Beginners and Nations

[Argo]

I think you miss the point being made. Just joining a active nation, even a notorious one with ports and all the bells and trimmings doesnt mean that a new player will stay active. I agree its an unwelcome piece of reality but what binds folk to this game isnt necessarily being on a winning side. There are 21 ports but hundreds of nations. It aint gonna happen that every nation gets a bite of that cherry. The game needs to offer other challenges and paths to glory other than ports and nations. Not saying they aint a path in themselves but the math is simple enough. In my years in the game cant recall ever seeing much more than six or seven different flags on the map at any one time and many of them have faded and never returned.

I'm still convinced that the best course is for new players to always start as a pirate. Once they have a feel for the game, want to stay and maybe have a clearer idea of the politics and realities of nations in Avonmora then they can choose their path with a degree more knowledge than looking at a pretty flag.

Brilliant..I agree 100% Danik..Starting as a pirate would teach newbies how to play with voodoo, which is the most vital part of the game if you are to become competitIve and successful...I move this be made LAW...

[Argo]

USA - Prime example of why notoriety, owning ports, or having an active nation player base does not equate to people staying. If it did, the USA wouldn't be constantly racking in inactive players every month.

you friggin narrow minded mofo.. yes the usa has a alot of inactive players, they also by far have the most new players join the game.. most people in the world wont like this game therefore you will always have a high number of inactives "those who joined and decided this is not the game for them .. which happens to be mostly in the nation united states of america.. now if you dont understand the mechanics there of how that works you are dumb as hell

Did you even read what I wrote? Do you comprehend English? Take off your "I dont' like Dez" blinders.

I quite literally said that notoriety, port ownership, etc has nothing to do with players staying. IE. "those who joined and decided this is not the game for them" and just left.

And you call me narrow minded.

Dez!! Isn't the job of a developer to help design a game that newbies decide this IS the game for them? You just don't get it..You are the one wearing blinders..You seem to be locked into a framework of thinking that clearly needs a wee shift...Your thinking allows for a niche player..if the game is to become huge then room for expansion has to take place and that comes from catering to the majority not the minority...You are supposed to make newbies feel welcome, challenged, happy and excited to log on...not come across as "too bad, they don't like it"..That's not working for the game at all.Just my opinion..lol

[Whitcomb The Feared]

Deznuts the point is easy...

When someone joins the game, at the beginning there should 2 things:
1. The explanation of what is nationality in the game (I chose Switzerland because it’s my real nationality, but I had no clue that nationality was even used in the game).
It’s also true that it’s easy to switch nationality, but it isn’t so complicate to put a little message to explain how nationality works in the game

2. When someone has to choose a nationality, just adding near the nationality the total number of citizens of the nationality (in that case I would have never chosen the Swiss nationality with 0 citizens, I would have chosen another one).
And yes Melinda, one could choose a nationality with 10-20 players to start in a little group as one could directly start in Spain or Isle of Man or USA and thinking its easier but at the end in both cases he wouldn’t join Switzerland with 0 citizens and feeling alone and maybe leaving the game

[DezNutz]

Dez!! Isn't the job of a developer to help design a game that newbies decide this IS the game for them? You just don't get it..You are the one wearing blinders..You seem to be locked into a framework of thinking that clearly needs a wee shift...Your thinking allows for a niche player..if the game is to become huge then room for expansion has to take place and that comes from catering to the majority not the minority...You are supposed to make newbies feel welcome, challenged, happy and excited to log on...not come across as "too bad, they don't like it"..That's not working for the game at all.Just my opinion..lol

My role is to evaluate the worthiness of a suggestion and ensure that it keeps within the format of the game.

This isn't the first time this type of suggestion has been brought forth.

Providing additional information to a new player to allow them to make better decisions is one thing. Changing how the game functions and directing new players toward certain playing styles, nations, or guilds is counter to the open format this game allows.

The game allows players to play as they so choose. If you want to be a pirate, you can. If you want to be a trader, you can. If you want to be involved in nation development, you can. When you choose to get involved in these things is the players choice. The game shouldn't influence a players decision in how they get involved in the game.

As for this specific suggestion, the OP is clear on what is asked. It isn't asking just to provide more information, it is asking to recommend nations to join.

If you have a suggestion that is different, submit your own. Piggybacking on a suggestion because it relates will likely result in your idea being ignored as it is not the OP.

As the suggestion is written, -1

[Stan Rogers]

Dez...what you say is correct but I think Whitcomb is more correct.
Your job is not to defend the current system but work with players and especially new players to make things better.
Not only that, there has been some very good, simple fixes to partially remedy a well known, previously mentioned weakness in the game.
Set the pride back on the shelf and re-read the suggestions tomorrow and then come up with something simple and better than has been suggested here.
Of course if you have inside info that makes these suggestions not workable in the future, I will accept that as well.

[DezNutz]

Dez...what you say is correct but I think Whitcomb is more correct.
Your job is not to defend the current system but work with players and especially new players to make things better.
Not only that, there has been some very good, simple fixes to partially remedy a well known, previously mentioned weakness in the game.
Set the pride back on the shelf and re-read the suggestions tomorrow and then come up with something simple and better than has been suggested here.
Of course if you have inside info that makes these suggestions not workable in the future, I will accept that as well.

I'm not saying there hasn't been good suggestions laid forth within this topic, but we are to evaluate the suggestion based on the OP. The OP is straight forward. An idea that relates but isn't in line with the OP should be in it's own topic. Piggybacking off an existing suggestion is a bad way to promote an idea.

The OP calls for recommending nations to a new player. I disagree with this.

[Argo]

Dez..you say your job is to assess whether suggestions are good for the game. Fair enough.

You also say similar things have been suggested in the past (and have been ignored).

If people are still suggesting the same things now as in the past, then wouldn't it be wise to give some consideration ?

[Whitcomb The Feared]

Dez it has nothing to do with recommending a nationality.
It’s only about explaining to the newcomer what is the nationality on the game and giving him the number of citizens belonging to each nationality.
As I said before, I would have never chosen Switzerland if I knew it was abandoned.

[Argo]

Dez it has nothing to do with recommending a nationality.
It’s only about explaining to the newcomer what is the nationality on the game and giving him the number of citizens belonging to each nationality.
As I said before, I would have never chosen Switzerland if I knew it was abandoned.

Lol..He's not listening Josh!

[DezNutz]

Dez it has nothing to do with recommending a nationality.
It’s only about explaining to the newcomer what is the nationality on the game and giving him the number of citizens belonging to each nationality.
As I said before, I would have never chosen Switzerland if I knew it was abandoned.

Read the first post.

Suggestion- perhaps there should be a list of the notorious nations that would be recommended for a new player to join whenever they are creating their account. This would help with player retention (imo) and help them get stipends, etc.

Let me break this down for you. The above is the OP. Topics are evaulated based on the OP and subsequent discussion. Alternate ideas or fixes have no bearing on the OP, unless the person who made the suggestion adjusts the first post and includes it before a decision is made.

You can suggestion your idea on this topic until you are blue in the face and my response will be the same.