Hello,
I've been playing Sulkyland with pleasure for 20+ years. I had several accounts at regular intervals.
I am a software developer and web designer.
There are a few points I find missing about the game. If you're open to suggestions, I'd love to share.
1) A beginner's guide explaining the game for new members is missing. (Starting quests)
- There are around 200 players who play the game non-stop. Most of these users are very old users. Among the new members, the number of continuing members is very low. As far as I've noticed, around 70 new members arrive a day.
https://bezir.sulkyland.com/fiche/membre.aspx?id=((((((1158906))))))
I can see the new users coming from the change of the id number at the end. Most of these users have either never owned a horse, or they played the game for 1-2 days and never entered the game again. As can be understood from here, users who are new to the game do not understand the game, and since it is an old-style web browser game, young players between the ages of 12-18 do not know what to do. A few people I contacted as new members asked me how to play the game and I explained them one by one myself. Yes, there is information in the "blog" or "forum" section of the site, but new players do not think of looking at those sections.
Briefly;
In order not to miss new players, there must be an area called "initial training", consisting of a few tasks and explaining the game, immediately after signing up to the game. Otherwise, new participants will not be able to participate in the game.Or, if the new starting task cannot be given;
An informative article explaining how to play the game should appear for new members of the game and be prominently displayed on the screen this summer.
2) Communication between players is very limited.
This is the point I have the biggest complaint about in the game. There is a "chat" area on the site, but no one enters this area. Maximum 1 or 2 people. This field is not used. A more modern chat area, where players can talk to each other more easily, can be placed directly in the lower corner of the screen. (In the form of a hidden window. When you click, the chat page opens automatically)
Since players cannot communicate with each other live, the in-game friendship culture cannot develop. As for direct messages, the limit of 10 messages per day makes communication inefficient. Players who are new to the game cannot send more than 10 messages, and we do not receive a response when we explain the game.Users who are new to the game will not purchase membership because they do not yet fully understand the game. For this reason, the 10 message limit should not be applied to players who are new to the game, at least for 1 month.
Briefly; A more participatory chat area can be created. Players can talk to each other more easily collectively, this is added as an extra contribution to the game and extra time spent in the game per day.
If I had to give an example; I'm looking for a horse, but most people don't respond to my direct messages. Send a message to each member one by one and ask "do you have a horse like this?" It is very difficult to ask.
I use the market very actively in the game. It often takes me 15 days to find the horses I am looking for. There should be a more innovative chat area where we can at least talk about whether I'm looking for a horse or selling a horse.
3) The problem of foals not being able to see their father's characteristics.
Let's say we bought mating from the market. And our foal was born. Since the foal's father is another member, we cannot see its father's genetics. That's why we don't know the VRS of the foal born. We need to take notes while mating, but since we own so many horses, it is almost impossible to take notes one by one. At least we should be able to see the genetics of our foal's father.
It is quite normal not to be able to see the genetics of horses belonging to other members. It's even a nice feature. But we should always be able to see the characteristics of the horses we buy mating by paying money for.
Last word;
I play this game with great pleasure. I cannot purchase a paid membership because paypal payments are closed in my country. Otherwise, I would provide all kinds of support for the game. For this reason, I wanted to share these 3 points that I found missing in the game. The game is losing more active players every day. We cannot find a horse in the market, we cannot find a race, we cannot find a horse participating in the race. Please take these suggestions into consideration so that we can attract new players.
If it would be useful for you, I can help you translate the game into Turkish. It's completely voluntary.
Thank you Dafilog team for making this game.
Kind regards,
seba farm