I started playing StarMaster when I was 14 and played till I went into the military at 17.
The biggest problem is that when it reached a certain size, the human processed turns began to bog down and be missed or very, very late. It was a small operation (staffwise) and it was more than they could do.
The extra "dimensions" are when they started breaking up the "universe" and were essentially different games (so the GMs could process turns separably).
The biggest issue with it today was Star Master became very "Pay-2-Win" as a result of the need to increase staff to process turns. I did a time analysis and came up with the maximum number of players I could process and it was pretty limited within that two week window. Eventually, I think they reached the point of diminishing returns having to hire processors.
All that said though--fantastic game and wonderful fun. My uncle was in his twenties and started playing (after first telling me how dumb it looked).
One of the things that made it fun was you got to "hand build" your race. You created a unique creature (think "Spore") and then with the strengths and weaknesses of your design you joined Pinky and tried to take over the world (or hide well).
The game ran pretty smoothly but in the end you could tell the turn processing was just killing them. One thing they did do in the last couple of years was generate unique, GM introduced encounters. You'd discover a black hole and an "entity" would invite you to come inside--if you would swear an allegiance to them. That sort of thing. Waiting 1-2 weeks for turns was soooo tension building.
The biggest problem is that when it reached a certain size, the human processed turns began to bog down and be missed or very, very late. It was a small operation (staffwise) and it was more than they could do.
The extra "dimensions" are when they started breaking up the "universe" and were essentially different games (so the GMs could process turns separably).
The biggest issue with it today was Star Master became very "Pay-2-Win" as a result of the need to increase staff to process turns. I did a time analysis and came up with the maximum number of players I could process and it was pretty limited within that two week window. Eventually, I think they reached the point of diminishing returns having to hire processors.
All that said though--fantastic game and wonderful fun. My uncle was in his twenties and started playing (after first telling me how dumb it looked).
One of the things that made it fun was you got to "hand build" your race. You created a unique creature (think "Spore") and then with the strengths and weaknesses of your design you joined Pinky and tried to take over the world (or hide well).
The game ran pretty smoothly but in the end you could tell the turn processing was just killing them. One thing they did do in the last couple of years was generate unique, GM introduced encounters. You'd discover a black hole and an "entity" would invite you to come inside--if you would swear an allegiance to them. That sort of thing. Waiting 1-2 weeks for turns was soooo tension building.