New Player Incentive

[Morrodin]

So Glitchless, I met a brand new player to the game today and we were speaking about the game and this is the 3rd thing he said. I tend to agree with his statement generally. To be more specific the first part. Outside of being a unique game there isn't ANYTHING at a lower level that can keep players interested and dedicated enough to stick around. I don't have numbers that I can specifically quote to imply that I feel the player numbers are dwindling however I do believe that I haven't seen a single new player stick around to cap for a long while now.

I don't have any ideas for you that could improve the lower level game play, but I think you should do something! Possibly something that helps new players with unique IPs and Mac Addresses that won't break the game and be abused by older players. Just trying to give you some player feedback!

[Morrodin]

After a long night of arduous contemplation I would like to recommend that you add a set of quests that are unique and can only be completed a single time per account. I would also recommend each task be placed in an area that requires a higher minimum level zone that each prior to it to promote leveling. As a reward the players would receive not 1 but 2 epic items (perhaps a gem and other armor/weapon). I believe that it would bring some relevance back to new players and perhaps encourage more spending for virtues. While most players will advise new members to purchase virtues without a shiny item that uses them, it my be a tough sell.

[Blaze]

as a suggestion... pick the lowest epic of each line. slashing piercing archery etc. let the newbie choose which epic they want. god knows melee getting epic staves and crap is irritating enough on epic drops. newbies being able to start with 1 epic weapon or armor of their choice may be nice

[Akilthedestroyer]

Support

[Joanna]

Perhaps as reward for one of those mission an sb 24 h standart/premium?


I mean small sample how would it be to be paid /upgraded.


Imo more action at low lvl is needed to retain new players.

[Morrodin]

Literally ANYTHING that works to keep new players motivated to stick to cap, I firmly believe that the capped game play is entrancing enough to keep them interested.

[raist]

I leave the suggestions to all the others.
I would just say this, started as a silent N, and played as an N for 4 years(2009-2013 ish) before going standard account.
1 of the things that kept motivating me is the fact I could reasonably get the gold for TCs with enough dedication even at mid lvls, got 7-8 virtues as an N like that, maybe more.
These days with 1.7 million gold per TC, even I would not have continued playing the game for more than a few months, if I were a new player.

[Lakki]

I strongly support this, as a returning player who gives away a tc to the most active new players I can find, even most of them end up leaving. Even after sending them to new player friendly clans, VIP, Guide, and Cseas, a good majority of them do not stay. When NOVA was still around, we barely had any new players end up sticking around after its life-span as well. It's hard. Reference, that some sort of action NEEDS to be done. or at least looked into is noticeable on the steam chart

https://steamcharts.com/app/541190

July of 2018 the most players we had was 8 on the steam client, according to the chart it has dropped down to 5. These number's don't accurately show the players that are actually playing the game ( not on steam) , but as you can see here the players on steam are strongly discouraged to continue playing it. As a player who enjoys the challenge of the game, I would like new players to be able to join us, especially with all the changes the game has been getting to improve. PVP feels more balanced than ever, and heroic PvE is challenging, like it should be.

But a suggestion, an EXP boost to get players to level 20 would not hurt the game. or at least " soulbound tc's that can be used exclusively for virts or standard ( NOT PREM)"to help or something, would motivate the new players to try. it's very hard to keep them motivated, and some of us can't stay on 24 hours a day, to do so. As a player who just finished first pilgrimage, I can say that a small boost to lower leveled / new players could help motivate them to stay, and that it would " not" be unfair to me, as a player who has spent a lot of money on this game, for them to have a slight boost to catch up to the rest of us.

My toon is 8 years old and level 86 with T4 gear and a small amount of epic HP, a soft-cap can't even look at my toon without dying in PVP, or do heroic past GS boss. For toons who have put in the effort to pilg , I understand. a Pilgrimage should be hard, and for those who are past the soft-cap, it should be worth it to do because of epic hp. But, if my suit has 11k hp ( basically no tempers), or 17k with tempers, and I don't have Affinitae maxed, and still 4 pilgs to go. Realistically speaking I would need to buy 100 or more TC's depending to finish those pilgs ASAP, so for me to catch up to the top toons it would cost an amount of time that is nearly frustrated, or just pretty much impossible at this point.

146 hours ~ of RRT used for my first pilg, and 22 tc's were nommed to finish it. I started off with 28 hours of RRT ( a little more than half a bar) so I could have finished it in 18 TC's. If I was melee, it would have taken more or longer. If I would have used daily RRT, as a melee, it would have taken 6 months. FOR ONE PILG. yes I could get it finished in a few months if i keep pilging and nomming now but the point is. IF I am this far away from the level 90 toons, with all upgrades, all virts, and 90+ learning skills, and good adventuring skills., how on earth is a new player now going to catch up without spending anything?

Most new players of the generation now are fortnite players, but still! we are getting players from that generation, it may be true that the average age of a gamer is 37, but people age. you have to at least take the newer toons into some consideration. Give em' a boost, and they may ask their mom to buy them a card for this game <.< the loving community here will do our best, but a small hand would not hurt Glitch. players like Daer and Nibbles made wiki and nodtools.net possible, so we are trying our best into taking every new player who is willing to learn this game into our beginner friendly plans.

All we ask is that you give it some thought Glitch. Thank you for taking the time to read Sincerely , Lakki

[ShadeDaScout]

there's plenty of faults with the game, here's a few fundamentals:
1.invest few hundreds to play properly or be extremely lucky not to - in an era of f2p games
2.spend months grinding mindlessly; only to end up as a cookie cutter or a failure - with plenty of games where everyone is equal from the start; skill prevails
3.non existent new content with people whining over every slight change - continued development, balance, etc.
4.people would rather have the game die than for it to be more affordable, less grindy, and balanced; out of pure vanity

that's why new people stick for a day or 2, or a week even, while others just wait for arena rush every 5 months

prove me wrong

[Glitchless]

We're not going to cater to the attention deficit crowd. Everyone playing now somehow survived the horrors of early game Nodiatis. MOAR FREE STUFF is just an incentive to leave once the gravy train is over.

[Soxson]

Originally Posted by Glitchless

We're not going to cater to the attention deficit crowd. Everyone playing now somehow survived the horrors of early game Nodiatis. MOAR FREE STUFF is just an incentive to leave once the gravy train is over.

Imo, reducing mob encounter rate in traveler's way was the best thing you did to help noobs. It was so frustrating having to fight each step of the way to t2 my first time.

[darkenfolk]

Originally Posted by Glitchless

We're not going to cater to the attention deficit crowd. Everyone playing now somehow survived the horrors of early game Nodiatis. MOAR FREE STUFF is just an incentive to leave once the gravy train is over.

The problem here is not that the crowd is "attention deficit" but that you fail at selling your product, or make it interesting in anyway. Why should they buy tc's? how are they supposed to know if it's a sound investment if they don't even have an idea of what they are getting for their money? and no, a list of text that tells you what you are getting isn't really what players are looking for.

Instead of making early game as unattractive as possible you could try to give them a reason to actually play. you could fore example make some beginner quests that grands them a limited time card for one or two days so that they can actually experience why they need to buy time cards.

yes this is "moar free stuff" but in the long run the game would actually benefit from this.

[Raidens]

Originally Posted by darkenfolk

The problem here is not that the crowd is "attention deficit" but that you fail at selling your product, or make it interesting in anyway. Why should they buy tc's? how are they supposed to know if it's a sound investment if they don't even have an idea of what they are getting for their money? and no, a list of text that tells you what you are getting isn't really what players are looking for.

Instead of making early game as unattractive as possible you could try to give them a reason to actually play. you could fore example make some beginner quests that grands them a limited time card for one or two days so that they can actually experience why they need to buy time cards.

yes this is "moar free stuff" but in the long run the game would actually benefit from this.

When you buy a microtransaction for a crate pack, let's say Rocket League. You have an idea of what you CAN get. but chances? minimal. When you buy a tc on nod, there is ALWAYS something that can be actively used for. a month of standard to boost your progression. You buy 2 of them? use one for standard, the other for gold. it's not rocket science

[ShadeDaScout]

You buy 2 of them? use one for standard, the other for gold. it's not rocket science

and 61 before that to be playable in the first place, unless you enjoy infinite grinds with no upgs

[Huggles]

Originally Posted by Blaze

as a suggestion... pick the lowest epic of each line. slashing piercing archery etc. let the newbie choose which epic they want. god knows melee getting epic staves and crap is irritating enough on epic drops. newbies being able to start with 1 epic weapon or armor of their choice may be nice

support

[Tip]

Maybe earn one hour of face for completing the tutorial or level 5? Can't earn anything in that time that would be exploitable to give to a cap - Make it automatically applied instead of 'usable at discretion.' A small 'tutorial' type set of arrows and such which points out what they've earned for that hour (and one at end of hour saying what is going away?).

This'll probably make the whole virtues and other upgrades understandable, too? With at least some exposure to timecards. They are only mentioned in game if you misclick a gem slot or need virts... the game doesn't entice to purchase, it seems these things under the $ are always prompted in civil. If you only ever experience free play... there's not much to encourage more because you have no context of what you're missing.

Without the flashy, without being the type of game that does lend better to ADD crowd, we need other lures, yes?