Super Mario wrote:
If there would be a lesson from this it would be the following
-first impressions matter a-lot.
-do not assume that the users are power users when it comes to the interface, good usability design matters.
-if you advertise as multiplayer, then don't allow broken ai in you game and only list ai that works.
-user expect in game tutorial/documentation do not expect them to "google it"
-Just because your game has a high skill ceiling doesn't mean you couldn't have a low skill floor.
-it needs to "Just work"(TM)
-they expect the game itself not something else like a third party lobby.
You can learn a lot from reading negative reviews to see what needs improvement.
You added this after the fact:
1. Yes, ofc, but I have no real control over the lobby situation as I am not a lobby dev. I have made customized lobby ui for swl that is very nice, but that's where my control ends.
2. I don't. But one the other hand, you can only hand hold so much. Anyone familiar with rts games won't have trouble. Those that are new to rts games will have trouble.
3. As stated on the forums and everywhere else, ai is a plus and ymmv.
4. There is an ingame "how to play". There is documentation in the wiki and there are tutorials on youtube. I can't imagine anyone would find any results on google?
5. The game has a very low skill floor. If you understand how the gameplay in evo works, that becomes very readily apparent. Evo is the most "comeback-able" rts game I've ever played. Additionally, mixed unit compositions work very well together. If a player gets in the game and builds 1 of everything on repeat, his composition won't really be that bad. Additionally, single unit spam isn't punished by the game, but is punishable by the other player's unit comp.
6. It does.
7. All the lobbies are 3rd party -_-