Seriously though, how can we get more players?

I have been playing bitfighter on and off for 5 years now and I've never seen this game go through bigger of a drought.

Trust me when I say I don't want this game to flop over and die, as I have stated in a previous thread. This game's community literally turned me into who I am today and fixed my social skills. Not to mention I made my first friends here, period.

This thread is a place to exchange ideas on how we can push this game out there, This game has been worked on for several years now to my knowledge and that is far too long for the lack of activity we've gotten.

Throw ideas around, and yes, I know this thread has been done atleast 1000 times before. But now it's most relevant.

Mailchimp seems like a good choice 12,000 emails and 2000 subs per month for free.....

I wouldn't want spamming 12'000 people for a game though.

[raptor]

Step 1: Destroy all mobile electronic devices.
Step 2: Re-enroll everyone in high school freshmen computer class
Step 3: Distribute bitfighter on USB drives to high school parking lots

[Quartz]

Step 1: Destroy all mobile electronic devices.
Step 2: Re-enroll everyone in high school freshmen computer class
Step 3: Distribute bitfighter on USB drives to high school parking lots

Step 4: ???
Step 5: PROFIT!!

[Skybax]

Mailchimp seems like a good choice 12,000 emails and 2000 subs per month for free.....

Nobody but you wants spam emails

1. Host regularly scheduled game times 2-3x per week – put some effort into it so people want to come. Things like custom playlists and themes are very attractive. And host on a quality server with minimal lag. People will come and realize this game is a boatload of fun. Furbuggy is doing a good thing with competitive parties, we just need more of them.

2. Play every day. Play multiple times per day. Log on for ten minutes and if nobody shows leave and come back later. The problem is that people only play Bitfighter for short bursts of time and if they miss those limited windows they don't bother coming back. If you log on and sit in the lobby for a few minutes a few times per day you will come across folks and hook them. If you see someone is online in the notifier get online and play with them for a few minutes.

3. Bitfighter social media presence. After I finish my internship this summer I plan to take this on. Social media, as I've learned this summer, is about more than just announcing events – it's about engaging an audience. Churning out social media every day on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is huge for sustaining interest.

4. And lastly I would say logging Bitfighter into every database possible is a good idea. Wikipedia for one. Sites like Desura that appeal to indie gamers for another. Relatively easy just takes an afternoon and some motivation.

Honestly the reason I say that is because I feel one of the fatal flaws of bitfighter is its lack of players which is keeping it from getting more players.....

what would be wrong with spreading the word about bitfighter to moer people If people wont join because there are not enough people online.

We need to Improve the server structure the rooms can barly hold 30 people without it kicking everyone to the lobby.

single player mode : To give people to do something online when alone.

Exp System + ELO system gives something for players to strive for achieve.

If these happen I garentee people will join bitfighter.

[Quartz]

1. Host regularly scheduled game times 2-3x per week – put some effort into it so people want to come. Things like custom playlists and themes are very attractive.

This. I'll be honest and say that I'm a little annoyed that in a contest thread asking for such maps, I posted some competitive, popular maps from an array of mapmakers and they haven't been in said games. This admittedly makes me less interested in attending said parties (even though every party has been when I'm working, regardless).

3. Bitfighter social media presence. After I finish my internship this summer I plan to take this on. Social media, as I've learned this summer, is about more than just announcing events – it's about engaging an audience. Churning out social media every day on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is huge for sustaining interest.

Nice. That's always appreciated. I would be willing and happy to collaborate with you on this as well, as you see fit.

Of course you have to have people who are interested so you have to get the word out thus the need for a automated email service like mail chimp....

[Skybax]

Amgine, please just stop. Please. No mailchimp. No spam. People don't read spam. Gmail gets rid of spam. And I'm pretty sure nobody else here wants to turn Bitfighter into something that's known for sending spam.

And sky_lark, I wanna get in on this social media action as well!

[Quartz]

nobody else here wants to turn Bitfighter into something that's known for sending spam.

This is the exact issue that would ensue. We would develop a reputation for being a spam e-mail advertised game, which needless to say, is a pretty horrid rep to have. Sure, we'd pick up a few extra players, but we'd turn far more people off than we do on in the process -- and we'd turn them off in a really bad way.

So if you put a Tv commercial up that millions of viewers will see that is spamming? Cause all you would be doing is getting extra viewers to "buy" into your product.

And actually mail chimp has a system that If they Don't want further messages then they will be put on a do not mail list and no more message will be sent to them look it up its all in the legal documentation.

[Skybax]

Amgine, junk mail, spam email, repetitive TV ads, yes, these are all spam that nobody likes

I rechecked the terms of use basicly if they don't want to be sent information about bitfighter there is a do not mail list they will be put on after which you would not be allowed to send anymore emails to them.

that said while I do slightly disagree I can see your point of view and respect it.

Maybe another route would be to find and put bitfighter on as many sites as possible?

I think the community based Twitter and Facebook pages and stuff should be regulated by raptor watt and kaen as they will be more active and keep people more up to date or we could have some sort of automation system.

[raptor]

I can make the final determination about spam, unless I'm overridden by watusimoto -

No spam.

Thanks!

Also, did you know we have an opt-in mailing service already? See: http://bitfighter.org/contact/

Amgine, ignoring the ethical nature of your idea, how exactly would we *get* emails to put on the list? You can fire away to everyone in your address book but that would be nowhere near 12,000. And buying a list has some concerns...

Maybe another route would be to find and put bitfighter on as many sites as possible?

This is a great idea! Forums like reddit and databases like IndieDB are smart places to start.

Don't worry about its mostly covered one its free two of it is automated basically the sending out of emails to random users is automated and if they decline further emails will no longer be sent also you generally will only get in trouble for send Bulk Spam Mail after a user has declined to receive the mail its interesting in the article you posted that it referenced mailchimp the source I'm aiming for as a GOOD RELIABLE SOURCE to use anyways take my word for it I looked into it and I would not suggest it If I felt It would harm bitfighters chances of succeeding.

However since raptor has declined I'm going to further not argue the point.

I had a idea have automated posting systems for the varoious soures we are advertising bitfighter on (such as facebook)

1. a Offical anoucments section like updates and official contests.
2. Have a mainstream one that would show bitfighter activity for example _____ has posted on ____ thread on _____ topic
3. Have one showing activity _____ is online.

I feel 1 being for more official business would be nice and having 2 or 3 would show that bitfighter is active and catch peoples intrest into trying it though I'm sure it would be a lot of work temporarly it would save a lot of time in the long run and would let bitfighter get notices about activities going on better.

Don't worry about it

Telling me not to worry is like telling me to worry. Why don't you just explain how you would acquire the email addresses? I understand MailChimp, the delivery portion of the system, but not the acquirement portion.

If you explain yourself a little more clearly, maybe we can hash out your idea in a way that doesn't constitute spam.

Nah I have given up on it raptor said no so unless you can change his mind Its not happening unless you really want me to keep arguing which is confusing cause I thought you DIDNT want me to argue.

I Think my idea for a automated notice system on the various sources of bitfighter would really help people does anyone else disagree?

[watusimoto]

No spam.

How about putting a "browser" version of bitfighter online so there is a "client" and "browser" version?

[raptor]

I am convinced that the best thing we could do for game popularity is get it to run in a browser.

It is possible and we have a few things we have to prepare in the code base to before making another honest attempt at this. The biggest hurdle is developer time.

[Skybax]

I don't think they should be separate versions. I think they should just be a different way to play it. Our player-base is already thin enough we don't need two separate master servers lol

I agree with Skybax on that one. If possible then we should have the same servers hosted on both the browser and the client.

Oh, I am pretty sure it would be (hopefully) the same code, so there would be virtually no difference between both

[raptor]

Yes, it would be the same code. There would be no browser-only version that is different from the rest. Any difference between a browser version and, as an example, the Windows version would be the same difference between Windows and OSX - e.g., none, except for maybe a few interface quirks.

Dear Developers: My friend Zaloj is definitely willing to help/head the browser port. Please contact him at czaloj@gmail.com

He can't start work immediately, but sometime around September 1st. He's a professional programmer who thinks it would be a fun project.

[raptor]

Dear furbuggy,

Could you tell him to join IRC when/if he'd like to start tinkering (and stick around for a bit until someone responds)? We prefer people come to us so as to not upset the delicate balance of volunteer-ism.

With that said, we are definitely looking for more developers and are willing to help anyone along!

Just came back to this thread.
I like the idea of having bitfighter in browser.

I'd love to learn more about the development side of things if you think you can teach a total noob.

Same I have started to dabble in coding and would like to help if its ok