I was originally writing this in response to Ryan's advisor blog posting, but I know he wanted to hear about ideas for transforming kdice for the future in a dramtic way, and I realized that many of the ideas and concepts below are tied directly to the current experience and several are minor (but, I feel, important) improvements. Rather than clutter that up I thought a new thread might be better.


Ryan,

I think you could cull many ideas by looking at what is your biggest competitor in certain aspects: http://www.conquerclub.com/

Here are some of the key things (in no particular order) I see when I look at that website that you could incorporate here to improve the experience:

1) A real forum.
I'm not sure why you are choosing to code one from scratch when there are many free, fully-featured forums available for use. I'm sure you'd rather spend your time improving game play than reading requests for things as simple as a next button at the bottom of the page. For example, improving to a normal forum would allow you have various categories for posts, so game strategy discussions and off-game discussions aren't right next to each other. Also included, right at the top, are forum guidelines, so people know right away what is acceptable and what is not:
http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/index.php

2) Game variation.
Let people play in different types of games. Over there, you can create many different types of victory conditions, numbers of players, teams, fog of war, etc. One simple help page could easily define these attributes so new users would not have difficulty understanding.
http://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?mode=instructions3

3) Medals.
Several other people have already brought this idea up. Have medals people can earn based on several criteria, such as:
-Number of victories
-Number of unique opponents defeated
-X wins on X different maps
There are lots of interesting options here, and would give people something to shoot for outside of just points.
You can see a list of their medals here:
http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/medals.php

4) Simple accessibility.
Give players the option to, instead of seeing 7 dice, see '7R' or '7B' so the color-blind red player can tell what everyone has.

5) Membership.
On conquerclub, being a member lets you play in more games than a non-member, as well as play in speed games and tournaments. Instead of just points, members are allowed to more fully enjoy the game they like to play. While those perks don't directly translate to kdice, the concept of letting paying members more fully enjoy the game does.

6) Clear rules.
They have clear rules to go by. They have two primary rules, which would solve most of the problems on kdice if rigorously enforced:
Rule #1: No multiple accounts
Rule #2: No secret diplomacy
They have a clear process for reporting suspected violations and handling said violations when discovered.
http://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?mode=rules

7) Map Creation. At conquerclub, users collaborate on and create unique, interesting maps. They are then rewarded for doing so. It's just one more way to get your user-base involved in the game, to gain more paying members, and to make game play more interesting.

8) Winner take all.
Most of the questions you see from players today are about how the rather confusing flagging system works. Most of the problems people experience deal with and complain about are regarding unspoken alliances. Both of these go away if the winner gets all the points. And it shouldn't matter how _much_ they win by (domination) but simply that they eliminated all their competition. I know you've been resistant to that idea for kdice, which is fine since it's your baby, but it works exceptionally well for conquerclub. Did I mention this would also completely eliminate the need for farming?

9) Rating system
After each game, you can leave a rating (1-5) for each player in the game in a few different areas, such as gamesmanship, fair play, and attitude. Results don't show up until after a certain amount of time, and then revealed simultaneously and can't be changed until they play together again. (So no revenge-rating after receiving a bad one!) You display a simple average (4.2) next to a person's name at the table.

This is a more tangible, consistent way to rate opponents. It also gives people that don't respect the current review system (and feel the need to post every perceived violation in the only forum area we have) a straightforward way to rate someone. If they still post something, then a mod bumps their post to the Cheating & Abuse section of the forum (our new, fully functional forum, of course) and it keeps the strategy sections free of off-topic clutter.
http://www.conquerclub.com/public.php?mode=instructions5

THAT BEING SAID...
Kdice has a significant advantage in two key areas. It plays far more quickly on average and is more enjoyable socially. Quiet games at conquerclub are common, whereas games with almost no chat on kdice are rarely seen, and primarily only at the lower tables. While the speed games members get to play there help, a game of kdice still tends to be much quicker, and a far more engrossing experience.

I've spent many a game and hour here and enjoyed a lot of fun games. I'm on a bit of a self-imposed hiatus from kdice at the moment, but that doesn't mean I don't care for the future of the game. Ryan, please take all these suggestions in the constructive manner I hope I have conveyed them in.

Regards to all. Have fun!