Growing the CEAW player base?

PSP/DS/PC/MAC : WWII turn based grand strategy game

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Diplomaticus
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Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by Diplomaticus »

Folks,

Once GS 4.0 becomes generally available, I suggest that we take on the challenge of spreading the word and expanding the number of active players of CEAW.

Yes, I know that the game is founded on an aging platform, but so many hundreds, nay thousands, of hours have been put into refining this, and the 4.0 looks to be such an outstanding game overall, it would be a pity for it to be only enjoyed by a few.

We could start by reaching out to our old player base--people who were once active in PBEM and in the forums. Let them know that a great new version is out. Then follow up maybe with some posts on forums of games with a similar fan base. And we could vastly improve the CEAW Wikipedia page and other outfits. Maybe get reviews into some venues.

If you think this is a good idea, please post on this thread with your own thoughts.

--Diplomaticus
Cybvep
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by Cybvep »

We could start by reaching out to our old player base--people who were once active in PBEM and in the forums.
That could work. I bet some people have almost forgot about the game by now, but if they are reminded of it, they may be willing to get back to it.

I also think that there are players who only played a few games against the AI. It should be stressed out that CEAW is a PBEM game and that the AI has not been updated at all. Some AARs could be copy-pasted to the manual, too, if their authors agree.
pk867
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by pk867 »

Diplomaticus,

I sent you a PM
Last edited by pk867 on Fri Jan 27, 2017 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
JimWC
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by JimWC »

Growing the CAEW user base is a good idea. I really like the game and I've been unhappy to see the user base dwindle over the years. Let me suggest however, that if you really want to increase the number of players, you need to find a way for somebody to make money out of it. I've played it for 7 (?) years and the only money that has changed hands is when I bought the game back in the dim dark past. I realize that many academic types consider filthy lucre ignoble, but take it from a crass businessman that profit is what gets things done. No offense intended, but the profit motive is what gets people to promote products. What gets promoted grows -- what doesn't get promoted dies!

As an aside, consider putting the game on a server with each unit action sent to the server as the player makes his move. Since unit actions can be described in a few bytes, this wouldn't place much load on the server even if many people were playing simultaneously. I haven't figured the costs, but charge say a nickel a turn and you have a business model that potentially generates a nice stream of revenue. The more people who play the better. The benefits to the player over the current system are that players couldn't cheat by stopping in the middle of a turn and replaying until they get the outcomes they want, you'd eliminate the pain of having to replay 45 minutes of turn when the game crashes, and you could play part of your turn, stop for lunch and pick up where you left off since the server would preserve the game state. I think this might be a neat way to keep a publisher interested in an aging game, but I'm sure there are other ways to monetize the value provided to players.
captkiwi
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by captkiwi »

Have you thought about making CEAW available on Steam? It would broaden the market and make any upgrades easier to install. :D
Peter Stauffenberg
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by Peter Stauffenberg »

That is up to Slitherine to decide. However, the game engine is based upon Java and is 10 years old or so. Therefore it might be better use of money for Slitherine to make a new CEAW kind of game based on a different engine. The new Strategic Command game seems to be one way for wargamers to have fun playing a strategic WW2 game and worth looking into.

What GS has done is to extend the life of CEAW. It's inevitable that players want to move on to more modern game engines. E. g. the biggest flaw of CEAW / GS is the fixed graphics resolution at 1024 x 768. That is linked to the old game engine. So GS is now close to the limit of what we can do with the current game engine.
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by Itlnprd1 »

Version 4 is such a nice update, I have already sent it to all that I am gaming with!

Phil (used to be known as Nemesis)
pk867
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by pk867 »

Thank you. We have been working on it for the last
Two years
Diplomaticus
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by Diplomaticus »

Folks,

Now that GS 4.0 is up and running, I want to follow through with this concept. I am planning to send PMs (via this forum) to pretty much everyone who has posted on this forum in the last several years.

The message will be pretty simple: GS 4.0 for PC & Mac is now available (links to the relevant threads in this forum), and it's a whole new ballgame, well worthy of a try.

I'd also like to be able to provide links to the most updated version of the manual. Can one of the design team help me out w. that?

TYIA
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by operating »

Diplomaticus wrote:Folks,

Now that GS 4.0 is up and running, I want to follow through with this concept. I am planning to send PMs (via this forum) to pretty much everyone who has posted on this forum in the last several years.

The message will be pretty simple: GS 4.0 for PC & Mac is now available (links to the relevant threads in this forum), and it's a whole new ballgame, well worthy of a try.

I'd also like to be able to provide links to the most updated version of the manual. Can one of the design team help me out w. that?

TYIA
HI!
Don't own CEAW, however do compete quite a lot in CTGW and posted a number of MP AARs (mostly at the Matrix CTGW forum) over the years. One of the recurring comments I've read there in both forum (Slitherine/Matrix) and in "in game chat" is how much players really loved CEAW and wished that it had been improved. This thread seems to show just that was done. Yes, you do need to PR this, where ever possible and Good Luck with it..!! :wink:
pk867
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by pk867 »

You could use the player's aid in addition to the manual when it comes available.

link- http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtop ... 37#p639255
OxfordGuy3
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by OxfordGuy3 »

Hi - I may be one of the old players that you're hoping will get back in to the game now that GS 4.0 is released, I used to play CEAW GS quite a bit ages ago (PBEM), and could play well enough by the end not to totally embarrass myself, though didn't play enough to be an expert like many of you guys (actually is that an issue? See below...).

I've been playing SC3 recently, it's not bad, and the AI is a ton better than CEAW (not hard), but that's just as well as it doesn't have MP yet. I think SC3 needs quite a lot of tweaking and balancing, though, before I reckon it's anywhere near as good as CEAW-GS (apart from the graphics...), and I actually prefer the different scale of CEAW-GS (fewer hexes and less units to have to manage!), as well as some of the game design decisions.

I reckon I'm going to try a few short hotseat games against myself to try to re-familiarise myself with the game (and to discover the 4.0 differences), but then I could be up for a 4.0 PBEM game.

One potential issue with newcomers to the game (or out of practice old players), though, is that anyone relatively inexperienced in playing CEAW-GS (and total newcomers will likley be much worse than me) is probably going to get completely crushed if they play PBEM with any of the regulars in here, at least in the first few games - whilst this could be a good learning experience (more so than newbies playing each other), it may be a little disheartening, especially if the game is dragged on until '44/'45. Under those circumstances they should perhaps be allowed a little more leeway in "surrendering" relatively early in their first game or two, and starting a new game on a better footing, after having learned from their mistakes?
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by AugustusTiberius »

Throwing in the towel is an accepted practice with some players and in some groups. Maybe not so much for others. I would suggest posting a new thread stating you are a newbie and asking for a couple of quick learning games. Hopefully you won't get bites from a monster player who needs his/her ego stroked and you can engage with someone who is interested in helping players learn.

I would volunteer but I have six games on the go right now.

AT
artyar
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by artyar »

I have not played a by email game (is that still how it's done?) since 2008. I love the game so much that I still will occasionally review one of the AAR games being played by the really good players.
I stopped playing the game versus real people (and eventually pretty much all together because if the poor AI) more or less because I did not seem to be able to master the actual mechanics of battle. My last memory was of playing someone pretty good and establishing a 1943 French bridgehead and completely screwing up my opponents Barbarossa to the point that he very quickly formed a defensive line from the river on the east border of Poland all the way down to the mountains running into the black sea. I threw everything I had at the terrain weak spot in the middle but could not breakthrough the line turn after turn. I was using those shock armors from the east with commanders but with no success. Once enough time had passed, my opponent retreated from river to river until it was too late to get Berlin by the time the game was over.

What I might suggest is the really good players posting videos of individual turns on YouTube so that the mechanics of individual attacks are better understood. Which units they choose to attack, which units they attack with, including air, and in what order they attack the hex. Also, go through which units they decline to attack and why (not every unit but you get the point).

Another idea might be to sticky note how to position forces before DOWing minor countries. Explain which units you'll need and the best place to put them. And maybe linking to short You Tube videos of that part of the game. (For example, a Yugoslavia invasion, which you guys all know how to set up and execute so that it's a one or two turn event at the most, might take a player like me four turns. When playing the experienced players, basically the only ones that are left, each wasted turn on a minor country simply cannot be afforded.)

I think the problem is to get back up to speed, or start from the beginning, players might feel it would take too much time, or might be never reachable, to give players like Morris a somewhat competitive game.

Like I said, I still think the AAR's are entertaining, but since they do not show the actual mechanics of each turn, and the thought process (what could be the audio accompanying the You Tube video) of each decision made, I hardly learn anything from them.

I think what you guys have done with this game is terrific. It's obviously the most realistic WWII Grand Strategy game out there.

Peace.
esde
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Re: Growing the CEAW player base?

Post by esde »

FWIIW ...

It is difficult to judge how many gamers actually enjoy GS by the # whom actually make postings.

I have been playing GS since v2.0 but rarely post, as I have little to contribute. Nevertheless, I play the game PBEM with 3 friends but none of them actually ever visit these forums.

GS is a super game which has only ever become more so with each incarnation. The dedication of those responsible for this game (I struggle to think of it as a 'mod') is beyond admirable and they should be proud of their endeavours. I can but hope that if Slitherine ever opts to produce a CEaW 2, that they take on board most of GS (& do not opt to dumb it down) and give due credit to (or better still, reward) the stalwarts whom have worked so tirelessly with GS.

Kind regards. :)

Stephen
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