Expanding Zorg Empire
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2014 5:16 am
Having built up my Empire and researched most of the technologies, I find that making ships and smashing things around lacks long term appeal. I realize that for many players, this is the entire point of Zorg Empire, and for the current player base, it's a lot of fun. I don't mean to question why you like it, just to report that it really isn't enough for me. And I believe that it also won't be enough for most prospective players you will find on the Internet.
Every person I've ever talked to about Zorg Empire either stopped playing after a few days, or showed zero interest after looking at the first few screens. If you want to expand your player base beyond the current clique, you should reach out to those non players for whom the game currently isn't enough, by making one or more additions, such as:
* A story and the option to have named individuals, for players who like drama and characterization
* Better galactic maps and outcomes for expeditions, for those who like exploration
* Population management, for those who like administration and a feeling of immersion
* Better science, for those who like realism
* More in depth racial characterization, for those who like customization
Zorg Empire already has enough ships, enough building options, and enough technologies. It's already able to appeal to wargamers who just want to construct mighty armadas and raid enemy empires. For myself, I wouldn't care if you removed half of the ships, the Nanite Factory, Terraformer, and so on. There's no reason to take any of that away; leave it all in. It doesn't hurt Zorg Empire in the slightest to have so many options like these available. But continuing to restrict focus to the wargaming element alone won't ever improve the game in any meaningful sense. As I see it, only broadening Zorg Empire can do that.
So for any of the above additions that you make, I predict you'll be able to increase your player base by a factor of two. You have only to consider the success of games like Master of Orion, or science fiction shows like Battlestar Galactica, to see how crucial these elements can be to developing and maintaining interest.
I can't guarantee that I'll stay around, in any case - the only thing I would really need to see would be the ability to customize my species and culture; I can imagine everything else up. You may not even want to appeal to me in the first place, since I doubt my preferences are that common. But you've got a wonderful start to what could be a really big game, and there's a whole world of people out there whom you could accommodate and entertain, if you set your mind to it.
Every person I've ever talked to about Zorg Empire either stopped playing after a few days, or showed zero interest after looking at the first few screens. If you want to expand your player base beyond the current clique, you should reach out to those non players for whom the game currently isn't enough, by making one or more additions, such as:
* A story and the option to have named individuals, for players who like drama and characterization
* Better galactic maps and outcomes for expeditions, for those who like exploration
* Population management, for those who like administration and a feeling of immersion
* Better science, for those who like realism
* More in depth racial characterization, for those who like customization
Zorg Empire already has enough ships, enough building options, and enough technologies. It's already able to appeal to wargamers who just want to construct mighty armadas and raid enemy empires. For myself, I wouldn't care if you removed half of the ships, the Nanite Factory, Terraformer, and so on. There's no reason to take any of that away; leave it all in. It doesn't hurt Zorg Empire in the slightest to have so many options like these available. But continuing to restrict focus to the wargaming element alone won't ever improve the game in any meaningful sense. As I see it, only broadening Zorg Empire can do that.
So for any of the above additions that you make, I predict you'll be able to increase your player base by a factor of two. You have only to consider the success of games like Master of Orion, or science fiction shows like Battlestar Galactica, to see how crucial these elements can be to developing and maintaining interest.
I can't guarantee that I'll stay around, in any case - the only thing I would really need to see would be the ability to customize my species and culture; I can imagine everything else up. You may not even want to appeal to me in the first place, since I doubt my preferences are that common. But you've got a wonderful start to what could be a really big game, and there's a whole world of people out there whom you could accommodate and entertain, if you set your mind to it.