Aye, playing with friends, whether in real life or people you've met in game, is what makes Vendetta fun.

Please people, just LISTEN TO THE DEVS. When they say the game isn't ready for advertising, they mean it! They are 100% right in asking that people do NOT spread the word until the time is ripe, so stop arguing with them about it and DO NOT GO ADVERTISE IT ANYWAY.

If you have a few specific friends you know would love this game as-is and start playing, that's one thing, but indiscriminate advertising is right out! Don't do it!

MSKanaka: I belong to a MMO club (www.galdor.net) that originally started with NWN. We look at a lot of MMOs and many are beta testers, were developers (NWN modules), etc. That is how I found out about this game. We welcome good people and we are spread across many MMOs.

When you advertise this to a friend you need to carefully consider the repercussions. Many want a refined game. Although this game seems refined they are still working on many things. Your friends would need to understand this and be flexible should something break or majorly change. I do not think EQ2 did a good job about this and the biggest complaint people had was it felt like something was always breaking and they were paying to be guinea pigs. A bad reputation now will kill this game later when the Devs finally decide their product is ready for the world.

I've been playing since September of 2002; I think I know how to sell this game to others.

The only reason any of the people I managed to recruit into playing left was that they had too much schoolwork to do. Most of them really enjoyed the game--a few simply weren't space-based-MMO kind of people, and I thanked them for trying. Not a single person I recruited said anything bad (to my knowledge), in fact they were quite regular in making thought-out suggestions and writing bug reports.

I don't ask people to play games with me until I know their gaming habits; ie, what genres do they like, do they like testing things, do they mind bugs that may or may not crash the game if they'll be fixed within a reasonable amount of time... etc. etc.

I also think (this is directed at Cunjo) that people are taking the "Don't advertise the game" thing a LITTLE too literally. As Whistler said, the BEST way to get people into the game is to help set them up and then have them play while you're online. I don't randomly ask people on the street "OMG Hey, wanna try this game?". Maybe you do. I don't go to random gaming forums and sites and write reviews that drag people in only to have them run away at the first bug. Maybe you do.

I don't ask people to play games that I play until I know they would be more likely to continue playing. Maybe you do.

It's a rule of thumb. That pretty much says everything.

@MSKanaka: You said it well.

I only stopped because I have a new baby inbound and I need to save every freekin dollar (and even after #3 is born it'll be tons of expenses, because we ditched all the baby stuff from when #2 was born -- oops!). So maybe T minus 1 year until I will be paying again.

Anyway, I agree that a lot of people stop because there are many competing obligations in life. That doesn't mean people don't love the game. I do, even though I cannot play right now.

it's like my wife says to me every election.

"...dont throw away your vote by choosing them..."

<and then chooses the same party that was just kicked out of office>

if everyone would just "throw away" their vote by choosing the same party, there would be change.

look, if everyone would just advertise this game to 5 ppl who are interested in space sims, the onliners would boom... there would be a need for those "test" servers to be used, and the universe would grow.

here's your homework for tonight, find 3 people who havent played this game, and introduce them to VO. then we will evolve.

I joined in Sept 2003 and haven't played in several months. Used to play all the time, though, pre-release when the universe was much smaller and everything was combat. I haven't played since, since.. well, what can you do? I have school, and work, and as has been said before, the game lacks the polish to hold people. I consider it incredible that Vendetta held me from Sept 2003 to sometime in 2005 - that's the longest I've ever played a single game straight.

But at some point, it just gets boring. Repeat any action long enough and its loses its spark. I'm glad the devs are still kicking and working on the game. Checking the news, it seems that they're making some interesting progress. Problem is, I already played the game for a year and change. Fully featured evolving games have a hard time holding people for that long. Vendetta isn't fully featured, and to be honest, I think that's its biggest asset: what's holding people is the promise of what is to come.

It's a good game for those willing to be captivated by promises, but such people have trickled into it too slowly. They last for a while and then burn out, only to be replaced by someone new who can't understand why people don't play more often.

drdoak, it's not that simple. We used to have > 600 ppl online at the same time during beta in Nov. 2004. That should tell you something.

Let me echo Cunjo by saying please do not go around advertising this game en masse until the devs give the go ahead.

If you have one or two friends you think would like to check it out, that's different.

I heard about VO from someone suggesting to try it in a public post, which was followed by a post that put it down. I am glad I followed that link and came here. Because what the Devs are doing is amazing and while I might not have a active account, I do actively 'lurk' these forums. Waiting for more great content to come up so I can "unlock" my medium-level Serco-loyal character. I can't wait to see the day when more then 100 people are on the server, it'll be even greater if there was 100 people on the server at the off-times.

"We used to have > 600 ppl online at the same time during beta in Nov. 2004. That should tell you something."

That Beta was free? ;)

Right!

well, maybe if the devs would offer a discount for those who have accounts before the 2.0 release, some of the no-hope players would stick around.

personally if i was given a free month for signing up, i would take advantage of it (i wont lie).

but only if someone actually pays for a subscription, you know, pay for a month, get one free... pay for six, get one free.

i would really like to see more players online, if we just use word of mouth to a couple friends, there is no harm to the game, nor the devs. and hopefully we all understand that VO is still "in-progress".