Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Specialty Hosting and Markets : Game Servers : Is their still a market for text-based games?

[mjfroggy]

Hello all,

So I did not know what category to put this post in and this one seems to be the closest to where it would go.

Basically I wanted to get some feedback from the community here we have seen a boom with game server hosting. More and more kids/teens/adults even playing online rpg's

However are people still into playing text-based role playing games? I mean what is everones opinion on if their was a text-based game that had a good theme/story line but it was text based would you play it, if it was free to play??

post your feedback thanks :-)

[Coolraul]

Personally no but I was never into them to begin with except for a VERY brief period of time wth Zork.

Does OGame and Cybernations qualify as text based role playing? If so then I am sure that it is a viable form of game.

[DNGeeks]

If you consider a game like Dragons Kingdom "text" based then yes, I do think there is something of a market.

Dragons Kingdom is a browser based game, that include images and text. It is interactive (somewhat) with other players in that you can fight them, but it's mostly read the screen, make a decision and read some more.

Last year I sold a game site that had about 50 active players daily (2000+ registered) of DK for $500. For the buyer it was about ad exposure, as the site turned over a LOT of page views while people played.

[johnny-l]

Originally Posted by sessionmedia

Hello all,

So I did not know what category to put this post in and this one seems to be the closest to where it would go.

Basically I wanted to get some feedback from the community here we have seen a boom with game server hosting. More and more kids/teens/adults even playing online rpg's

However are people still into playing text-based role playing games? I mean what is everones opinion on if their was a text-based game that had a good theme/story line but it was text based would you play it, if it was free to play??

post your feedback thanks :-)

If you mean what traditionally is called a MUD , i definitely think NO.
If you mean a web based game, yes.

[Mike - Limestone]

There seems to be a market for text-based game among more experienced Internet users, especially those who frequently use Internet Relay Chat (IRC) or similar protocols.

I think that game content and features have more of an impact on popularity than the specific delivery method (whether text or graphics). I have used text-based games in the past, and I would again in the future.

-mike

[xaero]

I have a clone of ogmae (called xnova) that is open source and i have converted it from french to english as best i could. http://www.debianbox.net/xnova ) Alot of my coworkers and friends enjoy it. Mostly because you can turn up the speed and it doesnt take months to make a game good. right now were at 10x the ogame speed


feel free to join in

[phantom-hosting]

There is a lot of room for any type of game, You just have to make it interesting enough to bring the players. Although I do agree visual games get more people, but myself I play all sorts of games when I get bored.

So in my opinion yes there is always room for hosting more.

[mjfroggy]

Thanks all for your comments.I have been looking at alot of "Mud" text based games and I always thing ughhh how can anyone find it fun toplay this is all just reading and ugly gui's

I asked my origional question because I am playing with the idea of starting a web based text based game. Something prettyer then a mud text based game but not fully graphics based eaither.

Thanks all for your comments :-)

[blomstervand]

travian is a text based game as far as i know with pictures and multimedia, and i think its important to include now a days. Also search "Legend of the Green Dragon", its a plain text game with no pictures in it that attracts ALOT of visitors, its very popular and can easily be modified with mods and all that.

[JordanJ]

http://games.swirve.com/utopia/

Over 80,000 active players!

[RDOSTI]

If you have a demo and would like me or someone else to have a look...I like games and I love story based ones..Id love to help and see if its any good or fun...Im sure if its good and fun yes ...might still click.

A lot of people say its outdated...isnt that what people thought about books..you get audio books now..yet you still like reading...

I think it could connect if its good and something on a higher level (Extra ordinary)

Regards

[ababmxking]

Me and my friend are currently working on a racing text based game, although there really isnt much racing just somewhat of some strategy and overall i think the reason people like this style of game is because its simple but you have always have a goal that you want to reach.

www[dot]racing-generation[dot]com

We only learned how to code in php like 4 or 5 months ago and have probally spent like 2 and a half months working on it. Theres still quite a bit before its 100% done to our standards but it is playable right now.

[mjfroggy]

Hey all,

Thanks for the continued comments. I actually don't have any part of the game truly play-able yet. Although it will be a cool game with use of some graphics, as well as player interaction with other players (via chat and player vs player attacks), we will also have in-game celebrations and surprise events that happen in the game. The game has been on the drawing board for a few months now (with sketch's of the characters being drawn up and the towns/land map being orginized. My plan is to become a real competitor of games like http://www.bat.org (who's site looks better then the game itself in my opinion) as well as other large games like the game Utopia mentioned by another poster. What will set us apart is the use of high end graphics along with some features/functions that are not all available in the typical text based game.

I plan to open a website soon so people can start to read the history and become interested in the game. Which is titled
"Haskalah: Rebirth" Domain just registered today. :-)

[RDOSTI]

Well let us know if you want some testers or players

[xaero]

Originally Posted by ababmxking

Me and my friend are currently working on a racing text based game, although there really isnt much racing just somewhat of some strategy and overall i think the reason people like this style of game is because its simple but you have always have a goal that you want to reach.

www[dot]racing-generation[dot]com

We only learned how to code in php like 4 or 5 months ago and have probally spent like 2 and a half months working on it. Theres still quite a bit before its 100% done to our standards but it is playable right now.

I was thinking about building a drag racing type game as well... i have a couple other ideas and would love to hear your thoughts on them... PM me or something so i can share them with you