by TeckXKnight » Thu Sep 15, 2011 7:32 pm
Play times often vary. You generally see large spikes in activity at 5am -8:00 PST, 8am -8:00 PST, and 5pm -8:00 PST. In world 3 I hated how people would take a gander at my village and declare it inactive because everyone was either offline or off hunting/exploring. Freshly planted crops, growing trees, well fed cattle, and an active village claim are strong indicators that there are active players in the region. It just so happens that most people don't play for 24 hours a day so you'll need to leave them a message to get into contact with them.
Hearthlings sleeping in a bough bed in the middle of the woods doesn't mean a thing. Quite frankly newbies come and go. There are thousands of people who start a character, gather some bough, build a bed, and quit. They're irrelevant to establishing contact with those around you.
The real question you should be asking yourself is what you'll do when you do meet your neighbors. What if they're hostile? Are you going to give them a greetings gift? What if they give you one? What if they don't speak your language at all? No one ever considers the courtesies surrounding meeting neighbors or what happens if the interaction is a bad one.