The Decline of SS and TW is real

[Jerome Scuggs]

twbot knows when new players enter tw, just get the bot to send a pm asking maybe to leave a comment on where/how they heard about and downloaded subspace (edit: maybe a pm at 5 hours ?usage asking what could be done better / if they feel overwhelmed / something)

though that being said im 99% sure there is already some sort of survey bot that asks u to leave a !comment about something or another and i have done nothing but abuse it with dick jokes while shitfaced

[Ephemeral]

9^th,
Wow. How old are you? Given the thought (or lack thereof) of your posts I am guessing that you are very young and simply do not know better or have any experience. So according to your logic, no bad news should ever be communicated? A serial killer is loose in your town but since it may impact tourism you would keep any news of it hidden? Sorry, that’s not how life works.

And of course these forums are never even seen by the majority of new player who leave quickly. If you handled a few ?new player calls and put your brain in gear before your mouth you would know that the new players we are talking about don’t stay in the game for longer than 5 minutes; they don’t even know about these forums.

On the other hand, Jerome is asking the correct question. Although polling them might glean some info this isn’t that hard; simply take some new player calls. Make helping new players a priority instead of holding dumbass, poorly attended events. Get rid of the dumbass ?buy system which heavily favors experienced players. Put a tutorial in place that not only teaches new players but gets them invested. In other words, make Pub more new player friendly. Anyone who tries to argue that Pub is new player friendly is either a moron or completely out of touch with what is happening. Driving marketing for new players is a total waste of time when Pub is like this.

Alternatively we can just write new players off (which is actually what we have done). Instead we can only market towards trying to bring back existing players who have quit. This has been knocked around for a few years and I think several attempts have been made (i.e. via email blasts). In this case then holding events on demand even when it crushes Pub is fine. Making Pub heavily geared that favorers experienced players is fine. But of this is the case then post that is what we want to do and let’s quit talking about even trying to get new players.

But to say that we are running new players off due to negative posts in a seldom used, loosely associated forum is just wrong on several levels. We all acknowledge that the game has little of offer in terms of graphics and cannot compete with others in the marketplace. That train left the station about 15 years ago. We all can agree that the community is indeed a ‘selling’ point in that teamwork and the online chats are an asset. But what fucking good are these assets when a new player doesn’t ever experience them because they got owned so badly in the first 3 minutes? TW has nothing to offer, no incentive, for a player to stick around after the first 3 minutes of being owned. They don’t see the teamwork, they don’t form friendships in 3 minutes. A game is like a website, you have only a minute to get the person involved enough to stick around. Pub is like a really shitty opening page of a website. There might be some good stuff in the website but we lose the vast majority of viewers in the opening page. And some Einstein’s want to throw more money/time on trying to bring in new players when Pub is like this? Some want to insist that negative posts in a forum buried deep in the website are the real reason we can’t keep new players? Really? please get with the program and think this shit through before making more dumbass posts.
Eph

[9th!]

has anyone ever like, asked all these new ppl where they are coming from and/or what might keep them around

Funny you say that as I mentioned that it would be a very good idea to find out where new players came from.

Threads like this do not help to be fair... new players join forums and sees 100 threads about the decline of SS? Why would thy stay?

[Jerome Scuggs]

has anyone ever like, asked all these new ppl where they are coming from and/or what might keep them around

[Ephemeral]

Nobody controls and is responsible for pub. It is a dumping ground for “good” ideas. These “good” ideas were considered only in the context of ‘hey I know how we can do that’. This is typical when you don’t have any real leadership or vision and instead simply have people who think any change is good.

And obviously no one gives a shit about new players, they are not represented by anyone. Instead we have a lot of vocal experienced players who have driven the zone into being customized for their pleasure and enjoyment. Pub bucks is a perfect example of this kind of dumbass, selfish thinking. The very demise of pub bucks is anti-new player. It is not like a new player starts with a large bank to ?buy shit with.

As others have pointed out new players don’t even know how to attach. Pub bucks, or some other point system, is fine as long as it cannot be used to favor experienced players and ?buy win. Giving players something to track their ranking is a good idea as a type of ‘reward’, but you can’t allow this to be used to disrupt game play in Pub. Betting seems reasonable and without much downside; just dump the dumbass store crap. Make a new arena where player can buy Thors, endless bursts /shraps or whatever and lets see how popular it really is. Frankly I don’t see that kind of arena being popular, everyone just buying all kinds of shit doesn’t sound like much fun to me.

Instead, sell events. Stop running events just because someone asks for them and raping Pub of its population. Pear down the events so that they are rarely held, making them special. Offer them on demand ONLY if a player can buy them for a large amount of pub bucks. At least this way player have to put some time into Pub before driving/consuming zone resources for events.
Eph

[Pressure]

I've been saying this for the past 2-3 years or so. Put ?go base and ?go javduel and ?go duel and ?Go twjd and ?go wbduel ALL on the same map in ?go 0

That way any entering player will think there is a lot of action going on. Also, any person waiting to play one of the pickup matches will be more likely to enter and make pub more active. If this actually has some interest I'll re-post one of my old, more elaborate posts. But this could help the activity and could help cling onto new players who may log off if they see no action...

This game started to lose its appeal when the new players had nothing to aspire to. The pub leaderboards used to "matter," there were pub squads and pub was actually fun. Newbs need to see players that they can aspire to play as well as, and they need to understand that the most appealing, and best part of TW is the squad dynamics and community. Without a fast introduction and immediate exposure to competitive/fun-competitive play (like ?go javduel or ?go base) I highly doubt players will be interested in staying. Pub is a clusterfuck at first glance, and a new player can only get lev'd so many times before they think the game is all about cheating and give up (I personally love levs, but a new player would find it frustrating and quit). How many new players even know how to look for other arenas or know where the base actually is?

[Jessup]

Pub !buy issue

So I was in pub last night. A pretty good battle was going on for once. We had like 20 on each freq. I notice a lanc buys super.. that's cool I think.. super his an allotted time frame and it will expire. Then he buys a shield when that expires.. that's cool if he wants to use his money for one flag claim that is ok too I suspose... annoying but ok.. Then I rush in knowing he is at his limit.. WTF .. I see him with super again.. and again .. and again.. then a shield.. and super and super and shields and this and that ..then others start doing, and more start doing it.. WTF this game is never ending.. more hax and more hax .. and more.. ( I mean !buys) .. Then people start to log off.. the freq that kept on buying just wore people out. so... my thoughts.. THIS PUB BUY SYSTEMS HAS GONE BEYOND ANNOYING!! It has become a wild hot mess. It is ruining games and it ruins skill. Remove it totally or set serious limits on it. It ruins so many angles to the game .. It's paid hax... I mean it is fun doing one or something but allowing unlimited supers and shields? Terrible idea and a new player will never know how to use a buy system for that matter nor have the money.. They see all this crazy stuff going on..and don't get why these guys are so powerful.. they have to got annoyed.. I understood what was happening and I was annoyed. Change this please ASAP. Allow 1 super , 1 shield and 1 epidemic per GAME for the entire freq...or get rid of it entirely and just use pub bux for bets, pub duels , and pub bonuses. Stop with the buy shrap too .. and the unlimted buy reps and the unlimited bur bursts and the unlimited buy portals.. and the unlimited buy full shields and the unlimited anti warp and the unlimited multifires. sigh.. everything is out of control!that is stupid!! The games skill has become about who can set the best macros up and can hit a fullcharge or rep or any type green u can think of. Certain javs like BOBR buy max shrap every time they get in a jav or shark and lob this spraying piece of crap from afar that devastates people. We need to put an end to this silly stuff. I've always been annoyed by it since the store was made.... some of the features are fun for short bits but make it way more limited please. We are doing nothing to show how the game is meant to be played.. you green to get your prizes , that is how it is meant to be played. It really ruins competitive play and has become a circus. Grrr

[Exalt]

I think pub should be abolished and a new entirely different idea is created for the arena players first go to. The game is dead. Pub sure as fuck doesn't keep it around. TWD and TWL being people back, but pub doesn't. Half the people in pub are spectators anyways.

i know this idea will never go over with the pure pubbing staff members (pure speccing in pub actually), so it's a waste of time to type any more, but keeping shit the same and not making drastic changes sure won't make this game live again.

[MHz]

I think the population decline could be ameliorated by putting a bit of effort into social media... getting together an official facebook/twitter/youtube with regular content. Get it all pointing to eachother as well. Spend a bit of the donations money on sponsored posts and selective youtube advertising. Also, if it hasn't already been done, we should harvest all the email addresses that have been registered at various locations and put together a monthly newsletter via Mailchimp. Perhaps even TWD/TWL text updates for mobile. We have to maximise the engagement of the current player pool - cos lord knows we won't find much fresh blood now.

[mtine]

I bet a lot of people start and quit the game without ever finding or seeing the base, or knowing you can attach to a terr. The easiest and most effective way to help new players is to have the spawn screen, either the screen you see in A1 before you choose a ship, or create a spawn zone with instructions written near them and clearly visible on how to get started. A short description of each ship, on what buttons shoot and power the ship, on telling them to press f1 for more help. But no one, in the last 5 years where so many have brought this up, cares anymore. There is no staff willing or able to make such a simple change. All staff effort has gone into giving people who already know the game more fun things to buy. I spent an hour with Pure Luck, must be 3-5 years ago, showing him DSB's tutorial, which is a small map that has you fly through a small obstacle course, with each new room showing you something new to do, simple things like steering the ship, firing, and an instruction to the map, base, etc. But the days of energy filled staff members making new maps seem to be over.

I have made such a map with all u suggested. And guess what happened? TW Staff said NO. The end

[Vatican Assassin]

I bet a lot of people start and quit the game without ever finding or seeing the base, or knowing you can attach to a terr. The easiest and most effective way to help new players is to have the spawn screen, either the screen you see in A1 before you choose a ship, or create a spawn zone with instructions written near them and clearly visible on how to get started. A short description of each ship, on what buttons shoot and power the ship, on telling them to press f1 for more help. But no one, in the last 5 years where so many have brought this up, cares anymore. There is no staff willing or able to make such a simple change. All staff effort has gone into giving people who already know the game more fun things to buy. I spent an hour with Pure Luck, must be 3-5 years ago, showing him DSB's tutorial, which is a small map that has you fly through a small obstacle course, with each new room showing you something new to do, simple things like steering the ship, firing, and an instruction to the map, base, etc. But the days of energy filled staff members making new maps seem to be over.

[Rab]

separate squads is a reasonable idea - might depend on whether messaging can work without squad messaging in game

[olde]

this is the only way to save the zone.

[olde]

I HAVE A PLAN if ANYONE WANTS TO LISTEN!!!

I mean let's face being stuck on a squad that only logs on and plays on Sundays for TWL sucks. We all have been there. SWEET is a perfect example. They hardly play twd now since making qualifications.

Now my plan would be, have separate squads for Twd and TWL. Now.

This would allow vets and tryhards to join squads that are more fun and active and play side by side with less skilled players in twd, this would allow all day playing and boost active soooo much , more. TWD would be all "FUN" squads BUILT for ACTIVITY not tryharding.

The plus by this is it allows newer players to get involved, it allows more activity in the zone which will attract players of all kinds an from other zones.

Now for TWL before qualifications you would be allowed to make a separate sqd only for TWL. This way it doesn't effect twd in anyway. Almost the same way TWDT IS DONE on Sundays but with out the drafting.

Now how you would qualify for TWL.
INSTEAD of the points system you qualify through a WEEK LONG TOURNAMENT. To decided seedind.

Basicly you can stay on your fun active TWD sqd all year round. Instead of leaving becuase you have a better chance of winning a TWL medal and hardly playing other then on Sundays.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU GUYS THINK. SOMETHING HAS GOT TO CHANGE OR SS WILL DIE , VERY SOON..

[Ephemeral]

...this game is extremely simple once you figure it out...

Tell that to a brand new player who enters Pub for the first time only to be owned by some vets.

...a community that is among the oldest and most experienced when it comes to gaming...

Tell this to a brand new player who just spend 30 minutes being owned but then has his team lose because 'the most experienced players' have simply ?buy win in Pub.

...where they can interact with other players...

Yeah, interacting with Tower on a daily basis is a sure fire way to attract new players.

Nice pep talk but there is zero chance at this zone sustaining itself as long as Pub is the cluster fuck it current is. Marketing is a complete and total waste of time and money as long as new players are met with an empty Pub or one that is so badly slanted in favor of experienced players. It is like saying we should spend money/time on marketing a restaurant when the food sucks so bad that every new person who eats there doesn't come back.

Of course TW cannot compete with modern games but this has nothing to do with the fact that we have allowed Pub to morph into an arena which makes breaking into the game too difficult. We have allowed the existing population to jerk the zone around to suit them and hung the new player population out to dry. Ask anyone who has spent more than a few hours trying to help new players. Rarely have I ever seen a new player enter and immediately say 'these graphics suck, I'm leaving'. Instead what I have seen are new players who enter, spend about 5 minutes getting owned, then leave.

I've beaten this drum for several years but I'll say it again... Stop wasting time/money and your breathe on marketing talk. Fix Pub. The zone desperately needs an automated training arena which not only allows a new player to become familiar with flying, shooting, weapons, and attaching but most importantly; makes new players 'invested' in the game. We all know how frustrating it is to start learning a new game. But proper gaming design always requires a new player to go through several 'levels' with increasingly difficult skill sets learned along the way. It's not rocket science, its common sense.
Eph