Feedback from a new signup:
1. Registration easy – nice. Character age was the only confusing part. It’d be nice to have a mouseover or something to explain that this is not necessarily the user’s age + pros and cons of choosing lower or higher age values as a game age, so that the player doesn’t regret it later on if it is something crucial.
2. First login problematic due to the browser using email instead of character name. Proposal: Make both email and character name valid logins – or explain that nickname is required
3. First screen: https://cryptokingdom.me/billboard
That’s like a bad quality spampage – definitely not game material that people want to see. Too confusing for a new player, too all over the place, too spammy, way not too cool in terms of appearance. The first screen is enough for many players to just not give the game a second chance.
4. My first move is to click on the higher right pic of a guy… it seemed to be something like an online-assistance type of avatar, and I was not really sure what it was. I clicked and realized it’s “my profile”. A more generic picture needs to be used for that.
5. Uploading new image is an easy process. On the left hand of the screen two buttons, right and left of the photo, don’t seem to do anything.
6. I’m next onto the dashboard trying to see how to find a “main” game menu. I’m seeing 2 items. I can’t click to see what they are.
7. As I’m trying to find what to do next, I click the 3 line button right of the Crypto Kingdom label (upper left). This button needs more highlighting as it’s not so intuitive that it’s a central button in terms of functionality. At least to me.
8. I try the map. The index on the left is not very well designed. I am at https://cryptokingdom.me/land/chapelry/1:C then click north-north, I get a ...white screen. Total white. (huh?)
9. I click to go back to Main Town. I’m trying to figure out how to navigate around. I click on a button on the upper right “explore...” and it says Find lot with ID: 4-W-W14 in Town map and take your reward. Yeah, well, how do I do that? I can't seem to find any move buttons.
10. I return to the map. On the left side it says: “Explore different lots informations”. Syntax is somewhat messed up and I kind of understand the meaning, but ...not clickable. Still no idea how to move around.
I'll give it a rest for now and revisit it later perhaps.
1. Registration easy – nice. Character age was the only confusing part. It’d be nice to have a mouseover or something to explain that this is not necessarily the user’s age + pros and cons of choosing lower or higher age values as a game age, so that the player doesn’t regret it later on if it is something crucial.
2. First login problematic due to the browser using email instead of character name. Proposal: Make both email and character name valid logins – or explain that nickname is required
3. First screen: https://cryptokingdom.me/billboard
That’s like a bad quality spampage – definitely not game material that people want to see. Too confusing for a new player, too all over the place, too spammy, way not too cool in terms of appearance. The first screen is enough for many players to just not give the game a second chance.
4. My first move is to click on the higher right pic of a guy… it seemed to be something like an online-assistance type of avatar, and I was not really sure what it was. I clicked and realized it’s “my profile”. A more generic picture needs to be used for that.
5. Uploading new image is an easy process. On the left hand of the screen two buttons, right and left of the photo, don’t seem to do anything.
6. I’m next onto the dashboard trying to see how to find a “main” game menu. I’m seeing 2 items. I can’t click to see what they are.
7. As I’m trying to find what to do next, I click the 3 line button right of the Crypto Kingdom label (upper left). This button needs more highlighting as it’s not so intuitive that it’s a central button in terms of functionality. At least to me.
8. I try the map. The index on the left is not very well designed. I am at https://cryptokingdom.me/land/chapelry/1:C then click north-north, I get a ...white screen. Total white. (huh?)
9. I click to go back to Main Town. I’m trying to figure out how to navigate around. I click on a button on the upper right “explore...” and it says Find lot with ID: 4-W-W14 in Town map and take your reward. Yeah, well, how do I do that? I can't seem to find any move buttons.
10. I return to the map. On the left side it says: “Explore different lots informations”. Syntax is somewhat messed up and I kind of understand the meaning, but ...not clickable. Still no idea how to move around.
I'll give it a rest for now and revisit it later perhaps.
Thank you for the valuable feedback. The game is in development, and "the demands and rewards are still in the early adopter mode". For this report, I am willing to give you an Emerald but I'd have to ask you to send me an ingame message (recipient: "1") to tell your char_id to whom I would transfer this valuable gem. (The prices of gems - item_type:GEM - range from 4 mil to invaluable).
The game is a community effort. What we much need in this stage as we have soon developed the planned functionalities, is UI feedback. The problem with the existing playerbase is that they have already learnt the cli and the UI, and are not as good to give feedback anymore
As for some of the points you raised,
1. We will be adding the help on the char_age next to the dropdown menu. The whole register screen also has place for some info, and I'd like you to tell what iyo is the most needed. The TOS should be there at least.
2. The nickname is needed in the login. Email is anyway optional, and also one email can be used in multiple characters.
3. We just developed this fine screen! The first 8 months there was no landing page at all!
It may be daunting for new players because it is designed to give all the info needed for the active players, and it is updated actively. I am open to suggestions how to make it more aesthetic, though.7. This button will feature the words "Main Menu" soon. In the longer term, after the town map looks cool (it certainly does not atm), the main menu items will be dispersed to the town buildings to make the game feel more like a game and not a database access tool.
8. Each screenful you see on the map is called "chapelry". We have 225 in the game, and are currently developing a "lot layout editor", giving the owners the possibility to draw the buildings etc. to their lots (about 1000 existing), which the system will merge to be the chapelry wallpapers. When this process is complete (it is a lot of manhours), the whole town will look realistic and pleasing to the eye. The buildings will have functionalities, so that an adventurous player will have much to explore and gain EXP to get his levels up and the game progresses. Because the game time is tied to real time, it is a challenge to make the starting phase for eager players fast enough. This game cannot be "completed" in a long weekend, it is a long term hobby, which we both must communicate, and also make fast-tracks available for those who want quick progress. Buying a Baronet item (BT-x) causes instant promotion to L12.
9. The Explore requires you to find the lot in question, and to find it, you need to navigate around the town using the navigation arrows in the Map view. The lot_id given is composed of Borough_id, Chapelry_id and (local) Lot_id. The example 4-W-W14 means that the chapelry is 4-W, and the borough 4 is directly to the north of Borough 1 (with some white in between as you noticed). W14 is one of the lots in the chapelry, and upon finding it, there will be gold and other items waiting for you as a reward of getting to know the map.
10. Overall, the database side of the game is progressing nicely and we have a very powerful cli for accessing the 24/7 market, doing the character health challenge, operating the ingame companies, and executing admin actions. What we lack, is the easy access for newcomers and the interlinking of several things we have in the game, and all the wikis and tutorials and guides. Developing these has not been a priority just yet for the reasons that we do not have the skills in our current team. We are doing our best, and the result is what you can readily observe - impossible to get hold to, without staunch determination and ready access to our IRC help channel freenode: ##crypto-kingdom.
We need a dedicated workgroup consisting of players that are not part of the existing community, to have a chance of developing an actual, functional, entry to the game. This will take place after the summer holiday though, as there are still other things to do first. The administration is still too manual to allow the playercount to grow too much yet, so "anyone can come in, but right now it is so demanding that only few make it". In the longer term, we seek to have at minimum 10,000s of players to the game. The valuation is now very promising to those who believe we can conquer the challenges. The funding is on a solid footing.Risto, lead designer & GM
