Firstly, English is not my primary language, so if something does not make perfect sense, please show some grace. I generally proof read my posts repeatedly.
First, the reviews:
While I was looking at the reviews for my other post about the status of the game, I noticed something interesting. Of course, if you look at the reviews for the past month, they are overwhelmingly negative. As I stated, it is difficult to justify the opinion that either positive or negative reviews are being done by Bots or by some sort of “review bombing.”
However, if you only look at reviews from the past two weeks, the reviews are roughly 50% positive 50% negative. Compared to the prior two weeks, this is a dramatic upswing. For the long-term viability of the game, that is very good news. If that trend continues, the recent reviews will be back in positive territory in time. I would estimate that will be in about 6 weeks.
Optimistically, it is hard to believe the developers will manage to make as big a mistake as they did with the badge update disaster. Unless they do something that astonishingly obtuse again, I would expect the reviews to continue to trend upwards.
Next, the player base numbers:
I am not so optimistic about this, but if I were to try to spin it in an optimistic light, this is what I would come up with.
First, you have to all but dismiss the bizarre explosions and correlating declined in player base numbers. Doing so allows you to see a rather steady player base. It is clearly not growing, but at least it isn’t dying dramatically. Granted, you have to completely ignore that 6300 bump we got earlier. However, a 6 or 7 year old game that is not hemorrhaging players would seem to be a good thing.
Finally, general development direction:
While I personally do not like the omnidirectional movement parts or sci-fi themed weapons, they do seem to hint at a generally unified direction for the game. Doctor Savage hinted at this as well. The future game will look very different than the old one. It will no longer be a post-apocalyptic driving game. It is clearly becoming something very different.
I believe that the developers perhaps have realized that automotive fighting games are simply a very tiny niche genre in the video game world. If you read the reviews and watch the videos of people explaining why they like this game so much, the ace in the hole is that you get to build your own craft. It isn’t that you’re driving a car. It’s that you get to build that car.
What is a huge genre are first person shooter games. As far as control mechanics go, the big difference between them and crossout, is omnidirectional movement. This is true not just of first person shooters, but of many games. Even the sports games have omnidirectional movement. I believe the developers think slowly morphing our game into a hybrid of the original and a first-person shooter is the way to go.
The death of the helicopters, camera steering being introduced, new fast legs, omnidirectional wheels and balls, and the steadfast refusal to nurf the so-called spray and pray weapons all support this idea.
Thoughts?