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Dogma
05-28-2010, 16:00
You know, I have thought for some time about why our game is slowly going by the wayside and I would like to bounce a few things off you folks.

In trying to figure out why new players that sign up don't stay around very long I have come up with a few ideas. Of the new players that have signed up in the last couple months, how many are still here and active? I have no clue, but I would venture to say there are not near as many as there were to sign up.

Why could this be? I know that when I started or start any new game, I am first trying to figure out what the game is about and how to navigate around in the site. What does what and why. Did our new players, before they got a chance to really figure anything out, get killed in a war? WHo knows. Did theytry and work their way thru the intricacies of the game on their own? Did they hang around for a set and something happen that turned them off? Did they receive any personal contact from anyone in the game that offered not only to help, but to welcome them into the community?

When I started, back in 2002, I did a lot of the same things. I tried to figure outthe game on my own and made many mistakes. I got frustrated with the complexity of it all and almost gave it up. I was in DaB for over a year before I was ever warred. I know what you guys are going to say, "it is a war game". That is not my point. Yes there is a war aspect to the game and it cannot nor should it be written out of the game. There is a need for it. But as has been pointed in a conversation I had with Calvin this morning, it is hard to get your members to show up for a war chat these days. Last set, even LoR had issues with war chats.

What is this telling us? Does it say that there are those that would like to see the game without wars? Who knows, Does it tell us that maybe the older players are not as into warring as others in the community? Who Knows. Does it tell us that the new player we recruit either don't know enough or don care enough about warring that they choose not to participate? Who knows.

I just think that when new players come in they should be offered the opportunity to learn how to run a state before trying to be warriors. I know there are those who will argue with me on that, but lets just look at things objectively. Does a new player really understand all the ins and outs of being in a war when they don't even understand running a pure strat?

I remember when the first thing you taught a new player was how to make his state profitable and balanced. That is not being understood or conveyed to knew players anymore. There is an art to building a good state and everyone here knows that a good state can either net or war should th need arise. Everyone has all these ideas for changing the program to make wars this or that, I don't think that is the answer. I think that a new player should be reached out to and offered help and friendship before making them show up for a war chat. It is just my opinion that we as a group need to start making sure that new players are comfortable in their position with their states and how to build one before they are required to restart in the midst of a war.

Now before I am railed against, stop and think fo ra minute how many of the things I have said are actually the truth and how much of it is BS. I am not, I repeat NOT, saying that wars should be ended or changed, I am only saying that maybe some of the new players that join are being killed before they really understand what they are doing. That is frustrating as hell, I know, it happened to me.

Comments?

pron
05-28-2010, 16:22
You have any statistics on how many new states have been killed?

ooga booga
05-28-2010, 16:27
While I agree with you dogma, I think a lot of the new players here lately become inactive after the first week of the game, before the wars start. I usually see the players with N either never leave protection, or stop playing after they have 1k land. lol I don't know if there is a better way to reach out to them somehow.

Xavior
05-28-2010, 16:36
Actually, I'd disagree with your thoughts Dogma.

I think most of us have fun when there is less restrictions placed on us. I've had this conversation with many people about many games I've played. Isn't it fun when you have no idea what you're doing and just do whatever you want in a game? Liked i posted in the other thread on warring, when I first joined, I did every single type of attack, failed most of them, ran mixed strat in CW with Max Logan, got killed by Empire and DAK right off the bat, but I had fun doing it. Now a days, I know what I'm doing. I know how to run a top state, but I have no more satisfaction placing rank 4 than placing rank 100.

All this protecting new states is going the wrong direction. Let them stand up for themselves for once. Offer them help, there is no need to rage at anyone who attacks them. As long as we don't go out deliberately killing new states we're fine.

As to why we're not keeping most of them, I don't think that thats the case if you're comparing now to back in 2002. I think the % of states kept may be the same but is just magnified when less new states sign up and with our already low member base. Unless we have some hard numbers from Mr. P and Svenne, all this is speculation.

Dogma
05-28-2010, 17:27
Actually, I'd disagree with your thoughts Dogma.

I think most of us have fun when there is less restrictions placed on us. I've had this conversation with many people about many games I've played. Isn't it fun when you have no idea what you're doing and just do whatever you want in a game? Liked i posted in the other thread on warring, when I first joined, I did every single type of attack, failed most of them, ran mixed strat in CW with Max Logan, got killed by Empire and DAK right off the bat, but I had fun doing it. Now a days, I know what I'm doing. I know how to run a top state, but I have no more satisfaction placing rank 4 than placing rank 100.

All this protecting new states is going the wrong direction. Let them stand up for themselves for once. Offer them help, there is no need to rage at anyone who attacks them. As long as we don't go out deliberately killing new states we're fine.

As to why we're not keeping most of them, I don't think that thats the case if you're comparing now to back in 2002. I think the % of states kept may be the same but is just magnified when less new states sign up and with our already low member base. Unless we have some hard numbers from Mr. P and Svenne, all this is speculation.

I am not trying to say that we restrict anything. I don't agree with offereing a protection to new players outof hand, I am not proposing us changing anything in the game, I am only trying o see if we can get our heads together and see what the deal is why we can't keep thenew players that sign up.

Please understand, I am not blaming wars for anything, I am asking questions and just trying to see what we have done or can do to make it a more inviting place for our new players and something where they can learn to enjoy our community the same as we do. I thought if I tried to open a frank discussion that we could maybe brainstorm together and figure something out.

Mhaphew
05-28-2010, 17:42
You know, I have thought for some time about why our game is slowly going by the wayside and I would like to bounce a few things off you folks.

In trying to figure out why new players that sign up don't stay around very long I have come up with a few ideas. Of the new players that have signed up in the last couple months, how many are still here and active? I have no clue, but I would venture to say there are not near as many as there were to sign up.

Why could this be? I know that when I started or start any new game, I am first trying to figure out what the game is about and how to navigate around in the site. What does what and why. Did our new players, before they got a chance to really figure anything out, get killed in a war? WHo knows. Did theytry and work their way thru the intricacies of the game on their own? Did they hang around for a set and something happen that turned them off? Did they receive any personal contact from anyone in the game that offered not only to help, but to welcome them into the community?

When I started, back in 2002, I did a lot of the same things. I tried to figure outthe game on my own and made many mistakes. I got frustrated with the complexity of it all and almost gave it up. I was in DaB for over a year before I was ever warred. I know what you guys are going to say, "it is a war game". That is not my point. Yes there is a war aspect to the game and it cannot nor should it be written out of the game. There is a need for it. But as has been pointed in a conversation I had with Calvin this morning, it is hard to get your members to show up for a war chat these days. Last set, even LoR had issues with war chats.

What is this telling us? Does it say that there are those that would like to see the game without wars? Who knows, Does it tell us that maybe the older players are not as into warring as others in the community? Who Knows. Does it tell us that the new player we recruit either don't know enough or don care enough about warring that they choose not to participate? Who knows.

I just think that when new players come in they should be offered the opportunity to learn how to run a state before trying to be warriors. I know there are those who will argue with me on that, but lets just look at things objectively. Does a new player really understand all the ins and outs of being in a war when they don't even understand running a pure strat?

I remember when the first thing you taught a new player was how to make his state profitable and balanced. That is not being understood or conveyed to knew players anymore. There is an art to building a good state and everyone here knows that a good state can either net or war should th need arise. Everyone has all these ideas for changing the program to make wars this or that, I don't think that is the answer. I think that a new player should be reached out to and offered help and friendship before making them show up for a war chat. It is just my opinion that we as a group need to start making sure that new players are comfortable in their position with their states and how to build one before they are required to restart in the midst of a war.

Now before I am railed against, stop and think fo ra minute how many of the things I have said are actually the truth and how much of it is BS. I am not, I repeat NOT, saying that wars should be ended or changed, I am only saying that maybe some of the new players that join are being killed before they really understand what they are doing. That is frustrating as hell, I know, it happened to me.

Comments?

#1 reason we don't get any new players or don't keep new players...

The game is too hard for new players to grasp.

totte
05-28-2010, 18:02
we need an irc chan like we had back in the days

Mr President
05-28-2010, 18:09
Nice post Dogma..

As for the stats I have several ways of gathering them. Each way has it's own meaning for why I did them. Some of them are kind of confusing and it would take more time for me to explain then it's really worth lol.. I'll give you one breakdown.

In the last 30 days, 29 new states were created and logged into more then once. Out of those 29, 18 States have actually logged back in 5 or more times since the creation of their state. 11 of those states logged in less than 5 times after their state was created..

So why did these 11 leave? Who knows. I do try to send an email asking them why they left and some reply, some don't. There are sets (normally war sets) where people reply the community is too harsh and have weird rules. That is normally the number 1 reply I receive. Then there are those who say they were killed, or bored or the game just isn't for them.

We will never be able to keep everyone who signs up. Some sign up just to see what's it's all about then leave and never come back. Now statistically, if your comparing these same stats from previous NW sets, we are on a nice incline. 18 out of 29 members have stuck around or at least logged in 5 or more times.. Honestly that number for us is great.

I try not to compare our stats to WoW old stats cause we can't really do that anymore. Nation-Wars is so different than what WoW use to be.. I mean think about all the changes that have been made.. It's amazing lol..

It's anyone's guess on how to get and keep new members. We all have ideas and it's great sharing them. I feel many of the new things implemented have made a huge impact on the game. Making the game modern looking was a huge plus for us.

A lot of people say things like text based games are out of style. Yes that is true. Most people want the great graphics and the feel of being right in the action. BUT, they are far from over. Nukezone has a large member base, Earth (until they shut down) had a decent member base, and let's look at AstroEmpires.. That game is freaking huge! Yes it has some graphics but it's mainly a text based game.

As for changes, yes i'm looking at the whole picture on attacking and all that. I'm looking at adding units or taking some out or a little of both. Missiles are a must in this game. I don't know when it will happen but it will happen. Changing up the attacking feature will also happen in time. But it won't be as drastic as some think it will be. My main goal is to make things make a little more sense. Having jets the only attack to kill land doesn't make a whole lot sense to me.. Also having 190 Million ships doesn't really make sense either.. Is there really enough water on the planet to hold that many lol???

It has been proven time and time again that the little changes make the largest difference. My plan is to continue with that as well as look at other ways to make things better. Not every way will be better, but we have to try to always keep this game moving forward.. If we don't, we die!

As for new members, it's another toss up. There are times when we smother a new member and I think it chases them away, and then there are times when we treat them like poop and that chases them away. I really think the missions were a great idea and i think we need to expand on them.. Maybe some missions that will cover every single aspect of the game. I also think instant pop up help tabs or mouse over comments would help people learn their way around as well. And of course, I think the navigation needs to be looked at again as well. I think we have to many tabs on the left side. Maybe we need to have a main screen with some tabs and also a Nations main screen with some tabs. Kinda like WoW use to be where you had the tabs at the top of the "Members" page.. Who knows but all of it will get looked at over time. Many make suggestions and feel ignored if their suggestion isn't implemented right then.. Not the case.. Some things just take time.

Getting our name out is the best way to increase membership. The members we have right now could do us the biggest service. Every single one of you has friends (except Tnova who is a loner). I would bet most of you has a facebook page with 100+ friends. Why are we not hitting them to play? I implemented the "Invite a Friend" page and it is hardly used. I would say MAYBE 20 emails have gone out since implemented.. And half of those are to yourself to see how it looked.

Our main tools are from within. WE ALL have a hand in our fate of this game. That is why I like to interact with all of you as much as I do. It's cause WE ALL are in this together.. This isn't just my game and allow you all to play.. This is OUR game. Every single one of you has a stake in it one way or another. So it's up to us to make it work. Kinda look at it like we are a company and you all are the board of that company..

My last point I would like to make is, most of us talk about how it was when we first started playing.. It is really hard to compare then with now. The internet has changed so much and continues to change everyday. The people surfing the net has changed. Some of you who have been here forever just don't have the passion or time to run a nation. I know I don't. So that is why we need a younger generation to pass the leadership off too and help them along the way if needed. We have to let them learn and play at THEIR own pace and offer help when THEY want it.. Not when we feel they need it.

Mr President
05-28-2010, 18:14
we need an irc chan like we had back in the days

lol when i die i think you will sneak in and etch this on my tombstone..

"Here lies Mr. President. Maybe he would have lived longer if we had an IRC chat room in Nation-Wars."

:)

jkl9926
05-28-2010, 18:31
well from a semi new perspective i remember how the game used to be and this was the first set that i have played in about 5 years. The problem that i had was that when i looked for world-of-war.com it no longer existed the only reason i actually found this place was by googling svenne. I think buying the old domain and having it route you hear might help to bring former players to this game.
Also the game is very hard to figure out and other than a few startup strats we dont have much info to give to new players. I am definitely not the one to do it but if we could get someone to develop a turn by turn instruction sheet for new people i think that it would help alot. The hardest part about this game is understanding the little things that all of the old players take for granted.
I learned based on my memory of the game but true new players dont have that advantage, the missions help and expanding on them would be good because it shows you how to do different things within the game to help you on your way.

I would also like to see more people take pride in there nation when i used to play the nations seemed like a bigger part of everything. LoR is prolly the closest to being a nation that works well together but seeing them struggle with there war chats really surprised me this set. I am definitely not trying to dis on LoR i really like that you guys work together and i would like to see more of it in this game. War is a great way to get new players involved and i think we need to work on way to get them involved when there is not a war.

When I first started playing this game i asked dogma and Tnova questions like every 5 mins and i know that was probably annoying for them but it helped me to better understand the game.

anyways i would really like to see this game do well so i hope we can retain some new members.

totte
05-28-2010, 18:45
lol when i die i think you will sneak in and etch this on my tombstone..

"Here lies Mr. President. Maybe he would have lived longer if we had an IRC chat room in Nation-Wars."

:)

Bah :P

How about implanting some sort of mentoring system hench get a bunch of vets (regardles of nation) to be assigned to new players to intoduce them to the way things work...

as you mentioned astro empires earlier i think there turitorial is great. It tells you what to do and in a sense why and then you cant go on to the next thing until you completed the first thing. I dunno how the missions in nw work as i have never gotten to do them so i cant compare of course

Missionary
05-28-2010, 19:04
i agree with xaviour as bad as that sounds. new players are getting too much pillow treatment. i was almost 6months before i joined USSR back in 2003. those 6 months i just fannied around trying to do what ever i figured out along the way. knowone ever told me i had to build this or that along the way unless we were warring. i was allowed to play my state how i liked.

now a days people are to concerned about getting high net and havein a great state and try to push new states into running there states how they want, not how the new player wants to.

L P
05-28-2010, 19:22
Honestly, we need more integration with social media outlets. Facebook, iPhone and mobile browsers. Think of the scrabble iPhone app or how Zygna has grown so quickly. Look at the interface of www.casualcollective.com/

We need to get more streamlined and evolve into something more trendy. (The forums too as they are a big part of the community.) We would also be more profitable selling the N-W equivalent of Farmville Dollars.

I've said this all before, we just aren't moving fast enough in this direction.

Mhaphew
05-28-2010, 20:25
the main problem is the game is just too complicated.

thats it, theres nothing more, and we have made it complicated ourselves.

A new player will see that they need to build and build they will, then they will redturn, so then they figure out that they need to have food and money in order to build, then they will attack someone and they will attack too many times and they will get punished for it, or they will accidently AR or AA someone and get punished for it.


Simply put, the game is much to complicated for todays new players and theres no way we can change that..

Crimson Shadow
05-28-2010, 20:55
Pres, I know you don't want "when I first played" posts, but I feel that this one is something that is important.

Back when I started, nations were a tight-knit community. USA had friendly/joking messages going back and forth daily. Not just this is how to play, ask if you have questions. The internal forums were used for more than just sharing intels (which now they are never used), and USA even had an active off-sight forum. Now it seems that nations are just used to hold states that either want to war or net, and there is very little interaction between anyone.

Perhaps if we got back to socializing more ingame/offsite/MSN/etc, then it would encourage new players to stay. They will have a better time talking with others rather than being force fed how to run their states and learning complicated terms/rules that they can't grasp. If they feel comfortable talking to others in the nation, they will be more apt to ask for advice and possibly want to stick around.

I mean right now (I can't say it is the same for every nation, but it seems this way) most states, vets included, just do the same thing every day. Log in, play some turns, log out. There are rarely messages sent out, internal forums sit there useless, things are just dead.

This game is very community driven; without the community aspect, I doubt we would have more than 20 states playing. And even though it is a community game, we have taken the community out of it. This could be why new members aren't sticking around. They are just looking at numbers and text and think wow this is boring, I'm going to do something else.

So, my suggestion for us all to improve on (myself included), is to just make yourselves more available to chat with new members. Don't just send messages about how to play, but get to know them a little, find out what their interest are or whatever. Just try to make them feel apart of your nation, rather than making them feel like a noob learning how to put numbers into a textbox.

Dogma
05-29-2010, 00:58
ok, evereyone has the wrong impression of what I said, I am not saying that we force feed new players, nor am I saying that we should offer them any special protection. All I am trying to say is that we have to find some way to get new players involved and in the community. Yes, let members plkay their staqtes the way they want, but when they screw up, someone wants to retal them and hurts their state without explaining why they were hit. Holy Crap, people, get a grip. I am not saying any of that.

Just like I posted that I would be interested in starting SLOB back up as a place that new players can come and learn the basics of running a state. I had Devil and Blaa both post that they may be interested. That is exactly what I am talking about, if those two would be ewilling to help out, that would be 3 different methods of running a state that they could see and learn the basics from. I say thre as Devil runs his state one way, Blaa runs his another and myself yet another so that is some variety in what method used to run a state. **** All I am saying is lets get these new guys some idea what the hell is going on before they are thrown to the wolves.

Letw take Ultimatet Rellik, for example, He came in, trying to run his state his own way and how many people has he pissed off by him doing his own thing? I know that there are many of you that laugh and get a great big kick over seeig him hit and hit and hit the noobs while trying to lkill them. Has anyone offered to ehlp him learn how to be more effective in what he wants to do? I have which is why I am giong to be in a nation with him next set so I can help him run his state a little more efficiently so he can carry on his acts of violence against the whole of NW.

Xavior
05-29-2010, 01:37
Actually, a few of us have offered to help. But he turns us all down :(

Max Logan
05-29-2010, 04:52
Offered. But I don`t think he`s interested in MY help :P


When I started out, I had no freaking clue what and how to do. I joined up with DT, as the leade, I forgot his name...**** it`s been a while..., mailed me and asked to join, I was feeling nice, that someone offered me a place. So I started to play my way, just attacking here and there, no real reason, wihtout looking at GB or anything, just who got most land. Mixed strat.. :p actually played it for 2 months or so.

Then Scott took initiative and broke away from DT forming CW. That`s when the fun started. We did everything we wanted, warred for no real reason, or netted to get the AveNet, we actually finished 2nd behind GSA, now we were amazed. There were 2-3 great nations at that time, the rest just played among themselves, without caring much about RIF, BG... we had fun warring other mid nations, c22+TLR (later E). just cuz we liked.

No one ever really tought me to play, I learned by watching others, taking tips at forums. I had fun doing things myself, grasping the basics. there were more players that time, so watting was really fun. had a year or so switching between warring tags (HuuF, Secret, AR, Dak and SSC warring sets). Then Kenny came along...TWC and PX was my home for the comming sets. Same players, same goals. It was fun. Then Lor and their undernations (DL, WLF, AF) ended the fun. tons of players quit nation after nation. i left for a few months. and then another home...E...great people, great players, much fun. even while being killed for the lo ls of it. then gradually, E quit to, and I left again for a few years, until 2008 WoW in form of NW came back. USA(deli, DOOM), GRIM, SLOB, ABT...all places I called home!

What I`m saying...players need a home. It`s the reason people stay - a place they can call home! We shoul encourage new player by all means to join an established nation - ABT, LoR, USA... If they do, they`ll have a place to return to

totte
05-29-2010, 11:53
Pres, I know you don't want "when I first played" posts, but I feel that this one is something that is important.

Back when I started, nations were a tight-knit community. USA had friendly/joking messages going back and forth daily. Not just this is how to play, ask if you have questions. The internal forums were used for more than just sharing intels (which now they are never used), and USA even had an active off-sight forum. Now it seems that nations are just used to hold states that either want to war or net, and there is very little interaction between anyone.

Perhaps if we got back to socializing more ingame/offsite/MSN/etc, then it would encourage new players to stay. They will have a better time talking with others rather than being force fed how to run their states and learning complicated terms/rules that they can't grasp. If they feel comfortable talking to others in the nation, they will be more apt to ask for advice and possibly want to stick around.

I mean right now (I can't say it is the same for every nation, but it seems this way) most states, vets included, just do the same thing every day. Log in, play some turns, log out. There are rarely messages sent out, internal forums sit there useless, things are just dead.

This game is very community driven; without the community aspect, I doubt we would have more than 20 states playing. And even though it is a community game, we have taken the community out of it. This could be why new members aren't sticking around. They are just looking at numbers and text and thing wow this is boring, I'm going to do something else.

So, my suggestion for us all to improve on (myself included), is to just make yourselves more available to chat with new members. Don't just send messages about how to play, but get to know them a little, find out what their interest are or whatever. Just try to make them feel apart of your nation, rather than making them feel like a noob learning how to put numbers into a textbox.

good point

pron
05-29-2010, 14:12
Letw take Ultimatet Rellik, for example, He came in, trying to run his state his own way and how many people has he pissed off by him doing his own thing? I know that there are many of you that laugh and get a great big kick over seeig him hit and hit and hit the noobs while trying to lkill them. Has anyone offered to ehlp him learn how to be more effective in what he wants to do? I have which is why I am giong to be in a nation with him next set so I can help him run his state a little more efficiently so he can carry on his acts of violence against the whole of NW.

Yes, his first set was in LOR. We were teaching him how to run a pure strat and to war. Then he wanted to do his own plans, which wouldn't have worked while under LOR--so he chose to leave.

ooga booga
05-29-2010, 18:03
Offered. But I don`t think he`s interested in MY help :P


When I started out, I had no freaking clue what and how to do. I joined up with DT, as the leade, I forgot his name...**** it`s been a while..., mailed me and asked to join, I was feeling nice, that someone offered me a place. So I started to play my way, just attacking here and there, no real reason, wihtout looking at GB or anything, just who got most land. Mixed strat.. :p actually played it for 2 months or so.

Then Scott took initiative and broke away from DT forming CW. That`s when the fun started. We did everything we wanted, warred for no real reason, or netted to get the AveNet, we actually finished 2nd behind GSA, now we were amazed. There were 2-3 great nations at that time, the rest just played among themselves, without caring much about RIF, BG... we had fun warring other mid nations, c22+TLR (later E). just cuz we liked.

No one ever really tought me to play, I learned by watching others, taking tips at forums. I had fun doing things myself, grasping the basics. there were more players that time, so watting was really fun. had a year or so switching between warring tags (HuuF, Secret, AR, Dak and SSC warring sets). Then Kenny came along...TWC and PX was my home for the comming sets. Same players, same goals. It was fun. Then Lor and their undernations (DL, WLF, AF) ended the fun. tons of players quit nation after nation. i left for a few months. and then another home...E...great people, great players, much fun. even while being killed for the lo ls of it. then gradually, E quit to, and I left again for a few years, until 2008 WoW in form of NW came back. USA(deli, DOOM), GRIM, SLOB, ABT...all places I called home!

What I`m saying...players need a home. It`s the reason people stay - a place they can call home! We shoul encourage new player by all means to join an established nation - ABT, LoR, USA... If they do, they`ll have a place to return to

It's interesting to see players that had no help and had no clue what they were doing when they first started, enjoy themselves. I'm from the opposite spectrum. When I first started there were 4 of us that came from another game. We created our own little nation and introduced ourselves on the forums. People welcomed us, and Fangz from E was the first to offer and provide us assistance on how to build states, how strats worked, etc. Without Fangz's help I would have been lost and probably frustrated like some of you most likely were. I like to be good at games I play, who doesn't? :P So the quicker I was to be able to compete with other players, the more fun it was. That very set the 4 of us disbanded our nation and just went straight into [E]. I made my home there for the next 4 months before I left because I was itching to experience the war aspect of the game. Anyway we could all go on and on. But to have someone reach out to my friends and I and help us all at once so we can get on our feet was a huge reason I stayed here. Unfortunately the other 3 I came with never stayed. Don't know why and that was 4-5 years ago and I only remember one of them. It's a shame Fangz isn't here anymore, or most of the E members. I liked them and being in a nice friendly nation was a factor in why I didn't leave the game.

Will
05-29-2010, 18:09
Perhaps a basic guide should be put up on the forums for newbies (Pure strats and the "Unwritten rules") Either in the announcements or in the main game forum. I know we have a help section now, but when I started out all those years back, the first place I looked for information was on the forums and with it I worked out how to play casher. Without this, things might have gone a lot differently for me. I do however disagree that the game is hard to learn, as long as you have the right information plus the freedom to experiment.

KelpKris
05-29-2010, 19:44
My main goal is to make things make a little more sense. Having jets the only attack to kill land doesn't make a whole lot sense to me.. Also having 190 Million ships doesn't really make sense either.. Is there really enough water on the planet to hold that many lol???

It's a game, everything doesn't have to make sense. :)

BeeNo
05-30-2010, 01:46
who says were even battling on earth :)

ranger2112
07-14-2010, 10:34
Pres, I know you don't want "when I first played" posts, but I feel that this one is something that is important.

Back when I started, nations were a tight-knit community. USA had friendly/joking messages going back and forth daily. Not just this is how to play, ask if you have questions. The internal forums were used for more than just sharing intels (which now they are never used), and USA even had an active off-sight forum. Now it seems that nations are just used to hold states that either want to war or net, and there is very little interaction between anyone.

Perhaps if we got back to socializing more ingame/offsite/MSN/etc, then it would encourage new players to stay. They will have a better time talking with others rather than being force fed how to run their states and learning complicated terms/rules that they can't grasp. If they feel comfortable talking to others in the nation, they will be more apt to ask for advice and possibly want to stick around.

I mean right now (I can't say it is the same for every nation, but it seems this way) most states, vets included, just do the same thing every day. Log in, play some turns, log out. There are rarely messages sent out, internal forums sit there useless, things are just dead.

This game is very community driven; without the community aspect, I doubt we would have more than 20 states playing. And even though it is a community game, we have taken the community out of it. This could be why new members aren't sticking around. They are just looking at numbers and text and think wow this is boring, I'm going to do something else.

So, my suggestion for us all to improve on (myself included), is to just make yourselves more available to chat with new members. Don't just send messages about how to play, but get to know them a little, find out what their interest are or whatever. Just try to make them feel apart of your nation, rather than making them feel like a noob learning how to put numbers into a textbox.

nice post. I agree with you. i started up with a mixed strat, had no clue what i was doing, but had fun doing it. USA invited me to join them, i believe it was 101st that asked me to join, but that has been so long ago, i dont remember.

i would enjoy getting advice from the "vets" and felt a sense of belonging whenever we would joke and play on our off-site forums.

all this no suiciding( dont wanna ruin a great set) and watch how u attack, etc makes me unsettled. There are more **** rules than things to actually do in here. i left because of this, however, i missed a lot of folks here so i came back. NOT FOR THE GAME, BUT FOR THE COMMUNITY.

people, this is not a job, this is fun. it is a game. get the new guys together and show them a good time. take em to an exotic dance club(check with Minimus on this one), make them feel at home and free.

if someone cries because a suicider killed their chance at the number one spot, then that person has more issues than a game and should move their *** out of their momma's basement, put away the mr. spock ears and try a little sunlight on their ***.

999
07-15-2010, 13:08
I think we should start a training program. A group of experienced players should volunteer to mentor the new players who join the game. When a new player creates his/her state they can automatically be assigned to one of the volunteers who will become his/her mentor. A message should be sent to both the mentor as well as the new player to notify them of this. We can also have a part in the overview where the name of the mentor is shown so that if the new player makes a mistake the mentor can be notified.

This way the mentor can introduce and welcome the new player to NW and then regularly communicate with him/her so that he can feel part of the community. The mentor can also slowly teach the new player about the strats and unwritten rules etc etc

totte
07-15-2010, 14:51
I think we should start a training program. A group of experienced players should volunteer to mentor the new players who join the game. When a new player creates his/her state they can automatically be assigned to one of the volunteers who will become his/her mentor. A message should be sent to both the mentor as well as the new player to notify them of this. We can also have a part in the overview where the name of the mentor is shown so that if the new player makes a mistake the mentor can be notified.

This way the mentor can introduce and welcome the new player to NW and then regularly communicate with him/her so that he can feel part of the community. The mentor can also slowly teach the new player about the strats and unwritten rules etc etc
this is a very good idea ;)

ploppy
07-29-2010, 14:44
Nobody likes a cry baby

glavchev
08-05-2010, 04:31
very good post.............
should not think about what it was and we do so in the future to be better than what was.
To keep the new players we need to work with them.in the first set when I began to play the game again (before 4 months) I invited 4 new players .... three of them are active each set.
My idea to keep new player is:
every good player from past and present to create nation with 3 or 4 "N"players....to teach them and to play for them...to tell them about things that are not written in the manual and to explain those which are written....I'm ready to play 3 or 4 months to learn "N"player and i think that many other are ready too....to achieve this, Mr. President should send me an email with new members which I will work, selected randomly.....if I am a "N" player and someone told me what and how to do things in this game ... I never left the game....

commandervd
08-05-2010, 06:03
Well i'm back after some years of absence. And honestly shocked by how few people are still here. Mostly the names, that where here when i started years ago.
I founded DLF, with a couple of friends, a few sets later i merged with Z and started WLF.

It's hard game,but mainly for the reason that this game, more than other games i played, has formed to a real world. And has self-destructed itself. There were a lot of stable nations, i had no interest in that and started myself a nation. I think it's like the real-world where nationscan't coope with the new rising powers or threats.

A lot of players dislike WLF, because they where aggressive. We disliked you because big experienced nations, wanted to tell us what to do. We disliked the viets, because of their random attacks(now suiciding and illegal).

I think the problem lies in the new rules, the game rules changed to protect the big nations. For new peope it's to hard to get into the game because of enormous history this game has. The game is hard to learn, but even harder to get in to the social aspect. I think there lies the problem

Mr President
08-05-2010, 14:09
Well i'm back after some years of absence. And honestly shocked by how few people are still here. Mostly the names, that where here when i started years ago.
I founded DLF, with a couple of friends, a few sets later i merged with Z and started WLF.

It's hard game,but mainly for the reason that this game, more than other games i played, has formed to a real world. And has self-destructed itself. There were a lot of stable nations, i had no interest in that and started myself a nation. I think it's like the real-world where nationscan't coope with the new rising powers or threats.

A lot of players dislike WLF, because they where aggressive. We disliked you because big experienced nations, wanted to tell us what to do. We disliked the viets, because of their random attacks(now suiciding and illegal).

I think the problem lies in the new rules, the game rules changed to protect the big nations. For new peope it's to hard to get into the game because of enormous history this game has. The game is hard to learn, but even harder to get in to the social aspect. I think there lies the problem

I don't think the suiciding rule simply benefits the larger nations. The
suiciding rule does work both ways. It benefits all the nations as well as the game.. But honestly again nobody is understanding the suiciding rule. Some still feel that they can't do a few AR's or AA's against another state in fear of being marked a suicider. That is NOT TRUE. We won't even look at you for doing it. It is a nations job to defend it's own. Not an admins.
What we look for are the ones who got mad cause they got warred and decide that for the next however many sets they are going to suicide the same state during those sets. These are the ones this rule was enacted for. I have said this many many times and everyone still wants to think that it's a huge law on any susicide.. IT'S NOT!

But you did say one thing in your post that is 100% true...


The game is hard to learn, but even harder to get in to the social aspect. I think there lies the problem

This has been our biggest problem and you'll find many posts about it. Most of us played when WoW was younger which means most people didn't really know eachother all that well, but now eveyone is friends with everyone and we're all kinda "clicky". We like new people but yet only when they see things our way. We want more people playing, but yet as long as they play the way we want them too. We have lost more members to this then anything else. Sadly I don't have a fix for that. That has to be done from within by all of you. I think things have gotten a little better, but overall we still have a lot of work to do in that area.

commandervd
08-05-2010, 15:48
Thanks Mr. President, only i don't complain about the suiciding, cause it's a fair rule.

I only stated it out, because it caused a lot of trouble in the game. Which caused a lot of players to quit.

When i started(there is the sentence again), the click was allready there between most of the players who are here still playing. Then new kids on the block weren't taken seriously when creating a nation themselves or playing there own style.

I think the game needs a lot of advertising to attract new players, but then, like you said. We need to keep and hold them, and give them(like Max stated i thought) a home.

I don't care if it's USA//Euro//OWN//WLF or whatever nation it is, cause every nation has an attraction to certain players. I had to create my own for that(with some others) and i find my home in WLF. So if new players want that, let them be, but lets guide them how you can keep hold of your nation

Minimus
08-13-2010, 13:24
So, yeah, my opinion basically counts for a pile of horse Dogma, but here goes. I think if you want a successful game, you need to let people play how they want to play. Suiciders have fun suiciding, so **** it, let them do it, and deal with it. You aren't going to lose many veteran players because of it, because they are addicted to this game more than they are addicted to porn.

Dogma
08-13-2010, 17:39
So, yeah, my opinion basically counts for a pile of horse Dogma, but here goes. I think if you want a successful game, you need to let people play how they want to play. Suiciders have fun suiciding, so **** it, let them do it, and deal with it. You aren't going to lose many veteran players because of it, because they are addicted to this game more than they are addicted to porn.

Well can't argue with this point!

Calvin74
08-13-2010, 18:08
Well can't argue with this point!

porn is way better than this game:P
maybe you some help looking???