quote:
the playerbase did at least double with Steam release relative to before it, and did have a 800-1000 concurrent player spike for a bit right after release. |
Shadowfury333 I was not aware of that, as I became active again not until recently after several years break and it did not appear to me that the playerbase had actually grown.
I would wonder what the feedback was from the players who took a look at ZK after steam release but did not stay. Yesterday I have tried to contact some regular reviewers I follow on steam and ask if they would like to try out ZK and review it. Feedback I got was basically that it appeared very "niche".
I have never thought of ZK as a niche game as it should in principle appeal to people who also liked TA, Supcom, and Planitary Annihilation which were commercially developed games with some success.
My conclusion would be that there is not enough awareness of ZK among Steam users and that new players lack a point where to get into the game.
Teams all Welcome is certainly the worst place for new people to start ZK as it lacks the challenging and tense gameplay many RTS fans would seek and find in small teams competitive matches.
The campaign has been described as repetitive and somewhat tedious by a reviewer: The person appeared to like ZK in principle but not the way the magnitude of units are introduced in the campaign. That learning part could also be made easier by a community organised more around clan-based competition where experienced players may teach new clan/faction members.
Maybe PlanetWars would be a good way to motivate people to participate in that kind of small team fights. It would be nice to hear about the status of PlanetWars and if there are plans to reintroduce / further it.
