He’s the newest addition to the DECA Content Partners and we thought that this would be the best way to welcome him to family. Meet BB_Smooth.
Name, Nationality and Age?
Travis Smooth, Texan :), 26
Is making content your main activity?
I have been a full-time content creator (primarily streamer) for the past 8ish months. I also do a little personal training
Any hidden talents or hobbies?
I have skill issues but these are not hidden.
How and when did you start playing RotMG?
9 years and 249 days ago I was in the shower, slipped, hit my head, and woke up in Realm of the Mad God.
Favorite Class, Dungeon, and Item?
My favorite class is Kensei. Jk I like wand classes but hate wands. In other words I like wand class abilities. (please rework sorc scepters to make them cool and aimable) The favorite item would be scripture as it is one of the most class-changing abilities in my opinion the game could use more cool UT’s that change the class’s purpose. Favorite dungeon music-wise- Pirate cave. Aesthetically- Crystal Cavern tied with The Shatters. Gameplay- O3 🙂
What other games do you play?
I play RAID SHADOW LEGENDS JOIN NOW to help me make money 🙂 jk don’t that game is poop.
What makes RotMG unique?
It is one of the only MMO’s with actual gameplay. A lot of MMO’s are point/click or target and press. I like that actions matter, even if the consequences can feel a little rough. You can Go from being a GOD to being very dead quickly. It’s a good ego checker.
What are the things you love the most in the game?
Honestly at the end of the day… The gameplay is very fun, challenging, and rewarding (sometimes) It’s weird but I like dying in the game. It teaches me how to not die. If you allow yourself to learn from mistakes you can become better. That is why we should all embrace our mistakes and skill issues, so we may become free of them.
What would you change?
I think it’s incredibly important to change the early game experience to be more informative, exciting, and streamlined. New players need to be made aware of stat pots, the importance of maxing, and the value of feeding pets. Currently, the only way to get this information is from other players/guides. If the game itself showed some of its depth, new players would be more inclined to stick around. I also think a benefit to new and old players if it took less time to achieve 8/8. One way to accomplish this is by making the average lvl 20 have approximately 5 more levels in every stat. Back in the day, the point of the game was to become powerful and reach 8/8. These days the point is to become exalted. 8/8 is now an expectation instead of a goal for many players. Therefore it should be easier to reach that starting point. I believe less players would rage quit if it was easier to 8/8.
What made you want to partner with DECA for creating content?
Honestly, I really wanted some tools to assist me in providing an enjoyable experience for my viewers/the realm community. Anything I can get my hands on to throw at the players helps.
How do you see the game in 10 years?
This game has so much potential it hurts. It depends on you @decagames we love the game, and as a community want to see it reach its true potential. I believe the first step to this is making it more accessible and enjoyable to new players. Once that has happened advertising/putting the game out there more could cause the blowup the game deserves and warrants. You guys have made some great content and improvements to Realm especially recently, but as we all know there is much work to be done. Keep going Deca and with a few changes to the early game experience, the game will pop. Veteran-centric development is good but pleasing us old heads will not cause new players to join and stick around. That isn’t to say you should forget about us, but TLDR: new player experience being streamlined, educated and exciting, will be much better for the game than appeasing us.
I believe there’s a ton of room for creativity in the game. I ask the community to be receptive to new ideas, and I ask Deca to release new content that is developed with the average player in mind. I also call upon the community to uplift each other and welcome any new players they may find. Be nice to noobs and the game will thrive. Thank you.
speaking of accessibility, my biggest issue with this game has, at at least since my accident in 2013, literal accessibility. I’d really appreciate it if they made auto-aim a legitimate future rather than something you have to hack to do, because I have to use my cursor for movement and I struggled just to kill Arachna the other day (even on a maxed defense character, that just means I survive; it doesn’t help me if I can’t aim!)
Besides that, I strongly support the idea of giving more attention to new players. Sure, you need to keep the whales happy, but don’t do so at the expense of ruining the new player experience…
Example: when I first started, I almost quit when I saw how limited the initial lot storage was, and considering where it is today, it’s interesting that the only thing that has changed about in the initial storage since the Kabam era is that you can get a free chest every few months if you’re dedicated enough. No new player is going to bother and will probably be frustrated with the game before they get even close to all the neat endgame stuff you have. The only reason I’m still here is I was a determined 13-year-old back when I was new and decided “if I can’t beat them, hack them”… (I don’t anymore. I’m talking about when I was new and constantly losing stuff because I couldn’t store things I earned long enough to even compare the best thing to keep… I’m not salty enough to do that anymore)
Doggo Colossus
Doggo Colossus
A big issue I am facing is getting people who tried the game when it was older and didn’t like it to try again, and even when I do manage to get someone to try again the experience from 1 to 20 is almost completely unchanged aside from pcave aesthetic differences. When you think about it there are barely any dungeons for new players to interact with, and FOMO could be a major driving force for making them try dungeons that get them killed. When the realm reconstruction hits I think I will have a better shot at getting people to play it with me but it’s been rough so far :c.
I know regulating mules and bots is important but it might not be a bad idea to start new players off with a little more vault space, pet eggs that drop from any dungeon, and expanded but limited immortality (Consume half fame to revive a character with no stat growths until a few classes are unlocked?) That and character slots, I remember my least favorite part of the game starting out was seeing all these cool classes and abilities that I just couldn’t use without paying money. I want people to play realm with me and see what I see in it but it just doesn’t have that wide appeal. Too much gamer energy maybe.
1. I don’t think when people don’t like a game they will magically love it after few years.
2. Pretty sure every dungeon drops pet eggs.
3. Limited immortality would just make people making alt accounts much more often and would make new players feel less threatened by the permadeath nature of this game.
4. There is a new account package for fame with character slots/vault slots if I remember correctly.
5. Classes are super easy to get and them being purchasable with gold was probably a dumb decision by Kabam/Wildshadow studios.