Author Topic: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community  (Read 2232 times)

Offline whitewolfmaya

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Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« on: July 27, 2020, 02:11:33 pm »
I'm just wondering if maybe the cause of the lack of players is due to the small issues  I want to talk about here, sorry for the long article, I'm just slapping down some thoughts and opinions! :D
Reading this now I basically wrote out a guide oops TwT


Mini Update History Lesson (The Possible Causes)

Recently I've noticed an interesting trend with the community's activity on the forum and in game. I thought talking about it might spark an interesting thought or two and hopefully improve a few things about the game.

November 2015, Feral Heart was supposedly "hacked", or just had a little "blip". This was the first of it's kind and the creator took it upon himself to protect the passwords best as he could by implementing an online Login System that couldn't be as easily bypassed. This was a smart implementation, however it became an annoyance to many older players, many complaining about why the issue hasn't been "fixed" yet. This may be one issue that drove alot of players away.

June 2016, the new 1.15 overhaul update. Many people may have lost a sense of "nostalgia" and left, while many others were re-attracted to the game. The community won some and lost some. Overall there were alot more active players active, trying to explore every nook and cranny, although many missed the Ascension Islands, which kept alot of players online who were trying to get to the top. The loss of this old map may have left many players bored, which may be why they left so soon.

2019 ~ 2020, Registration is more open then it used to be. I understand that the closed register was to prevent flooding of game servers, but I'm happy to see it's open more often now to welcome newer players in. I'm unsure with exactly whats happening with the register, but due to the lack of players online nowadays, I think it's safe to say it stays open for a while until the next spike of players returns. Due to it's openness I've seen quite a few new players running about the world during early 2020, with no presets, items or custom markings. It was refreshing to see this spike in new players, even if it didn't last long :')

1.17 patch update. This chased alot of people away. I understand that it's a simple fix, however I have talked to many previously active players who just can't seem to get it right. It frustrated them to the point of giving up and playing something else. For someone who enjoys Feral Heart but doesn't have much knowledge or experience in messing with files, it can be really annoying and demotivating. Rather then giving players 100 new steps to installing the game, rather just turn it into 1 main download. And yes this may mean that those who already have the current Feral Heart would have to reinstall it, but that's not much different for those who don't understand computers that well, trying to install the patch. Back when the community thrived it was 1 register and 1 download. Now it's a register, web login, 1 big download and a patch that looks just like the shortcut, old .exe file and the new one. Pretty overwhelming for someone who just wants to check the game out. This may keep that surge of newer players out aswell. Meaning a drop in ingame activity. So if it's possible to fix this soon, that would be a relief to newer players

Other issues

Feral Heart, unlike its predecessor "Impressive Title" is a mainly social game, however the lack of public roleplay and fun games in general also leaves newcomers wondering what to do, so the hype then would have never seemed worth it. The current community is very closed off when compared the the golden age of Feral Heart, where the community was full of funny or creepy characters. Always something to have fun with. Social games are difficult to keep a community alive with, especially if there's not much else within the game to do. In Impressive Title, there were quests and items and boss fights to keep the community more active, however in Feral Heart there's a movie maker and a few in game maps and that's about it (not including community creations)

So what can I do?

Be a more friendly community! Go say hello to more people and ask to be friends, make up some games! Make movies for YouTube like they used to. There's lot's to do with a game like this and an endless imagination! It doesn't help complaining about the lack of new content when your not trying to make some yourself.

 1) If you do happen to see new players, welcome them the best you can!

2) Don't gatekeep areas or groups. The Maps are public areas, so don't be offended when a colorful dragon runs past your "realistic wolf roleplay cave"

3) Try to interact with quiet players to encourage more activity

4) Open some public oneshot roleplays to welcome new players or new friends

5) If meeting strangers isn't your thing, try to invite some friends to the community


But what about technical issues?

I can't say for sure if it's the main reason the community is "dead" but I do know it's chasing many new people away.

1) The Feral Heart website is rather outdated and could use a bit of an update.

2) Don't expect newer players to be wise in the ways of the file explorer, simplify it little bit more please as it can be very frustrating.

3) The sound when first loading up the game breaks your ears, please have mercy.

4) Maybe add more hidden secrets and maps similar to Ascension Island, so players don't get as bored.
 Knowing that there is a hidden area that can be found means that people
 will want to spend time in game in order to find these hidden secrets




Thanks for reading! I had fun writing this. Plus the only real reason I made it look professional was because I haven't posted a Forum post in a while and I'm excited to make one that looks pretty:') What do you all think of the possible causes?


Have a Great Day![/center]

Offline Dark_heart

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #1 on: July 27, 2020, 02:38:55 pm »
So much agree here! Sometimes saying "so quiet Here" in The Grounds can do a lot c:

Yeah, The Grounds... people must move from This grassy world, other awesome maps are very unused.
« Last Edit: July 27, 2020, 02:41:26 pm by Dark_heart »
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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #2 on: July 27, 2020, 02:43:35 pm »
Thank you for writing this!

You're most certainly not wrong with any of your points here. Another one that drove people away was the removal of General, but even then we were seeing easily 500-600 people online daily. Anyways, I absolutely love the points you listed out on how the community can help, and one thing that I might add to that: spread it to your friends! I found this game via a really good friend back in 2012 and I am so happy that she decided to show me back then.

I'll make sure to pass some of these technical issues that can be fixed in the coding/game itself on to some of the other staff members to make sure that they get to the development team. I'll tell ya, when you made that comment about the sound breaking ears when you first join, I got goosebumps.

Thank you again!

Offline DylanCheetah

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2020, 04:38:24 pm »
You've certainly done your research whitewolfmaya. I'd also like to add that it appears that the community feels their trust has been violated due to some of the past events that went down. And that is something that could prove very difficult to regain.

Offline Garfield.

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2020, 05:59:26 pm »
Agree. Things like these should be taken into consideration not just staff but players! many don't really interact but I don't know why, we should because it's like that :D!

Offline Oddonelynx

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2020, 10:45:09 pm »
Agreed with all! THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!

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Offline SleepyFernweh

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2020, 04:56:36 pm »
I made a new account after not logging in since before the big map update, personally I looked forward to the old maps and I return to find very confusing maps withought the nostalgic music. It was a pretty big buzz kill for me personally we had less area and maps back in my day but finding other people was a lot easier. I honestly wish how FH use to be before items, and all these new map updates happened.

Offline Dark_heart

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #7 on: August 09, 2020, 07:27:43 pm »
I made a new account after not logging in since before the big map update, personally I looked forward to the old maps and I return to find very confusing maps withought the nostalgic music. It was a pretty big buzz kill for me personally we had less area and maps back in my day but finding other people was a lot easier. I honestly wish how FH use to be before items, and all these new map updates happened.
I don't wanna sound rude or somethin', but we can't bring back past - If we'd have maps what then? Game is under-member, it won't be same. Old fh music is on YouTube, I guess? Everyone respect memories, but look for any game like LoL, WoW, anything. Every game needs updates. And that means removing some old stuff too. Also just look on new unused maps - it can be difficult, but you can even try love them similar to old-maps love. Only after longer running around the map you can see pretty detalied and such beautiful spots.
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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2020, 11:37:14 pm »
You brought some important facts, WhiteWolf. I hope these are taken into consideration in sakes for the game. Activity is lacking right now and I don't want to see this game go under the ground so soon ^^

Offline Oddonelynx

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Re: Small things that could Possibly bring back the Community
« Reply #9 on: August 23, 2020, 01:50:16 am »
Maybe there could be an update where the animations get redone and FH gets running on a newer updated version of Ogre

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