Suggestion New Player Retention - Mentor / Squire System

[Dakinara]

I wanted to make a thread on this since there is indication of concern about retaining new players. To help foster a situation in which at least some players on server would more actively want to look out for and assist new players, i think some form of the following idea could help:

When a new player joins a server, they can become a member of any town as a "squire" (or insert whatever roleplay term you wish). If that player remains with the same town at least one week (logs into server at least one week after joined town), and reaches level 60 in either a profession or adventure class, the town may petition for their "mentor bonus". Admins check logs to verify status, if verified town is awarded 500 souls to town bank. Helps towns pay taxes, upgrade and support war efforts once war is re-implemented, helps retain new players on server, seems like a win / win?

Only question I have is how to set time limits on how long after joining server a player can be named a squire / opted into the system.

 

[Delikin]

I wanted to make a thread on this since there is indication of concern about retaining new players. To help foster a situation in which at least some players on server would more actively want to look out for and assist new players, i think some form of the following idea could help:

When a new player joins a server, they can become a member of any town as a "squire" (or insert whatever roleplay term you wish). If that player remains with the same town at least one week (logs into server at least one week after joined town), and reaches level 60 in either a profession or adventure class, the town may petition for their "mentor bonus". Admins check logs to verify status, if verified town is awarded 500 souls to town bank. Helps towns pay taxes, upgrade and support war efforts once war is re-implemented, helps retain new players on server, seems like a win / win?

Only question I have is how to set time limits on how long after joining server a player can be named a squire / opted into the system.

I agree with the idea but the reward system needs to be set up in a way that also rewards the new player. I could see this very quickly turning into a system where towns just add new players and only help them for the bonus, then they're immediately cast aside or neglected. Sadly this server has built a pretty toxic/shitty community in a way that none of the players really care about each other at all. Which is slightly to be expected, but the ELO system and crap like it just foster this kind of behavior and reward players for such behavior. The problem isn't a lack of content/reward for new players, it's older players lack of willingness to help or even care about new players. I constantly try to go out and party with new players who don't quite know the ropes yet to help them level or just defend them against the shit ton of players who camp herogates for ELO, but all that happens is it throws a huge target on the new players back just for being associated with an older player. The whole system is pretty fucked up for a new player right now and should be completely revamped.

This being said, if polished out properly, a mentoring system would be a great addition for new players. But I don't think it should be set up through towns. It would be really cool to see it set up on a player/guild/clan basis.

 

[Dakinara]

I agree with the idea but the reward system needs to be set up in a way that also rewards the new player. I could see this very quickly turning into a system where towns just add new players and only help them for the bonus, then they're immediately cast aside or neglected. Sadly this server has built a pretty toxic/shitty community in a way that none of the players really care about each other at all. Which is slightly to be expected, but the ELO system and crap like it just foster this kind of behavior and reward players for such behavior. The problem isn't a lack of content/reward for new players, it's older players lack of willingness to help or even care about new players. I constantly try to go out and party with new players who don't quite know the ropes yet to help them level or just defend them against the shit ton of players who camp herogates for ELO, but all that happens is it throws a huge target on the new players back just for being associated with an older player. The whole system is pretty fucked up for a new player right now and should be completely revamped.

This being said, if polished out properly, a mentoring system would be a great addition for new players. But I don't think it should be set up through towns. It would be really cool to see it set up on a player/guild/clan basis.

Id be totally fine with the reward being split in half between the new player and whatever the "mentor" entity ends up being (town, player, guild, etc). So there is an advantage for both in trying to form a community rather than lone wolf it. Im not sure what can be done to promote long term reward but maybe a loyalty system that provides additional log in bonus or something the longer that bond has remained intact.

 

[ShadowRavynn]

Herald Approved!

Lets Implement something like this - towns offer protected areas for newbies but I am thinking along the lines of a Squire being in apprenticeship to like.. a Knight or whatever you choose the relationship to be...

You could do the Master / Veteran player... and then have a couple of stages for the new player... like Green Thumb ( I don't know what would go before an apprentice...) then apprentice, then Journeyman, then Knight, Master, and so on.... this could help incorporate the longevity of the relationship as mentioned above... having so many hours played or something determine when the next rank goes into effect with rewards at each rank change for both entities....

Anyways, LOVE the idea!

 

[Kainzo]

This is definitely interesting...

Some of it needs to be worked out but I like the idea of players being able to join towns and both get bonuses for it.

 

[RegularHumanMode]

Yeah, I have the problem with my town where we are actually very friendly to new players by providing no taxes and free building space, but most still end up going inactive. I feel like this is what's going to happen:

Older players will at first be willing to help out new players and try to keep them active. As new players continue to become inactive despite efforts, older players will go back to not caring.

The problem with player retention does come partially from the toxicity of the community, but it can mostly be chalked up to being that Minecraft now has a younger player base who would rather be babied into a game that has instant gratification. While I do believe that this idea is a step in the right direction, there also has to be larger changes to the Herocraft experience where new players are thoroughly explained how the game works and then can BEGIN leveling safely.

Herald Approved!

Lets Implement something like this - towns offer protected areas for newbies but I am thinking along the lines of a Squire being in apprenticeship to like.. a Knight or whatever you choose the relationship to be...

You could do the Master / Veteran player... and then have a couple of stages for the new player... like Green Thumb ( I don't know what would go before an apprentice...) then apprentice, then Journeyman, then Knight, Master, and so on.... this could help incorporate the longevity of the relationship as mentioned above... having so many hours played or something determine when the next rank goes into effect with rewards at each rank change for both entities....

Anyways, LOVE the idea!

How about Veteran/Recruit? Fits more of a PvP concept mentality while still giving a light RP feel.

 

[j2gay]

There are still older people playing Minecraft, just not on HC due to the toxicity/immaturity of much of the player base.

You want to keep people active in your town stop asking them to build. I used to build a storage level and a barracks. Every towny got a small room and a small storage locker.

I would then build multiple housing levels of increasing luxury where the structure was pre built. If a towny wanted a larger room or a larger locker they paid for it. The outer structure was pre built but they were responsible for building out the interior space. Inactivity of more than two weeks without notice via pm on the forums resulted in forfeiture of property. Prices were kept reasonable but high enough to create a stake in keeping the space.
All of this including all farming was done under ground.
On the surface we built markets, landmarks, parks, municipal buildings such as libraries and museums. Town members were free to build these areas, with permission of course and within the theme of the town, so that those who wanted to build had an outlet but those who did not want to build did not have to.
We would also always build a road to spawn, , to the map edge, and to any town we were allied with no matter how far away. When one project was finished I would start another so there was always something to do. I would also send non building inclined players on diplomatic missions to other good leaning towns to offer alliance and espionage missions to bad towns to discover their weaknesses or even steal from them.
If you want to keep players active engage them as part of a community and give them something to do.

 

[RegularHumanMode]

There are still older people playing Minecraft, just not on HC due to the toxicity/immaturity of much of the player base.

You want to keep people active in your town stop asking them to build. I used to build a storage level and a barracks. Every towny got a small room and a small storage locker.

I would then build multiple housing levels of increasing luxury where the structure was pre built. If a towny wanted a larger room or a larger locker they paid for it. The outer structure was pre built but they were responsible for building out the interior space. Inactivity of more than two weeks without notice via pm on the forums resulted in forfeiture of property. Prices were kept reasonable but high enough to create a stake in keeping the space.
All of this including all farming was done under ground.
On the surface we built markets, landmarks, parks, municipal buildings such as libraries and museums. Town members were free to build these areas, with permission of course and within the theme of the town, so that those who wanted to build had an outlet but those who did not want to build did not have to.
We would also always build a road to spawn, , to the map edge, and to any town we were allied with no matter how far away. When one project was finished I would start another so there was always something to do. I would also send non building inclined players on diplomatic missions to other good leaning towns to offer alliance and espionage missions to bad towns to discover their weaknesses or even steal from them.
If you want to keep players active engage them as part of a community and give them something to do.

That's a fine idea, we just have different town concepts. I feel like if people are treated kindly by the town they will become more invested in it. So far we have a solid ratio of retention, but like 50% of noobs leave still. But anyway...

So basically the solutions people have brought up to improve the server and player retention are:

1. Increase chat moderation (which I honesty don't think is all that toxic (maybe it's a different time?))
2. Make stuff easier for noobs
3. Improve PvP via wars
4. Have systems of noob friendliness

When you add in some systems, it will drive other people away. The balance is difficult to maintain. That's why to the people who run this server we need to tip our hats (and their wallets) for putting in time and effort into making as many people as happy as possible.

 

[Delikin]

There are still older people playing Minecraft, just not on HC due to the toxicity/immaturity of much of the player base.

You want to keep people active in your town stop asking them to build. I used to build a storage level and a barracks. Every towny got a small room and a small storage locker.

I would then build multiple housing levels of increasing luxury where the structure was pre built. If a towny wanted a larger room or a larger locker they paid for it. The outer structure was pre built but they were responsible for building out the interior space. Inactivity of more than two weeks without notice via pm on the forums resulted in forfeiture of property. Prices were kept reasonable but high enough to create a stake in keeping the space.
All of this including all farming was done under ground.
On the surface we built markets, landmarks, parks, municipal buildings such as libraries and museums. Town members were free to build these areas, with permission of course and within the theme of the town, so that those who wanted to build had an outlet but those who did not want to build did not have to.
We would also always build a road to spawn, , to the map edge, and to any town we were allied with no matter how far away. When one project was finished I would start another so there was always something to do. I would also send non building inclined players on diplomatic missions to other good leaning towns to offer alliance and espionage missions to bad towns to discover their weaknesses or even steal from them.
If you want to keep players active engage them as part of a community and give them something to do.

We already use this in our current town and we only have about a 10% inactivity rate. If I'm not mistaken we also have the largest player population of any town on the server. I mean not everyone wants a pre-built house and it's just an option. But people who don't like building do have a hell of a better time playing on the server grinding out levels/pvping/mining, rather than building.

That's a fine idea, we just have different town concepts. I feel like if people are treated kindly by the town they will become more invested in it. So far we have a solid ratio of retention, but like 50% of noobs leave still. But anyway...

So basically the solutions people have brought up to improve the server and player retention are:

1. Increase chat moderation (which I honesty don't think is all that toxic (maybe it's a different time?))
2. Make stuff easier for noobs
3. Improve PvP via wars
4. Have systems of noob friendliness

When you add in some systems, it will drive other people away. The balance is difficult to maintain. That's why to the people who run this server we need to tip our hats (and their wallets) for putting in time and effort into making as many people as happy as possible.

Improving PvP should be a big priority right now, especially for keeping a lot of the new players. Regardless of how messed up all the classes are right now (Fix this also please), most of the PvP is NEVER on a 1v1/2v2/3v3/4v4/5v5/etc basis. It's always all the big groups wiping out the small ones, or just ganging up on the one lone player so that they feel better about themselves or something. Adding a war system that is easy for noobs to get behind and participate in would be great for the community. (Just so long as it's moderated and there isn't hate chat flying around like crazy, like there always is in O chat after every PvP activity.)

 

[RegularHumanMode]

We already use this in our current town and we only have about a 10% inactivity rate. If I'm not mistaken we also have the largest player population of any town on the server. I mean not everyone wants a pre-built house and it's just an option. But people who don't like building do have a hell of a better time playing on the server grinding out levels/pvping/mining, rather than building.

Improving PvP should be a big priority right now, especially for keeping a lot of the new players. Regardless of how messed up all the classes are right now (Fix this also please), most of the PvP is NEVER on a 1v1/2v2/3v3/4v4/5v5/etc basis. It's always all the big groups wiping out the small ones, or just ganging up on the one lone player so that they feel better about themselves or something. Adding a war system that is easy for noobs to get behind and participate in would be great for the community. (Just so long as it's moderated and there isn't hate chat flying around like crazy, like there always is in O chat after every PvP activity.)

I can't think of any way for noobs to participate in war. They'd need to be in a town/nation to understand what was going on, and even if they did figure it out without being in one they'd have no reason/gear to participate.