As a Kongregate player I can tell you that whichever comment you may write now in the original game page, very few people will see it. The game was loaded long time ago and the low rating it got relegates it to oblivion. Only a massive increase in rating would give it new visibility and to be honest this is probably out of reach.
IMHO, the reasons why the game scored low were:
1) it was basically a beta, LOTS was changed in the months following its upload on Kong (bugs, currencies changes, games dynamics, card balancing...)
2) many new players were tramped by the veterans, they bitterly left and rated down the game
3) tfw looked like a pay-to-play game; this is an automatic 1/5 mark for most Kong gamers
It was a pity and, partially, an occasion lost, because Kong is full of good players (yeah, along with thousands of trolls
) and TFW deserves a very much higher rating than it currently has.
To address these issues individually, I'd say that:
1) TFW went a long long way from the game it was. It is stable and nicely balanced (as I write, the system is down
Is this sign of a doomed fate?). As long as you guys decide for a currency, agree on its uses, and stick to that (e.g., is acorn the 'free' alternative to gold? what do you use it for? Is power phased out for good? etc) new players would not get confused by too many changes
2) players match-up is much better now, with the ladder and similar matches (it wasn't even there, when I started). Newbies tournament is also an excellent new feature. On top of this, new players probably need something more to do independently (long campaigns) and I think a dedicated one also deserves a way to build up a basic, decent collection (something more real and useful than the occasional phantom).
3) pay-per-play games have hard life on Kong, which mostly remains a host for FREE flash games. I myself am usually a non-payer (TFW being the only game I ever put something in, just 10 bucks in fact). Still, if you want Kong players to come, stay, and give a decent-to-great rate, you must make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that you can play TFW entirely for free, that money can be used to quicken the development of your deck but that a dedicated, smart player can eventually compete with the best; this must be written everywhere, especially in the game description. Kong-ers are very sensitive on this issue.
Of course, the new, major problem is now the low players base. I have absolutely no idea of how or where to advertise
Yet, I know that you really need every player you get to enjoy the game and stay.
My suggestion is to get the game back in shape (enlarge and finalise the campaigns for new entries, decide on a currency, ...) and give it another go, uploading a new version of TFW on Kong. Hopefully, this time the outcome will be better
