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[azezzo]

18862 members on 76 pages

[Fruitcake]

18862 members on 76 pages

Like watching a car crash in slow motion

[PLAYER57832]

Right now, traffic is down 20% from last year. During the peak period (Jan-Jun), it was down about 40%. There is a strong case for seasonal trends as is shown by the coincident peaks in January and June, as well as the relative lull in April, and the drop-off in July. While cause and effect could be debated until the cows come home, I think it's quite obvious that since September-October last year, there has been significant drop-off, with only the late June period demonstrating increased traffic from 2008 to 2009.

The problem is tying that to a cause CC can control.

A lot of people are going to come, play for a while and then just get tired of doing the same thing or leave because life just takes them elsewhere.

I mean , I have played here everyday for 2 years That is a LOT! And, I think most here know I am pretty active in the forums as well. If, as I hope, I get a new job this fall, then I will almost certainly drop off from most active games. I may leave "for good".

A lot of the very old players have left for those types of reasons -- collge, jobs, life in general.

Another group have certainly left because they were not happy with various things. Classic changes, of course. People also left because they dislike the ratings, they dislike the rules, etc.

A group is leaving now because of forum issues.

BUT, does that matter? I cannot say. If CC has more or less reached a reasonable "capacity" or a steady level of membership, that might be OK. You will see dips after any major change and then number pick back up, in ost cases.

[ignatious]

Right now, traffic is down 20% from last year. During the peak period (Jan-Jun), it was down about 40%. There is a strong case for seasonal trends as is shown by the coincident peaks in January and June, as well as the relative lull in April, and the drop-off in July. While cause and effect could be debated until the cows come home, I think it's quite obvious that since September-October last year, there has been significant drop-off, with only the late June period demonstrating increased traffic from 2008 to 2009.

This is interesting e i pi. Clearly a pattern here with a drop. But actually looks like things have been closer to a year ago in the last month or so then they've been in awhile.

[Umfold]

Yes, but those of us who are here for a couple of years have a bit more of an idea about this than you.

There is another saying. "he who speaks without first listening is the truly ignorant one".

Sorry guys - there's money involved - there's no regulation - but you just assume that it's on the up and up.

Of course. Tell me, what color is the sky in your world?

But I've said enough. I believe someone on this thread used the term 'circular logic'. Whenever someone posts that term I just see it as "I'm a moron" and take myself out of the discussion.


::burp::

[e_i_pi]

This is interesting e i pi. Clearly a pattern here with a drop. But actually looks like things have been closer to a year ago in the last month or so then they've been in awhile.

Yeah true, it's closer than it has been in a while. I guess wait to see what October brings, as that's when it starts picking up seasonally.

[Timminz]

Yes, but those of us who are here for a couple of years have a bit more of an idea about this than you.

There is another saying. "he who speaks without first listening is the truly ignorant one".

Sorry guys - there's money involved - there's no regulation - but you just assume that it's on the up and up.

Of course. Tell me, what color is the sky in your world?

It's not the colour that concerns me. It's the fact that it's out to get me.

[PLAYER57832]

Yes, but those of us who are here for a couple of years have a bit more of an idea about this than you.

There is another saying. "he who speaks without first listening is the truly ignorant one".

Sorry guys - there's money involved - there's no regulation - but you just assume that it's on the up and up.

Of course. Tell me, what color is the sky in your world?

Oh, MONEY .. now I get it!

Yep, sorry you were correct. We all pay very close attention to the number of members before joining. And what a racket Lack has! He just lets us play a few games, do some chat and voila -- we give him $25. Such suckers we are!

[azezzo]

18755

[PLAYER57832]

I compiled this list, for what little it might be worth:
Here are my top 11, I break them up into groups:

I Those who quit as newbies.
1. Just don't like the game, rules, etc. (maybe want an instant game or something with more animation, etc.)
2. Pick wrong map right off. Particularly people who cannot be bothered to read
3. Meet a real jerk in their first few games.

IMPORTANT: C is the only one that really needs to worry anyone, the rest are just "weeding out" people who plain don't belong here anyway

Those who leave fairly quickly: (in a few months, never renew)

4. MOST OFTEN are just plain poor sports/jerks. People who complain constantly that the "dice are fixed", who get angry when cooks beat them, etc, etc, etc, Good Riddance! Wish we could get most of those folks out more quickly!

5. Busted as multis -- probably not really significant numbers. Again, "good riddance" regardless!

6. A few may leave due to Forum or Chat "vacation" busts, but those are going to be few. Furthermore, while we can certainly debate (elsewhere) whether rules are appropriate, particular "busts" are reasonable, any site has to have rules and has to oust those who just refuse to comply.

Those who stay a long time before leaving:

7. Playing games just takes too much time/invades "real life" too much.

8. Game just loses its novelty

Those two probably are the OVERWHELMING majority of reasons people leave. Again, these are mostly inevitable. Introducing new games can increase novelty, but it can also result in so many options that new players get overwhelmed, that few people play on any one map/style. (we may be close already ) Also, even many maps, styles won't make games go more quickly, etc. At some point, most people just move on.

Other reasons for leaving after a while:
10. People who leave because they don't like particular policies.

A. Classic: Sad, but it had to go. Not much CC could do about it.

B. Forum issues: This is a big one for many, probably a lot of folks who post here, in fact. However, Forum posters represent only a small percentage of CC users. Again, it gets complicated. Discuss elsewhere.

C. Have a bad experience here. Of this, the majority will be arguments/ fights with other players or mods. Another might involve more "remote" issues -- for example, someone who spends a lot of time on a map and then has it rejected, someone who is a mod and gets just too frustrated dealing with the jerks on the site.

IMPORTANT: I Don't think any of these really represent big numbers, but C is/should be of concern to CC, because they are largley preventable. Not entirely, but largely.

11. Computer issues -- moving, lose computer, etc. OR other "life changes" prevent playing.



These are the things I think cause most people to leave. Only a few of them are really things that CC can control. The main "iffy" one is "getting bored", but there is just a definite limit to how long you can keep most people interested. The key is to keep recruiting new people to replace the inevitable losses.

With that in mind, a REAL question is whether new recruitment is up or down, particularly premium recruitment!

[e_i_pi]

Nice analysis player. Keep in mind that those who quit as newbies, and those that leave fairly quickly are part of replenishing cyclical groups. For every 1000 newbies that quit, another 1000 newbies will find the site. While the amount of new users in not inexhautsable, I think it can safely be said that the online gaming community at large is expanding, and people are revisiting games they played earlier in life, or currently on boards with dice. In a nutshell, while there is not an inexhaustable supply of new players, there should be enough people becoming interested in online gaming that it replenishes itself regularly.

I think point number 7 (playing too much, invading real life) is a very real issue, and something that does affect a fair few people. It's hard to put a figure on it, but in my clan (of 20 or so players) I know around 5 have moved on for this very reason. I think you'd get a higher representation in this field in clans because of the competitive and more intense nature of clan activity over casual play.

Point number 8 would be a definite factor as well, and is something that can be reasonably managed by CC. I'm not sure that the number of options is so bad. Sure there are a lot of options, but the main problem in this area as I see it is:

• All the options available are available at once (for premiums)
• No new options are getting created

Not to criticise the mapmakers, but there's only so many new elements you can add to the game through creating a new map. What the site is sorely lacking is new code. There is a dearth of code - the latest features are things like:

1. Round number next to games
2. Join a specific team
3. Invite players to games

These are good features, don't get me wrong, but look at the To-Do list, and the features promised on there. None of them are done, and these date back to 2006. The lack of updates, along with unfulfilled promises of new features, I think, creates an atmosphere of demoralisation. You pay $25 per year... yes you get the game, but what else do you get? Nothing much, there's little to no progress on the game features front.

I couldn't find point 9 lol, but point 10 is also a good point. I don't know how far reaching this one is. I suspect it is a major contributor, but that's just my opinion. Sadly, everything outlined in point 10 could have been avoided, ameliorated, or amended with good policy, but there seems to be a deficit in policy since Twill left. While there are some areas where the site has improved, those areas are mostly community driven. I see strong improvement in the Foundry and in SoC, yet I see a heavy decline in the quality and content in Suggs Bugs and C+A, and those two fora are entirely dependant on admin involvement. My belief is that a CBF attitude exists in the upper heirarchy of the site, and that attitude has filtered down throughout the rest of the mods/admin, and we're slowly seeing everything become unstuck. To me, it's a slow rot from within, not a problem created by or preventable by the community itself.

[Woodruff]

I couldn't find point 9 lol

She saved #9 for her love potion. <grin>

[Georgerx7di]

I think that people leave because nobody will take there damn turns. I have 62 games right now, and its not my turn in any of them. Very upsetting. I guess I'll just have to join some more games

[azezzo]

18746 members on 75 pages:

[pie12345]

defintly