

What do you have in mind to make the public places more interesting?

 

The yacht (labyrinth) and love Island are mostly almost empty.

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I also talked with few newbies that play mostly in Europe mornings and early afternoons ... and question they asked was  - if game is always dead like this or if there's like only 30 people playing etc.

 

That's been the main reason, why I've started this topic, because it need to be prevented that new players get this impression. Disappointment is the main reason, why people leave this game.

When I came here it's been more a "Wow - Great!" but actually it's more like a "Ah ... ok that it then?"

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I think ratio of people in friend-rooms stays the same. I also entered the club when there were only 3 dancing and others nearly empty. Bad moment of the day, I guess. Friday evening was too crowded, you couldn't dance without touching someone's ass.

(Jola? think we play at different hours too :(  - or is ie Eleonore?, the name Riella sounds familiar)

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The majority of the "Open for All" user rooms that are available tend to be where lots of orgies, group sex, partner swapping, cold invite accepting etc is happening. When I *am* in public areas, the amount of colds has cut down drastically. I tend to decorate my rooms in such a manor that they are meant for public consumption, so keep them open for such. Though I do visit friend only rooms from time to time and generally hang out, because it's a nice way to get away from a magnitude of things I don't quite enjoy in the game, and hang out with people that I do enjoy. Before user groups there would just be crowded areas with sometimes very little going on in local, groups huddled in an area to themselves, which could easily make newer players feel just as isolated. I feel like there is more of a "them vs me" feeling in a jampacked zone with friends off in their groups than there is when newer players can't even see the friend/group only rooms.  

 

One thing the community can do to help keep itself together is to hold more nights with DJ, have public game nights, etc.. Zones should have more of a purpose now other than being spaces to "just go" to, they should fit a niche area that user rooms won't. You can bet your ass if (when?) they implement a theatre my Home 1 won't have the setup for shows like it does now.

 

For the most part, however, I don't see this as big of an issue as OP is making it out to be as people tend to congregate with like-minded people that they get along with (or just those that wanna cold bone). A user room with its own music, furniture, poles, etc helps take away some of the sense of "omg you are doing x I don't like in Y place!" Now, it's easier than ever to live out any type of fantasy in any of the zones, or retreat away from something you're not into without blocking yourself off from friends. Win win situation, IMO. 

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Guest Eddster

I love the user rooms and expanding upon them. I found that people in public places just tend to be afk all day. Opening a room as I have done and held events people know we are all present and talking for the most part. I was thinking the same in the beginning to this feature but honestly. It's the best thing to happen.

 

I find public areas also tend to play stale music at times. Being able to flip it on a dime to something more in line with the party is awesome. A constant host (DM) type figure who interacts with the crowd is by far more meaningful than any public area. Not to bag on DJ's or anything I also find the 6 hour track lists whilst they go afk or barely interact with people another down side. The events I have held in my house have been by far the most entertaining thing. Adding to it could only further my interest in it.

 

Separating people into their interests isn't a bad thing. I for one love RP'ers, and descriptive efforts. So I want those people to hang out with me. It also makes people not interested in that do something else. Which I like. I shouldn't be forced to hangout with 1 word typed emoticon masters nor should they feel obligated to hangout with an RP'er.

 

Just my 2 cents. Thanks. :)

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I'm with Brun and Eddster on this one, thinking that user rooms are more of a blessing than they are a curse. :)

 

That being said, I also agree that we should have more events (like the rock party last night, for example) that will bring people together, so the public places aren't dead. 

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I absolutely love the user rooms and I thought they would be a bad thing at first. Yesterday, I saw more roleplayers than I ever have in one place. Met people that I hadn't. Made friends. It was awesome. Being able to jump from room to room, or night club to beach, etc. makes it easy to hang out with whoever you want or mix and mingle without hassle. I love that.

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Oh, to correct my and maybe Jola post. I dont think User Rooms are bad, they are great.

 

 

We both meant friends only rooms.

From what I see here in your opinions, is that open world is boring. And devs are not making it better when they are taking exclusive things such as bean bags and poles and giving it all private.

People need reason to be interested in sin club or beach. And currently there is not very much.

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Oh to correct my and maybe Jola post. I dont think User Rooms are bad, they are great.

 

 

We both meant friends only rooms

From what I see here in your opinions lots of is that open world is boring. And devs are not making it better when they are taking exclusive things such as bean bags and poles and giving it all private.

People need reason to be interested in sin club or beach. And currently there is not very much

Riela is right. I wasn't talking about open rooms for everyone which are actually used for orgies and all this. It for sure keeps public places more "clean" (I know it's not the right word) from people who cold invite and all this.

We both were talking about friends only rooms and also rooms which are used by groups only. This splits the community and makes public places more empty.

 

Our development have to keep the balance between public and private rooms so this game can work. The beach and also the DanceClub are locations on which weren't worked for a long time. It need to be worked on it or on all other things which are suggested on the suggestion thread.

 

There need to be balance that everything get developed the same way. Not just user-rooms, public locations, clothes or poses. It has to be an all-at-once thing.

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There need to be balance that everything get developed the same way. Not just user-rooms, public locations, clothes or poses. It has to be an all-at-once thing.

 

It's apparent you know very little about actual game development. There is no all-at-once. There can never be an all-at-once, there has to be a priority list, there has to be some form of schedule. The only way there could be an all-at-once update is if the devs took what players want at this moment and nodded their heads, closing off suggstions, and built it all out over the next few months, with no other patches. Which would then introduce another host of problems with a giant update and limited beta testing in such a small community, there would be such a massive amount of code and other assets introduced that pinning down new bugs would be difficult, rather than working on smashing them out on a smaller and more manageable level by introducing and iterating such as they are doing now.

 

Every element takes different amounts of time to implement. New clothes could be doled out much more quickly than new poses, etc. The majority of the user room updates lately have been implementing assets already available in the client into what people are allowed to put into their rooms. In a sense, the user room updates since their launch beyond crash fixing, have been like adding salt and pepper to a dish, it's stuff you have and can throw in the pot easily, while new zones, poses, etc, are like having to plant a garden to get all sorts of different herbs so you could add totally new dishes to your menu.

 

In my post I tried to make it clear that the rooms being set up the way they are has helped those who would already be cuddled together with their respective groups, have that while not being in a public zone. The only times that I've found zones to be particularly empty are during the wee morning hours, which was pretty standard even before user rooms. You also have to realise that user rooms are the new hotness, just as when new clothes are added, most people try them on and go somewhere for at least a few minutes. I've only been playing for just over two months and being limited to those zones was already getting exceptionally boring, now while the floorplan is the same, I can go in and see new designs and uses for things, new setups, peoples creativity. It's pretty nice. 

 

I also don't thing that we're shoving new players out the door right as they get here. They have the same access to user rooms as anyone else does. They're shut out of those friend rooms just like the majority of the player base is. I don't think forcing the groups that are in private rooms out into public is a way to go about it, as that would give a false sense of population. Sure, more people might be in the actual zones, but they'd still generally be in their own little groups. To get around this they could just go sit in open rooms, do their thing, and tell anyone who entered to get out. When I am on during more peak hours and a zone is empty, I tend to look at user rooms and thats when I see that there's some huge open room orgy, woo. Anyone can see that, see where the action is. Through seeing those things happening, they could also open their own rooms to try to have the same thing, etc. 

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The many small groups dont depend on the stuff added in the private rooms . Groups exist since the start . The difference is that before , the weakest needed to endure the stronger . Now groups have their own places . This avoid many fights and as said someone earlyer , this is the best way to solve the problem of the ones masterbating on random women . And there is more peoples going in full open rooms than in open to friends rooms , so new players still can meet older ones ( not always the best ones i agree )

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I'd love to be able to see a quick list of how many people are in each zone/room. That would be something. That would save time of running in and out of rooms/zones to see where the party's at / where people are hanging out. Might help the feeling of isolation in the club that seems to be happening lately.

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totally agree with you Jola

 

but I follow my best job to help newbies in game when I can do it and for me for example it's always better to be in the normal locations because it's not in my home I will find fun lol

If I want to have some I need to go out of my room and meet them that's a good thing in fact I'm just hoping that the game become more gay friendly afterall the world is a big place of differences not always good but it's not bad too :)

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totally agree with you Jola

 

but I follow my best job to help newbies in game when I can do it and for me for example it's always better to be in the normal locations because it's not in my home I will find fun lol

If I want to have some I need to go out of my room and meet them that's a good thing in fact I'm just hoping that the game become more gay friendly afterall the world is a big place of differences not always good but it's not bad too :)

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What about having a tag "public" or "private" rooms where private rooms are the actual "only for friends"

No differences for the public rooms but regarding the privates they could be all visible and you just have to knock at the door, then the owner will be alerted you wanna enter the room and he can decide if accept or reject your request. Just shooting an idea

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