Improving Player Retention

[TheTurboNerd]

Maybe a point not so much for retention of new players, but of old ones.

When considering coming back, I found myself salivating at the prospect of being back in Sanctuary and possibly stomping around in all the iconic and nostalgic places.

However, when reading all of the changes, I found myself left with an overwhelming sense of... "With all this stuff that's happened, how the hell do I start a concept for this?" I first considered playing a cleric, before reading that half the gods were dead and no longer granting spells (Including the one I wanted to play) yet some abstract reward for playing one anyway was implied. I get that wanting to be mysterious is cool and everything, but unless there's something ingame to give primer to a new player choosing to be a cleric of a dead god, there's just nothing there explaining about how much the player would know about the fate of their god, etc.  

All in all, there's more questions than answers. Like someone else pointed out... To really 'click' with EFU, you pretty much need to get inside knowledge of the setting by actually playing.  It's been like this with every major setting shift within EFU, but I  feel like EFU:R seems a lot harder to dive into from scratch. EFU,  EFU:A and EFU:M  All presented themselves in the out-of-game resources very well, and gave the players a primer of basically where they were and what the overall aim/endgame should be for a character (Be it escape to the surface, escape from the islands/defeating the nightrisers, or defeating H'bala and curing the withering) All of which had the common theme of "Survive", but EFU:R is essentially presenting itself as "The entire world has gone to shit, try not to die."

  As badass as the events as I've read them are... It makes starting fresh really intimidating and confusing without knowing anything about what's going on firsthand. Fleshing out a concept without having some kind of idea of where you came from or what you intend to do is difficult, made even more so by the lack of a clear cut way to  get up to speed before diving into the server.

From what I can tell, the lack of information is intentional design. Hence the name, Escape From Uncertainty. What you know about your gods is - nothing. You know they stopped giving spells one day. That's it.

[Nihm]

Lame pvp is the reason most people leave I'm sure.  For every aggressive PK'er I'd guess multiples have left.
 
There are many ways this server is good, the way pvp is handled isn't one of them.

[Vlaid]

Lame pvp is the reason most people leave I'm sure.  For every aggressive PK'er I'd guess multiples have left.
 
There are many ways this server is good, the way pvp is handled isn't one of them.

I have serious doubts about this. People like to vastly exaggerate how common PVP is on this server, especially if they feel the victim of "lame pvp".

I think in my 7 years here, playing on and off with breaks ect....I have been killed in pvp maybe 2-4 times at most, and all well earned or in large pvp battles between two opposing sides.

It's possible, I just don't think it's as likely as some people like to convince themselves it is.

Of course the more aggressive and conflict oriented your PC is, the more likely you are to be killed. But then that isn't the fault of the server for your death then, is it?

[Garem]

^ Ditto.

Been assassinated only once.
Been beaten down several dozen times, often when the other players had PLENTY of reason to kill me but didn't.

RL time constraints kill off the vast majority of my characters. Second being boredom for low levels and DM quest for high levels.

[Howlando]

Including an entire plot based around PCs signing up to murder each other, various gang conflicts, executions, and various PvP situations where the player clearly wanted to die (i.e. doing something to get executed) there have been all of 18 PvP non-goblin/kobold PC deaths in all of EFU:R. No death happened to a new player as best as I could determine, and as far as I'm aware only two players of all the deaths haven't returned since and both of them are notoriously comfortable with EFU PvP - so I assume they had other reasons.

I don't wish to distract a useful thread with PvP concerns. I really don't think we have some kind of PvP problem.

Deep Lizard, drowning, Bandits, Menhirs... these are far more griefy to new players than any player.

[Knight Of Pentacles]

I believe they're simply having a hard time adjusting to the difficulty paradigm of EFU.  It's very different than any other server (except for its progenitor CoA).  Not sure how to remedy this, but the new players I've spoken to are becoming discouraged because how their unfamiliarity with the server greatly deters their ability to advance their character. (mechanically speaking).

[Cruzel]

I don't wish to distract a useful thread with PvP concerns. I really don't think we have some kind of PvP problem.

I really don't think it's PVP. While (I don't know if still true, but it was a couple of years ago) there is some pvp that can leave a sour taste... I know I've both been the one dealing the killing blow of lame FDs, and been killed in a similar fashion more than once. It wasn't a super rare thing back in the day, but none of those times did I really see anyone disappear because of it. Everyone who played EFU at the time was used to cycling characters, and cycling a character was rarely done under the circumstances of one's own choosing, unless they simply got bored.

In my mind at least, the biggest barrier to (re)entry for EFU is the sheer standard of awesomeness, and lack of information to go on before just saying fuck it and diving in with a substandard/rocky start and then refining with a second concept after you know what you've gotten yourself into.

I'm speaking mostly from an out of game context though, as I have no idea what kind of new character experience you guys have rocked out for EFU:R.

[Lira]

I believe they're simply having a hard time adjusting to the difficulty paradigm of EFU.  It's very different than any other server (except for its progenitor CoA).  Not sure how to remedy this, but the new players I've spoken to are becoming discouraged because how their unfamiliarity with the server greatly deters their ability to advance their character. (mechanically speaking).

As one of the new players you're trying to retain, I want to emphasize this and expand a bit on it.

EFU's learning curve is extremely steep. I have an advantage in that I know a few players who've been around a while so I can bounce questions off of them and avoid the worst of the newbie mistakes, but even so it's daunting. Between the high lethality, brutal death penalties and tons of new or tweaked mechanics on the one hand and incredibly dense social structure and setting lore on the other, getting off the ground is punishingly difficult. Frankly, if I didn't have something resembling a support structure already in place I probably wouldn't have stuck with it as long as I have.

This may be a feature, not a bug. If you want people who are willing to soldier on and pay the cost in time and effort to integrate themselves and learn the mechanics on the hope that it'll pay off, in the belief that you'll weed out all but a certain caliber of player, the system in place right now may very well do that. And the population does seem strong enough that you don't really need many more players in any case. But if you do want to retain more of the players who check out EFU, the entry needs to be smoothed out a little more. Not just "Intro to EFU Mechanics 101," either: new PCs could use ways to get involved in the social structure of Sanctuary quickly, so they have some kind of purpose or direction while they figure out what they really want to do.

[John Doe]

This might sound unintentionally degrading. Bounce it off as a dumb suggestion, whatever. Here's my two cents:

Giving (newer) players individual attention when you have a free moment as a DM or otherwise making an effort to make them feel appreciated is a big, big thing. This could literally be as simple as offering them a drink and roleplaying with them for 2 minutes on some NPC. That is the sort of stuff that did it for me.

Do not measure with equal bars either. A new player is having a hell of a hard time getting to just settle into our rough setting. Reward those that roleplay well or act pro-actively a little easier with XP or other rewards than you do with veterans.

In the end I believe that most of our playerbase would go to lengths to help new players out once they're identified. But trust me, a pad on the back from a 'random vet' will mean a lot less to most of us regulars than a pad on the back from a DM who's complimenting your efforts.

I met several truly amazing new-ish players while playing Slyd Radke, and I will be pretty bumbed if I find out that they're not feeling supported in what they're trying to do. It's always a lot harder for new people in an established community. Ask them if their char. has a goal in an idle moment IG, and see if it's feasible.

[SN]

This might sound unintentionally degrading. Bounce it off as a dumb suggestion, whatever. Here's my two cents:

Giving (newer) players individual attention when you have a free moment as a DM or otherwise making an effort to make them feel appreciated is a big, big thing. This could literally be as simple as offering them a drink and roleplaying with them for 2 minutes on some NPC. That is the sort of stuff that did it for me.

This. This accounts for 'older' players too. When the world around you becomes too stagnant and does not feel alive, you (I?) lose interest.

[sylvyrdragon]

It's been mentioned, I'm sure of it, but a large part of keeping the new players really falls on the vets shoulders.  Making them feel welcomed both OOC'ly and IC'ly are a huge deal.

I know we all have those players we love to play with, those that just seem to click with our play-style. On the other hand we have those that we really don't "look for".  But, in order to keep the new players around, we need to start forgetting who the player is and concentrait on who the character is.

I'm sure it's happened to all of us (well.. alright maybe not all, for we have some players that anyone would want in their group) that feeling of slight, or the "wtf.. why him and not me" moments.  It's happend with DM's and players alike.  

Now we can all say "I would never do that.  I would never chose character A over character B just because I know who the player is."  And I would have to call B.S.  

In short, start getting to know the characters and forget who the player is.

[Pigadig]

My suggestion is:

Bring back easy access associations.

The Aberdenn, the Caermyn, the Muster. You basically had to just show up and look interested and you got into these associations. Now just about every single association (except I guess the Jergalites?) requires "proving yourself" and spending a lot of time getting in.

The entire purpose of the Associations should be to be app-less and easy access so you can point new players towards them so they can have some structure and benefits without having to know the ins and outs of questing and the full setting. If the current Associations aren't meant to be easily accessible, make them into app-for minor Factions, don't confuse people.

New players really will need that structure and free benefits, because EFU:R is far far harder than EFU:M, at least for a melee PC. It's harder to get decent gear. It's harder to get decent supply. It's harder to maintain decent supply.

That's probably another thing that should be suggested to new players "play a caster class, because otherwise you're going to have a very very rough time".

----------

Related to this I'd suggest some new Associations so people can get themselves some support or direction.

- A Worminger's Guild, where they can get favour points for supplies and cheap resting in exchange for worm meat.

- Make the Oathsworn of the Society an Association, with a slow favour gain rate and a small boost of favour when an Aberration dies near them (the XP radius?)

- Watcher's Militia, make full Watchers require an app, make recruit status easy access, give them favour points while wearing their silly pot helm and maybe extra favour when bringing in bounties or doing Watcher based quests.

[RuinedDesires]

To be frank, i think the responsibility falls onto the playerbase to make the experience worthwhile. It's a mixture of the DM's and the players that keep this place alive. While we all love the story being told here, if it was solely the DM's that kept us playing, noone would be logged in for hours on end without a DM in game.

My welcoming experience was unique and one I will never forget. Two veteran players gave me an introduction to the server that blew me away and made me want to log in again. It was a week before I even spoke to a DM who eagerly gave me a small run down of the place and approved my eagerness. It was another two weeks before I used Irc for the first time, before I became aware that DM events took place or even how much the DMs took part in the server.

Had those veteran players not given me such a welcoming I cant say I would have stayed for that conversation with a DM, been willing to join IRC or invest so much time in learning the mechanics.

While I agree, DM incentives are nice and make you feel special. It's the players who are in the trenches with one another day in and day out. Its the players who should be inspired to strive towards creating something awesome and along that journey inspire others to do the same.

-CT

[John Doe]

That is true. A lot of players and veterans already do that though best they can, I'd say from personal experience. And it is definitely important.

If we're talking about 'what more' can be done however, I'd like to stick by my original post.

Another addition by example of what I believe should be done more,

Ladocicea's "Tremors in the Underdark" plot is facinating for a lot of people, and attracts large amounts of indiscriminate player attention. It's great fun, and I personally enjoy being on DM quests a lot. So I guess that goes for most. It's usually the veteran players that pick up the plot though, and attempt to figure out what is going on. That's entirely natural and logical of course, being that we've grown comfortable with the idea that something more will grow out of it.

I believe there is a large role/responsibility for veterans in attempting to include (some of) the players involved in this plot sequence further into the plot, rather than playing it close to hearth. How? That's up to you. But it's easy enough to let others know that there's more coming and that you'd appreciate their help in the future.

[Jayde Moon]

A recurring theme I am seeing is player/DM interaction with new players.

A problem I see is how to recognize new players in a community where vets consistently use new GSIDs with every new PC.

So I am stickying a thread, helpfully titled "New Players, Please Introduce Yourself" in the general forum.

If you see someone post there, look out for them in game and help them out if you can!