Totem Decay and/or New Lands before adverts...

[Book]

Hello all,

I've read on these here forums that advertising is on the horizon.

I haven't played in a long time, but I've lurked, and kept in touch with a few that are still in game. Sounds like things are progressing nicely.

The one thing that keeps me out though, and the one reason I can't see fit to make a donation yet, is the lack of open country suitable to my needs.

Seems to me it would be a good idea to turn on totem decay before inviting more people to come give it a whirl... that, or follow through on the promise of new land. I do mean the actual follow through rather than a promise of follow through on said promise.

In the past, I felt the new lands should be saved for when they are needed from a business standpoint but if one is afraid totem decay might turn off players that have already been turned off, then opening up new land is another option.

I understand this may lead to people spreading out more and being harder to find. Not a problem though. Those that want to be found can and will congregate. Those who only want to be found by people they enjoy gaming with can let those people know where they are and find each other.

A relatively quick initial totem decay to clear out the cobwebs is the best option imho, saving the new lands for that proverbial explosion of population some see coming.

Guess I'll leave it at that. I'm not really expecting all that much agreement and will put on my flame-retardant suit before reading any responses but just wanted to put my voice out there.

Thanks.

[MrDDT]

I dont think this is fair to old players as they were told time and time again they would have time to come back when the game is ready. I think cutting out all the unused totems is a good idea, but quick and dirty isnt a good option IMO.

http://www.xsyon.com/forum/project.php?issueid=1230

That link seems to be the most widely accepted totem decay option. I like it (duh haha) and I would love to see it put into the game.

[Jadzia]

Nice to see you again, Book

And I agree with opening up new lands. Jordi said he wanted slow totem decay, so that wouldn't solve the problem. I stopped playing when he postponed the promised new lands since the world is filled with useless totems and all of the good spots are taken. I'll start playing again when he opens up some new territory currently under the green mist.

If new players come in the game in a bigger amount, the lack of room will be frustrating for them and may drive them away from the game.

[Mactavendish]

Good to see you post Book!

I totally agree with your viewpoint here. Every new player that joins the games eventually complains about not being able to find a good spot to setup.

There are WAY too many 1 man totems all over the place.

I do like the idea of totems decaying due to no upkeep on them. I think what Dez mentioned is a bit too much on the unit requirements though.

The thing is, the totems dropped by non-playing players SHOULD decay very quickly if it has already been months since they last logged in. There is NO way to know that they will or won't be back.

The way to solve the issue is to dismantle any structures on their land, add those resources to the leader's inventory, and just clear the totem.

To those that will jump in next and say how un fair that would be, let me ask is it fair to the new players that will be joining the game soon, to have very limited areas to setup in because some guy quit and may never be back?

Also is it fair now to make a change to the totem mechanics with all these totems holding land?

To be fair, you would have to allow all players to reset totems without having to have all the members rejoin before it could be dropped again. You could perhaps do the totem built with resources idea that Dez proposed, but you would have to do away with the overlap issue totally, to allow active players to keep the areas they have currently, or limit the type of totem they could make to the number of members they currently have.

Regardless of what happens, I AGREE that something needs to be done before advertising.

[Fergie]

I agree with totem decay as a new player..... I was going to setup a small camp with two of my friends who also play MMOs, but I could not really find a good spot (or get a solo start, not how this game works) anyways, once my friends checked out the game from my computer. They decided to hold off till its improved and if we can find a good spot.

So I joined up with a bigger tribe.

Long story short, Good land is used up, it needs to get cleared away.

I think an upkeep on totems is a great idea..... you have to do this in EVE, You can setup a Space Station, but you have to fuel it or it shuts down.....once its shut down, anyone can destroy it since its not protected.

Also in EVE you have different Station Sizes. I think that this should also be setup for Totems. There should be totems that give a base increase to your tribes radius, but has much much larger resource upkeep requirements.

Also having "money sinks" or things that need resources is the way to stimulate an economy. Make reasons why people need to collect these goods and work as a tribe.

Just my two cents.

[MrDDT]

Good to see you post Book!

I totally agree with your viewpoint here. Every new player that joins the games eventually complains about not being able to find a good spot to setup.

There are WAY too many 1 man totems all over the place.

I do like the idea of totems decaying due to no upkeep on them. I think what Dez mentioned is a bit too much on the unit requirements though.

The thing is, the totems dropped by non-playing players SHOULD decay very quickly if it has already been months since they last logged in. There is NO way to know that they will or won't be back.

The way to solve the issue is to dismantle any structures on their land, add those resources to the leader's inventory, and just clear the totem.

To those that will jump in next and say how un fair that would be, let me ask is it fair to the new players that will be joining the game soon, to have very limited areas to setup in because some guy quit and may never be back?

Also is it fair now to make a change to the totem mechanics with all these totems holding land?

To be fair, you would have to allow all players to reset totems without having to have all the members rejoin before it could be dropped again. You could perhaps do the totem built with resources idea that Dez proposed, but you would have to do away with the overlap issue totally, to allow active players to keep the areas they have currently, or limit the type of totem they could make to the number of members they currently have.

Regardless of what happens, I AGREE that something needs to be done before advertising.

How do you know which players are not playing because they are waiting for content vs people that wont be back? Jordi told players already that they will have 6+ months of warning before they do systems like this.

I dont think its fair to them at all, how would you like it when you were gone for a week your totem just decayed away? You are saying the same thing here, only you are choosing which time frame is ok based on your playstyle.

[joexxxz]

How do you know which players are not playing because they are waiting for content vs people that wont be back? Jordi told players already that they will have 6+ months of warning before they do systems like this.

I dont think its fair to them at all, how would you like it when you were gone for a week your totem just decayed away? You are saying the same thing here, only you are choosing which time frame is ok based on your playstyle.

GOOD POINT MrDDT

[Rudder]

Totems should remain active ONLY for those paying the subscription fee. Being an active subscription payee should have more pull than those who are not paying subscription fee's. The active players are paying for the content NOW and the improvements. This is a pay to play game after all. No one has any idea IF any ex subscribers (Those waiting on the sidelines) will actually re-subscribe.

[AndyI]

A happy medium can be found. Set the totem decay to something like 3 months which should be long enough for everyone and let everyone incl non active subs log in a day a month to get together the resources to stop the totem decay. Those that wish to wait for more content can periodically log in and set the resources but either way you get an indication of the numbers of players waiting for more content and may even encourage some to resub. You'll also be able to test a higher number of players playing the game one day a month so we don't have the same debacle we had before. Simply set a free day a month for all subs.

Bottom line is we do need a resources sink and we do need the new lands. Some of us deliberately set up camp at the mist ready for the new lands only for it to not get rolled out and have as such been delayed in creating permanent camps because of it. I think it's time the new lands got rolled out just as were now getting the features that many want. There was a sudden rush of players before and if that happens again the same issues will crop up. It's too late to wait for lots of players then roll out the new lands, better and fairer to roll it out for those of us still here.

Being promised the new lands and that never materialising like many other features does not make for happy customers. I think we've waited far too long already. And we need more animals. The current system just doesn't seem to be working. The current levels of animal population don't seem to come close to reality in any way shape or form given were post apoc and there are only a few survivors. We're almost 2 years beyond where many of us signed up and the number of features released in that time is pretty low.

Also some of us moved to locations ready for the mist clearing and then had all of our trees clear cut and we can never get them back without tree planting which has also not materialised despite having been worked on. This lack of follow through on promised features is pretty poor I have to say. Is it too much to ask that some of these features actually get released given how long we've been patient for?

[MrDDT]

A happy medium can be found. Set the totem decay to something like 3 months which should be long enough for everyone and let everyone incl non active subs log in a day a month to get together the resources to stop the totem decay. Those that wish to wait for more content can periodically log in and set the resources but either way you get an indication of the numbers of players waiting for more content and may even encourage some to resub. You'll also be able to test a higher number of players playing the game one day a month so we don't have the same debacle we had before. Simply set a free day a month for all subs.

Bottom line is we do need a resources sink and we do need the new lands. Some of us deliberately set up camp at the mist ready for the new lands only for it to not get rolled out and have as such been delayed in creating permanent camps because of it. I think it's time the new lands got rolled out just as were now getting the features that many want. There was a sudden rush of players before and if that happens again the same issues will crop up. It's too late to wait for lots of players then roll out the new lands, better and fairer to roll it out for those of us still here.

Being promised the new lands and that never materialising like many other features does not make for happy customers. I think we've waited far too long already. And we need more animals. The current system just doesn't seem to be working. The current levels of animal population don't seem to come close to reality in any way shape or form given were post apoc and there are only a few survivors. We're almost 2 years beyond where many of us signed up and the number of features released in that time is pretty low.

Also some of us moved to locations ready for the mist clearing and then had all of our trees clear cut and we can never get them back without tree planting which has also not materialised despite having been worked on. This lack of follow through on promised features is pretty poor I have to say. Is it too much to ask that some of these features actually get released given how long we've been patient for?

I dont know why you think thats a happy medium. Dont get me wrong, I love your ideas and thoughts here, however, they were told 6 months. How is 3 months a "happy medium" a happy medium might be like they say any NEW totems dropped decay away or something.

I'm all for totem decay, but Im also for keeping promises. I dont think its fair to the people that were told 6 months and then now because people that want it now now now crowd come in and going "I omg I cant place in any good spots" want it decayed away.

This goes right to the meat of what you are saying, you want those promised items also, well so does some of these people waiting for it. Many of these tribes put in 1000s of man hours into their tribes. Losing that to these new players that played for 2 hours because they want it now is sad.