There was a thread that was closed discussing why new players don't stay (the ones that don't) and how to keep them on. The thread was locked but I came up with what I think would go a long way to keep them on and wanted to get other's feelings about it. I see, as we all do I'm sure, the new player that goes through the tutorial, lands on their res, gets welcomed by several other players who also make themselves available to help if needed. And then in about 3 minutes the new player logs off never to be seen again. I also remember the feeling of being dropped in an empty space wondering what to do next myself. So, instead of an empty space make it look like the wild. Like what a player would see when they are dropped into a single player world. Trees, grass, flowers, maybe some animals wandering around. All this on the 60 x 60 space. Something to get the attention of the new player. Something for them to do. I also remember the disappointment I felt when I realized I couldn't mine, that there was only dirt there. So, make it like in the wild with stone and coal and iron and gold, etc... Then they could spend time mining, doing something they understand. I think this type of area is familiar to a new player and would get them to invest more time initially instead of saying "there is nothing here. bye". By the time they have invested some time on their res they would be more inclined to investigate the rest that EMC offers. If this is a crazy idea let me know. Also, if someone else brought this idea up I apologize I just think it would go a long way to retain new players.
+2 At the very least it could have an oak tree on it. This invites players to punch the tree, collect wood, collect saplings (even more important!) and gives them their first option of getting a decent wood supply going which they can then use to build their first house. I think that a majority of new(er) players starts with using wood to build. I wasn't disappointed when I first got my residence, but I do recall being a little surprised at its emptyness. (edit) lol, just noticed that this wasn't a suggestion. Oh well, this is my reaction and I stand by it
I don't mean this in an offensive way, and it's awesome you're tying to come up with new ideas, but I don't like this idea. You have to draw the line between it being confusing and it being way too easy for them. I haven't looked at the tutorial since I did it two years ago, but it's either not explaining well enough or the players are just going too quickly through it to understand how EMC works. They need to understand that town, the wastelands, and the frontier are all very separate places. Leaving things for them to mine on their res may confuse them even more, and like I said, let's them start off way too easily. I think we get a good amount of materials to start off with. I was someone who joined EMC after only knowing about minecraft for a month before and I made it just fine. The very first time I went to the wastelands, a momentus killed me. So, the next time I went out, I immediately went underground to get the materials I needed to survive. It would've been boring for me if the materials were already provided, but I'm the kind of person that likes to gather things myself. I don't recall if saplings are given when you join, but if they're not, that's about the only thing I can see being added when you join.
If I remember when I joined it gave me animal eggs, food, torches, a few stacks of wood, and maybe a few saplings along with starter gear.
Maybe something similar to how you start off in skyblock. Instead of getting saplings and planks as part of your starter set they can already be grown trees, ready to go and instead instead of getting stone blocks you can be given a bucket of water and lava so you can make your own blocks if not comfortable in the wild. I don't see it being to overpowered to start off with but still gives you a nice boost.
I am not offended but I did know I would get this response, that we don't want to make it too easy. Why? I think we need to look outside the box here folks. I don't know why if they could collect resources like it was the wild on their own 60 x 60 res that would be "making it too easy for them". We can say we don't want to make things too easy for new players as we continue to see the player numbers dwindling away but that is not going to server anyone in the end. We know there is a problem after the tutorial when they first get to their res. We all see it happening. I think that is the point that we need to make it "too easy".
I just feel like if they start off easy, they'll expect things to stay easy. When they run out of iron ores on their residence they'll say "I'm out of iron. Can someone give me some?" And someone will most likely give them some. They won't feel like they have to work for anything and those are usually the people that end up being beggers.
It won't be any easier than if they were dropped in the wild to start. They would still have to collect it and mine it. I have seen new players that because there res is empty to start become beggars immediately. I think it might reduce the number of beggars.
This is already a thing though. I see this happening nearly all the time as of late with new(er) players. And for the record: not just those on my own server nor those who I decided to spoil a little bit (sometimes (not always!) I like to dump stuff on newer players).
The problem with giving people a res with said stuff on it, is most people will be happy with what they got off of one res. But some will learn that all they need to do is unclaim a res after they strip the 60x60 area with all the good stuff and then claim a new one. This will cause res hopping for mats instead of going out in the wild to get them. I am not against giving someone a helping hand, but seems these days most people take the easy way out every time. By giving them an empty res, EMC is basically giving them that push they need to go out and get their own stuff. I think the problem with new players is that they want stuff handed to them. Its like any multiplayer survival game out there, they see people who have spent years building and gathering have things and want the same but dont want to do all the work to get it. I dont think its EMC's or even MC's fault for that, its the got to win and be the best as fast as we can attitude. I have not done the tutorial in 1780 days, and I am sure it may have changed some. From what I can remember is it starts you off with the rules gives, you some rupees at the end if you read and paid attention to the rules and give some very useful information. And to be fair I think when I started I did not even get any free stuff. I was naked. lol
You are exactly correct and I thought of this as a potential problem. Because there would be some of this. That is definitely the hole in this idea. All I can think is that there was a limit on how often a player can change their res. I really think we need to do something proactive to get the player base back up again. Does everyone think this would be a problem? Or have any ideas on how we could circumvent it?
Might not be the case. If you remember when you join, we were given res and it had a chest in the middle as well as some signs. If you were to unclaim that res and claim another, there would be nothing but dirt. I would imagine the same would happen if some of these idea's were added. Make it so the system only adds these things the brand new users and not claimed/force claimed residences.
If they made it to where you could only get one res with resources and then next one you claim was just dirt, that would be ok. Would keep people from res hopping as well. As far as what was on my first res, could not tell you, I cant remember that far back. I do feel that some help when you first join is ok. It can be a bit overwhelming for most people when starting out.
I personally like this idea, and think it would bring an interesting change to the way we greet new players. However, I would actually want to take it one step further than what you have described. Rather than just giving players more resources to entice them to stay, I think that making a sort of extended tutorial on their new res would go a long ways. Maybe put a hill of sorts in the corner on top of 60x60 dirt res, that holds the few simple resources you were talking about (iron, coal, some gold)? That way, the dirt part of the res is untouched, so the new player can still easily modify the res (part of the reason why the dirt is better, since it is easy to modify for builds, versus a mixture of different block types). Also, the hill would only be large enough for a few basic resources, not enough to mine for a while. Meaning after a day or two on the res, they would be forced to go to the waste to continue collecting resources. Putting a couple of trees on the hill would also provide wood. On the point of it being "too easy" - this is actually more work than they currently do. Currently, we just give them the wood/saplings and items in their inventory. This would force them to have to work to collect them from the beginning. Also, we could put a few signs up either in front of the hill, or on top (or both) explaining what the hill is, and how to continue getting resources once they mine out the hill. For example: The hill would also provide some terrain that would change the plain and boring look of a new res that might scare away some new players. It gives them something to start with and build off of, if they choose. Or, they can tear the entire hill down and have the same 60x60 dirt res that we are used to. Basically, make a new players res a sort of "extended tutorial" for them to work through to give helpful reminders and tips, and include some things that the tutorial doesn't cover as much (shop signs for example).
It would be easier because you don't have to worry about the survival part of the game if you can just mine on your residence. Currently, you can either play it safe and stay in town or venture out and play the way survival was intended. I don't see the need for change. If you want materials, you go get them.
It appears if we want to keep the number of players from decreasing something needs to change. And I don't need to explain to you Kaptrix what could happen to this server if the number of players decreases too much.
I agree that something needs to change, but I don't think coddling new players to get the numbers up is the solution.
