Goldfolk
Dalayan Elder
Really think you need to look at this question more radically. Personally, I think this is a superb game but by my reckoning the question that needs to be answered is:
How do we recruit and RETAIN enough new players to maintain and increase server numbers? Recruitment drives are fine but it is retaining players that is the challenge.
People who try this game fall into different groups and ex-hardcore EQ players will know enough about the game to prosper but any players totally new to this type of game need to be nursed long enough so that they can learn the basics. This is not just for the first 10 levels which even a total noob can do in 1 or 2 evenings max but for the first 1 or 2 months ideally.
To this end I would like to suggest the following would all help:
1) Make it a lot easier to solo up to level 50 or so as the server numbers are so low many people can't find groups.
2) Please, please get rid of the monsters in the MoP. Only new players ever use it so why put people off the game so early. If you are in Europe there is huge lag in the MoP and if as a noob you made a race that is blind as a bat the combination is horrendous.
3) Since around the time of the new server many people in Europe and some in the USA have experienced crashes on logging in and zoning. It didn't used to happen so it is unlikely to be the client; please look at it as it's yet another thing to aggravate new players.
4) You are already prioritising the new Client but just to emphasise how important this is for the future of the game.
5) Maybe consider ALL new players starting in the same location so that they at least have the opportunity to group together even if they don't take it.
6) Have an auto buffbot for new players up to say level 40 or 50 that can, according to level buff them appropriately. Remember noob players won't understand buffing and it teaches them a part of the game and makes it that much easier for them to progress.
I hope you find these suggestions constructive; as I said I do want to see the game survive but at least at European hours numbers are really low. I know some of these are not original and have been rejected before but surely you could reconsider.
How do we recruit and RETAIN enough new players to maintain and increase server numbers? Recruitment drives are fine but it is retaining players that is the challenge.
People who try this game fall into different groups and ex-hardcore EQ players will know enough about the game to prosper but any players totally new to this type of game need to be nursed long enough so that they can learn the basics. This is not just for the first 10 levels which even a total noob can do in 1 or 2 evenings max but for the first 1 or 2 months ideally.
To this end I would like to suggest the following would all help:
1) Make it a lot easier to solo up to level 50 or so as the server numbers are so low many people can't find groups.
2) Please, please get rid of the monsters in the MoP. Only new players ever use it so why put people off the game so early. If you are in Europe there is huge lag in the MoP and if as a noob you made a race that is blind as a bat the combination is horrendous.
3) Since around the time of the new server many people in Europe and some in the USA have experienced crashes on logging in and zoning. It didn't used to happen so it is unlikely to be the client; please look at it as it's yet another thing to aggravate new players.
4) You are already prioritising the new Client but just to emphasise how important this is for the future of the game.
5) Maybe consider ALL new players starting in the same location so that they at least have the opportunity to group together even if they don't take it.
6) Have an auto buffbot for new players up to say level 40 or 50 that can, according to level buff them appropriately. Remember noob players won't understand buffing and it teaches them a part of the game and makes it that much easier for them to progress.
I hope you find these suggestions constructive; as I said I do want to see the game survive but at least at European hours numbers are really low. I know some of these are not original and have been rejected before but surely you could reconsider.