It seems as though there are very few players active, far fewer than pre-beta, I'm struggling to keep an active game.

The next Beta Test Stage will focus on improvements for new players and some experiments to attract new players.
We will also be coordinating with the community on this to come up with the best methods to attempt first.

One recommendation I have is http://store.steampowered.com/
There are many strategy games on there, and many that began as browser games. People aren't too into the 'pay to play' approach, even though it makes sense in the context of Battle Forces currently, but you could sell this for say $5, and get hundreds of people signing up.

Hmmm now there seems to be very few people. I see one game stuck at 4/5 players and no other games filled. This has been an issue for awhile. I honestly feel like this update has pushed a lot of players away. The concept is fine, the design is too tablet like and poor IMO but the worst part was implementation. You cant push unfinished product. The pricing and further crippling of gameplay in favor of $ had alienated even more players. I feel like the old design was superior in a lot of ways. Probably should have worked on improving the game play, introducing more new maps and map making options and of course advertising. I have been playing in here for about 4-5 years and it's sad to see a good strategy game go downhill. I will check on every now and then and see what progress has been made if any. I would suggest roll back of some of the UI and pricing and fixing the issues that were problematic for the game such as alliances. Numerous suggestions were offered that I thought were good solutions such as no communications and random IDs instead of names. Anyways my $0.02.

I wouldn't call that one game stuck. As of 12 hours ago it had 2 people signed up and now there are 4. At that rate it should be filled by this evening. As for the other games being empty, there are several reasons. I, for one, generally try to stay away from games with 3 or 4 players because the dynamic is ALWAYS the same and the path to victory usually involves screwing over someone who wasn't as quick on the draw when truce offers are flying in the capital picking round. I don't like the way those victories feel but any other path leads to defeat. You are right about the low number of players and how that impacts the game. I like variety in my game play but that is hard to come by when the games are filled by the same 15 people in rotation. As for cost, think of the amount of time that has gone into making, maintaining and upgrading this game. I find it hard to understand why people are reluctant to give something back to those who have spent so much time on something that is so fun. The premium membership costs less that a 12pk and 6pk together, but I sure that there is plenty of beer bought without much thought to cost. The beer would be gone in a couple of days but the game membership lasts (currently) 2 years making the cost benefit ratio heavily stacked in it's favor, but for some reason most minds don't see it that way (if you don't drink then substitute something else that cost a little over $20).

Mat, I guess I both agree and disagree. I will stick around and keep playing because I know that the only way to keep things moving is to have players who keep playing. I have paid for a membership (and will again in the future) because I can recognize the effort that has been made and I appreciate it. I think that more players are certainly needed and with them will come a breath of fresh air to the game. And lastly, after taking about it earlier, I will be drinking some beer tonight

P.S. That game filled up while I was typing the comment above.

Did I read correctly that there is a perceived problem with the experienced players trouncing the newbies and driving them away? I'd hate to be contributing to that but could see how that could be the outcome. Any suggestions to preventing newbies having such a negative experience? We definitely need a larger player base.

Jacob, that reminds me of something I read by Orwell: http://orwell.ru/library/articles/cigar/english/e_cigar

$20 for x amount of hours of intense mental engagement definitely seems like a pretty good trade.

Regardless of the lack of interest in this game, it has a niche. As far as I've found there is no other game offering this particular sort of tactical diplomatic experience. It simply needs to be put forward to more people.
One thought I had as to why this game has not been marketed to a wider audience is because the creators made it to play among their circle of friends, and have no greater interest in attracting more numbers, just a small amount to cover costs. There are a few holes in this theory, but it still baffles me that such a niche game that I know for a fact would appeal to many people does not receive more attention. The only reason for this currently is that it is difficult to come across.

Put it forward to steam! You'll make plenty of money and attract a huge player base.

@mateusz Come back!

Well I still check every now and then to see if any progress has been made.

Battle Forces site is not what it used to be...but as more old timers show up we can still have battles, competitive games and fun.