Casual Players

[Unix]

I've heard this argument over and over from people. That they dont play HS enough to warrant starting over especially after a reset has occurred. Or by the time they do come back, everyone is too advanced in the experience for them to catch up, etc etc. So how do we overcome something like that that is essentially part of all RPGs for new comers?

 

A feature that I think is viable to institute, but would need some tweaking, is a feature in which new players can start off with basic things right off the bat less signatures.

 

Essentially when a new player comes in, especially right now in a reset, most players have above 10k experience, thus near max ships. A new casual player wouldnt be able to combat well if at all. So to remedy this, a new feature in which they can start off with 6000 experience and 200k in cash would suffice. However, there will be penalties to this. For one thing, you cannot send/receive cash from other players. Your experience will not grow, so you will never have access to signature items. There will be a secondary experience in which it is "real" experienced gained.

 

At this point, after a certain amount of time and money/experience gained, the player has an option to either continue as they are or to upgrade and have half their money and or experience taken away and start with a basic ship. Obviously this could be tweaked, but that is the general idea.

 

This will allow many things to actually happen. One, new players can start with a nonbasic ship. Two, players who dont play often do not have to play a decent amount to get an "ok" ship. Three, players who do play normally will have access to signature items, items that do give an advantage, over players who instantly have money/experience.

 

It's still a working idea, but I do think this could work and allow new players and old veteran players to come back and play. A large complaint was that they didnt want to start over completely, this will allow them to not start over completely, but at the same time not allowing them to have full access to everything that a player who did play normally to have.

 

Eventually a system like this could be used to make items such as fission and alpha drive completely obsolete and have them turned into different items completely. Similar to what has happened to reinforcement.

[Cheese]

or, the money and xp kill caps can be dramatically increased

 

much easier

[Unix]

That wont solve anything, if anything it'd make it worse. Veteran players will simply just make new names and continue the chain just for more money.

[CDB-Man]

I say money should have a hidden "real" counter too. When the player reaches 6k exp, they get 1/2 of that real counter. If we did this, money could grow at regular pace perhaps

[Unix]

That could make sense, the next issue is also now coding and how realistic is it to code?

[CDB-Man]

"what unix is saying is start with good ship, then get it clawed back when you can actually build that ship yourself" I think this sums up the idea nicely.

[Arry]

I started way late in the reset, but I've had to work my way up. I'm not sure even if this option would have been available would I have taken it. Taking away sigs really takes away a lot of the fun out of customizing ships imo. While I like the idea for new players so they can get used to the game, I'm just not sure how many vets would go for the whole not-being-able-to-get-sigs thing. I like where this topic is going though, we need more ideas like this. Edited June 14, 2011 by Arry

[Swift Warrior]

Free over-powered shark for all players regardless of status/earnings, old system that never really took off

[Unix]

Then have it where sharks are not an option.

 

Arry, they would have the option to turn their rented account into a normal account. The money/exp would be part of what they've earned. Similar to a rent to buy system for a house.

[spidernl]

Besides being more work than 'any developer' (yeah, I know we have a lot of those) will likely think it's worth, I don't really like the idea of 'borrowed ships' or anything similar to that.

The point of the slow increase in experience is that, if you really want that awesomepossom item up there in the experience ladder, you have to work for it.

 

Being handed a decent/great ship right off the bat and using that until you unlock the items for yourself means you never really experience (pun not intended) 'climbing the exp ladder'.

Edited June 15, 2011 by spidernl

[Unix]

I agree with you spider, but there are plenty who stay away from the zone for that reason.

 

What I'm suggesting isnt giving them a full ship or an easy way, but more of a secondary route to get to that ship. A route that could potentially be longer if you so want it to be.

 

Player A goes normal route in terms of exp/money. They take 1 week, on average, to get to sig level.

 

Player B goes borrow route. They take 2+ weeks, on average, to get to sig level.

 

At the same time, this borrow route will allow players who only play seldom to have a decent ship, rather than a completely bare ship.

 

There could also be penalties such as a player who went through the borrowed route cannot earn shell/mole.

[spidernl]

I'd rather modify the current 'beginner items' to be more worthwhile - but that won't solve the problem.

Fact is that people leave before they even buy those beginner items, although the zone would be quite doable if they just bought them and went on with life.

 

No idea how to fix that though.

[morphineIV]

Why not just have a basic warbird or jav with a decent beginner setup for those and let them still earn money and exp the normal way. No need to trade-in or rent-to-own, just put all the newbie items on the two ships from the start (more than the basic set-up available now) and newcomers and vets who haven't played for a while can still have fun. It you make it easier for someone to start out, they are more likely to stay and test the zone out.

[Unix]

The problem also are vets who left the zone and want to come back, and at the same time dont want to grind through it again over and over. There are plenty who just want a ship right away rather than have to play all over again.

 

Allowing players who are starting midway through a reset to have this option isnt a horrible proposal. If anything it will benefit the zone overall. You'll have a new pool of players who do come in just to play casually. Which all zones have, because they dont have to take days to build a ship.

[Acer]

Why propose ideas that you know won't ever be used? If it was a sure solution they would take a few minutes a day to code what is needed, but it isn't a 100% solution to anything therefore it won't be tested.

[Unix]

So because it's not the perfect solution as is, it shouldnt be implemented? Then what is the perfect solution? This might work to be a band aid to the population bleed that we're having now, and allow HS to start sustaining itself once more.

[Corey]

i like this idea