Upgrade the Hub

I was sure I’d written out a post that was similar to this, but I guess I didn’t, lol. Figured I should post this since I’ve been going on about a roleplay server for a while and I never really explained it properly.

Why upgrade the hub?
$$$. Since hubs have no gameplay, you can pretty much sell what you want without breaking EULA.

But we’re already selling stuff and it’s not working.
That’s because the hub is super boring, and people only use it to join other games. Gadgets get old after a while if they don’t do anything useful and there’s nobody around to show them off to.

So what do we do?
Make the hub more interesting! The more fun the hub is, the more people will use it, and the more people will want to buy cosmetics.

How do we do that?

1. Make it explorable. Even if one person is online, they should be able to find the hub interesting. A good way to do this is through collectibles (and, of course, excellent mapmaking).
2. Add minigames. Spleef, mazes, 1v1 arenas – just basic stuff that keeps people entertained and spending time on the hub.
3. Make it social. Roleplay maps are huge on Build, and creating a pre-made environment for them will reduce the barrier for entry, as it were.

What would we sell?

1. Everything we have now – more players means they’re more valuable.
2. Mobility gadgets that allow you to access new areas. Remember, it’s partly based on exploration, so secret areas – particularly those with collectibles inside – will generate interest.
3. Cosmetic roleplay “kits” – e.g. Doctor kit would give you a white tunic and a “Doctor” tag. You could even combine this with the tags we’re already selling.
4. Donator-only rooms.
5. Room cosmetics – e.g. being able to turn on the dancefloor in a disco room.
6. Whatever, really. There’s no restrictions so you can do what you want.

Anything else?

• I think it would be cool to have player houses like on Hypickle.
• Collectibles could either be cosmetic (block hats!) or some sort of forum trophy (“Collected 30 gold nuggets”).

You’re an idiot and I don’t trust your judgement.
I recently posted this list of criteria for judging new gamemodes.

Spoiler: Judging Criteria

Game Simplicity:
Games that are easy to understand will be able to retain more players.
Example: Build.

Code Simplicity:
Games that are easier to code are less likely to be rejected, since they waste fewer resources.
Example: Raid.

Build Simplicity:
Games that don’t take up a lot of the Build Team’s time are less likely to be rejected, since they waste fewer resources.
Example: Party

Cosmetic Potential:
High potential for cosmetics means it’ll be easier to monetise.
Example: None on Brawl

Commitment:
Games that require a lot of time or effort for a player to become competitive will struggle to retain players.
Example: Wild West.

Session Time:
Games that require the player to remain in-game for a long time will struggle to retain players.
Example: Hardcore Games.

Players Required:
Games that require a large number of players for maximum enjoyment will struggle to retain players.
Example: Battle Royale.

I’ll go through every point.

• Game Simplicity: high. Not hard to figure out, you’re just exploring.
• Code Simplicity: high. The basic concept requires very little coding, though that would increase as new cosmetics are introduced.
• Build Simplicity: medium. It will take a while to make a decent-sized map, but I’d recommend making it in chunks to lower the workload, and to increase hype from updates. Easily done with a modular room-based map.
• Cosmetic Potential: high. I hope I’ve managed to get this point across.
• Commitment Required: low. There’s no learning curve, no skill involved, no benefit for being a regular. It’s just a fancy hub.
• Session Time: low. No penalties for logging out like with HG or BR. A non-issue.
• Players Required: low. As I explained, you shouldn’t need dozens of players on at any one time to be able to have fun.

Wow Rhoske, great moves, keep it up, proud of you.
Thanks for reading!

Hopefully you guys can see that this is a pretty low-risk, high-reward venture. The only thing I’d be worried about is putting too much strain on the Build Team and Coders, but I think that it would require less commitment than, say, a giant open-world Wild West map, and would overall be a great use of their time.

 

I'd do it in chunks. You'd start off with a portal room, then add modular pieces on from there.

I've mentioned Club Penguin before: I think having a lobby similar to their map would work nicely, since you would be able to add or remove rooms at the pace you wanted. Each room would probably take a similar time to make as a CTF map, which I think is more than manageable.

It also means that you'd be able to do infrequent hub updates, which I reckon would be a lot of fun, especially if cosmetics were involved.