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[Yashido Inferata]

I remember the first time I tried this game, no clue what I was to do, and I was intimidated by many things. Looking back now, if I had known of the Tips and Wiki's for the newcomers, things would have been a lot more easier.

So! On that note:
I think it will be a lot more easier to keep newcomers from leaving if we send them an automated message upon sign-up that links to the Wiki's.

Any other ideas?

[soxy]

There's a lot of up-front time investment.

When you start out with your planet, you won't be building ships or anything for days.

Maybe there should be something attached to the tick counter, where people who join late get an amount of M/E upfront related to how far behind they are starting.

[calalobose]

Being a brand new player, i admit this game is deceptively complicated and very intimidating at first glance.

I reached out to other players for advice and help and was helped a great deal. It was that help and support that have made me decide to stay long enough to get past the learning curve.

Wether i find a cool community to befriend while playing will be what earns my time long term tho. So far tho so good.

I just thought i would give you a real noobs perspective.

[bokachika]

we've been having this discussion a little in the chat box, and we (or at least I) have kind of agreed that some sort of beginning tutorial would be a good way to get people to stay. it could be tricky to code, but i think if its doable it could pay some good dividends

basically i think when you first create an account, there should be a  tutorial that returning players have the option to skip.
the ticks in this tutorial would be quick, maybe 5 minutes or less, and you would have a bunch of tasks to do, with the tutorial guiding you through it. basically it would be things like the missions, i.e. build this many asteroids, get your pop. so high, do X technology advancements, etc.
another thing that might help would be to make a NPC tutorial galaxy, where you have to learn to do scans to find a viable target, and carry out a successful attack and defend against an attack.

on a somewhat different note, another idea would be, like already suggested, if you get a certain amount of ships or rocks depending on when you join in the middle of a round, not enough to make it a viable option for returning players to wait for this bonus, but enough where new players wouldn't have to wait so long to get started

i also thought about a "noob alliance" that you are automatically put into, kind of like protection mode, but i'm not sure how that would be administrated and lead, especially if whoever decided to take charge is kicked out in 2 weeks or so

or another idea:
keep the alliance limit at 10
but allow for some (like maybe 5) "newcomer spots"
 they wouldn't count against the maximum of 10 members, but they could only stay in the alliance for a certain amount of time, and maybe with reduced benefits

just some ideas

[Parsona]

The tutorial seems like a really good idea imo. I remember when I first started playing I was really confused and it was basically luck that I stuck around. I try to message new players and offer them help with any questions they might have, but I normally don't get this offer to them before they have made the decision to pass the game up. A tutorial could help people stay longer to get into the game a little more, as well as meet some people.

[bokachika]

yeah, after posting this i also sent messages to all of the players who joined in the recent events log, didn't get any answers

the amount of people who go inactive with 20,000 population has to make you think that people quit almost immediately, so i think getting at least some of them to stay right from the start is the key

[Yashido Inferata]

The hints and tips sections on our forums are also good to refer to, for people who don't even know what to search for. A person who starts doesn't really know what everything is, so they don't really know what to search for on the wiki. But they can easily just read the forum posts and learn about various information that helps them. I looked at the forums when I first started ( I don't think I checked the wiki yet), and I occasionally send a message to new players about those threads. I too don't get any responses.

We also have to consider people who sign-up for this might think it is a MMO remake of Colony Wars for the Playstation.

I enjoy the idea of a tutorial, a well made tutorial can easily bring a person to enjoy a game even if they were really skeptical at first.


Side Humor: I remember the first time I started playing, I thought the green stars beside a persons profile on a galaxy page meant that they never attacked anyone before. (HAHA)

[Overmind]

I have been meaning to make some new templates for Luke to add.

Maybe I should make some out of the box ones, to include more information for new users?