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What about ala?
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Okay, so I'm going to give it to you straight. Ala has lost just about lost a lot of its userbase.
I want you to look at how many users are registered, and how many people are on at a time.
Granted, it's during school, but I remember when our numbers would still hit the 100's, even on a weekday.

The game is amazing, but it's gotten old.
It's been running for 3 years and since then, nothing has really changed. I'm not saying to change the layout or the art. The trials aren't even a big issue.

The issue is that there is nothing NEW. It's nice to re-do things here and there, but it's not going to make people want to start playing the game if they see that just the banner is changed (no offense, it's amazing).

I know some people are probably like "who are you to judge?"
I'm like some of the staff, I've been playing this game since its public release and everyday I log in to see how it's going. I've experienced the change between owners, I experienced the time when the dog cap was installed, or the first triple bone special.
Outside of the game, I'm signed up on 18 different sims, I'm working for siminar, I'm a moderator on three different games, and I'm on an idea team for three different sim games while making one of my own. So before dismissing anything that I say, I want you to look and realize that yea, I know what I'm talking about. ((That list wasn't for me to say "look how great I am," but it's to dismiss those who immediately accuse me of knowing nothing, which has happened before on this game, and off.))

this game hasn't changed since Robyn had it. I thought that with a new owner, like with most games, we'd see something different, something new, something that would make old players want to return. And I understand that the owner isn't regularly on ala and isn't as invested as Robyn was.

I don't have any actual suggestions to offer for the game (and if I did, I'd put them in the suggestions board), but I just have a feeling that if Ala doesn't over go a huge revamp soon, it's just going to fade away, more so than it already is. I think that what keeps a lot of people here still is the amazing artwork.
New users right now can only train and breed, they can't do anything more (beauty shows are nice, but it's not exactly what the game is about).

I think the one problem that we have is that for an agility game, all we have are trials. Sure, I mean that's what we have in RL, but I think that we could maybe create something on the side, like lunging, that will help keep the attention of the users and make them want to stay.

I don't know, if anyone wants to agree/disagree, you're more than welcome to.
I tried to make this sound cohesive, but my thoughts got scattered halfway through and I feel I contradicted myself sometimes, oops ><

12-28-2013 at 3:03 PM
<i>And, as some others have pointed out, it is such that for a lot of things that bother you you can't even say anything out of fear management will do something bad to you.</i><br /> <br /> This is exactly why it was so hard for me to express my opinions about this. This is one game where i feel like if you don't agree with something, you get shut down. And the newer users don't know what to do/say so they go with the staff because "they know best" and now you got hoards of people going down your throat.<br /> <br /> Some staff members have a lot more of a presence than others and it makes it feel threatening. I've already spoken to Robyn in the past about this, which is why I feel the need to have the owner available about things that they can directly view and see. She understood my problem and if it arised, she would have addressed it. <br /> <br /> I just feel like it's a big free for all with all the staff trying to get things done. And granted the site hasn't fallen apart yet, but I still don't see any progress that has wow'ed me since we do have such alarge group of staff (and a number of admins).<br /> <br /> <br /> No, I'm not staff and no I can't see what goes on in the background. But that doesn't mean that they can't put down SOMETHING. So many sites have a little list of up and coming features, or what revamps are being done and their expected end date, and things like that. And that's why those sites end up getting an influx of people and can maintain their site. Because with everything like that visible, people can comment on what they like/don't like. How are we suppsed to be sure that this trail system works if no one knows what it's going to do? Or when it's going to be done?<br /> <br /> As for the coder, yea it's a lot of work. But the question is, who is apying for it? Is it the owner? or the admins? There are many places that you can use to get in contact with programmers who work for less than others. But I barely see anyone on alacrity ever advertise elsewhere other than on the game itself. Which isn't a problem, but all you're getting are people from the game, and you're not bringing in anyone new. New people who have never played the game before can bring new ideas and provide suggestions as to HOW you can fix the game. (Or you can always just check out the suggestion board)<br /> <br /> What is reallllyy irking me though, is that this is I believe the only actual active thread in the forums (I get about one-two notifications a day/every other day) and yet we only had one staff member comment on it. I don't know if that means that they don't check the forums or if they don't know this is going on, but I'd like some opinions/thoughts from them as well. Because we've all been saying our thoughts (and we have a lot of them), but we don't have any response/feedback from the people actually working on the game :p<br /> <br />

12-28-2013 at 2:06 PM
Well, it doesn't have the feeling of anyone in management listening. And, as some others have pointed out, it is such that for a lot of things that bother you you can't even say anything out of fear management will do something bad to you. <br /> <br /> One example for how the site has become unbearable is the way the "no advertising" rule in chat is handled. <br /> <br /> We have no place we can simply talk about pricing of dogs, training or whatever else, or even asking others what we should sell or keep. Perfectly normal discussions that are certainly not advertising are quashed. This happens on no other site I know, and it kills in-game talk and will not help with connecting players. And no, the sales chat is no replacement - when I suggested the sales chat way back, it was thought to be a second chat where you can talk about, but not only about, sales, and post adverts, too, if you wanted. But now that you can't even use it as a chat anymore without being yelled at because normal talking pushes down adverts from people too cheap to use the regular advertising system, it has become unusable. Especially as no one ever even tries to go there to talk anymore. <br /> <br /> Sales chat was implemented because a lot of people kept coming into chat only to shout out their sales, which made normal talks (including talks about selling and trading) impossible. It was not thought to be an excuse to squash talks in the main chat. <br /> <br /> This is one of the worst examples. But there are others. <br /> <br /> As to the coding issue - yes, I understand completely. However, some things wouldn't need coding at all. Like aforementioned virtual buyers suggestion. All you need is to create a new virtual buyers account with unlimited dog slots and a lot of money, disable the ability to transfer money or stuff/dogs from and to, and give the password to rotating players - changing pw each time of course. Yes, it is a little bit of work, and IN THEORY it could be seen as people having access to more than 2 accounts, but as that account would be like the staff account for Alastair, it is no problem unless you pretend it is. <br /> <br /> Yes it would be cool to have dog personalities added to the game to make virtual buyers and other things cooler, but as long as we can't do that we can as well start with something simple. <br /> <br /> It was suggested to me a while back to clear out one of my own accounts if I want to do virtual buyers and run it from there. But, sorry - I paid a lot of cash to upgrade my accounts. I need my dog slots, and I am not going to donate it. Especially as it seems it is also expected I should provide the money, which is not gonna happen, especially not with the inability of making money from something else than interest. <br /> <br /> If the site management would want to, it can be easily implemented.<br /> <br /> Granted, looking at most other suggestions, they would involve at least some coding. But still, a lot of it would be very easily done.

12-26-2013 at 6:19 PM
like I usually do before posting I read every single other word posted and I can honestly agree with everyone, I may have not been on here as long as some... but I've still been here quite some time, one of the things i've noticed everyone commenting on is the trialing... I never particularly bothered with it, the main issue I've encountered with this site for a long time is the competition with other players (especially when the shibas came out) I remember being one of the first to get a shiba pair and begin training them, by the time I had maxed mine some player had already reached their third gen of some lines (admittedly some had really tried) however this put myself, along with many other players who cannot donate to the site were really put out by this (due to the inability to access certain features) and on one too many occasions I have just given up because breeds were spoilt by players who just over bred their dogs to make money (very much like puppy farms). one other flaw i'll comment on i the economy... I remember when I first started it took me a month to save up for a scholar collar and I was ecstatic about it, I now have roughly 3mil in my account and it's just sitting there because I know that without my weekly interest, I'm going nowhere fast in the money situation, and if I want to buy any nice things I have to take rather a lot out of my bank to buy it, the main issue for newer users is that things are just too expensive for them and money does take waaay too long to save on here to purchase things, even longer than in real life in comparison with the value of items, I have found that this site is very similar to the real world in that very few people own most of the sites active currency and that the value of items suffer from it... sorry if my little blubber makes little sense but it's nearly 11:30pm here and i'm very drowsy

12-25-2013 at 1:02 PM
I'm going to try and organize my thoughts on this. There are many things I want to comment on that other people have said but I'm going to limit this to just my own personal thoughts rather than building on other comments. Some of my own thoughts may intertwine with what has already been said.<br /> <br /> Alacrity has definitely slowed down. A lot of good players, many of which I was friends with, have left. I do not know all the reasons as to why but I do have my guesses.<br /> <br /> First off, there is not much to do on here. Even when there was trials, I didn't find them fun. The games got old. What I mainly decided to do was to just collect the items that I loved the art of. There is not enough dynamics to Alacrity. Even back then, it was breeding and trialing. Beauty was added but that needs major tweaking. There needs to be more options. More goals to shoot for. The simple TP system was already going to end up broken. That has nothing to do with anything else. It was just bound to cause issues and we just now got to that point. There needs to be more stats involved, more events like dock jumping, schutzhund, etc that involve the weight/height, speed, drive, etc. Maybe even add new stats. Just lumping all of the dog events into something just called 'Trials' was bound to fail. Hind sight is 20/20. It was something not really able to be foreseen until it was too late. I believe some of these things Jack mentioned. <br /> <br /> Second, the player base declining is affecting things. There have been fun things implemented that not many people enter or even look at. Chat has been a little more barren than normal. Its kind of a catch 22 in a sense. You can't get someone to stay if no conversations are really going but you can't get the conversations without people. The forums are a lot more dead. I'm still hoping for a forum/chat revamp to make things easier to use but if people aren't going to participate, then it also seems a little more fruitless.<br /> <br /> Third, the site additions. I'm sure some people mentioned it already. We are down to one coder as far as I know. It is very difficult to have one person work on both trials, new things for the site, fixing bugs, etc. There is going to be no change in this unless we can get more coders. The thing is, the site most likely can't afford new coders. Again, a catch 22. I don't know the financial situation of the site so I'm only assuming its too much at the moment to get another one. Coder has been doing a wonderful job so far. I'm actually shocked at how much is done from one person. So if suggestions aren't getting a chance to be added, its because there is a lot going on. Staff does look at suggestions a lot and there are a few that really stand out. Please don't think they are being ignored =)<br /> <br /> Fourth, management is very different. I personally don't like that the owner hasn't said so much as a word to the players on here. Others may feel different but this is just how I feel. What I think people most miss about Robyn, is that she did come and talk to her players. She interacted with them. What was bad about that though, was that sometimes there were times where she wasn't the most stable and she would make things a tad too personal. A feel a site owner needs to have the right approach to be objective but to still care about the player base. It's a fine balance. <br /> <br /> Fifth, the breeds being added. While I know some of you aren't thrilled about the danes because they aren't an agility breed, half of the player base did vote for them. Just because you didn't personally like them doesn't mean others don't. This is the site listening to the players. It's stretching out a bit to try and incorporate more breeds. I think this could work if more was added than grouping things as 'trials'. Certain breeds could have boosts to certain events like rally-o, flyball, etc. because they are more suited for them. However, at the moment that doesn't quite matter since we dont have all these different events. I think the site mainly needs to just put an opinion and stick with it. We've been told in the past that certain breeds won't be added because they aren't agility dogs but then we go and add something like danes. Either we have a standard of sticking to agility dogs or we done. =)<br /> <br /> Sixth, the whole thing about staff is something I won't comment too much about because I am a part of it as well. I miss some of the old staff members as well such as Pom, Ev, Gracie, etc. but we always miss those we have gotten to know. We do have some wonderful new faces on staff. And it's okay if you don't like every single staff member. You aren't expected to get along with everyone in life. The different views and opinions is what makes us who we are. Since I'm on staff, I do really enjoy feedback personally. If anyone has feedback, I'm sure admins wouldn't mind you voicing them in the issue hub. Alternatively, suggestions really are welcomed and looked at if you want to post in the suggestion board on something staff can improve on. I'd really like to read and improve myself for you guys =).<br /> <br /> There really isn't a simple solution to all of this. We definitely need to get more of a player base back but at the same time we need those people to actually stay when they join. As of right now, there is no content to actually make someone really stay and work towards something. It's a very tricky situation. <br /> <br /> I don't want the game to go under and I want to see it succeed. That is mainly why I'm around even though I don't actually play myself. I want to lend a hand in bringing the site back better than ever. <br /> <br /> Staff is trying and working to figure out what can be done. It's kind of hard to see how players are viewing things because we as staff can see whats going on behind the scenes. We know whats being looked at and what is being talked about with making the site better. Regular players aren't seeing this. <br /> <br /> I wonder if being a bit more transparent would help this at all? I'm rather unsure. <br /> <br /> Also because I can't resist, Nelly.. layouts rock, the more the merrier! I'm glad we have so many players that can make them so everyone can make their pages pretty =D

12-25-2013 at 10:13 AM
<i>(Also watching Mister Clayton and Miss Nelly was often quite fun for me! The two had a lot of economic ventures that were worth keeping track of, if not admirable).</i><br /> Oh, why thank you, Jack x)<br /> <br /> I know I haven't been playing as long as everyone (I joined some time in April 2011) who posted here, but I do have some concerns myself that I'd wish to share.<br /> Personally, I was pleased by this thread in many ways, seeing many people aren't the only ones realizing that Ala is going downhill (after the owner switch...and one admin promotion; those two things made me think Ala would go downhill, but don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to dis anyone).<br /> Let me tell you right now, there are only two reasons I'm still on Ala: Seeing what updates will be brought to the table, and...my dead toad collection. Of course, if staff application are open I'm likely to apply and get rejected again, but it doesn't hurt to try to get more involved with the community you have been with for so long.<br /> My main goal right now is to see how much money I can get in interest (I'm up to 26 mil right now, which is probably dirt poor compared to some people who were able to trial with many capped dogs in the past). Which, I guess is also keeping me around.<br /> I'm going to be honest right now, and please don't take this into offence, I dislike the management of Ala. I would provide examples of why, but I'm sure that'll get me in a world of trouble and pain for my Alacrity accounts which I don't want to happen, so I'm gonna be mostly vague on my parts.<br /> I miss Wysper and Kael and Robyn...Cuddlesthekitten, dogfancy0, Pom, Ravyn, Gracie, Evlon...all the staff back into 2011 and from the first round of helper applications....Stacy, Cord (who I know is still hangin' around), Jack...granted, many of the staff are open now, but I do miss the old staff who were always getting involved in chat and fighting for issues in the hub. I used to be great friends with Wysper and Kael, which I didn't think would be possible since I always thought admins would think people are trying to suck up to them if they try to befriend them. ;___; Those days...<br /> I remember when my friend gave me 50 bones out of the blue. I remember when layouts were so cool and elusive, few people knowing how to make them, and it was a pleasure getting one. People who were well-known and suited becoming newbie helpers just by being asked (hint hint Snow, who was made a helper the night before I joined Ala) by staff...that one was my dream. Admins replying to suggestion threads, saying if this could work or what could be changed. Waking up, on my phone, still drowsy from sleep, checking Ala and seeing NEW! Vet Perk! certainly woke me up...my suggestion being added to the site! It seemed unreal! Now...the suggestion board is pretty much dead, and I don't even stray in there much anymore.<br /> I even remember Robyn adding a new skin to the layouts for holidays...and everyone being blinded by the fourth of July. People getting upset over our favorite staff members leaving...since really, back in the day we were all one big family.<br /> If you actually bothered to read through all my memories/rant, I applaud you, kind sir/ma'am. And let's see if you got the message.<br /> ...<br /> ...<br /> ...<br /> If you guessed that the days of 2011-early 2012 was Ala's strongest point, then you must have felt the same way.<br /> I understand not every site will last forever, there WILL be updates or implements that will make users unhappy, you can't make everyone happy, but sometimes you have to take input from the users. Adding a new breed (Are Danes even an ability breed ? Probably not, as with Zois) will not help either, especially when many users get this breed FREE. People will use the MWB + MAC + Insta-pups trick to get litters to sprout fast, it makes no sense for the breed to be out for two or so weeks at first, especially since these items can be bought for Ala cash (MWB not, but I'm sure people have enough TS to Revitalize dogs to get 100 energy again over and over, it's like the same thing).<br /> <br /> Now, here's the shorter version if you don't want to read all this.<br /> The management of Ala has probably hurt the site the most, not implementing a bunch of updates the users want, delaying trials even more, and even delaying ART for breeds that have been here a while to make ART for a new breed. The 2011 days, as Al said earlier, were Ala's strong point, especially with members.<br /> Sadly, Ala is going downhill.

12-24-2013 at 9:02 PM
Although I do not have any intents on staying, I have to agree with Shroom and say that there needs to be more communication between everybody if there are still hopes of keeping Alacrity afloat. I really do believe Alacrity can still be great, but there needs to be communication and updates!!

12-24-2013 at 9:22 AM
Agreed, totally. <br /> <br /> Let me see if I can organize my thoughts here... <br /> <br /> Trials need to be back ASAP. The site has little meaning for me without them, even if I didn't trial for weeks at a time, I knew I was still training my dogs up for them. Just like Shadow, I had to time stop most of my dogs. I had to buy time stops for 20 mil or so per account, to avoid my dogs being too old for trialing, an investment I had to make but won't see pay out, which kind of annoys me. <br /> <br /> I agree on the item flood so I am quite happy with fewer items now. I am not happy about the monthly shops costing bones now, with the promise of stuff not being that expensive anymore still in the air - this half-hearted attempt at fixing the economy really did nothing, if anything it made it worse. <br /> <br /> Implement some of the well liked suggestions. For example, I made a suggestion about virtual dog buyers to help with the dog flood and for people to have another goal in the game. Everyoner liked it, but the idea is seemingly ignored by the management. There are other ideas with the same issue. <br /> <br /> I actually LIKE that some of the stuff on the site hasn't changed. Constant change everywhere is as annoying as no change at all. <br /> <br /> My thought is that Ala needs to branch out from being an agility sim only (and a breeding sim no matter if that was planned or not) to incorporate more disciplines for dogs. The name will still very much fit, and trialing should still be a major thing, but the game will need variety to grow. Growing is the goal here, not just surviving. <br /> <br /> Players who tend to spend lots of money on sims need to have something to be encouraged to stay. There have been some bad decisions that drove people away, and I probably would have been gone if I would have managed to sell my account for a reasonable amount. I do love the game, and the art, and the community. The amount of work that's gone into the game in the last months is amazing, but I think there needs to be more communication between the users and the admins about what needs to be done and what is currently in the works. <br /> <br /> I ampatient mainly because I am seeing change for the better. I hope you all stick with the game as well. <br /> <br />
edit history
2013-12-24 20:43:28 by #7039

12-20-2013 at 10:44 AM
A ramble from the heart:<br /> <br /> There are quite a few current suggestions that can be added or changed with minimal to no coding experience. It would be nice to have them added, though Alacrity requires more care and attention than that at the moment to keep hold of its user base.<br /> <br /> Aside from the artwork, there isn't much to support it on a structural front as a game or a sim.<br /> <br /> The weight/height features don't particularly make any sense and can degenerate into negatives. There is no purpose to it otherwise.<br /> <br /> There is 100% no value in boosting speed or drive unless you enjoy seeing numbers rise (my personal favorite thing to do). Speed and drive do not truly affect anything, this includes trialing. This has<br /> <br /> The effect of speed on frisbee is incredibly minimal and it caps out at something around roughly under 30 speed last I recalled, with a success rate increase that is not worth mentioning. It does not actually increase the odds to a significant degree. A 5 speed dog is likely to perform just as well.<br /> <br /> These are features that could possibly be built on and have a great deal of potential without having to change the entire game. Who knows, it is possible that it is being factored into the new trialing system as we speak.<br /> <br /> Rosencrown tends to be very daunting to people, but reducing the number of times a dog can participate in an event to a number such as five or ten a day generally evens the playing field and keeps things accessible to everyone without punishing users with high stats, or barring users who have just begun; likewise without breaking the game especially if the system is randomized.<br /> <br /> I have always been fond of Alacrity and would like to see it do well. I think a lot of credit is owed to Miss Kaeli and Miss Carnivale for keeping Alacrity alive and entertaining for so long even after Robyn's leaving.<br /> <br /> Majority of the coding and bug fixes were supported by Miss Kaeli and myself at one point, which limited the potential of what could be added to Alacrity (and increased the amount of funny bugs sometimes), but I think the both of them have done an amazing job in trying to offer a positive experience and a way of passing the time.<br /> <br /> The one thing I would really like to see in Alacrity is less punishment against users or discouragement of competition, and perhaps more innovative thinking towards evening things out that don't involve those things.<br /> <br /> I think keeping things competitive is part of the fun of playing with other people, and Aussie was a great reason of why and how I pushed myself to do better here. Loreebee also kept me on my toes quite often! Miss Crevan and Miss Evlon pushed me to breed carefully and indeed, almost obsessively to try to out compete their duo in certain breeds. (Also watching Mister Clayton and Miss Nelly was often quite fun for me! The two had a lot of economic ventures that were worth keeping track of, if not admirable).<br /> <br /> But I really enjoyed these things, and watching users learn from each other and improve what they have instead of becoming discouraged, because life is often like that I think; and a false equality does nothing for anyone in the end. A balance is needed!

12-19-2013 at 12:11 PM
So when you can't sleep because finals are stressing you out, you decide to think about alacrity apparently :p<br /> <br /> <br /> Anyways, I think one of the issues with the game isn't necessarily something that can be fixed ASAP. <br /> <br /> With the basic design of the game, there was eventually going to be an "end."<br /> There was going to be a time when the dogs would hit the cap and then things would get difficult, as we are aware. However, this sprung upon us much quicker with the use of the perks and items. <br /> <br /> While it takes 2 months or so to get a dog to a cap, without all these stacklable and extra "perks," it would have taken a LOT longer. Enough that I feel the economy would be much more stable.<br /> <br /> And then you have the user base. Right now, I feel as if some of the only users that are currently active are users who have been here for ages and barely play, or are only around because they are staff, users who are more involved in beauty shows or are just here for fun, and the new users. While it sounds like this covers the entire userbase, there is a significant number of users who are inactive. <br /> <br /> <br /> User #10,000 joined around January 25th 2011<br /> User #20,000 joined aroujnd November 24th 2011<br /> User #30,000 joined around September 6th, 2013<br /> <br /> Those dates and numbers show that Alacrity had a peak around 2011, and since then it has steadily declined to the point where we haven't hit 40,000 users yet. 2011 was when the game was offering new features and was when, I belive, alacrity was at its best. Granted, we can't go back in time, but what we need to do is realize what had gone on during that time and learn from it.<br /> <br /> Robyn, even if you didn't personally like her (I loved her and her dedication to her work), was a good owner. She was available via facebook if you had concerns, she was always in chat, and if you had a suggestion, she would listen to it.<br /> Now I look and see that feedback and suggestions are basically ignored for months and some, even with a high amount of support, don't get implemented at all. If these changes were to get done, because the players KNOW what they want, then I'm sure we could be bringing back more people. Otherwise I'm afraid that everyone might as well get ready for this game to just fade off into nothingness.<br /> <br /> Sure people still join and people still go into chat and such, but honestly, I feel like the game, unless something happens besides fixing trials or bringing in a new dog breed, is slolwly counting down to its own end.

12-16-2013 at 10:36 PM
<i>"It doesn't change what you can DO on the game besides giving you another breed to play with."</i><br /> <br /> This is very well said. I know people like Danes and that's great (hahaha look at me making puns unintentionally), but it will not keep people like me hanging around the site, because there's nothing more for me to achieve.

12-16-2013 at 7:59 PM
I'm actually glad that people are being honest with their responses, because I was worried for being shot down for thinking this. Talking about the negatives of a game can be hard for some people to do and more than once have I been attacked for saying certain things. :p<br /> <br /> I do have to agree with Jack. The game si still in a beta mode, since things haven't changed much since day 1, and even though we think we are improving, we're simply repeating the same things over and over again without changing much o the gameplay itself.<br /> <br /> Adding danes isn't going to do anything more than toss a few extra bucks into the owner's pocket. It doesn't change what you can DO on the game besides giving you another breed to play with. I was upset with the shibas to begin with, since I felt like we were kinda straying from the "agility dog" theme to begin with. <br /> <br /> <br /> <i>My main and unhapppy experience with Alacrity is that often decisions are made and then recounted on too much later in the future that it either punishes or frustrates users who have gotten used to them.</i><br /> <br /> Pretty much.

12-16-2013 at 7:13 PM
I do agree, though my mindset has always been in a different direction.<br /> <br /> My main and unhapppy experience with Alacrity is that often decisions are made and then recounted on too much later in the future that it either punishes or frustrates users who have gotten used to them.<br /> <br /> Item prices change too often resulting item that could be bought with cash suddenly turn into bone only, etc.<br /> <br /> A lot of competitive users I used to know have long since gone due to "go backs" in decisions that leave a negative impression, or a feeling of being punished for doing too well. Myself included.<br /> <br /> I understand the intentions behind them, but it's been the execution that I have quietly disagreed with.<br /> <br /> There are a lot of general flaws with Alacrity that I'm not convinced that can be fixed. This is just my opinion alone both as a player and as former staff.<br /> <br /> Alacrity is very much a beta-staged game, I think. And it becomes important to think of it in that sense rather than treating it as a fully developed and balanced game. That is where most problems and complaints originate from that I could tell in terms of expectations, whether it be from bugs or back and forth decisions, or just lack of things to do and strive for.

12-16-2013 at 1:51 PM
I agree they should try to make ALA as fun as possible

12-15-2013 at 11:59 PM
Mm, I agree with you.<br /> I love Ala, always have, always will, but I agree that it is slowing down. It's a Sunday night and there's only 14 users on right now - that is crazy.<br /> I know that it's been said a million zillion times before, but Alacrity has strayed from being an agility sim and turned more into an accessory/dog breeding game.<br /> It can change, but it will take time and patience.. but I don't think adding Great Danes to an agility sim will change that, and just further seals the deal (for me at least) that the game is straying further and further away from agility and more into an accessory/marking breeding game.<br /> <br /> I've hit the end of my leash here in the sense that I have nothing else to achieve. I've hit the cap, I've reached the cap with a strict breeding line (blue dogs), and my highest capped dog, over the cap, leaderboard.. is already too old to trial. I have too much money to bother trialing anymore, and there is no reason for me to continue breeding because I've already achieved what I wanted to achieved.<br /> <br /> I'm just not sure what to do on here anymore..??
edit history
2013-12-15 21:00:53 by #5484

12-14-2013 at 7:59 PM
I actually agree with you as well. It just doesnt seem like it has as much to offer. I can see where having a new breed added would bring in more people to the site again. I have been away from the site, I haven't noticed that trials have been down all this time because I no longer do anything with my dogs other than feed them. I used to be a crazy breeder with everyone else and now I tend just breed one or two pairs of customs and call it quits. <br /> <br /> I do believe that a new breed will help draw people in but I dont think they'll stick for too long either if they cant make the money they wish to earn on the site. <br /> <br /> I also remember when chat moved so fast that you could hardly keep up with it half the time. I dont stick around online long enough to ever see it like that anymore because when I am on it never seems to move much. I actually miss those days when chat moved that fast. <br /> <br /> The site really does need something new to bring some of the old users back, if thats possible now. It also really needs the trials back very soon. Preferably before the Danes are released. No offense meant to all the Dane lovers out there. I'm really not against a new breed on the site but I just think the other issues really do need fixed first as well.

12-5-2013 at 1:11 AM
To be honest, I don't see the reason to be adding a new bred when we still haven't finished all the issues with puppy art or adult art with the items. <br /> <br /> One reason why I'm glad the monthly shop changed was because there were like, how many new items being added a month? This game is swarming with items, both game and user made and it's gotten a bit execssive. Like it was nice in the beginning,but now it's gotten out of control. To the point where other features, like the riddler, aren't effective because there are WAY too many options to choose for it.<br /> <br /> I agree with the trialing. I understand it's going under a huge overhaul, but I mean, that's why you have a team of people work on it. I have dogs that are aging bcause its been down for months, and I can't imagine those who don't have the money to invest in time stops. :p<br /> <br /> EDIT: I want to address that I am by no means bashing ala. I love the game and the work that is going into it. This is simply constructive criticsm. c:
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2013-12-04 22:17:57 by #3906

12-4-2013 at 9:42 PM
I agree whole heartedly. This place is a fraction of what it use to be. Frankly right now there is nothing to do but train and breed, which I can understand why new users don't stick around.<br /> <br /> The fact that the main base of the site, <i>trials,</i> was taken down months ago. In July? And we're STILL without it is just beyond me. I understand that overhauling it must be a daunting task but that should have been top priority over giving us dog kennels and other various things that have been implemented while we're all still sitting here twiddling our thumbs and wanting something to do with our dogs. My maxed dogs have been frozen for ages. If I didn't have a stock pile of time stops, they'd all be dead before trials come back and I can actually do something with them. The only way I'm making money is off the insane bank interest, which I'm also surprised hasn't been toned down. <br /> <br /> Then the big thing that had us all excited at the start of the month got bull dozed and now the monthly shop is hardly exciting at all.<br /> <br /> Aside from the short rush of people following a new breed, this place keeps getting quieter.
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2013-12-04 18:43:08 by #91

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