This is a common pattern in web/mobile-app design, but often applied to online/social/casual games in all genres. Simply put, don't force new users into creating an account before getting to try the game. Rather, let them play as a Guest, if so they wish. Believe it or not, some people (esp. those who might stumble upon CH via a random link on a forum and/or by mistake) is well capable of leaving the game alone as soon as they realize registration is mandatory. I know, people can be so lazy, but keep in mind the market is full of f2p games competing for the users time (and money). All good design rules still apply. I.e. upon logging in as a Guest, display a dialog informing the user playing as Guest means any progress can be lost, etc. etc.
While I think it would be dumb for play as a guest there is a certain value to the suggestion. Although with Kong drawing in a good crowd, now might not be the time to consider this.
I think they should make Greenfang's Challenge a demo that could be played before registering. That let's people see what sort of game this before asking for their personal info.
The first time I visited CH I was expecting an overview and intro, not to get sucked into registration and character generation before I even saw what the game was about. I left. A few days later I gave it another shot. I'm not really sure why I did. Must have been bored.
Yeah, unfortunately we didn't think about this until very late in development, at which point it would be a nightmare to patch in since so many systems would be affected. So we still think about it occasionally, but it'll probably stay in the too-hard basket.
I had the good fortune of reading the Game Informer review over a year ago that was not even a full page review. But based on the description I thought it sounded just the thing I was looking for since play MtG even online becomes very expensive very quick. IF not for that review I NEVER would have tried it out as I rarely played on my computer at home and I have never seen it advertised.
