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player retention
notyuu
Posts: 1,121 Arc User
It doesn't take an expert to see that CO is having trouble getting and retaining players on a regular basis, and having poked around, I think I've managed to boil it down to three main issues.
1: The ATs are terrible, as in if you play through CO using an AT it makes it seem like a really, really bad game, which obviously is a point against CO, because...well, who wants to play a game that just seems outright bad, which is a shame considering to get the goodness you either need to put in a ungodly amount of time farming Q for zen for a free form slot, or be able to fork up the money for a gold membership.
Possible solution: Either give every silver account, both existing and newly created a single Free Form slot [I'm aware that'll kill the main reason to go gold unless they want more than 1 ff character, which most people do].
Or removing the AT's all together and replacing them with a tree system, which would consist of 12 trees, each one containing 2 full power sets [3 each for elemental] and the silver accounts can pick 2 trees per character, the end result would be the player being able to pick and choose what powers they want from the trees they selected, as well as their own super stats and spec trees.
Tree division goes as follow [I know the names are rubbish, but I'm not good with names]
Raw Elements
-Fire
-Wind
-Earth
Altered Elements
-Ice
-Eletric
-Force [Rename it to gravity to make more sense]
Bullets, Bombs and Bows
-Muntuions
-Archery
Tech heads
-Gageteering
-Power Armor
Blade Mastery
-Single Blade
-Dual Blades
Martial Arts
-Unarmed
-Fighting Claws
Mind over matter
-Telekinesis
-Telepathy
Brute force
-Might
-Heavy weapons
Otherworldly
-Celestial
-Darkness
Mystic Sorcery
-Arcane Sorcery
-Primal Sorcery
Aligned Sorcery
-Ebon Sorcery
-Radiant Sorcery
Supernatrual Monster
-Beastial supernatrual
-Infernal Supernatrual
2: The lack of advertising..this one is simple, the shear lack of advertising means nobody know that CO exists, making it extremely hard to find..hell, i only found it though a yourtube video about games with good player customation.
Solution: This one is as simple as they get...ADVERTISE...and no, ARC [who the hell uses it anyway?] and the odd review in some online review site that I can't even remember the name of becasue it's that obsecure, don't count]
3: lack of consistent content output
Solution: Get tummerboy back/hire move devs/stop being lazy/let us replay missions at level 40 and have them scale up to our level.
Yes i know the last one was rude but I'm tired of playing a game where we get one half decient piece of content per year, becasue for the rest of the year i'm sitting around bored as hell due to a lack of content...and no, lockboxes do not count as new content, they count as filler to grab more cash
but the main point is this, if you can retian more players in CO then you'll be able to make more money in the long run and people will be less likly to moan and complain about every little thing due to having more than the usual 170something group of players to talk with [last friday for most of the day CO had barely 99 players across all the instances of mc..the busiest instance in CO..that's not a good sign]
1: The ATs are terrible, as in if you play through CO using an AT it makes it seem like a really, really bad game, which obviously is a point against CO, because...well, who wants to play a game that just seems outright bad, which is a shame considering to get the goodness you either need to put in a ungodly amount of time farming Q for zen for a free form slot, or be able to fork up the money for a gold membership.
Possible solution: Either give every silver account, both existing and newly created a single Free Form slot [I'm aware that'll kill the main reason to go gold unless they want more than 1 ff character, which most people do].
Or removing the AT's all together and replacing them with a tree system, which would consist of 12 trees, each one containing 2 full power sets [3 each for elemental] and the silver accounts can pick 2 trees per character, the end result would be the player being able to pick and choose what powers they want from the trees they selected, as well as their own super stats and spec trees.
Tree division goes as follow [I know the names are rubbish, but I'm not good with names]
Raw Elements
-Fire
-Wind
-Earth
Altered Elements
-Ice
-Eletric
-Force [Rename it to gravity to make more sense]
Bullets, Bombs and Bows
-Muntuions
-Archery
Tech heads
-Gageteering
-Power Armor
Blade Mastery
-Single Blade
-Dual Blades
Martial Arts
-Unarmed
-Fighting Claws
Mind over matter
-Telekinesis
-Telepathy
Brute force
-Might
-Heavy weapons
Otherworldly
-Celestial
-Darkness
Mystic Sorcery
-Arcane Sorcery
-Primal Sorcery
Aligned Sorcery
-Ebon Sorcery
-Radiant Sorcery
Supernatrual Monster
-Beastial supernatrual
-Infernal Supernatrual
2: The lack of advertising..this one is simple, the shear lack of advertising means nobody know that CO exists, making it extremely hard to find..hell, i only found it though a yourtube video about games with good player customation.
Solution: This one is as simple as they get...ADVERTISE...and no, ARC [who the hell uses it anyway?] and the odd review in some online review site that I can't even remember the name of becasue it's that obsecure, don't count]
3: lack of consistent content output
Solution: Get tummerboy back/hire move devs/stop being lazy/let us replay missions at level 40 and have them scale up to our level.
Yes i know the last one was rude but I'm tired of playing a game where we get one half decient piece of content per year, becasue for the rest of the year i'm sitting around bored as hell due to a lack of content...and no, lockboxes do not count as new content, they count as filler to grab more cash
but the main point is this, if you can retian more players in CO then you'll be able to make more money in the long run and people will be less likly to moan and complain about every little thing due to having more than the usual 170something group of players to talk with [last friday for most of the day CO had barely 99 players across all the instances of mc..the busiest instance in CO..that's not a good sign]
In all things, a calm heart must prevail.
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
Post edited by Unknown User on
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"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
have you tried playing the game as an AT and then compairing it to playing as a FF, the diffrence in quaility and enjoyabaility is much higher for the FF players..becasue the ATs are poorly constructed and not balanced.
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
Touch
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
so basically you're saying if a big spender like me or bacon or cal or whoever buggers off from co then they'll actually take steps, eh?
Well it would suck if they did leave, they are pretty nice people ingame after all..as for me personally i'm looking for a new game i can play while having CO on the side until it does new exciting stuff..other than lockboxes and the like..anybody got any suggestions that are not DCUO?
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
I'm also a big spender and have actually taken breaks from the game a couple of times. Its the new costumes that always drag me back though.
As for a new game, I got nothing. I've personally been playing this, WoW, and World of Tanks.
Agreed. That must be quite easy, and should change the content we get alot. Or maybe not, but still would make us feel better, right?
2: the problem is CO isn't relevant anymore. Our Nostalgia Goggles prevent us from seeing the fact that CO is outdated and doesn't have anything worth advertising. At least, that's why I'm sure nobody wants to put any money into advertising it.
3: Scary tech approved.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Someone didn't read...i said eaither give the accounts 1 FF slot each OR implement the tree system, one would remove the main attraction for going gold, but vastly boost player retention the other would allow more creative freedom with build creation helping improve player retention without taking away the main gold syb attraction.
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
From my understanding, this is what many MMOs do. It's sad and causes problems in the community.
My dream is to get rid of the AT system as it is and actually change gold to be more like a nice buff with perks instead of the half-asses F2P system that the game uses. Giving players two FF slots instead of two AT slots isn't going to kill Cryptic's income. I suspect most of their money comes from key sales anyway. Some guy who makes 10 accounts for FF slots wasn't going to spend money on the game anyway.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
Oh Me! Pick me! Me me me!
Seriously though, I've got enough experience to know what I'm doing and I'd love nothing more than to give CO the boost it needs and deserves.
And I will always be @DZPlayer122.
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Having ideas does not a dev make.
I did read, and then I **** all over your terrible tree system. What are you not getting? u3u
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
I'd like to add a very important 4:
4 - Make a good first impression.
Now, making good first impressions are usually pretty easy - I know, a whole lot of us find the same Westside run boring and such, and urrrgh ATs are unbearable, but from the perspective of a new player, this seems all well and good: Typical MMO fare for starting out and getting yourself rooted. But thinking on how a new player sees the game, there's a few aspects that can sully that all-important first impression:
First, this game is famous for its customization. Well, okay, famous doesn't exactly describe the game, but it should be, and it can be. Of course, the problem is that cryptic (logically) thought the costume editor at first glance would be really daunting to new players, so they implemented editor simplification until you reach around level 11.
But then that's just kicking yourself in the ****, because now these players who (likely) heard about the game from their friends who lauded it for its awesome character editor now go in and discover that you can't have a gorilla head for some reason, even though there isn't any real limitation that should be in place for it. It basically boils down to this:
Next up is the Tutorial. This is a big problem, because last time I played it, I don't think I really remembered learning anything in it other than "MOVE WITH WASD AND SPACE LOL". It teaches you nothing about Travel Powers, Energy Builders, Energy Management in general, different attack types (When I first played the game, I was really confused as to why my Thundering Kicks didn't have a recharge, for example. And one player I played with for a day was really surprised to learn that Two-Gun Mojo was a maintain). It also used to teach players about how to block with a very friendly and useful example, but now instead it just expects you to use it a split-second before it's required - Against Black Talon. Like, two paragraphs of explanation appear in the upper left corner while he's blasting your face in.
What does the tutorial teach you about? Looking at maps and using your device tray. Hell, there is more explicitly tutorial-related explanation crap outside of the tutorial than inside it. What I'm trying to say is that, while the tutorial's good for an exciting and hectic intro (a hook, so to speak) into the game, it's a terrible at actually teaching the player. Just review that, and I think a lot of players will be happier - both new ones, and old ones who can enjoy them being more competent.
Some specific feedback:
Lastly would be making the ATs better, but that's pretty similar to Point 1 in the OP. I dunno, maybe get someone who knows how the game's battle system actually works come up with an AT overhaul?
well i got over halfway there in my first year of playing....sooo, what i'd be a magic potato or something?
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
In that case I'm a wailord. And I use body slam!
Well in that case they are doing things right because your money spending is telling them that you approve of what they are doing.
During her first year of playing the game.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
yeah...not my proudest moment, but I didn't have too much of a grip on what was going on with the game, and for the most part I was buying keys to sell for G[when i have the money..god damn extra life just had to happen the week before i got my paycheck] to get pre-alert costume pieces as well as costume pieces;/sets for me friends..which is what i've kinda only been doing reciently, resulting in my spening slowing down to a crawl...if they put out regular content and we had more people then maybe i could make some more friends or the ingame ecomony woulnd't be so broken to the point where nobody can sell anything ever becasue the players that had the money for the most part have left...
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
Simple solution to #1:
Make All the silver players Freeform......BUT only to Level 20, from there the usual tree system.
Are you saying you regret spending money on the game you were being entertained by?
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
Mind explaining what you mean by this?
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
I mean every silver player to be freeform, to be able to select whatever power, ability etc he wants (exactly the same like gold subs) until he/she reaches 15th or 20th level. From 21st and up he/she will no longer has this opportunity, now he/she has to choose an AT tree to follow.
It is not a very bad suggestion but I had prefer ONE complete FF slot and two AT slots (that way it would be easier to introduce the feature or one AT slot at random will be replaced with FF slot) OR the first FF slot being sold at 1150 zen to silvers.
That way, they had want it and actually buy it next. Giving the first 20 then removing thereafter is like a flag on a pole , part flexible ; part rigid. It's better as a cylinder of liquid, complete unrestrained flexibility and rigid safe zone.
Moreover, the concept of first-20-FF would need a whole new type of coding. Making one of em slots FF or reducing the price should make it easier.
I hope the devs are reading this thread...
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Personally i think making all FF slots like 2500 zen would be more reasonable from both a player and business perspective...and as for the dev thing...well, i WOULD take this to them personally, but wouldn't you just know and behold, there's no contact methods of any kind (other than going through PWE, of which nobody is there to respond to you...like ever.....yay dev contact -_-")
Member of Paragon Dawn: Because some people like friendly helpful communities.
Yeah some things are broken... no I don't use/abuse them.. where would be the fun in that?
Why not doing the same with Freeform? Get silver users hooked, show them all they're missing on.
My super cool CC build and how to use it.
I know they used to have free trials of AT's but not slots to use them in.
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The free trial AT came with one extra free slot to try out the premium AT in.