The FH is Dying Bandwagon

[LordSuragaha]

So here's just an interesting thing I noticed.

Some people really like to focus on the number of players online and use this as a judge of how "alive" or "dead" the game is...

Most understand however that this isn't an accurate way to judge the communities livelihood due to how often the number of people online fluctuates given what time of day or year it is.

Either way many like saying that in earlier years the game had soo many more people online than these days but fail to realize that that isn't actually true. Having been around since this game's earlier days I've seen the population trends.

So here's a clip of the counter from 2011 as seen in an old preset tutorial video I made on an old cringey YouTube channel:





As you can see it reads something like 415 people were online at the time... mind you that I recorded that tutorial during the so called busy hours of FH.

Then just recently I screenshot this image of the counter this year as of January 2017



The counter reads 437 people online... xD

Not much has changed on average. Sure there were days that were busier than that back then but even still at 415 people online no one was running around saying the game was dying.

Point in all this really is that I believe people focus too much on the numerical side of the game rather than just playing. People put this seed of "the game is dying" and then that negativity is all that manifests itself. I think we should focus less on quantity and more on the quality of our relationships with those who are online...a game isn't dead until there's 0 people online and as long as the server/site/game is managed and up that will never happen xD

Idk I just find all this quite so silly given how long I've been around here.

While yes sometimes there has been more users online on various occasions nothing has gone to drastically different since then. I just think people like grossly exaggerating things.

[Kynvuu]

Ahh thank you for bringing this to attention, Sura. It really is disheartening to hear that so many people think that the game is "dying" due to a fluctuation of users. People forget to keep in mind that registration had been closed for quite some time, which kept the user influx stagnant for a while. I think they also seem to forget that the people playing FH here in 2017 aren't exactly the same people that were playing back in 2011. Although some veterans still remain, it's crucial to understand that with time, users come and go, and the general population changes. And with a general population change, you get users of different backgrounds and personalities, which drastically contributes to the overall mood or "feel" of the game.

People also like to think that the game "isn't the same" as it was back in 2011/2012, but really nothing has changed gameplay wise. The rules and norms are still quite the same. Like I said before, I believe a majority of this "not the same" feeling can be attributed to the change in general population, but we have to remember that as a whole community, we have the power to shape the game in whichever way we want. We can chose to embrace qualities or the past or to move on, and really, we decide what feelings the game invokes, not the game itself.

I hope that the community will take time to reflect on what really has changed/and or can be considered as "dying" before going around parading the idea itself. Thank you again for creating this post and laying down some clarification.<3

[TwistedSorrowzz]

Thank you for bringing this to peoples notice. I've met many people that have said "FH is dying, why do people still play it?" and this is not true at all. The time of this post FH is at its second highest player point. I've seen many new people and FeralHeart isn't dying at all, it's more of a re -birth.

As Kynvuu said, some people don't think that FeralHeart is the same as it was in 2011/2012, but it still technically is. Most people just think it isn't as most people are out of Grounds RPing, Causing them to believe that no one stays in Grounds and talk.
 

[Edolicious]

I'm just glad something was said about this. I don't have much else to comment, but we can always count on Sura to set rumors straight.

[Astraea]

Props to Sura bab for posting this.

My belief on the topic is that FeralHeart has it's moments. Sometimes it's busy, and other times, usualyl 1-4 AM it is at its most quietest. The game has its moments, and depending on the time you catch it in that's what you'll build your opinion on sadly enough.

The game surely has its fair share of loyal members, and everyone needs to be patient for the opening of Registration again, pushing it won't get anywhere. :/

Either way, thanks Sura. c:

[Lady_Alizarin]

Thank you for bringing this up, Lord Sura. I've seen around 400 players online lately since it's winter break for many people. It really just depends on the time of the day and season as to how many people are going to be online. Feral Heart isn't really dying, and there are some new members who come in from time to time during open registration. I'm sure whenever the new registration gets fixed there will be more and more people to come. We just got to have faith.

[Bawfle]

I am sure people appreciate this being said, and it's great that you've proved that FeralHeart hasn't changed much popularity wise, and got that proof for those who disagree. However, I gotta say I understand where people come from when they use the term "FH is Dying". Sure, it's not an appropriate use of words, nor am I agreeing that FH is dying. On the other hand, when you read into it more, is it honestly that good that the FH popularity hasn't increased much since 2011/2012 as you so proved? I am aware that people leave, and people come to 'replace' the hole of those who do leave, but why are people saying Feral Heart isn't as 'great' as it used to be?

Don't get me wrong, it's lovely to see that Movie Nights are still being held, and that lovely 'official' Feral Heart events are still about such as; staff hosted parties, MOTS, preset contests and contests outside of Feral Heart. But you must agree that you don't see people turning up and involving themselves as much as they used to before? Or maybe how the number of users including themselves in these events aren't increasing? If not then maybe not enough attention is being made in terms of user activity. As said before, the game has changed a lot since 2011/2012. A lot of users were new, and a lot more Roleplays were about, people didn't need continuous events, and the majority of those events are held on the forum or external websites. People are coming, and people are going, but I see a lot of users on a daily basis that have been here since probably the beginning, who then see other users who are just the same as them. A year or so ago, user online activity would peak up to the 500's-600's. Don't you think users are getting a little bored maybe? Could this be the reason users are saying that Feral Heart is "dying"? I'm just trying to encourage you to read more into it.

Yes, a patch has been released, and the base of patches has been created. A lot of effort and time was put into it, and I know this because I was there to help even. A lot of users are more than happy to be on FH, whether changes undergo or not. A lot of people like the changes of Feral Heart and can appreciate what efforts have been made to make changes that people have been craving for a long time. However, I am online in-game almost every day for reasons. I see more complaints about how people do not like the changes than people who do. Sure, not everyone will like the same thing, and it's possible that you and others might only see them as ungrateful. But have you taken notice on how a lot of users are dropping Feral Heart because they're not happy any more? Instead of telling people most of the time how Staff had put a lot of time and effort into the patch, as soon as they say that they understand that, I just ask them what they want to see and what changes they do not like. Now, I'm not saying focus your future ideas based on those who don't like the changes very much, but to maybe listen and learn.

I understand that the patch was secret, that the patch was a nice surprise for users to see this past Summer. However, maybe it would be nice to have the users get a say in what they want for future patches? That would give Staff, or people who are working on the patch, a better base on what users want to see than just guessing and thinking "this would be cool to add". I guarantee you'd see a lot of users returning as well.

How about public advertising? Maybe FH could have it's own YouTube Channel? A place where you can post an advertisement of Feral-Heart, maybe update the main FH game advertisement each patch. It would sure grab a lot of gamer attention out there. A lot of games have their own YouTube Channel. This Shouldn't be a palce for sillyness, but a place for professionally made videos. Maybe release teasers of what's to come game wise. No voices, but some sweet music from the game, as well as text. A lot of games have high quality mics and recording stuffs, paid voices etc.. so it'd be wise not to use voice. Could end up sounding trashy. If you even wanted, upload Podcasts that you record. This would allow users to get to know you more, trust you more. Make a playlist on that channel, even, called 'podcasts'. Maybe name each one "Feral Heart Staff Podcast - Staff Member 1, Staff Member 2, Staff Member 3... and so on. Take advantage of other game forums if they permit advertisements for other games. Try to increase the popularity instead of settling with what users you have registered?

I donno. Maybe I went into too much detail, but too much detail is better than none I suppose. I just wanted to give users a more open perspective than just one proved point on game popularity/daily user count.

[Abnormally]

I have never seen Feral Heart as a dying community. It's just evolving in to something greater. Like the in-game and forum update has brought a lot of attention to Feral Heart which is good. I have been with this community for 4 years and I have never seen the members playing number drop dramatically. Thank you for bringing attention to this. It is very helpful.

[Bloo.]

I have never seen Feral Heart as a dying community. It's just evolving in to something greater. Like the in-game and forum update has brought a lot of attention to Feral Heart which is good. I have been with this community for 4 years and I have never seen the members playing number drop dramatically. Thank you for bringing attention to this. It is very helpful.

FeralHeart is evolving, just at a slow rate. The update was nearly a year ago and Raz is busy so he can only work on the forum here and there when he has time.

I suppose a concern of mine is that while FH is evolving, it isn't growing. Sure the number of members hasn't decreased, but it hasn't increased either and community participation in events is declining. A agree a lot with what Buffy said in her post, there should be more done to bring the community together, to advertise, and to overall bring something fresh to members.

[Whisperingwaves]

Going off of what Buff said above;

There used to be some videos on Red's channel on YouTube as far as I was aware of some past podcasts, but i'm not sure they were FH. But this would be a nice idea! I know that if FH had it's own channel, it could be livestreamed to for FAQ sessions etc.
User input is important to any game, new or old. I mean, thus far we've seen some changes to things the users have wanted/needed in the past years such as the username changer, but other things...

I'm not actually happy to hear the term 'FH is Dying' considering the game itself has evolved so much in the past few years. BUT, you're going to experience a user change no matter where you go. During certain times of year the user count will rise or fall. Usually around the middle of the school year that number drops due to mid-terms etc. It's not that much of a surprise.
There's nothing we can do about people having lives outside of the game, and as Sura mentioned, the numbers haven't changed all that much. It really all depends on what day/when you log in. Older users may log in when the younger base of the users are in school etc and things may seem empty, but you also have to consider time zones.

I really don't feel FH is dying, but instead is doing what I like to call a shift of activity. Even if the numbers drop drastically, it doesn't mean to point fingers and assume the death of the community. Things may have been rather quiet lately, but with all the work going on, it's expected.

The update is liked and both unliked by users all around, but sooner or later it'll be accepted. I like the ideas suggested of user made trailers, teasers etc. It might just bring that spark back for a influx of new users. We'll never know unless it's tried.

~ Whisper