Totally agree! Give him 10 points!

I used to play this game a lot more than I would like to admit about 10 years ago, and it's sad to see it now. I think you are right about the hostility though. When the mobile app launched I thought to myself, hey maybe I'll come and play a little, not anything like as much as I used to, but just for a bit of fun / time burner, and most likely as an SS player. I found that everytime I logged in (which wasn't all that often) I would have an inbox full of messages, and the last few ALL IN CAPS yelling at me todo stuff.

I suppose those still playing must be pretty die-hard players... but it's not a good way to swell the ranks of new players.

The usability of the mobile app is almost unbearable on my Nexus 5, especially the map... so if a new player sees this, it's going to be an immediate logout -> never come back

I would be very happy to see an IC re-write that brings the user experience into the 21st century. Other apps/games simply dont require such a lot of clicks to get things done, and those that do (all those really annoying tap for cash type games) make the navigation incredibly simple in order to lead you in the right direction.

I think the only salvation for IC would be to launch a project with the objectives:
#1 redesign the user interactions (drastically) to make the game easier to play. This should include the removal of lots of features, IC looks like a dump to a new player.
#2 build a mobile-first web based UI
#3 release the web UI into the ios and android app stores.

Then maybe some measures to make things a bit less competitive...
#1 Remove drafting
#2 Stop players from being booted out of families (i.e. it can only be done automatically by the system after N days of no logins)
#3 One galaxy for all - stop kidding ourselves that there's any point in having more than 1 at this stage.

Now that I've finished typing this, I almost wish I hadn't. Stefan was foolish not to invest in this game more when it was at it's prime. I'll check back to see if it's still here this time next year.

It's unfortuate what's happened to this game.
I agree to a certain extent that updating the interface would make a difference, but in reality the reason I played this game was down to things like the #general chat in IRC, co-ordinating raids with 12 others in the "fam", a busy, welcoming and entertaining forum.
People just don't have the time for a game like this anymore.
It's no-one's fault, it was just of the time. It's all about Battles Islands, Gods of Fire or whatever there is now ha.

Ha exactly!
If there isn't some minor victory message every 10 minutes or animation for a pat on the back just for logging in, people ain't interested in it anymore.

Slightly off topic, but what're the main differences within the game now? From what I can see Andromeda, Pinwheel etc have been completely removed. Are Family sizes reduced and ergo map size as well? Would playing SS if I were to join a galaxy be a viable option still? All the questions.

There is a market, but it seems quite niche.
My point was that IC requires time, barely a day off during a round, or at least that's how I remember it. I'm not convinced enough people want to do that, enough for this to be developed properly anyway.

And i think this is a good thing. Not everyone has time to be online 24/7. Of course i understand that other people like other things. 13 years ago i also preferred a 10 minute tick.

This would make sense if we had enough new players to dedicate a galaxy to training them like we did with Virgo.  (I did something similar when I was a tutor through having them screen shot various actions, taking a short test that highlighted the basics, etc. etc.)  Personally I like this idea, IF we ever get a big flow of new players to justify opening up a dedicated training galaxy.

I think that if you allow everyone in, it'll be less interesting for new players as they will be skummy chummed. (eaten alive. )

I disagree, The new players that join now won't be interested in putting effort into it because the overload of information and the aggressiveness of other players today. A training galaxy, even with 4 people in them, will help to grow the player amount as it will give an ideal setting for them to learn.

I also like the achievement idea of (ender) and this then can be used in the starting galaxy. This might be a difficult subject but maybe even couple 1 round VIP to these points? In the end, if marketing tactics work, it will only motivate at least a part of them to buy a VIP in the future.

1 golden exception; Everyone should pass true the starting galaxy but maybe make a notification that experienced players can contact a mod to skip this? Or make it optional. I think older experienced players won't put there time into a starting galaxy.