As anyone should know, I'm a Zatikon junkie and I love it! But, I often see the game lobby with low numbers. Worse, is there is usually a good percentage when in or after a game, that my opponent's get frustrated no matter what the type of game. I know Zatikon isn't everyone's cup of tea, but people are definately coming here looking for specific types of things. Some are casual gamers that mainly enjoy the coop/single modes and want to see more development on that. Others are casual gamers that want to try out all the modes and love all game modes. Then, most of the hardcore gamers are here for the strategy aspect and 90% are falling under the random category and 10% constructed. In all scenarios I find common scenarios: two complex and not enough to do.
After owning all the cards and playing every game mode, I've recently gone back to thoroughly enjoying my "demo" only account. I must admit that both constructed and random are much more enjoyable then owning all the cards. I have to ask myself why is that, and I believe it's because I love simplicity and I love a limited set amount of variables. It's also because with all the cards there are many scenarios where random/constructed games result in almost no ways of winning. Sure, more pieces could be fixed to game balance these modes, but I believe an even better solution could occure and I'll get to that later. For example, I recently had an encounter with a newer player, where we had mirror demo armies but instead of me having an enchanter(huge advantage) he had a bunch of cav's in combination to both of us having 2 catapults among other things. He almost beat me and should have if he played perfectly, but win or lose, it's alot harder to replicate this balance and simplicity in demo only scenarios.
But, let's look at this from a developer's point of view. They need expansions, they need to make money to justify the endless hours put in. I get it and respect it. But at the same time, Zatikon has been constantly developed to create game balanced revolved around the additional pieces added. With the release of each new set of units, more variables come out, which obviously results to more complaints and more pieces being adjusted. This is a good natural process, but in the mean time, bigger fish need to be fried in how to help make Zatikon a gem. And don't get me wrong, It's a brilliant idea to bring out a new unit every month. But, what Zatikon is failing at more then ever is being simple. Zatikon will always be "complex" but it also can be simple too at the same time. By simple I mean, there should always be a core set of units and variables that should never change. When the basic units get new abilities and players are gone after a while, it's very frustrating adapting to the new settings. But, the larger problem is addressing the overall complexity of Zatikon as I whole heartly believe it's one of the biggest disseases towards keeping new players. This and aside that more single/coop modes need to be developed, but that is another discussion of itself.
So there is a correct solution to the complexity problem. Let's look at a similiar vein, Magic the Gathering (I haven't played it in 5+ years so excuse my incorrect evaluations). Anyhow, MtG in the beggining realised many players were complaining that it was too expensive to play, so they invented a Type 1 & Type 2. For those unfamiliar, Type 1 meant all cards were allowed where as Type 2 meant, you could only use cards from expansions in sets in production. So it basically helped make the game fresh as Type 1 & 2 would constantly change but it also helped keep a more free mode of playing. So how is this relevant to Zatikon? Zatikon needs a bigger hook for "demo" players as we already have a good conversion rate turning them into non demo. More specifically, a simple "DEMO" styled modes of games and "Non-Demo" style.
How it could work:
When ever one of the main game challenge modes is selected, you will need to choose more advanced game options. More specifically 3 options:
(OPTION 1) Rated or Unrated
(OPTION 2) 1 min timer or 5 min timer
(OPTION 3) Classic (only demo units) or Advanced (all units)
It would also be very vital, that unrated, 1 min and Classic be the default game choices so the user doesn't have to keep clicking over and over the same options. I've also recieved many complaints from players that they are unsatisfied with the fast 1 minute timer , so a 2-5 minute timer option would really help.
Again, in summorary, Zatikon is a complex game that needs to tone down some of the variables (all units). As much as the game needs to spruce it up with new units, it's almost more important to establish a classical "demo" style. If anything else, after 4-5 expansion sets, people should be enjoying and still be able to play the same Zatikon for decades just like they would chess.
After owning all the cards and playing every game mode, I've recently gone back to thoroughly enjoying my "demo" only account. I must admit that both constructed and random are much more enjoyable then owning all the cards. I have to ask myself why is that, and I believe it's because I love simplicity and I love a limited set amount of variables. It's also because with all the cards there are many scenarios where random/constructed games result in almost no ways of winning. Sure, more pieces could be fixed to game balance these modes, but I believe an even better solution could occure and I'll get to that later. For example, I recently had an encounter with a newer player, where we had mirror demo armies but instead of me having an enchanter(huge advantage) he had a bunch of cav's in combination to both of us having 2 catapults among other things. He almost beat me and should have if he played perfectly, but win or lose, it's alot harder to replicate this balance and simplicity in demo only scenarios.
But, let's look at this from a developer's point of view. They need expansions, they need to make money to justify the endless hours put in. I get it and respect it. But at the same time, Zatikon has been constantly developed to create game balanced revolved around the additional pieces added. With the release of each new set of units, more variables come out, which obviously results to more complaints and more pieces being adjusted. This is a good natural process, but in the mean time, bigger fish need to be fried in how to help make Zatikon a gem. And don't get me wrong, It's a brilliant idea to bring out a new unit every month. But, what Zatikon is failing at more then ever is being simple. Zatikon will always be "complex" but it also can be simple too at the same time. By simple I mean, there should always be a core set of units and variables that should never change. When the basic units get new abilities and players are gone after a while, it's very frustrating adapting to the new settings. But, the larger problem is addressing the overall complexity of Zatikon as I whole heartly believe it's one of the biggest disseases towards keeping new players. This and aside that more single/coop modes need to be developed, but that is another discussion of itself.
So there is a correct solution to the complexity problem. Let's look at a similiar vein, Magic the Gathering (I haven't played it in 5+ years so excuse my incorrect evaluations). Anyhow, MtG in the beggining realised many players were complaining that it was too expensive to play, so they invented a Type 1 & Type 2. For those unfamiliar, Type 1 meant all cards were allowed where as Type 2 meant, you could only use cards from expansions in sets in production. So it basically helped make the game fresh as Type 1 & 2 would constantly change but it also helped keep a more free mode of playing. So how is this relevant to Zatikon? Zatikon needs a bigger hook for "demo" players as we already have a good conversion rate turning them into non demo. More specifically, a simple "DEMO" styled modes of games and "Non-Demo" style.
How it could work:
When ever one of the main game challenge modes is selected, you will need to choose more advanced game options. More specifically 3 options:
(OPTION 1) Rated or Unrated
(OPTION 2) 1 min timer or 5 min timer
(OPTION 3) Classic (only demo units) or Advanced (all units)
It would also be very vital, that unrated, 1 min and Classic be the default game choices so the user doesn't have to keep clicking over and over the same options. I've also recieved many complaints from players that they are unsatisfied with the fast 1 minute timer , so a 2-5 minute timer option would really help.
Again, in summorary, Zatikon is a complex game that needs to tone down some of the variables (all units). As much as the game needs to spruce it up with new units, it's almost more important to establish a classical "demo" style. If anything else, after 4-5 expansion sets, people should be enjoying and still be able to play the same Zatikon for decades just like they would chess.