atWar 2019 and beyond

Hi everyone!

As you've heard I'm the new admin. I'd like to introduce myself, share some of my ideas/plans for atWar, and most importantly get your input.

About me: my name's David (most people call me Dave), from Los Angeles, CA, USA. I'm a programmer by trade and I run a small business creating various apps/software.

I'm new to atWar -- to be honest, I've only been playing for one month. My first knowledge of the game was when I heard the owners were considering selling it. I decided to do some due diligence, so I signed up for the game to see if it was something worth buying. Even though my initial interest was purely from a business perspective, I immediately fell in love with the game. I guess it's kind of a special niche, but I absolutely love strategy/war games like this.

I think the game has a lot going for it, but I also have some concerns. These can be summarized in 3 general categories:

- Bugs. Nothing so terrible that prevented me from playing the game, but definitely there are some bugs that need fixing.

- Stagnating user base. I saw the traffic and revenue numbers. Long story short, they've been more or less slowly declining since 2014. They could be worse, but they could be a lot better.

- Toxicity in the community. There's no point trying to sugar coat this. As a new player, I couldn't believe the negative stuff I saw in the forums and in chat. Some people are nice and welcoming, but there are also some jerks who must get their kicks bullying new players. I'm not naming names, but it's really astonishing -- we've got folks who on the one hand complain about atWar "dying", and then at the same time piss on new players.

I doubt this is "news" to any of you. Reading the forums, it's clear you are all aware of these issues. So what you probably want to know is... what am I planning to do about it?

- Bugs: it's simple, we'll fix them. It will take some time, but it can be done.

- Stagnating user base: I think there are 2 parts to fixing this. 1) bringing in new players, and 2) keeping players around. We can address #1 by investing in some marketing, which is something I am looking into. However to keep players, we need to reduce the toxicity problem, which leads me to:

- Toxicity in the community. I'm not sure how or why things got so bad, but it needs to stop. I'm going to start by making sure our moderators have the tools and resources they need. This might mean adding more moderators, or it might mean giving our existing moderators more powers. I will be talking with our mods about this issue.

Now, I'm not one of these guys who comes in and changes everything. I may take a hard line on certain issues that I think are really important. But for the most part I'm here to listen... there are many people who have been playing this game for a long time and I want to hear your thoughts. I want to enjoy playing atWar just like you do.

One more thing I want to say. I know it was a difficult decision for Amok and Ivan to part with atWar. They created it, they put a lot of blood sweat and tears into it. I think it pained them a lot that they just didn't have the time it needed. I know they still want to see atWar succeed and I'm honored they agreed to let me take the reins. I just want to say that Amok and Ivan will always be welcome here, whenever their schedules permit.

I've shared what my top priorities are at the moment, so now it's your turn. I'm open to any issues or ideas you have. Please reply to this thread with your thoughts... I look forward to your input!

Best wishes,
Dave

Um, First we need to get rid of this thing called roleplay, it is the worst thing that has happened to atwar in the last few years. The player base never progresses and all the old players hate the new players who play for this, this could be one reason why older player frown upon new players.

I joined in about 2013, and left in 2015 due to reasons. I enjoyed playing scenarios and with the community at the time when the game was still popular. I hope we can get atWar more popular as it once was, it sucks wanting to play but there's no one online playing. So that's one of the reason I'll probably disappear for another month/year or two. I disagree with the hostility towards RP players. While roleplay is not my thing and never will be, it's popular with a specific playerbase and considering atWar state atm, we could use that playerbase now more than ever.

Bugs is mostly stuff that we have become accustom to and i assume new players would as well except editor bugs which were fine before we switched to html 5. and i also think player toxicity would be gone or significantly reduced if we had regularly enforced rules instead of just when moderator feel its severe enough to intervene (not to say nothing bad about mods). and also removing some words from being say able which i know is doable by current game system

I like how you spotted the closed little community of arrogant high ranks. and i hope you spot some of the moderators who are not qualified. It's a challenge because they have fine experience in kissing ass. Imo this community something of aristocracy. Good luck.

I have a small suggestion. Let players toggle general on/off in their game. Atwar is blatantly pay to win with the general and it's difficult for non premium to compete against premiums.

I think the main problem of this game is the small amount of active players. Almost every day we play with the same players and sometimes there are players who want to play RP and we get angry about it because our game ends up not starting. This game should be promoted elsewhere to attract the attention of more players as it is an execelente strategy game. Invest more in marketing. The other problems are small and can be solved easily. The game is slowly dying and something must be done to stop it.

I also think under new ownership u shud rerelease rules and restrictions and like i said before encourage enforcing them or possibly block using them

Dave,

Welcome! I, for one, find your remarks very encouraging. I'm really glad that you are taking the time to play the game, and have been just as impressed with the structure of the game as the rest of us who joined, and most of which that stayed. You'll find a wide range of ages here, from just about every country on the planet that has some sort of internet connectivity. There are middle-aged adults, like me, and there are a huge numbers of younger folks here.

Per your 3rd point, Muellertyme has inadvertently identified one of the major issues that some players use to create toxicity. There is a lot of animosity (as you can probably see for yourself in the forum) against the roleplay (RP) style of play.

From my perspective as a longtime, devoted player of atWar, here is my two cents: I played a roleplay (RP) game once. It's OK, but not my preference. However, I see nothing wrong with players who want to do that. The game is so remarkably customizable, that it's possible to organize a game in this manner. If that gets players here, engaged in the game, buying premium, buying protocoins, then I see no problem with it.

It's no hair off of anyone else's behinds that want to play the less structured, traditionally competitive style, like myself. I don't care what RP players do. I don't join their games, and it's entirely up to them if they join any of my games. They are certainly free to do so. The rest is settled on the battlefield. Some win, some lose, shake hands, and dive back into another game. Simple. Nothing personal.

Looking forward to a constructive dialogue with you and my fellow atWar players!

~RW

You could make a room just for roleplay. You'd run the risk of bubbling apart the community, but that way there's less opportunity for hate to fly. So you'd have a Beginner's room, a Main room, and a roleplay room?

It could also be that the gap between the Main room's skill level, and the Beginner room's skill level is too large now... Maybe an intermediate room is needed? Or maybe people should make better use of the rank limits in games, I'm not sure

First welcome! I'm glad someone is taking the reins. And I sincerely hope that you will be able to spread the game and improve it.


Promotion:
I recommend communicating with war related channel owners with lots of subscribers who will publish the game with war simulations for a certain amount of money. With an emphasis on sites from China.


Toxicity:
This is due to the lack of equal enforcement of some mods who prefer to turn a blind eye to things that some people say because of all sorts of reasons, such as reluctance to do something, or because that person is a friend, or lack of activity of other mods that encourage mods who are still active not to take into account their role in the community. And with time it created a murky atmosphere as you can see.

Bugs:
I have a few bugs that I have reported over the years but haven't been addressed. Nothing serious but it will help nevigate the forum and the game more smoothly.

I agree about the toxicity 100%
I think a way to combat this would be SP fines

e.g a moderator might see some antisemitic/sexist comments? (I see them far too often...) deduct 2000SP.
You'd also have to add a strike counter, so if someone's been repeatedly toxic, future moderators might deduct more SP
You could also push it to deducting certain upgrades players have invested in

You could also add community pressure. Take advantage of the coalition structures in place. For example, deduct 1 Cln Elo for a player being bad, and let the coalition know. This way toxic players might get removed from coalitions over time.

This relies on more, passionate, and principled moderators, and as for how to make sure they don't get infected... I'm currently unsure

Lets hope "history" repeats. D

Eshkruar nga Witch-Doctor, 03.12.2018 at 00:52

I have a small suggestion. Let players toggle general on/off in their game. Atwar is blatantly pay to win with the general and it's difficult for non premium to compete against premiums.

^^This. One of the things that usually ruins games like this is when it tries to max profits despite its initial charm being that it is free and fair for all. The site even advertises this, saying "You can play atWar for free for as long as you like - there's no catch and no pay-to-win." While I understand the need to sweeten premium and focus on business, even as a higher rank you still find that you cannot play certain countries in scenarios if you don't have a general or special strategy. If you do get to play it, you're at an immediate and drastic disadvantage as a non-premium player. I'm sure you can find a balance between these two and I like WD's suggestion to balance the playing field by letting hosts decide just as they can currently do by enabling/disabling strategies.

We need to reform the upgrades. the advantages they provide is ridiculous. infantry upgrades are a must for players to even set foot in competitive or scenario play, but it takes way too long to farm the sp. new players will quit before they even touch competitive or scenarios which are the two best game types on atwar.

Welcome!

Toxicity is probably the biggest problem here, and probably the most difficult to eradicate, not to mention those who spam all the channels with nonsense and adv for their games. If this problem is resolved all hopes are allowed, i think!

Hi David. You sound like the man for the job.

We log on each day to communicate with our friends and enemies in game, we are a big family wheter we like eachother or not. atWar trustes you! (atleast i do)

Once again Hello David,!

Henry here, (35, Sacramento CA , born and raised in Los Angeles CA :-) I have been playing Atwar since the early days of its inception, and I am still enjoying playing Atwar with every available opportunity. I really love this game and want to contribute to make it better. I'm very excited about the news and look forward to an improved version of Atwar!

Yes David, I agree about the "toxicity in the community". We really need to be more conscientious of what we say to other players (myself included) and try to be more supportive to newer players, which will expand the overall quality base / skill level of our members, thus enhancing the overall gaming experience.

I also agree with Capt. Apollo, "it sucks wanting to play but there's no one online playing." It takes on average 20 min.s + to launch a scenario, (begin picking ). The main problem of this is shortage of players, which might be due to "lag". I have noticed during heavy traffic, when there are numerous games being played at the same time and a packed lobby of 60+ players in the "room" there is very heavy lag while playing the game (ie movement of units in the map, producing units, ect.). I think this is mainly what discourages newer and "up and coming" players (who would otherwise convert into premium players).

I want to share some of my marketing ideas to expand the members base (I am just brainstorming here *If anyone has any ideas or input please share!) This game has an enormous potential to expand. I personally think that this game would be a major success in some of the developing countries, which are more inclined to playing chess and similar intellectually stimulating strategy games. Prior to playing Atwar, I played chess. As you may know, the premise of chess is entirely reactionary (waiting for the opponent to make one of several dozen possible moves and then reacting to the move made). What I love most about Atwar is both opponents make their strategic/ risk moves simultaneously during the turn, thus adding another dimension. I think this would be a major hit with people who have an interest and passion for playing chess). I am going to look to find local chess clubs and attempt to promote the game there. (*If other members have any contacts please share this message!) .

You can attempt to reach out to promoters in developing countries to advertise or write about the game in popular local magazines and newspaper articles? . Maybe locate some popular youtube channels and ask for an interview / "product review"?

*A Popular channel on youtube and among Atwar members is TIK on youtube ... (WW2 history and Gamming channel on youtube out of the UK, 64,991 subscribers, link: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheImperatorKnight). (We should seriously consider giving the host and his subs temporary prem accounts?) *If anyone is a patron to a youtube channel please consider introducing our community to the channel to help spread the word!

I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Please reach out if you would like to brainstorm some other ideas, I would love to help. Take care, talk later - Henry

I'm hyped for whats coming next

First of all, David, thank you for opening up with us. This, I feel, helps everyone to put things in perspective, and work together to solve those absolutely nonsense issues that we experience.

I just want to share a suggestion that might benefit the beginners, possibly mid-ranked players. Personally, I'm against players who make alternative accounts, and spoil the game for the beginners. It is brutal.

Actually, this was one of the reasons why I left atWar roughly two-three years ago. Also, like other players mentioned above here, toxicity in the community - it's, as well, one of the reasons why I left.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to not neglect my opinion, because I've been there

Back to the point, right, so alternative accounts.... I was thinking maybe if a player, no matter what rank he/she is, plans to make a new account for whatever his/her reason is, he/she should have what I call it a 'sub account', where his/her first account he created is still his/her main account, and the alternative account he/she created should become part of his/her main account. In addition, when he/she is using the 'sub' account, everyone should have accessed to his/her profile and look at his accounts. That way, especially in a duel, they can decide whether to play against/for him/her or not. This will help the beginners to know if they want to play against a player who could be very experienced in accordance to the accounts he/she has. Also, when looking at the accounts, SP and rank should be included next to the accounts to help the players make a decision. As for the maximum amount of accounts a player can make, this is up to David, but I'd personally go for 4 as max.

I will discuss the potential problems after giving you a scenario:

Sir Hawk is my first account, yeah? Thus, it becomes my main account. For some reason, I want to create a new account, and I'm going to call it "Chicken GoGo". Chicken GoGo then becomes a sub account. If you go on my profile while I'm using Chicken GoGo, you should be able to see my main account, which is Sir Hawk. And vice versa. Let's say I've already created other three new accounts including Chicken GoGo, and if you go to my profile again for the accounts, you should see:

Main account - Sir Hawk - rank 6 - 57,000
Sub account 1 - Chicken GoGo - rank 5 - 32,000
Sub account 2 - Flying Rocks - rank 5 - 31,000
Sub account 3 - HawK - rank 4 - 24,000

Although this might be useless for some players as they don't duel a lot or just don't really check other players' profile, it is very beneficial for the majority. I've had enough of playing against low ranked players who claim they have no alternative accounts, and end up lying by beating me to death and their last words are - "JAJAJAJAJAJ GG U MAD". They could be rank 12. Who really knows, honestly. Yes, it's good to gain experience, but it is daunting, especially for the beginners. It's better for beginners to play against beginners, allowing them to gain confidence, and as they grow, they start to play against players who are a bit more experienced. I feel like it's important for beginners to really take their time, especially a game like this takes time to understand (for me anyway, I'm a slow learner).

Let's discuss the problems...

Problem 1: some beginners don't know how to check someone else's profile, perhaps this should be part of the tutorial? Maybe, it's too obvious for it to be part of the tutorial. Maybe when you highlight/click a player's username, you can see his/her other accounts just below his/her profile as well as avatar and reputations? That could be a good solution to this problem.
Problem 2: people have already created a lot of accounts, so what do we do with this situation? Trying to think what the solution could be. Any idea?

Still thinking what problem might occur.

P.S. I know this seems pretty detailed, but it's worth having your thoughts shared

Another suggestion might be worth noting - group chat. If you want to talk to, let's say, three of your friends in atWar with them being in the same room as you but you don't want other players to see you talking to them, you should invite them to the new tab of chat, called "Group", where you can simply discuss with them alone. It's similar to coalition chat, except that you are able to chat with other at least two players even if they are in different coalitions.

Eshkruar nga drymud64, 03.12.2018 at 01:07

Please don't try to implement some anti-racism policy. Half the community here is racist and 80% of the people who still make maps are. Besides, I like free speech.

Two suggestions:
Make SP easier to gather, so you can play competitively on lower ranks already. Having to play for 300 hours before you can match high ranks is a stupid policy to grow your playerbase.

I don't know how much you know about the competitive scene here yet, but it used to be the driving force behind Afterwind/Atwar.
There are clanwars, and duels, both mainly being played in Europe+ and clanwars being played as 3 vs 3 or 2 vs 2 usually.
There also are casual 3v3's, but those have become rarer lately. Having ranked 3v3's would be really nice.

Hello david, good luck with all of this.

As for the rest who commented in this thread...TLDR

Eshkruar nga Franz, 03.12.2018 at 02:00

We log on each day to communicate with our friends and enemies in game

Eh a lot of people log on each day only to communicate with their friends and enemies on the forums

Eshkruar nga Dave, 03.12.2018 at 00:32

However to keep players, we need to reduce the toxicity problem, which leads me to:

eh tbh the stagnating gameplay is a bigger issue for the old players

we need something new to play with

Eshkruar nga Tirpitz406, 03.12.2018 at 04:01

I don't know how much you know about the competitive scene here yet, but it used to be the driving force behind Afterwind/Atwar.
There are clanwars, and duels, both mainly being played in Europe+ and clanwars being played as 3 vs 3 or 2 vs 2 usually.
There also are casual 3v3's, but those have become rarer lately. Having ranked 3v3's would be really nice.

Ranked queues for 1v1s and 3v3 would be cool.

GL

More upgrade.

The issues people have with roleplay would disappear if we just had more players. There are three groups vying to start there type of preferred game and there just isnt enough players for all three, (Competetive, custom/scenario, and roleplay) people will stop complaining about other groups in the game if they could just get there games to start.


Secondly there is a large toxic community yes, but its larger then you even think and you should be careful with who you trust, many people will offer there help or advice and have selfish or Ill interventions. The mods ain't perfect but most of them are reputable and you would do good to heed there advice in most things in atwar while you learn more about the game and its culture and sub groups.

Lastly just be very careful with changes, this game was a gem a few years ago and it's just needs a few key features reworked snuff out the toxic player base,some polish and more customization, add that with proper ad monetization, and game advertisement and you got a proper winning formula good lack dave!