CC is declining again!

[TeeGee]

4559

[jusplay4fun]

This is the important graph. I thought the Facebook login removal would cause a bigger hit.

This is what I have time for now, the secondary link of game info and everything else will gotta get updated this fall or something.

We need a new graph; I think we had one in the Summer (USA) and I do not recall an update since.

Thanks to those who take the time and make the effort for this to happen.

[IcePack]

I don’t have it in me right now to update and it’ll be awhile. Going through some stuff.

Maybe Mets will stumble onto this again and update for you

[BaldAdonis]

This thread is very interesting!

[DirtyDishSoap]

It's almost like if you don't make any effort to grow the community and the business, then it stagnates and dies. Hmmm...

Hard to promote a web based game when your competitors are consoles and or multibillion corporations.

Could you imagine a YouTube ad for this? It'd be laughed off the market.

[D3A7H]

It's almost like if you don't make any effort to grow the community and the business, then it stagnates and dies. Hmmm...

Hard to promote a web based game when your competitors are consoles and or multibillion corporations.

Could you imagine a YouTube ad for this? It'd be laughed off the market.

This game is an inexpensive alternative to some of the other options out there, but definitely has a limited market.

[BaldAdonis]

Hard to promote a web based game when your competitors are consoles and or multibillion corporations.

Those are not competitors - the product isn't instant gratification with an expansive universe and immersive graphics, marketed at teenagers with more dollars than sense. It's a strategy game, with planning, negotiating and luck. Sim Dynasty is in a similar market with a baseball management game. It's niche and they don't advertise - they mostly grow through referrals. I heard about it through CC 15 years ago. During that time, they've grown from ~25000 to ~50000 active users while CC has dropped from 25000 to 5000.

[BaldAdonis]

how much will it feel like a kick in the gut when we got back from 10k to 5k?

I'm just a FNG but after looking around and signing up, I have found this site to be easy to navigate and easy to understand. It is obvious that the owner and MOD's work hard to make this site fun, fair, and are always looking to make it better.

The kick is knowing that no one would say this now.

[uckuki]

there's nothing wrong with the site or the game. people's brains
are broken and they don't want (meaning: are unable) to learn.
it's same here just like in real life. people are down to 5-10 second
attention time spans. strategy game? nobody wants it if it makes
their brain hurt. new bodies? they quit after 15 seconds, 1 or 2 minutes,
5 min tops and rarely, 90% of them.

unless someone figures how to make thinking cool again?
there's a trillion dollar .
and it might even save the species.

p.s. people know we are running out of oxygen?
(check atmospheric oxygen level, it will become
the last number we will follow, or if numbers are too much,
just follow the downward curve )

gotta go to work

[BaldAdonis]

there's nothing wrong with the site or the game.

You could get +7 in Lower Egypt with all that.

people's brains
are broken and they don't want (meaning: are unable) to learn.

Why are those people in charge here?

[iAmCaffeine]

people's brains
are broken and they don't want (meaning: are unable) to learn.

Why are those people in charge here?

HAHAHAHA

you're my new favourite person

[DirtyDishSoap]

Hard to promote a web based game when your competitors are consoles and or multibillion corporations.

Those are not competitors - the product isn't instant gratification with an expansive universe and immersive graphics, marketed at teenagers with more dollars than sense. It's a strategy game, with planning, negotiating and luck. Sim Dynasty is in a similar market with a baseball management game. It's niche and they don't advertise - they mostly grow through referrals. I heard about it through CC 15 years ago. During that time, they've grown from ~25000 to ~50000 active users while CC has dropped from 25000 to 5000.

I mean, i got into too back then as a teenager. Word of mouth from another friend. I've never seen any advertising for this site.

[uckuki]

the original game was a board game. that's ancient history,
time before internet.

risk, or whatever it is, has to become something that can fit
into a palm of a hand. tick tack toe life. Luxembourg or
smaller. keep it simple, as simple as it gets. you gotta get them
to roll the dice. dice are the key
not strategy
strategy sucks

[GaryDenton]

Could use a bit of an update but nothing has really changed.

https://imgur.com/GHv0AF2

[BaldAdonis]

has to become something that can fit
into a palm of a hand.

It doesn't. There are many people who use computers to work and would play a game that only needs to be checked once a day. Some of them are still here.

Board games (especially legacy versions and cooperative games) are more popular now than 15 years ago when CC was at its peak. Niche games are widespread. The shift towards collectibles, badges, multiple currencies and other games has moved CC away from being a board game. Reading the history in the threads, it looks like killing the foundry cut off the circulation, then ignoring anything the users wanted smothered the air out. Now you're looking at a skeleton and saying just needs some makeup to appeal to a younger audience.

[uckuki]

yes. people who know the game will play it regardless,
to keep the game alive you need new generations.

I think problem is bigger than cc

[denominator]

Well, this thread was a slog to read everything! I have a few thoughts, as a CC member that has come and gone from the site over the last 16 years:

1. The rubbernecking and celebrating of the decline is pretty gross. I'm not sure why so many people (pre-Covid, mostly) were so excited about the decline and constantly posting about it.
2. There is always going to be a core of 1000-2000 players here. At the very end, whenever that may be, it might start to decline, but I suspect that the premium core is committed to their routine and daily turns regardless of the greater pool of players.
3. I used to believe the forum was an asset to this site, but as I've gotten older I have come to the conclusion that this forum is part of the problem. It still astounds me that there is a large portion of CC members that don't play games, but just hang out in the forums bullshitting/trolling/flaming/trying to get banned. I used to think this was generating site traffic and that was a good thing, but I now believe this is a turn-off for new players/

As for "fixing" the site, I have some ideas, but I doubt they are worth implementing. This site, and the gameplay, is forever going to be stuck with the layout, pace, and gameplay we have. Significant changes to that will alienate the core base, which I think is the only thing worth keeping at this point. So overhauling the interface or changing the rate of turns is going to be a non-starter. That being said, there are some small tweaks that I think would help modernize the site and hold new users:

4. Waiting games expiring, or a cap on waiting games. There are perpetually ~3000 games waiting to be filled, which is way, way too many. Most players have a large chunk of games just waiting to be started, when we could be focusing players into the same games to keep activity higher. If waiting games expired after 2 weeks, or there was a cap of 1000 waiting games where when you create one, you get an error of "too many waiting games, join one instead", I think new players would have an easier time getting into games faster and more people might stick around.
5. It's been said for YEARS but we need a feasible app. It's no secret that the majority of the player base is old now, and this game requires playing on a computer with a mouse to be able to effectively take your turns. Most of us only ever play mobile if we need to avoid missing a turn. I have no problem with limiting the map options for mobile, as long as it's crossplay enabled. Maybe the mobile app only has the 20 simplest maps and to access the rest, you need to switch to a computer.
6. Modern gaming is based on seasons. We already do something similar with the events, but why not rotate maps in and out. You can leave open maps for tournaments and clans, but for the general games, break it apart into twelve 1-month seasons. Each "season" has 20 maps available, plus the 15 most popular that are permanently available (or, tying to #5, these 15 are the crossplay maps). This will limit farming/ranching, help with the overwhelming amount of waiting games, and bring new/returning players back on a monthly basis when certain maps are available.

Anyways, that's just my thoughts after spending nearly a month reading through this thread.

[Davie.K]

Post of the year already achieved in January in my view.

[uckuki]

cheers

[Davie.K]

4,440 on the slide again as spring begins to spread it's evil way up the Northern hemisphere like the red weed of HG Wells nightmare creation.

[xroads]

4,440 on the slide again as spring begins to spread it's evil way up the Northern hemisphere like the red weed of HG Wells nightmare creation.

Is this an all time low?

[.SCuD.]

I've started playing again for a bit, so that's it, we're on the way back up people

[Doc_Brown]

I've started playing again for a bit

So all-time low confirmed?

[.SCuD.]

I've started playing again for a bit

So all-time low confirmed?

I knew someone had to say it

[lexie3000]

Is that surprising? Lately I’ve found it to be slow, clunky and dogged with bugs. I’m currently blocked from finishing a turn. The map just disappeared on me and the fields went blank. Second time it’s happened in as many days. I tried submitting another ticket but was told I’d reached my limit. All a bit of a drag really.