State of the Union

[Mr President]

Nation Wars Community,

It is hard to believe that it has been 5 years since we started. Seems like just yesterday Dirk and I were working all hours of the night getting the game ready to be released. We have had our ups and downs over these years, but we are still plugging along. Each year seems to get a little harder getting and keeping members due to the massive amounts of competition on the internet today, but we seem to hold our own. Granted we are not a huge community, but we are a strong and close community.

2011 brought a lot of changes to our game. More changes were made in 2011 than any other year. The attacks were changed, missiles were added, casher was adjusted, new spy ops and the list goes on and on. Some of the changes will be reversed as they are not working the way we need them too, and some will be adjusted to work even better. As a community, everyone has a say in new ideas and implements. If they don't work, we remove them. We don't just keep them and say deal with it lol.

2012 will also be an exciting year for our game. There will be new changes and new things added. As most of you know, my wife and I had a son, built a new house (which we are finally living in) and we also have a new baby on the way. With all of this added to my schedule, it leaves me a little less time for the game. Also, let's not forget that I now live in the country and there is no cable, DSL or any other type of high speed internet available... So I had no choice but to go with Satellite internet :( OMG my old *** can run faster than a page downloads lol.. With all of this being said, I will be stepping aside from the day to day operations of the game and focusing mainly on just doing the programming and implements of the game. A new game admin will be added and he or she will be handling the day to day functions. I will still help out as needed but will primarily focus on the game code. One of the main things I would like to do this year is "fix" many of the things in the game. We will still add a few new things, but I think we really need to spend the time fixing what we have before we add a whole lot more. In the past, I have been more energetic on adding new things rather than fixing old.. I need to change this as the foundation of our game is very solid and we need to work with what we have. One of the main things is the military strengths and networths. (like infantry) Yes Grim, we will be working hard to fix the inf hording issue in the first half of this year. Our suggestions have died off some. We need these to continue. We need fresh ideas on how to fix a lot of the issues. We need people debating these issues till the best possible solution is created.

We will also be adding some marketing positions. These people will be energetic and work on ways of boosting our games membership. They will use tools like facebook, twitter, voting sites ect ect to get our name out and about. We have talked about this for a long time, but now it's time we really work on it. A marketing budget will be implemented as well. I will pay for this out of my own pocket and not the game funds. I wanted to do this in 2011 but it never happened.. It WILL happen this year. If you are interested in working with us in the marketing area please send me a PM with some ideas on what you would do to get our name out. I will then follow up with you and begin working to get started.

Financially our game is in decent shape. Our regular premium members continue to support the game and I can't thank them enough. Our premium members are the only reason we are still here. As you all know, I take no money from the game. Every dime it makes is used to pay to keep it running on the server and other costs associated with it. This will never change!

Membership seems to continue to grow at a steady pace. Our biggest challenge is keeping them. Right now for every 15 that join, 1 sticks around. We need to increase this.. Perhaps there are new ideas on how to do this?

I would also like to thank the Nation Wars staff members. Thank you so much for helping out and doing the things you do. I know the mods are kinda bored as the forum usage has dropped off a bit and we don't have as many people bickering about things, but my hope is that soon enough you will be busy again. Tnova and Dogma, thank you both for the huge amount of time you both put into the game and helping keep things running smoothly. A game admin position is a thankless job, but yet you both continue to devote free time for the benefit of others.

Our game is one of the best on the internet today. We have HUGE possibilities and untapped potential. With your help we can make Nation Wars full of life again and one of the most popular games on the internet. Let's make 2012 the best Nation Wars year EVER!

Thank you all for playing and for your continued support. Hope you all have a happy and healthy 2012.

Sincerely,
Mr. President

[Top12Gun]

Nice post. Appreciate all you do for the game. Oh, and I nominate Xavior or Devil for the new admin position.

Have had satellite for a while. I sympathize.

[totte]

nice post and well done :)
sorry i'm not very active these days :(

[L P]

I'm glad to see that my lifetime premium is going to good use.

(insert "We Love Mr. President" emoticon here)

[blaa]

"we will be working hard to fix the inf hording issue in the first half of this year"

I'm kinda afraid of that one. I mean, without changing the values of consumption/nw/strength I don't see how you can avoid the hoarding. I don't see it as a problem anyway. At first inf is best because of low upkeep. In final days of the set, everybody hoards ships. Ships from BM give more networth than infantry from PM. Fix the final days ship hoarding then?

Or maybe something like a balanced state could come into play. Like with casher strategy. Buildings must be 40/60 for maximum income. Maybe the army should be 10/15/10/10/10/15/15/15 for maximum nw. joking

About the new players not wanting to join... It's not the easiest game to learn and reading some pages full of plaint text(manual) might not be the understanding of 'fun' these days. There is a little tutorial at the moment, if I'm not mistaken. New states get rewarded some turns right? Well, maybe it would be an idea to expand the tutorial a little. Not for 3 days of the first set, but for 3 sets!

[Ragnar]

A marketing budget will be implemented as well. I will pay for this out of my own pocket and not the game funds. I wanted to do this in 2011 but it never happened.. It WILL happen this year. If you are interested in working with us in the marketing area please send me a PM with some ideas on what you would do to get our name out. I will then follow up with you and begin working to get started.


er, you could do massive marketing for FREE!!!! I posted this last June about using EarthEmpires to get a lot of new players....

Earth Empires could *easily* be a gold mine for getting new members here. If some one got really good at the game, in the Alliance version, then had their own alliance that ranked very well, then recruited players to the alliance and then in the alliance, promoted this game every so often, you could easily get a flood of players here.

Here's an idea, if some one here played the one week speed version a few times and got good enough to end the round ranking in the top 10, they could then post their strategy here in as much detail as possible, join the alliance version and make an alliance. Then a bunch of us join the game and join the alliance. (Don't name it Nation Wars, that'll quickly give off the real reason of the alliance!!) We then play the game using your guide, and make the alliance rank pretty close to #1. Then we recruit like crazy to the alliance. And who's not going to say no to an invitation to one of the top 5 ranking alliances??!! Then every so often, we mention this game in the alliance. I think a lot of the players would like NW better.

If they have alliance forums over there like here, you simply make a 'What other games do you play' thread and we post in there. Bam! A flood of new players with a much higher odds of being active here, since they are active over there!!!! Total cost: Nothing!!

The Alliance round currently ends Feb 3. If we did this, we could start doing this in a month, if there is some one who knows how to play it well enough and can give us their strategy!


http://forums.nation-wars.com/showthread.php?93634-Crimson-s-Rant

[Top12Gun]

"we will be working hard to fix the inf hording issue in the first half of this year"

I'm kinda afraid of that one. I mean, without changing the values of consumption/nw/strength I don't see how you can avoid the hoarding. I don't see it as a problem anyway. At first inf is best because of low upkeep. In final days of the set, everybody hoards ships. Ships from BM give more networth than infantry from PM. Fix the final days ship hoarding then?

^This. I don't see inf hoarding as a problem, considering that if someone doesn't like it, they can AA the hoarders to hell and back. That's the consequence, so I don't get why those who dislike it don't enact their own enforcement instead of whining like babies. If those who hoard infantry can get away with it because those who do not don't care enough to kill them, then why all the fuss??

[Dogma]

Well I know I am going to continue to be here till the wheels fall off and I nominate Tnova as the admin. I don' think there is a more fair minded player in this game than he.

[Top12Gun]

Who is this Tnova you speak of?? I can't find any recent posts from him. You sure he still plays?? :P

[Mr President]

Tnova is already and admin.. We will be adding "another" admin who will be able to help out by doing some of the day to day stuff :-)

[::LD::GrimReapr]

Infantry hoarding lacks realism which i know for a fact is why my brother Rassputtin left he had alot of good ideas for the game. When your 15 million infantry can stop my bombers that fly at about 30 feet I have an issue with that seeing as how those little bastards wont even see the bombs I am dropping let alone shoot my bombers down till after I have rained destruction on your sorry *** for having nothing but infantry. which should in turn automatically give me land from your state when my infantry rolls in to clean up the mess of what napalm leaves behindhence if you look closley at my back ground and read you supply the rifles ill supply the napalm. As for AAing someone for hording Infantry that my friend as you well know is an act of war and will start them up just as quik as the AA took to do. For those of us that would like to peacefully net with a balanced state in case war doesn break out cant grab land from someone the same or lower networth because he is hoarding infantry which is horse **** as I said before infantry cant stop everything you dont have 37 million Rambos running around your state!!!!!

[blaa]

Realism? Rambos?
Maybe find realism in real life, this is a game. This is a game of numbers.

[Max Logan]

realism? If he has all infantry - do bombing runs or him. do air raids, do amphibious assaults! there are no rules against it! never were. but if you do, get ready to face the consequences!

and if you want to win, you`ll hoard. There is no evil in it, it`s math. if you want to win - hoard and don`t get sleep :p

[Top12Gun]

Please tell me what the huge problem is with inf hoarding. If you don't like it, war them and teach them a lesson!! Otherwise, quit ****ing!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr President]

I agree with grim some on this. I don't like the fact that people can go all infantry the first 3 weeks and then all ships the last week. It should be made that states should have more units. I guess made isn't the correct word, there should be a benefit of some kind to have more than 1 unit on hand in massive amounts.

And yes this is a game, but some of the exciting parts of it should be "realism". We changed the attacks around as jets killing land didn't make any sense. So we made it so bombers killed land. Why should infantry be able to beat bombers or ships?

Maybe if we make Infantry less strong that would help.. I really don't know. Warring isn't always the answer. There are times when people should be taught a lesson, but you don't have all set for an all out war. There should be other ways to prove a point.

[Mr President]

Infantry hoarding lacks realism which i know for a fact is why my brother Rassputtin left he had alot of good ideas for the game. When your 15 million infantry can stop my bombers that fly at about 30 feet I have an issue with that seeing as how those little bastards wont even see the bombs I am dropping let alone shoot my bombers down till after I have rained destruction on your sorry *** for having nothing but infantry. which should in turn automatically give me land from your state when my infantry rolls in to clean up the mess of what napalm leaves behindhence if you look closley at my back ground and read you supply the rifles ill supply the napalm. As for AAing someone for hording Infantry that my friend as you well know is an act of war and will start them up just as quik as the AA took to do. For those of us that would like to peacefully net with a balanced state in case war doesn break out cant grab land from someone the same or lower networth because he is hoarding infantry which is horse **** as I said before infantry cant stop everything you dont have 37 million Rambos running around your state!!!!!

Rass did have a lot of good ideas for the game. Some of them were far more advanced than the game would allow at that time. He wanted to change the whole value of the game. The core is good and solid, we just need to tweak how some of the things are right now. I told Rass a while back that I could see a time when his ideas will fit in the game, just not at that time. He left cause he couldn't stand the inf hoarding.. I think he was on his way out anyway and that was what really got under his skin. He played a long time in WoW and Inf hording was the same then and it didn't bother him as much.. But there were a lot more players at that time too.

[Mr President]

er, you could do massive marketing for FREE!!!! I posted this last June about using EarthEmpires to get a lot of new players....

Earth Empires could *easily* be a gold mine for getting new members here. If some one got really good at the game, in the Alliance version, then had their own alliance that ranked very well, then recruited players to the alliance and then in the alliance, promoted this game every so often, you could easily get a flood of players here.

Here's an idea, if some one here played the one week speed version a few times and got good enough to end the round ranking in the top 10, they could then post their strategy here in as much detail as possible, join the alliance version and make an alliance. Then a bunch of us join the game and join the alliance. (Don't name it Nation Wars, that'll quickly give off the real reason of the alliance!!) We then play the game using your guide, and make the alliance rank pretty close to #1. Then we recruit like crazy to the alliance. And who's not going to say no to an invitation to one of the top 5 ranking alliances??!! Then every so often, we mention this game in the alliance. I think a lot of the players would like NW better.

If they have alliance forums over there like here, you simply make a 'What other games do you play' thread and we post in there. Bam! A flood of new players with a much higher odds of being active here, since they are active over there!!!! Total cost: Nothing!!

The Alliance round currently ends Feb 3. If we did this, we could start doing this in a month, if there is some one who knows how to play it well enough and can give us their strategy!


http://forums.nation-wars.com/showthread.php?93634-Crimson-s-Rant


100% agree with this post. Other games like ours is the best way to get people here. Problem is, we don't have enough people wanting to help get people here. If we could get just 3 dedicated people to really reach out to others games, it would really make a difference for us. Also, our voting links have helped get people here. Our #4 link esp... We have received many from that site. Maybe we should find a few more really good ones and add them to our bonus....

[L P]

Mr. P,

I've said this before: If we made a version compatible with smart phones our membership would take off. We just need a lite version that fits well on iPhone, Android and Blackberry. A free app that is as simple as a N-W browser would do the trick. (I used to play on my Palm TX back before the iPhone came out.)

I think we also need to integrate the game into Facebook/Google+.

(Hey, how about some graphics or flash stuff in a few years.)

I realize this is a stretch for our capabilities but it's a good idea.

[kitoy]

crimson should be the new(temporary?) admin, then move either devil or bright to global mod.. and me as the new mod.. lol


seriously, i go for either max or blade as the new mod..

[Max Logan]

I agree with grim some on this. I don't like the fact that people can go all infantry the first 3 weeks and then all ships the last week. It should be made that states should have more units. I guess made isn't the correct word, there should be a benefit of some kind to have more than 1 unit on hand in massive amounts.

And yes this is a game, but some of the exciting parts of it should be "realism". We changed the attacks around as jets killing land didn't make any sense. So we made it so bombers killed land. Why should infantry be able to beat bombers or ships?

Maybe if we make Infantry less strong that would help.. I really don't know. Warring isn't always the answer. There are times when people should be taught a lesson, but you don't have all set for an all out war. There should be other ways to prove a point.

Make infantry less stronger or more costly, then when your numbers go up you`ll be racking in huge costs to have the best offense. Maintaining infantry should be more costly the it is at the moment!

[Top12Gun]

Mr. P,

I've said this before: If we made a version compatible with smart phones our membership would take off. We just need a lite version that fits well on iPhone, Android and Blackberry. A free app that is as simple as a N-W browser would do the trick. (I used to play on my Palm TX back before the iPhone came out.)

I think we also need to integrate the game into Facebook/Google+.

(Hey, how about some graphics or flash stuff in a few years.)

I realize this is a stretch for our capabilities but it's a good idea.

^This. I play almost entirely on my iPhone. If there were an app that allows me to login, use turns, hit ppl, and view the forums, life would be so much easier. Would prolly help membership too. :D

[Mr President]

Before I can make an app for NW I would need to buy a Mac and also spend some money on the developers program for apple. And a game like ours would take months if not over a year to build.. And that's if you have a lot of free time to do it.

Not saying it will never happen. I would LOVE a NW app.. I just don't see how I could do it right now. :(

[Dogma]

I play it on my Android now, all I have to do is zoom it. I can sit in my deer stand and hit someone even if I am not seeing deer.

[Gildor]

100% agree with this post. Other games like ours is the best way to get people here. Problem is, we don't have enough people wanting to help get people here. If we could get just 3 dedicated people to really reach out to others games, it would really make a difference for us. Also, our voting links have helped get people here. Our #4 link esp... We have received many from that site. Maybe we should find a few more really good ones and add them to our bonus....

Disagree with both of you here (not that it wouldn't work at all).

From a professional marketing practitioner's standpoint, a tactic like this can be viewed as very back handed and unethical. Would you go into say... a Nike store and promote Adidas products? No! That's a vague example, but you catch my drift. The idea of building a following by creating a clan and then recruiting through that is a little better, but is that really practical? Not really.. Not against it, but I know that I don't personally have the time to do that. If people want to do that on their own or in small groups, power to ya and thanks. It's just not going to bring in significant numbers = to the effort put in.

Properly marketing the game will require more than this kind of thing. We need to begin fleshing out the narrative of what this game is, who the people are that play it, and show people why this game is fun and why a number of us have stuck around for nearly a decade (round of applause for those folks)!

Once we have these core messages crafted, working with and promoting the game amongst key influencers in the online gaming community, utilizing word of mouth with current players, and even using volunteer street teams at the local level, will be our bread and butter.

This isn't going to happen overnight and will be a group effort, but I have high hopes. I am EXTREMELY happy and exited that Mr. P is making this a stronger initiative for the game.

-Best

Paul

[Mr President]

Nice post Gildor... As a professional in marketing, can we count on your help? Your guidance in this area would be extremely helpful and very appreciated. I think we should talk more about this. I know we spoke about it a long time ago, but let's revisit it again..

[Gildor]

My pleasure.

Are there any other folks out there with any marketing/communications experience?

or

If you don't have experience, but are willing to learn a little bit about it and help me out, I'd really appreciate it! I am very busy with work usually, but if I could get at least two people to help out, I think we could get some wheels turning.

Let me know!

Thanks

[Dogma]

Gildor, you can count on me. All my contacts are listed, jut hit me up whenever you have something for me. Just let me know what I can do, and I will give it my best effort.

[Top12Gun]

I'll try - have very little time not on an op. Give me whatever menial tasks don't require much work or time. Know this sounds pathetic, but trying to help in the only way I have time for. :). Hit me up on messenger. Have it listed below my name.

[Gildor]

Well Top, it's prob going to require a bit of time, but I'll keep you in mind for some things if I feel they won't take too long.

We'll have to figure out a time to all get on a live chat together to brainstorm ideas in the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, I'll start gathering some materials to help educate on what we'll be doing. I'll also try to work on a brief that explains goals, etc.. to begin getting a framework for the program started.

[Ragnar]

The idea of building a following by creating a clan and then recruiting through that is a little better, but is that really practical? It's just not going to bring in significant numbers = to the effort put in.

It hardly takes any work at all. Case in point, a few years ago, another game site closed down, but kept the forums. I made ONE thread about this game, and a bunch of members there showed up here!!! You can see it here....

vb.lordsoflegend.com/showthread.php?t=18726

Heck, that generated so much activity that Mr. President showed up there, and it got it's own forum!!!! :eek:

Doing the same thing in a clan forum would have the same effect...and it's free!!!! I'll try doing the five day speed version over and over and try to make up an easy strategy that generates a good rank, and doesn't require a lot of work, then once I think I got the strategy down in a month or two, I'll post it here, and then test it out in the longer version.

With the awesome forum option where you can have the game post your stats, it should be really easy to figure out what's best, just by reading the replies at the existing threads. *hint*We need one of those here!*hint*

[Top12Gun]

I can work on the brief. Writing is something I can do decently. What are the criterion it's required to meet, and what are the goals, etc??

[Gildor]

It hardly takes any work at all. Case in point, a few years ago, another game site closed down, but kept the forums. I made ONE thread about this game, and a bunch of members there showed up here!!! You can see it here....

vb.lordsoflegend.com/showthread.php?t=18726

Heck, that generated so much activity that Mr. President showed up there, and it got it's own forum!!!! :eek:

Doing the same thing in a clan forum would have the same effect...and it's free!!!! I'll try doing the five day speed version over and over and try to make up an easy strategy that generates a good rank, and doesn't require a lot of work, then once I think I got the strategy down in a month or two, I'll post it here, and then test it out in the longer version.

With the awesome forum option where you can have the game post your stats, it should be really easy to figure out what's best, just by reading the replies at the existing threads. *hint*We need one of those here!*hint*

ok? you're kind of rambling bud. try explaining your thoughts better. please and thanks.

[Gildor]

criterion it's required to meet, and what are the goals

Ha.. well if i answer that, it'd almost be the entire brief...