I know you all hate long paragraphs and walls of text on the forum, but this one is really really important for all players and for the future of the mod. Because who knows, maybe the next patch isn't even worth doing...
As this game gets older and older, there's something that I know is in everyone's mind: Is the community getting smaller? Are people leaving? Will there be players to play with in the future?
I'm a big BK fan myself; I've played for at least a 8 years now and have made a lot of friends through the time. This is one of my favorite games and will likely continue to be for the long future. A terrible future for me would be to log on to BK and see no games in the lobby or hop on steam and see no one players company of heroes. So I'm begging... BEGGING for you all to do me a favor...
People often try to diagnose WHY people are leaving the community. A lot of people say it's because of how the dev has changed the game or balance issues or something related to the game itself. I've been in the mod for YEARS and the game has changed SO much but to be honest... players still play. True, we lose some players for every change we make but we also gain some because the game evolves as the community evolves. This is natural in any game or any environment for that matter. There is ONE thing though that is for sure death to a community.... toxicity...
I've been trying to say this for years, trying to say the real killer to the mod isn't the game but something else much quieter... I can't begin to describe the amount of times I've heard how painful it is for players to deal with other players. But that's just it, I've only just said "someone said it". Most players don't want to bring up their bad experience with other players because they don't want to deal with the drama even if it is anonymized. I don't blame them. Hell, people don't even want to come to the forum to voice their opinions because they feel like they'll be roasted alive.
Just this week, another player has given up. But this player was willing to share an experience with everyone. This is what the player wrote to me (screenshots attached for proof that I didn't make it up):
I'm not here to embarrass any player or give any names or talk about who said what to who. This is NOT a problem between just two people... this is a WHOLE COMMUNITY effort to solve. Help me out here guys. If you wonder why devs never respond on forum or why things are so slow to change it's because frankly the devs just don't want to deal with us players. It would be better for all of us to just be better to one another and remember as we are playing "it's just a game".Anonymous wrote: Hello Kwok, unfortunately I have unfriend [player] and removed myself from the blitz discord groups. i spent 3 games with [player] tonight in a row being told off for the smallest things, being made fun of, being talked about like I am not there. I play this game for fun and I think that there should be more of an effort to make the community a more welcoming place. There is a large portion of the player base that refuses to play with most of the regular players due to this. I have many many conversations with players who say they wont play pvp because of the verbal abuse that they will get, or the constant blame. And here to drive home my point, I recently started playing this game again after 9 months off because [player] among others were so brutal with the comments and the negativity that it was no longer fun to play with people. it is at that point right now with [player] again because I mean we just did a 3 v 2 and lost and these are some of [player] comments "hey guys dont go to mid just go to the corner and ARTY it over and over" so we do. then he says "whos at mid?" "then he says why arent you guys atying the stuff at mid?" we say cause we have no ammo cause we arty the stuff you said . [player] says "I didnt say that" so we say ok whatever. then [player] says we cant beat [opponent] and its our fault because we dont have AT or Tanks BUT he told us to focus on Arty ONLY. I say yo [player] leave us alone and he says "i have to micro manage you two"
all that over just a fun game man its pathetic. I tell you cause you like a godfather in the community. you should keep in mind that the real problem with company of heroes isnt the balance of the game its the balance of the community where 90 percent of regular players are taking it WAY too serious and ten percent are having fun. And then look at the hundreds of players who dont play PVP because of this. I have 200 company of hero friends and only about 25 who pvp. that tells you
So anyways, I would like to play with you guys again so please invite me to play I just am no longer going to be going on voice chats with people who are going to berate me. im [removed] years old, got a good life, dont need that negativity being brought in. most guys wont say anything, they just dont PVP
...
two of the guys we normally play with chatted with me and said they avoid playing on [player's] team because of the things he will say if the game goes bad. they figure the only way to deal with the bullshit on company of heroes is to just suck it up
which to a point i agree. but it would be nice if people didnt scare off the new players, or casual players. im so over the number of times that i sit in a lobby only to have one guy decide he wants to kick someone and then there is no game for anyone
i guess everyone is well aware that sometimes there is literally no game to play because of the shunning of new players. i am now past the new player stage but then just the other day I am in a lobby and a guy who is at least as good as me was getting kicked out for being too new
it was a little embarassing to stay n the lobby. then i thought wow now am I one of those people who are pushing people away from this game? this game is ranked as like the BEST RTS ever where are all the players? the game is so awesome there should be way more players. its the nature of the beast i guess, the way online games are, anyways if people can try to be aware that even though its just a game, you might sink thousands of hours into it. so, maybe the environment that you spend those thousands of hours in should be a positive one. i mean it is overall but it could be a lot better. i know this opinion is strongly shared amongst a lot of players. we gotta make sure the game stays alive, that the player base grows not dies. thats all man
feel free to include that with the names changed
Maybe take on a new player under your wing and teach them. Maybe be willing to accept a loss every now and then so that the new guy can learn. Practice all the patience you have and just be willing to lose because at the end of the day, who cares? Just have fun. I know sometimes it's hard to do this. Sometimes you log on after a long day of hard work in real life and you just want to get a game, win something, re-energize playing and being good at something you've practiced for years. But remember, you've had the gift and luck to have been playing for years. I'm extremely lucky to have played this game when pvp was still new so I've seen early metas where players were just not as strong. There are new players out there who are hopping on to a really mature community for the first time pitted against old veterans. We don't have some matchmaking system for them and honestly it might not even help because of how small our community is already. Sometimes we get angry in the heat of the moment and honestly that's okay. We understand, we are all gamers in a competitive combative game. That's bound to happen. What we can do afterwards is apologize to those who we might have hurt in our raw emotions. I'm sure the other person will understand.
Let's be our best selves and grow the community. Show this mod to friends who never played before. Show them how much better of a game it is compared to all other RTS's. And when those new friends come, let's show them how strong we are a family. I've known you all for years... you guys are like brothers to me. I know a lot of you AREN'T bad or toxic but we need to prove that even more now than ever. We will need to be extra kind for the few who ruin the game for us.
Lastly, if I've EVER been terrible to you as a player in terms of being toxic in game towards your skill, I'm sorry. You can message me and I'm ready to apologize and make it up to you however you feel like you need so that you'd come back as a more satisfied player. I know my faults; I get angry when I drink and game (or just drink in general). I might've shit on you in game but at the end of the day you're still my brother if you're playing bk.
Thanks for reading my plea. As always... send me a message if you're looking to practice or learn BK (I never ended BKNC, I just don't do it so openly) or if you wanna 1v1 on the beta!