Posted by keithjs on 10/15/2012 1:35:00 PM (view original):
What I've seen lately in my worlds is that long-term owners (10 seasons plus with same team), really good and knowledgable owners, are leaving the game. Not because the game is bad, but because of life issues (college, kids, job, etc.). This is common with subscription games...the game gets repetitive and less challenging and other things take precedence. Problem is that no new owners are replacing these people. HBD is not attractive to the next generation of fans because of a few things. The game looks really old. There is no mobile/social component. You really have to be a diehard to appreciate it, and unfortunately less people like baseball and tend to watch more football.
With the lack of customer support, no plans to refresh the look/feel, and no plans for marketing, this may be what we have to look forward to for a long time.
I agree...although I think it's not so much the life issues as the other factors. The game is in need of a refresh. Even a mobile UI/app would help. So, the experienced owners are either dropping altogether and/or dropping the number of teams they're playing.
There's no marketing towards bringing new owners in.
As for baseball losing fans...MLB and MiLB has another pretty good year in ticket sales and the TV contracts don't appear to be shrinking. There are plenty of hardcore baseball fans out there...but how would they ever know HBD exists?
Looking at the number of leagues in the playoffs and the number filling I believe things are going to get uglier before they're better.
Unless you're in a very good world prepare for extended rollover times.