Fooli wrote:That's a bit harsh, especially from a newcomer. But by all means, let us know what you think's wrong with the game
You're missing the fundamental point, which is the difference between registered worlds (permanent) and unregistered, which aren't permanent.
In the past, we only had registered & permanent worlds. People complained that they wanted to put their own world in the galaxy. So we let them claim worlds by landing on them. But then people complained that there were no available worlds in easy reach of the starting systems, even though lots of the worlds already claimed were effectively dead.
So we changed the system to what it is today, which is that an unregistered world is automatically assigned to a planet somewhere, stays there for as long as the world server is online, and then disappears after a while. And now someone's complaining about that, too
We could probably fix it for the starting systems by ensuring only registered worlds were there, but I bet someone would moan about that too.
The game's been in development for 7 years; about 4 of those in its current "space" guise; and all of those part-time, with a tiny development team. We don't charge people to play. It's a pretty good deal really. So as above, if you have constructive criticism, fair enough, but don't just moan about something you're getting for nothing without very good reason
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Please do not feel singled out. All games new, old, free 2 play, or pay to play have issues. I have come across pretty well put together Free to Play games and really bad Pay to Play ones. Where limited resources and time are always going to be a factor for free to play games, it does not prevent a group of developers from making a decent game that people can enjoy.
The issue is developing the game in a way the will bring more players to the game instead of pushing them away.
Being fairly new to the game my perspective is different than that of a more seasoned player. Sadly there are not many of either. Which is a shame because the game has potential.
As I see it this planet issue is likely a major thorn in the side of most new players. They are lost in the beginning and seeing planets change names on a daily basis only adds to the feeling of being lost.
Instead of just complaining about it I did offer a way to minimize the problem.
Will it please everyone? Of course not. But, it might help retain some of the new players you are losing due to the constant names changes of planets.
Having thought over the matter I have come to a slightly different tactic to the one I first suggested.
Add a few more systems that are within 4 to 8 parsecs of the starter system. Add more planets to those systems. Maybe 8 or 9 planets per system instead of just a few. Make a mix of permanent and unregistered planets for at least a range of 40 to 80 parsecs of the starter system. This way there will be some stable planets with in those systems so as to be not so confusing to new players there by increasing your chances of retaining those players.
Now I realise that this will make it easier for the pirates to pick on the new players, but, there is a way to even the playing field.
One. Make safe zones around all permanent planets in those systems. After all, a space station should be able to defend itself and to a lesser extent ships that are within a certain radius of the station. Outside that radius is of course free space where pirates would be able to do what that want. Also, but space station around only the permanent planets or make the ones around non no trade until the planet becomes registered. There is room to tweak this a bit to help the new planet owners get people to come that direction.
Two, have multi entrance points for each system depending on the system the ship came from. Instead of one fixed point entry no matter where the ship jumped from. It just makes more sense and keeps pirates from just hanging out and that one jump point waiting for an easy meal.
Now I am not trying to make it impossible for pirates to conduct there business. They can still do that. It will just take more creativity on their part.
Remember the point here is to retain players. You have to make it so that new players have a good chance of developing their characters in the beginning with less chance dieing. As they progress in the game it will become more of a challenge.
Right now it may just be more trouble than it is worth for most new players.