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Feral Heart has been running for an outstanding 10 years! Many games are creeping toward or have reached their tenth year! Feral Heart's players has seemed to decrease over the years, especially after the 1.15 update. One day, I saw about 240 people online after the new update! Since we got access to the source code, who knows what we can do! But for now, before 1.18, what can we do to attract new and more players. Open Registration is already checked off, so what else can we do..?
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Honestly I’m not sure. Advertising? Tell friends?
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Make attractive stuff and show it to your friends. And their friends, and their friends friends
No matter what that attractive stuff might be.
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From what I've seen in the past few months since the source code has been obtained, the staff have really come together and done exceptional things so far. I know they're all working very hard to bring life to FH once again, and create new content for us, future players, and returning players. I've spoken to friends about the new update and what's to come, and they seem really interested in returning. Advertising and word of mouth is a significant factor in FH's future activity as well. Just by posting screenshots of presets I've made on sites like DeviantArt I've had users there tell me they feel inspired to return.
FH's activity actually started declining when general chat was removed, and then over the years even more so. But we also have to remember that nothing is everlasting. People's tastes and interests don't always stay the same. They evolve and change every single day. But new users are always joining us, we see some of them when they make an introduction here, which is always wonderful.
One thing that's kept me here is the community. Yes, the game may have not had many updates since Kovu left, but the community has always remained friendly, warm and welcoming. I've made many friends here since 2012 that I couldn't easily forget, as well as memories I will remember for a long time. FH has been a big part of my life and will continue to be so. But it's not that way for everyone. Every user is different in their own way, and it's up to them if they choose to stay with us or depart.
We also have to support the staff and have faith in them. They're working very hard for us all and they're the reason FH is still running. Yes, it may not be as active as it used to be, but there's still a community here, and that's important to remember. Things could always be worse off than what they are.
So in conclusion, FH will constantly gain and lose players, but perhaps one day it'll thrive like it once did. We'll just have to see what the future brings, and keep the faith and positivity flowing throughout the community. Tell your friends, advertise FH in different places, lift the staff up, and remain hopeful. <3
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Honestly, I think an amazing thing to do would be to have the old maps back in the game. I know that we are supposed to be changing out the old for new, but those old maps hold a great place in some of the older member's hearts. Since the new maps/update turned a lot of people off of the game and even a few complained and wish for the old maps to return, I think it would be awesome. I can tell you one thing, even though the new maps are beautiful, I would much rather spend time on the old maps.
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I've been thinking about them re-adding the old maps too! (And also making way bigger maps...)
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Find Raz.
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I've been here since early 2012 when it was populated to the brim. I can say that the reason it
was most active then is due to the massive amounts of roleplayers and creativity options. Not to mention a lot of players where children
who thought it was cool you can play as an an animal.
Members started complaining about inactivity and that "FH is dying" ever since Kovu left, but then they started to complain that it was due to
a lack of new maps and stuff to do. Lots of them left, but a good portion stayed. The overhaul update that replaced the old maps reeled in a lot
of new players and even some of the ones that left. But that didn't stay long. Despite the complaint that there needs to be an update, they didn't
like the update?
Honestly, I'm just rambling at this point. But FeralHeart was built on role-playing and creativity and since there is a huge lack of that it sends a lot of users away. I can remember acting out role-plays and even socialization with my character. Now, people usually just sit around and type. Maybe if there was an addition of more interactive actions and suchlike it will draw more people in or at least make FeralHeart less dead in terms of chatting. More accepting and less organized/strict roleplays will
revive FH.
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Find Raz.
(https://i.imgur.com/6pRRAap.png)
hey op what does this mean
anyways my 2 cents is more consistent updates, whether it's small cosmetics or more community-made items being added to the game, not LOTS OF THINGS IN BIG CHUNKS as downloads like that tend to heck a lotta stuff up fast, esp for players on oldie computers.
i know it makes a pretty picture to have gigantic banners of all the shinies you've added but practically? smaller updates of smaller things in smaller timespans apart from each other makes things feel a little more alive imo.
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Find Raz.
This too.
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There's a lot of ways to breathe life into Feral Heart, but it is hard.
Feral Heart has always been sort of on a slow decline, and it's not really a fault on anyone. I've been around since 2014 and while I haven't witnessed the years prior, I know things were just a lot different. But there's a lot of things that have contributed to a decline, what those are is pretty much common-knowledge and there's plenty people who can explain what those are.
But there's also the fact that people tend to grow dis-interested in the game itself, they outgrow it and have little time for it.
However.
There are things in the works that have the potential that could help Feral Heart grow again, maybe not 700+ people online. But things that this now 10 yr game desperately needs. But it's honestly just a matter of said content's approval and communication.
And also;Find Raz.
So on that front, it's trying. And I really sincerely hope for the best.
But there are lots of things that the community can do, more than just sit around in The Grounds and think about the time that's gone.
We're living in the now and we have to make the best of it.
Want to Roleplay? Roleplay, make a group. It takes one person with enough motivation that can encourage other people to join or to follow suit.
Advertising is another biggie.
Feral Heart has only been introduced to a small portion of the population, and I think with the right sort of advertisement it could draw people in again.
And it doesn't have to be up to staff for that to be possible. A majority of people found Feral Heart through YouTube and various spoof videos. I think if you appeal to the audience that is now, you could draw in people.
These are my thoughts though, and they aren't a sure-fire they'll work. But it's an idea with a hint of optimism.
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lol just make the old maps the default maps again and have a good social media following, instagram is doing pretty well rn for the game
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Everybody: Terrible entrance ramp
(https://i.imgur.com/QQY4bgC.png)
Nobody: Literally anywhere worth sitting at
(https://i.imgur.com/PUsbAtN.png)
-hint hint nudge nudge-
On more serious note... Wouldn't it be easier to just create an rp, have some fun, make some vids, and share all that with friends? -more hinting, more nudging-
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If the larger part of the community would show just as much enthusiasm and involvement for positive things in the community as they show when it comes to the drama & “tea” that could help.
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If the larger part of the community would show just as much enthusiasm and involvement for positive things in the community as they show when it comes to the drama
My thoughts exactly.
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Find Raz.
Enraging, but completely true. What is the point of advertising this game anymore if the server master is not willing to allow developers and staff to manage updates and developments seamlessly? The random spouts of inactivity and uncertainty are killing this game, not the damn community "drama." Community enthusiasm does not save a game if the sole caretaker of the server is not willing to work along side with his or her own staff team. Sure, it is great the community wants to get involved, but in the end, only those in charge can bring the necessary progression this game needs to survive.
It's embarrassing for the game, especially when a literal admin—someone the community looks up to—points out Raz's disappearance. I feel sorry for the developers that dedicate their time to save an un-savable game, at this point in time.
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Find Raz.
Raz has done some very good things for this game - heck, he helped it start and made sure that it ran smoothly when it was first created. But I must agree with AlphaEclipse. It would help to have a more active server master, but who would be willing to accept that job? I cannot say for sure as I have never done anything as Raz has, but it does seem like a lot of hard work for little-to-nothing in return. Yes, in return he receives praise and the satisfaction of people enjoying the game, but being a server master takes a lot of time. During that time, he is not being paid, so he does have to have another job on top of being the server master - which the paying job would take priority over a non-paying server master.
What I am getting at is whoever is the server master is always going to have a rough time. They will be constantly busy and possibly even constantly stressed. In my opinion, I think that there should be two "server masters" so they can cut the work that each of them would have to do in half. With that, I feel like the server master, in this case, Raz, would not get overwhelmed and would be more willing to stay active.
However, this brings up another issue - Raz does not think he could trust anyone to take over/help with his job. Raz can't do this forever. Now is the time to pick someone and start training them to take over his position when he steps down. I feel as if we are getting close to the day Raz leaves - which is why this is so important.
All-in-all, we do need a more active server master like AlphaEclipse said above, but it may be beneficial to have two server masters to reduce work/stress.
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I believe Feral Heart has plenty of room for improvement. Recalling my first time playing this amazing game, I truly enjoyed my time particularly in Sky's Rim, Atlantis and Temple of Dreams. When they were removed, I was disappointed and the loss of many unique lands in this game took hundreds of players with it. I myself am just returning to the game after being gone for about three years. In my opinion, I believe that if the old maps were placed back in, or if they implemented the removed maps back into the game, it would attract a few more of the older players, while also creating more space to explore!
However, the other opinions shared are just as important. FH does need an active server master or two, if that helps. It also requires frequent communication with its players, and more updates to keep players interested. Waiting for an update every several months to even a year in between updates can result in a greater loss of consistent players. Nevertheless, you're still going to have the occasional group of people that dislike something, but the big picture is what matters. The success of Feral Heart would require a lot of catching up and tweaking, but it's not impossible. In fact, there are plenty of amazing games out there that are nearly reaching their twenties, but still have hundreds of thousands of players daily. It's a lot of time, determination and hard work, however, I have faith in FH's developers. They placed their time and effort to find the source code, they listen to their small community, having done their best to provide new content.
As long as there is a devotion to keep FH going, I'll always be lured back by the happy times that brought me here in the first place. ;D
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I believe we should all communicate more. I don't like assuming, but I do think discord has taken a bit toll on the game due to the lack of doing things in-game but rather on discord. I also think we need more in-game events, a variety of them. It encourages members to come online. About advertisements, I agree. I think that maybe we could gather some creative people and create different forms of advertisements such as: Youtube video, banners, etc. There is one thing we do have which is the FH Instagram and whoever made that, thumbs up! I also think allowing more of the community to do more for the game. There are lots of creative people who can help so much with the game.
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Currently the game is all user driven content.
People want to see something happen in game.
I'll take this opportunity to remind people to be that change they want to see.
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yeah, dudes, learn to code!
dead memes aside, some ingame mods are incredibly easy to create.. easy enough that my caveman level understanding of anything composed of 0's and 1's figured it out, if that's anything to speak for.
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yeah, dudes, learn to code!
dead memes aside, some ingame mods are incredibly easy to create.. easy enough that my caveman level understanding of anything composed of 0's and 1's figured it out, if that's anything to speak for.
Adding my two cents here, but really, if people can go as far as making a crocodile texture out of a feline model for presets, there is a lot the community could learn if we were able to create more stuff in this game XD
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yeah, dudes, learn to code!
You mean like this?
https://feral-heart.com/smf/index.php?topic=67752.msg929587#msg929587
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I played this game back in 2012 when the game was super popular, and it got me really into role-playing. The people on the game were relatively kind-hearted and enjoyed starting up random chats/roleplays with random people which added a nice community feeling. I was fine with the old game 100% before they re-did it in the new update. And while I appreciate the new maps, they all are pretty redundant to me as if they used the same textures in each map, and each map has this unsightly border at the edge (I kind of miss the empty vastness of sky and water without 2D trees attempting to add depth to the borders of the map) I miss flourite plans, I really miss sky's rim and ascension because they were like little parkour mini games, and Atlantis was fun to explore as well, even after 5 years of playing. My main used map though was South Pole, even without trees, the snowy mountains made home to my character and my pack of over 200 members (about half were actually active). And while I didn't explore too much of the new maps, I was really upset that they deleted/replaced the old ones. The new maps, as I said, look the same to me and don't satisfy my taste of exploration.
Another thing I believe that killed the game is most of the people online have their own created maps and I don't see a lot of people in the default maps in general, let alone role-playing or having conversations, they're just advertising for their group which has their own map to role-play on.
But I think it's important to have at least one interactive map like Ascension and Sky's Rim was. for a min-game to pass time while waiting for friends to get online, or to start conversations after getting close to the top.
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Bring back the old maps. Many left because of the new update, myself included. I come back every now and then to see how this game is doing. Just miss the old FH.
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Most people will say we are kind of dying because of the new maps, the update. However, in my opinion, I think it's because most of the people that were very active back then have now grown up and the older people who still play would rather do big roleplays that are mapped or just chillax on the game as well as some other factors. I think to make the game "revived" is to socialize more, make more videos of how fun the game is on youtube, create more creative roleplays and not the same old "evil wolf group", "lion pride", etc. The maps we have are pretty nice, it's just nobody goes into them.
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I partly agree with Fae. All of the past/old members I've spoken with have left because of the introduction of the new maps, but I know we'll never get the old maps back in the Main-game of FeralHeart.
But advertising a lot more than the staff currently do could help A LOT more (not blaming the staff here, I know they have lives of their own and it's ultimately up to Raz as to how and where they advertise.). Most people have just forgotten about FeralHeart, it's an old-ish game and kind of faded away from peoples memories once the 'new' update arrived because people don't like change, which can easily be seen from DeviantArt and it's new Eclipse update.
I was never around to be in-game when the old maps where here, but I do resonate with past players in the fact that the old maps are kind of better for socialising. They were more simple (from what I've seen), but also had fun areas to be in.
I've never created or advertised something like a game before, but I know some people in this community could come up with great ideas to boost activity.
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I have told friends how to get fh and they do have fh, but they dont know how to get the latest patch and an acc ;-;
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but I know we'll never get the old maps back in the Main-game of FeralHeart.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO <:C
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I've never created or advertised something like a game before
It's not easy.
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create more creative roleplays and not the same old "evil wolf group", "lion pride", etc.
I have a group that's dedicated for hyenas, not just your generic spotted hyena. All hyena species!
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Wasn't sure should I start new topic, but they're ideas how to revive fh, so... sorry if I shouldn't bump this one anyway.
1. How we could bring old maps?
It's possible that many people won't agree. Anyway, why nobody thought about... merge maps?
Old and new.
Good examples are Zama Grotto and Atlantis. Similar themes. Good things in Atlantis were it was good for some roleplays. Zama Grotto is better for exploring though. Bad things in Atlantis: TOO BIG. Size for me is real rip, big open world, also high. So that mean moving there is really hard and slow. Also Zama Grotto is... not gonna lie, only for fish roleplays, sorry fans of this world. We could make map with middle look like Atlantis - coloseums, buidlings fulled with hidden crystals. Closer corners would be more wild, like Zama looks. Similar thing we could make with Bonfire Islands - old & new. We miss known Rock. Every island we would make similar to old - rock, palms, and bonfires of course ;)
2. Advertising
First thing here is official FH Facebook. Last post - 2011. By this way we probably won't get newcomers, lol. But good we have Instagram & dA, small ad of fh excist c:
But by only official ad we can't do anything. We need unofficials. Randoms. Memes. Vines. Gameplays. Random live streams. Doesn't matter how many subscribers you have - would be awesome to ad this game.
3. Dramas
Gonna be short here - I think we shouldn't run by dramas, because it looks like many members are still here only for dramas.
4. Community
Who wanna play game which aim is sitting in The Grounds? Community should move. Meeting people in unused worlds, like Kibou Ridge or Zama Grotto... it's awesome feeling. Between you and lonley person there creates friendship. Meeting person there makes you know he/she is diffrent than everyone.
Also, when you're sitting in TG, try to break silience. Say "so quiet here", or whisper to random guy - who know, maybe they'll answer? Maybe you'll be friends?
Think about them. If we don't wanna make it dead, make it friendly for newcomers.