Coinballer.net ReviewI have looked at Coinballer's service repeatedly over the last few days and can give the following review:
Domain:First of all, I have to say that I find the domain very appealing. Although it is only a .net domain, the name Coinballer.net is easily recognisable and stays in your head once you have been on the site. Good job. IMHO, it is a key point if you want to attract new players/customers in the future.
Afterwards I checked the site
(as I do with every new service I visit) once on virustotal and again everything looked fine. Very nice. Testing could start straight away.
First Impression and Game Rules:The first impression of the website is simple and clear. That is good. You can find your way around the clearly laid out main menu. The concept looks new and unique (
very cool!). However, you are soon faced with the question: What is Coinballer exactly and how does the game work?
And this is where the problems start, unfortunately. If you click on the menu item
"Rules" (https://coinballer.net/rules), the rules are worded so briefly that an
"every day user" is completely unable to follow. I showed the website to a friend of mine who knows very little about crypto. And he doesn't understand a thing.
And if a user does not immediately understand how things work, he will only very rarely take the time to do so
(Remember: Most of us are no tech geeks, we need explanations!). As a result, he usually leaves the website and Coinballer loses a potential player.
IMHO, that's why the
"Rules"-section urgently needs to be reworked! Preferably with a detailed (
!) description that includes either screenshots or videos of a complete game sequence.
Furthermore, pages such as a FAQ, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer or ToS are missing completely. In addition to that there is no support or contact form in case of problems during play. Okay... there is a short about page with a link to a LinkedIn profile and a note that the website is open-source, but IMHO this part also needs some rework. Don't forget to add an email or this Bitcointalk thread. If you want to do some support here
(plenty of other projects do that too!).
Play on Coinballer:
I wanted to start a quick game (
Game 30) that ends in 10 blocks, but then realised that at least 12 blocks are needed. Unfortunately, nothing was written about this in the rules. But there is an error, if you try to go below 12 blocks.
Error: An invalid length was provided. Length must be between 12 and 525600 blocks.Furthermore, the maximum value of 525600 is quite high. Inexperienced users could accidentally start a game that will take months to finish. However, the high maximum also gives the possibility to start games that run over a longer period of time. As a provider, you have to weigh this up carefully. If a long game period should also be possible in the future, I would include a disclaimer that tells the player:
"Be careful, you are about to start a game that may not end for several months/years!"In addition, I would also add the note that transactions require 6 confirmations on the Rules/FAQ pages. Moreover, it would be helpful if transactions that do not yet have 6 confirmations are also displayed somewhere on the Game page
(e.g. TX bc1... - Betting Amount 0.001 BTC - 3/6).
Another cool feature would be a big button/text letting the players know how much is in the pot and how much the winner would receive
(prize money minus fees). This of course needs to be updated once a new bet is placed.
In addition, it would certainly make sense to move all played games to a separate page (perhaps "Played Games" or similar). Of course, later on you could also add pages like
"Highest Games/Jackpot", "Most Players", "Most Bets". If players see that a lot of BTC is being wagered on your site and that there are a lot of other players, this should act as a great incentive for many to try your service.
Conclusion:My experience with Coinballer is mixed. The product doesn't seem mature yet and it might need some work to turn this website into a real game that people actually play. Nevertheless, I find the idea exciting and with dedicated devs, a great product can certainly be developed here.
I also think the basic game idea is plausible. If players are willing to keep increasing their stakes, the pot can grow pretty quickly. And then players are likely to bet more and more to win the game (
We all know this from auctions, where the bidders go into a frenzy and keep bidding each other up - even if they were initially only prepared to put down a much lower amount.).
The UI/UX needs to be reworked, of course. I don't want to list all the points I mentioned here again - but I think my review and the other reviews here will show that there is no shortage of points in need of improvement.
Anyway, I hope my review helps and you guys will create a cool game in the long run. Good luck!
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