World Decline: Thoughts and Suggestions On Meta

[Porterwake]

I play with one other person. 3-5 month reset would be a bad idea. We like to take our time, play when we can, and get good stuff.

[Granger]

Maybe a different world layout, with ice caps North and South, desert belt around the equator and some temperate zones above and below. Then seasons lasting 1-2 RL months each where the ice shield retracts on one end of the map in spring, revealing a pristine new map with saplings sprouting and wildlife moving in (including renewed sublevels) - while on the other side autumn comes and soon snow and ice will consume the land and everything on and under it...

[dzielny_wojownik]

give smaller groups a bigger chance to survive against bigger factions in combat, like in old haven for the end-game
not stupid shit like you and your group would get ganked and kicked off your stupid horse then eaten alive by the gank on horses with 0 chance of survival like it is now

that would keep me playing, but now if you don't have 10+ man ganksquads behind you it's no point playing the game, because you will get destroyed by the zergs with 0 chance to fight back, unlike it was in old haven - it's stupid to play because of combat now if you don't have a ganksquad, partly, because of how horses work in combat, i quit combat when horses got introdouced in the game and saw how stupid the combat is from that moment

With the current state of combat, i will not play the game until something is changed in this aspect

[CSPAN]

Right, I'd love to see an evolving map, one that is interactive and alive.

Gradual changes like seasons, wild life and foragables thats only present in certain seasons.

An evolving map would keep player interest so much better, especially if the change occurs after a few months, when the population seems to take a big dip.



Over the course of the last 4-5 weeks, numbers have dropped drastically, although still doing much better than the last world. First few months were phenomenal, seeing 600+ players at peak, occasionally 700.

[Fierce_Deity]

World events that reset certain aspects of the world could be a good move to a world that does not need resets.
For example, earthquakes that reset the cave layers, and shift the quality nodes. Claimed stone supports would prevent whats under them from being reset. Unclaimed supports would be destroyed and the area under them reset.

[Redlaw]

A basic in game year, the seasons do not need a game affect right now. Just something that could note special days, the start of some season ect...

Just a basic

Day #
Year #
and season kind of thing

even if the weither does not change it adds ti the flavor of the game.



Next world should have a crowed last much longer as is, the satiation change + more flexable outfit looks will change the length of the world by a lot.

[Itanu]

The problem with player retention at the moment is not the static map- its simply lack of things to do. Having the map change over time won't help player retention at all. Does it really affect whether I wan to keep playing if the leaves on the trees change colour, or new rocks are generated? Sure some of these things are necessary for a persistent world, but they won't help keep players interested indefinitely.
What's fun about starting a new world is that you are forced to do different things, and everyone is on an even footing. At the start of a new world, people racing to get rage, frantically pumping surv to find good nodes, and just experiencing noob life, if only for a short period of time, is really enjoyable.
The bottom line is, being in an established village is often repetitive and boring. The thrill of bringing down your first bear early world cannot be compared with bringing home 20 in one hunting trip, then spending hours butchering them. The joy of finally getting barley off your drying rack is nothing like harvesting thousands of grain over and over again.
Basically, with the game as it is, semi regular resets (3-6 months) are the only way I can see to keep player population up. What would be even cooler is if each world was even more unique than it was at the moment. Imagine the fun and surprise of starting the new world, only to find it is an archipelago style map, or alpine, or something else never seen before. World reset can be made into something positive, especially if there are more unique things happening each time. Perhaps even map objectives- slay the dragon, conquer the underworld. Who knows.

[dageir]

Maybe a surface critter more dangerous than a bear could make for interesting game play?

[jorb]

Great thread, thanks for bringing up the subject.

The fact that population retention tapers off drastically a few weeks into a new world -- and, indeed, this world has been better than usual! -- is not lost on us, and it's something we've discussed at some length.

Our conclusion has been, and a lot of you are touching on that as well, that the game has a fundamental problem in that it offers too few incentives for action, especially after the settling phase. Too few reasons to leave your walls, too few reasons to seek out other players, the world doesn't poke and prod you enough. The world is, quite simply, not dynamic enough to retain interest.

How to remedy that in a gentle way that stays true to the spirit of the game is a better question.

(We're not entirely alien to putting the game on steam, btw, but I don't think that would do much to improve player retention. Bringing in a bunch of new players would feel more meaningful if we had better long-term retention.)

[CSPAN]

Just want to reiterate that the first 2-3 months of this game is magic! Nothing like it, at least in my experience. I would love to see that feeling of uncertainty capitalized on. I think even though most players are striving for stability and safety, they have a yearning for chaos.