Archived from groups: rec.games.empire (
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Allan Anderson <all5n@yahoo.com> writes:
> Very amusing post!
>
> Statement A:
>> Empire is such an amazing game. how come there is no bigger community?
>
> Statement B:
>> Does anyone know of any hosts besides the one listed on
> wolfpackempire.com ?
>
> The implied horror of statement B is definitely a contributing factor to
> statement A. Theres really no "intuitively obvious" client or what
> would be considerd by todays standards "easy to use". The game was
> released under the GPL, so theres really no motivation/incentive for
> anyone to make better ones.
The GPL doesn't prevent you from making money, it just rules out
certain business models which the founders of Empire considered
harmful to the game and the community.
Money isn't man's only motivation to create. This applies to software
as much as to other artifacts. Unsurprisingly, your conclusion that
nobody works on better software doesn't hold water.
The only area where we truly stagnated is user documentation. I'm not
talking about info pages; that's reference documentation.
The true reason for slow progress is the size of the community. We've
failed to break out of our tiny niche. Chicken and egg problem.
> The client programming API is primitive as well, and basically a
> nightmare to code to (think lots of nasty string parsing, with
> differences in format from release to release). I heard the wolfpack
> team was going to update this at some point, so maybe there is hope on
> the client front.
Yes, the client programming API is primitive. Yes, there's work being
done in that area. It doesn't address all the problems.
Wolfpack tries hard to minimize gratuitous output format changes.
> Some other major drawbacks:
>
> Steep Learning Curve Due to Lack of Coherent Documentation:
> The only real way to learn empire without being able to read C code and
> administer your own servier is through what is considered "tribal
> knowledge", i.e. talking to others that know how to play and trying to
> make sense of things. Knowing how to play is considered a badge of
> honor by most empire players; learning how to play has become a rite of
> passage. One can only assume that they like things this way, or they
> would have fixed it by now (Its been this way for at least 7 years, when
> i first started casually playing). Playing empire is also more fun than
> writing documentation on how to play, which also favors the status quo.
This sound a bit as if you assumed there would be an all-powerful
committee (`them') that can order things they don't like to be fixed.
The only way how things have been fixed in Empire is somebody
volunteering to do it.
Documentation can't fix runaway complexity. We need both: getting bad
complexity under control *and* better resources for learning the game.
> Importance of "Human Factors":
> How good you are at the game is heavily dependent on human factors, not
> game skill. If you cant be on around update time, every time, dont
> bother playing. Having a life outside of the game will get you
> eliminated from any game eventually. "Rolling Updates" usually requires
> that you be on at odd hours such as 2am, 6am, and other times not
> friendly to your daily routine. You get the picture.
What you call human factors is relevant, but I think you're
exaggerating.
Yes, missing the occasional update is a disadvantage, but in my
experience it is rarely fatal unless your defensive setup is flawed.
Yes, Empire can make you spend so much time in the game that it
interferes with your life outside the game. Judging from the lives of
Empire players I know personally, having a life doesn't necessarily
get you eliminated from any game.
Rolling updates are not for everyone. I prefer fixed updates myself.
> I guess this could be minimized by only allowing server login during
> particular hours. Players are spread all over the world, though, so I
> dont really see this happening without being unfair to someone.
Personally, I won't play if the server doesn't let me play whenever it
is convenient for me.
> There are a multitude of other things in the actual gameplay that dont
> really make sense, but those are minor and (at least a little more)
> fixable compared to the 3 items above.
Welcome to the swamp. Here's your thimble. Happy draining
Il faut imaginer Sisyphe heureux.