Haven't followed Quake or ESR for quite a while now and am just wondering where this game is at. Are Rapha, Cypher, Avek (etc) still playing? Are there tournies? Is it popular?
It was dead before the release and the only reason anybody played it was because they were getting paid to. I am sure it is a great game xD. ps I may be confusing this with a different game but either way I know this game was horrible.
I installed Uplay yesterday for the very first time to get Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and I accidentally noticed this Mania Planet initiative, which basically gives free access to a number of games - including Shootmania - until April 2015. More info here:
Using the occasion I decided to try the game and I won't lie it got me more interested more than I had thought it would. However, I won't play it anymore, because it's bound to become boring quite soon - how much can you use just one gun until it becomes tedious?
The reason I'm writing all this is because I was surprised by how alive the game is. Everyone here eagerly proclaims it dead, however I could see quite a big number of servers and players for a game which is "dead". It took me less time to find a game than I sometimes need in Quake Live.
So tell me, honestly, is the game usually this popular, or is it the effect of this "free until April 2015" thing? Has anyone played the game before the "free" period and can compare it to now?
That's totally the opposite of what I read on Reddit the other week. Some guy launched the game after being away for a while and said there was only 1 server with 2 players on it. I couldn't verify if it was true or not, but the replies went something like "yeah, that's how it is" and "they shouldn't have made this or that gamemode free".
I guess the truth is somewhere in between. I just took a random screenshot of a server list, and while there weren't as many players as the last time, some servers were running and had enough users to make a game or two happen. Here is the screenshot:
49 players on 5 servers in Europe (all of them in France). Since ESWC recently happened there, maybe the "popularity" is still the result of the tournament hype, which will gradually decrease (ever notice how there are more duels played shortly after each Quakecon?)