SHK has lost it's entertainment value for Deke
Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2017 11:31 pm
I played SHK as a form of entertainment, and those days have passed.
In the distant, distant past you would meet new people on a SHK server, and interact with them based on your position and their position on that server, and in that county. The current state of affairs in SHK is that the game is dominated by large political blocks based on TeamSpeak groups that cross multiple servers. Now groups have adopted the “you are with us or you are against us” mindset.
Large political groups have determined that one house rule and domination of servers is the “only true way to play the game.” If you do not accept his mindset you are frequently labeled as a “farmer.” To the point that “farmer” has become a meaningless term other than to convey a negative opinion of other players. Back in 2014 players had their own goals and played in different styles without being judged.
SHK has always been a “real-time” game, but it has progressed to a 24x7 game where TeamSpeak servers are manned on rotating shifts by players from multiple time zones that check the activity level of the entire map. Given a choice between monitoring SHK maps and spending my Saturdays with Youth football and Sundays watching NFL football with my real life friends, I choose people I can actually meet and see in person. Watching my 11-year old players progress in the game, and sharing a beer with 34 other NFL fans screaming at the ebb and flow of a football game that has a real winner in and loser inside a 4 hours window are much more satisfying times then staring at a computer screen on SHK.
I am tracking all the English-Speaking servers, and can say that in most cases server domination is determined before the day 1 launch and is based on the commitment level of the political blocks involved. There will be some who claim that their skill level prevails. There will be others that say that how many crowns a player can purchase is the path to victory. I contend that the telling path to domination is to have a core group of players that are truly committed to SHK as this single most important activity in their life.
For me, SHK has been a gaming distraction from the responsibilities I have in my real line. Years ago when I had a travelling job that left me isolated in hotel rooms during predictable hours I played World of Warcraft. I met and developed bonds with a group of players in similar circumstances and progressed through raid content together. This required that I spend 3-6 hours a night wearing a headset and either listening to or issuing raid leader commands. But my life has changed and I can no longer commit to predictably schedule long time periods to be online with my fellow guild members
I then moved on to SHK as it allowed me to play when I could spare the time. An hour here and there, or a few minutes while doing something else allowed me to progress. I met some players and forged some friendships on SHK servers. Players with more experience taught me some things and in turn I showed newer player what I could offer.
Now, there appears to be only a few ways to progress in SHK. The ERA rule set is a bitter disappointment for me, especially since it looks like Firefly has decided that ERA rules are not a variant but an “evolution” of the game rules.
As such I have noticed that I am spending fewer hours enjoying my time at the keyboard, interacting less and less with fellow players, and saddest of all I know longer offer my opinion when other players self-talk on how they are the righteous side of a battle with an inferior opponent that justifies their behavior.
I am writing this mostly for the players that have followed me from other servers to my failed experiments on the USA-4 server. By no means should you continue playing on my account. Nobody should think less of each other if you choose to spend your efforts another way.
I am still going to monitor the game just to watch the variance in player behaviors on the remaining servers. UK-1 and2 still have large blocks of players committed to preventing one-house rule that has accelerated the way other servers have closed. There has yet to be a final age on a server that I am monitoring that was contested. The dominant house pressed the button whenever they wanted. In the case of USA-2 this happened in under 24 hours.
I will still post on the forums from time to time. There are many players that have my cell phone number, and I will still talk to them. I am not the type of person to rage quit and uninstall the game, as I am not the type of person to do anything rash based on emotions.
Sure, I will be flamed and taunted by players that will read part of this and find a way to fuel their egos that they are “better players”. Players that need external affirmation of their play styles is one of the reasons the game is not enjoyable for me. Way too many messages are posted in game that are more that self-talk that the “other guys” are losers, or don’t have a life, or are “pay to win” or whatever they says that makes them feel better.
No, Firefly is not going to read this and make any changes to the game. Great players have left before, and I am far less than a great player. There were large expectations for the game to expand with the introduction of the mobile market. Anyone who is playing entirely from a phone should stick with Clash of Clans or Mobile Strike. And even if 10,000 new players joined SHK tomorrow, it would not make a difference in how the existing TeamSpeak power blocks operate.
If SHK still works for you, then you should continue to play the game and be entertained. My true hope is that each of us is spending hours at the keyboards because it is what we want and enjoy doing.
Deke
In the distant, distant past you would meet new people on a SHK server, and interact with them based on your position and their position on that server, and in that county. The current state of affairs in SHK is that the game is dominated by large political blocks based on TeamSpeak groups that cross multiple servers. Now groups have adopted the “you are with us or you are against us” mindset.
Large political groups have determined that one house rule and domination of servers is the “only true way to play the game.” If you do not accept his mindset you are frequently labeled as a “farmer.” To the point that “farmer” has become a meaningless term other than to convey a negative opinion of other players. Back in 2014 players had their own goals and played in different styles without being judged.
SHK has always been a “real-time” game, but it has progressed to a 24x7 game where TeamSpeak servers are manned on rotating shifts by players from multiple time zones that check the activity level of the entire map. Given a choice between monitoring SHK maps and spending my Saturdays with Youth football and Sundays watching NFL football with my real life friends, I choose people I can actually meet and see in person. Watching my 11-year old players progress in the game, and sharing a beer with 34 other NFL fans screaming at the ebb and flow of a football game that has a real winner in and loser inside a 4 hours window are much more satisfying times then staring at a computer screen on SHK.
I am tracking all the English-Speaking servers, and can say that in most cases server domination is determined before the day 1 launch and is based on the commitment level of the political blocks involved. There will be some who claim that their skill level prevails. There will be others that say that how many crowns a player can purchase is the path to victory. I contend that the telling path to domination is to have a core group of players that are truly committed to SHK as this single most important activity in their life.
For me, SHK has been a gaming distraction from the responsibilities I have in my real line. Years ago when I had a travelling job that left me isolated in hotel rooms during predictable hours I played World of Warcraft. I met and developed bonds with a group of players in similar circumstances and progressed through raid content together. This required that I spend 3-6 hours a night wearing a headset and either listening to or issuing raid leader commands. But my life has changed and I can no longer commit to predictably schedule long time periods to be online with my fellow guild members
I then moved on to SHK as it allowed me to play when I could spare the time. An hour here and there, or a few minutes while doing something else allowed me to progress. I met some players and forged some friendships on SHK servers. Players with more experience taught me some things and in turn I showed newer player what I could offer.
Now, there appears to be only a few ways to progress in SHK. The ERA rule set is a bitter disappointment for me, especially since it looks like Firefly has decided that ERA rules are not a variant but an “evolution” of the game rules.
As such I have noticed that I am spending fewer hours enjoying my time at the keyboard, interacting less and less with fellow players, and saddest of all I know longer offer my opinion when other players self-talk on how they are the righteous side of a battle with an inferior opponent that justifies their behavior.
I am writing this mostly for the players that have followed me from other servers to my failed experiments on the USA-4 server. By no means should you continue playing on my account. Nobody should think less of each other if you choose to spend your efforts another way.
I am still going to monitor the game just to watch the variance in player behaviors on the remaining servers. UK-1 and2 still have large blocks of players committed to preventing one-house rule that has accelerated the way other servers have closed. There has yet to be a final age on a server that I am monitoring that was contested. The dominant house pressed the button whenever they wanted. In the case of USA-2 this happened in under 24 hours.
I will still post on the forums from time to time. There are many players that have my cell phone number, and I will still talk to them. I am not the type of person to rage quit and uninstall the game, as I am not the type of person to do anything rash based on emotions.
Sure, I will be flamed and taunted by players that will read part of this and find a way to fuel their egos that they are “better players”. Players that need external affirmation of their play styles is one of the reasons the game is not enjoyable for me. Way too many messages are posted in game that are more that self-talk that the “other guys” are losers, or don’t have a life, or are “pay to win” or whatever they says that makes them feel better.
No, Firefly is not going to read this and make any changes to the game. Great players have left before, and I am far less than a great player. There were large expectations for the game to expand with the introduction of the mobile market. Anyone who is playing entirely from a phone should stick with Clash of Clans or Mobile Strike. And even if 10,000 new players joined SHK tomorrow, it would not make a difference in how the existing TeamSpeak power blocks operate.
If SHK still works for you, then you should continue to play the game and be entertained. My true hope is that each of us is spending hours at the keyboards because it is what we want and enjoy doing.
Deke