Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
Issue: 9   Editor: Mika


Cha-cha-changes... YouCantHide
With the controversy of Nyxxie, BSF, and Sabin; I asked myself, what's changed? After a lot of thought and watching the "new guard" it hit me.
Two to three resets ago, you saw a change in the way the Elite Guard did their work. It started with Sabin. If you remember correctly; First and second reset saw everyone from BSFdown interacting with the players. BSFtalked, answered bm's gave away money and points, and interacted with his clients. That also held true for everyone from the red players to the yellow players.

That changed a few resets ago, and Sabin was the culprit. He was the first to say, "I am to busy to answer BM's, use the helpdesk." And you saw BSF follow suit. During this time, there was an update that you had to play the game before sending messages. It changed something in the dynamic of the game.

Now that's not to say all was bad. Exploits were fixed, they made it harder for dupes to be beneficial, and a lot of problems within the game itself was solved. We received much needed updates to the game play, and overall I would say it was a benefit.

However, BSF needs to be reminded of something- This is a point click game. The dynamic that has made this game great IS NOT the game play itself. You walk a fine line here. The people you have black listed, the people who have quit over the years have one thing in common. They have much to do with making this game great as you do.

What makes Bootleggers isn't the crimes. It's not the police cars. It's not the gun's. It's the people. The feeling of power to collect 40,000 points, billions of dollars and systematically taking out people who aren't able to defend.

But It's more than points that make this game what it is. It's the togetherness of a common goal. It's the virtual friends you make, and equally as important, the enemies you create. And above all of this is a feeling that you are an integral part of the game, as if...without you, the game would not go on.

I guess, the point that I make is that, when you quit talking to your players, was the day you lost the pulse of this game. Of course, you can never make all of them happy at the same time, but once upon a time the only ones that were truly unhappy was the exploiters, the dupers, and the cheaters. Today I think if you spent ANY time on this game at all you would see why your numbers are dropping.

If you wish to bring back the original feeling of Bootleggers, it's a simple process. Begin interacting with the players that love your game. Take our suggestions seriously. We as players don't truly expect that you care about what we think; it's the appearance of approachability that matters.
If you listen to the changes that most players post in the game forum, you'll see a trend. They want more ways to interact together, rather than individually. This really is a team game, and until you fix you, I doubt you'll see any changes in the dwindling population.

Cain.

I Was Asked To Sumbmit This For Cain As He Dose Not Wish To Diclose His Name