Two questions actually.

Question #1:
Why does such a great game like this have a population of under 10,000? I see other risk clones having more than twice that population, and they don't have nearly as many features of this.

Question #2:
How do you keep this game running with no income and lots of expenses? The server must cost a fortune to keep up, and I don't see any premium features or advertisements on this site that would make you money.

I don't know the answer to either question, but I'll speculate.

#1 cause it's in beta and will eventually "launch" as a fully formed game/product.

#2 I suspect the costs are lower than you think, but even a modest $500 a month is still an expense worth avoiding. The income is probably zero. I suspect it's the Facebook model and it's better not to commercialize while you're building a user base (and beta testing/developing). That said, I don't see why an entirely voluntary and discreet contribution method, e.g. a donation page would pose a problem. It would deter no one, and would likely generate sufficient income to defray costs. Perhaps Randy is sufficiently wealthy (and/or the costs are sufficiently low) that it's not worth it.

#1 it was invite only until relatively recently, and he doesn't use false advertising like the evony games just to get people to play...

#2, as i understand it, many people have *asked* him to put in a donations page, because they desired to donate, but he hasn't done it.. his intentions are unknown to me of course..

"he doesn't use false advertising like the evony games just to get people to play..."

Which is obviously a mistake... Where are all the Warlight ads featuring excessive cleavage and a phrase loosely related to game play?

"This isn't your father's risk game!"

"Board games / seem a bore? / perhaps try it / with fog of war / WarLight"

"Julie wants to play a strategic 1v1 with you! Accept?"

"RISK XXXTREEEEMMMMMEEEE"

Can I be hired as advertising manager yet?

You're living up to your name :)

Harsh!

You know, I was wondering the same thing. How does Fizzer keep this game up and running?

he's either rich <_<

>_> or he's a jedi

i was talking to him once, he seems to be taking a break from working at a company. and how long has this been in beta?

Changelog sez:

2008-06-18: New features for pre-alpha phase 0:
(...)

2009-02-14: New features for beta phase 0:
(...)


So that's about two years in beta, two and a half in existence.