Building Browsergames - Latest Comments in How much information do you need?

Re: How much information do you need?

Alain Bertrand — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:52:46 -0000

I even have something easier to try:
http://www.nowhere-else.org

You will need NOTHING to start to play, as all the registration is done inside the game itself. Try you will see.

Re: How much information do you need?

bbgames — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:38:45 -0000

Scion, you're definitely right about not being able to verify the owner of
the account - if you aren't using the user's e-mail address, you'd have to
come up with a different way for them to verify - although I am sure that
there are other methods out there.
Guest accounts are a great tool for getting users into your game; there's
virtually no barrier to entry, and by the time it comes to register they're
already hooked.

Re: How much information do you need?

jannesiera — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:51:44 -0000

That all sounds intresting. But the game I'm making multies can be very damaging and abusive, so though I wouldn't necessarely need their e-mail, I'm still going to ask it.
There is a very long topic on handeling multies on bbgamezone.
Luke, maybe you could also write an article on this? That would be awsome!

Re: How much information do you need?

Scion — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:51:04 -0000

I agree that having to fill out a big questionaire just to register is definately a barrier to entry.

One approach that i think provides a great solution but i havent seen implemented too often is described here http://mobeamer.blogspot.com/2008/06/gaming-wit...

I would probably try to come up with a way to convert the guest account into a registered account .....so that the guest doenst loose the effort that they put in while as a guest....

As for not asking for email....it kind of depends... with no email address you have no-way (that im aware of) to verfiy the owner of an account.

Re: How much information do you need?

bbgames — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:24:19 -0000

I'm a big fan of the 'just username and password, please' method of
registrations as well - as long as you don't need their e-mail address, you
shouldn't be asking for it. I actually wrote a post about this a few months
back -
http://buildingbrowsergames.com/2008/05/08/do-y...
.
From what I hear, UrbanDead uses a few sophisticated algorithms for
detecting multi-abuse - things like tracking your IP and the IP used for
other characters in your area. From what I hear, most of the work spent on
the game these days is actually spent refining those calculations - although
I've never seen them.

Re: How much information do you need?

Ben Sharpe — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:20:11 -0000

I always liked UrbanDead's approach.

Character Name & Password, that's it.

www.urbandead.com

of course, this does lead to a bit of a multi problem -- but who doesn't have that problem?

Anyone have any suggestions for handling multis?

Re: How much information do you need?

jannesiera — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:09:06 -0000

That's true.

Re: How much information do you need?

jannesiera — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 13:06:07 -0000

But isn't security also important?

Re: How much information do you need?

bbgames — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 12:42:58 -0000

Security is definitely important, but extra information like your birthday,
country of origin, or gender isn't related to security at all - and won't do
anything to help 'protect' your site. It's just data mining.