City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

The real problem why EU populations are low?

Alvan

By Alvan,
Posted on: 2008-12-07 16:55 in CoH and CoV General Discussions

 

Posted

Now someone's gonna shout "GR SAID NOT TO DISCUSS IT!" but this is a why it's low, and somebody will shout "IT'S NOT LOW!" but compare it to other MMOs and you see why. End of story, I don't want to start a arguement/flame war about it.

Now, recently I13 was realased. But in my mind there wasnt really anything in I13 that will make intrested ones go "Oh, that's a feature that will effect me in my first few days!"

Let's review...

Day Jobs: Don't think newbies should be making 23 alts just yet
Merit System: The newbies probably dont even understand Story Arcs/TFs/GMs yet.
Levelling Pact: OK it might, but it would take a while to figure out this.
New Cimerora Stuff: I'm sure no-one got to lvl 35 in about a week of first time playing or so.
Multi Builds: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they won't use this instantly either.
New Powersets: Yes, they will use this. I can't deny it. But there is a LOAD of other powersets...these are two.
Base and PvE and PvP Changes: I'm not sure people get involved with Bases early on, and PvE and PvP numbers will pretty much confuse new players.

So...do you see? There seems to be little to attract new players to the game in I13.

I'm glad they're trying MA, something new kids on the block might get excited about, but frankly - that's still a few months away. I'm sure that not many newbies will go into very much detail into Mission/Arcs anyway.

This is basically a reason why I think, disagree or agree on this matter, and post your own reasons. And please don't start a flame war...

 

Posted

There's the entire game for 'new' players.

The problem when it comes to marketting City of Heroes is that it's dated visually (and it is in a whole lot of aspects) and it has no concrete traditional end game content.

'HAI GUYS COME PLAY THIS FOUR AND A HALF YEAR OLD GAME, YOU CAN CHOOSE WHAT HAT TO WEAR WITHOUT GIMPING YOUR STATS!".

Give it a graphical tweak and some reasonably hefty new content and I see no reason why another boxed release isn't on the cards.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Now someone's gonna shout "GR SAID NOT TO DISCUSS IT!" but this is a why it's low, and somebody will shout "IT'S NOT LOW!" but compare it to other MMOs and you see why. End of story, I don't want to start a arguement/flame war about it.

Now, recently I13 was realased. But in my mind there wasnt really anything in I13 that will make intrested ones go "Oh, that's a feature that will effect me in my first few days!"

Let's review...

Day Jobs: Don't think newbies should be making 23 alts just yet
Merit System: The newbies probably dont even understand Story Arcs/TFs/GMs yet.
Levelling Pact: OK it might, but it would take a while to figure out this.
New Cimerora Stuff: I'm sure no-one got to lvl 35 in about a week of first time playing or so.
Multi Builds: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they won't use this instantly either.
New Powersets: Yes, they will use this. I can't deny it. But there is a LOAD of other powersets...these are two.
Base and PvE and PvP Changes: I'm not sure people get involved with Bases early on, and PvE and PvP numbers will pretty much confuse new players.

So...do you see? There seems to be little to attract new players to the game in I13.

I'm glad they're trying MA, something new kids on the block might get excited about, but frankly - that's still a few months away. I'm sure that not many newbies will go into very much detail into Mission/Arcs anyway.

This is basically a reason why I think, disagree or agree on this matter, and post your own reasons. And please don't start a flame war...

[/ QUOTE ]

The thing is, everything in this game would be new to someone just starting out in it, the problems you list are more problems for retaining old players, not bringing in new ones.

[url=http://vox-doom.deviantart.com]Take A Gander At This.[/url]

 

Posted

Let's review from another light:

Day Jobs: Small nice things you get from being offline - nice to come back and get a bit more inf or exp, even if you're a level 1 character. A small treat that makes logging in fun instead of "damn, I still have 4 bubbles of debt to clear"
Merit System: getting rewarded in an uniform fashion from doing more requiring things and being able to choose your reward from doing that is a nice thing. Sure, a newbie will screw up their merit purchases, but so what.
Leveling Pact: Great way to start a new game with that special someone or a good friend. This way, even if one of you has more time than the other, you won't end up playing separate or unbalanced. The sidekick system was a good step towards this, Level-pacts are a step further.
New Content: later level stuff, 20+ and 35+, not really useful for the new players, also I think devs should still add some more nice stuff to do around levels 28-32. The lower levels are full of content already anyways
Multi Builds: These are more for the end-game than the beginning
New Powersets: Omg, I can make a Captain America clone! pretty much instant stuff for the newbie to enjoy. Also added bonus of "Why is my scrapper called GenericHero3422 now"
Base changes: Supergroup base is a thing that a group of friends starting the game will most definately want. Thus any positive changes made to it will be good stuff for the beginners.
PvP changes: PvP is now more accessible to those who haven't spent an eternity farming for the perfect build. This very much includes the newbs.

[b][color=blue]Coldest War /[color=red]/ Omega Patient[/b]
[url="http://www.the-cow.net/"][color=red]The CoW Network (Blog) /[/url][url="http://www.collegeofwar.com/"][color=blue]/ College of War[/url]

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Give it a graphical tweak and some reasonably hefty new content and I see no reason why another boxed release isn't on the cards.


[/ QUOTE ]

That is what's needed, preferably paid for so they can actually add some new stuff to do instead of just fluffing up what's already here.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
PvP changes: PvP is now more accessible to those who haven't spent an eternity farming for the perfect build. This very much includes the newbs.


[/ QUOTE ]

What about those who have?

Very dissapointed with PvP changes <text removed by mod>.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
What about those who have?

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, for those newbies, I think Wrath of the Lich King might be the thing. Getting a newb to a perfect build on their few first days requires some chinese gold farming help IMO.

[b][color=blue]Coldest War /[color=red]/ Omega Patient[/b]
[url="http://www.the-cow.net/"][color=red]The CoW Network (Blog) /[/url][url="http://www.collegeofwar.com/"][color=blue]/ College of War[/url]

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Give it a graphical tweak and some reasonably hefty new content and I see no reason why another boxed release isn't on the cards.


[/ QUOTE ]

That is what's needed, preferably paid for so they can actually add some new stuff to do instead of just fluffing up what's already here.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well they (theoretically) have the manpower now and the Mission Architect will be quite a big selling point too.

I think it's a case of when rather than if.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Give it a graphical tweak and some reasonably hefty new content and I see no reason why another boxed release isn't on the cards.


[/ QUOTE ]

That is what's needed, preferably paid for so they can actually add some new stuff to do instead of just fluffing up what's already here.

[/ QUOTE ]
Well they (theoretically) have the manpower now and the Mission Architect will be quite a big selling point too.

I think it's a case of when rather than if.

[/ QUOTE ]

IIRC correctly we'll be getting a graphics boost next year.

Was mentioned in one of Posi's interviews but my search-fu fails me right now.

 

Posted

Yup. Just depends what kind of an upgrade, just re-doing the old NPC textures (have you seen an Outcast lately compared to a Roman or Rikti?) and the world ones would be a massive boost.

It would of course be a whole lot of work.

 

Posted

I'm pretty sure the reason for the low population is the Nazis. In fact, someone should commit suicide because of that fact.

And that's the usual summary for one of the OP's threads, now in one handy dandy, quotable post.

"Idealism is such a wonderful thing. All you really need is someone rational to put it to proper use." - Kerr Avon

Myopic Aardvark on Twitter

 

Posted

Shiner looking office instances are still office instances.

The game needs things to do in the shared overworld, as well as new gameplay types in missions. C'mon NCNC, WoW has more variety in quest mechanics.

 

Posted

Only since Wrath, really.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Shiner looking office instances are still office instances.

[/ QUOTE ]
Although they wouldn't "still" be anything for newcomers, which is who the OP was originally saying were the issue.

Although the OP's also started discounting newcomers and taking swipes in this thread at devs over I13 PvP changes, so perhaps anything goes.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Duskwallow Marsh: The sea monster fight.
Zul'Farrak: The top of the temple bit.
Honor Hold: The exorcism quest, the bombing runs.
Ebon Hold: The ship, the frost wyrm...

[/ QUOTE ]
GM.
Scripted Ambushes.
I'll give you bombing runs, but that type of thing in CoH would be somewhat redundant because of Travel Powers.

 

Posted

The reason the population is low?

More players leaving then new players enter the game.
Simple as that.

How to remedy this?
1. Make sure less people leave. They are trying to do this by giving us new and interesting stuff to do. Tweaking stuff that is broken and make our gaming experience better.

2. Making sure more people get involved in the game. Advertising, interviews, going to places where lots of players hang out, making the game available to other platforms. Tweaking the game engine to make the game better so people who try hang around longer.

As far as i can see they are doing a lot of things to keep us happy and lurk new players to the game as well. Not everything will work. Remember you cant win the battle. Every game has its lifespan. But imo CoX is not past its days yet.

 

Posted

I think it's very important for longer term players to always look at the situation from the new player's point of view - just think back to how the game was, say, 2 years ago, and how it is now, and you'll see just how much new content new players are faced with now compared to then.

@Golden Girl

City of Heroes comics and artwork

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
Duskwallow Marsh: The sea monster fight.
Zul'Farrak: The top of the temple bit.
Honor Hold: The exorcism quest, the bombing runs.
Ebon Hold: The ship, the frost wyrm...

[/ QUOTE ]

So you're saying WoW is doing so well because it has those quests. - I've news for you they exist in CoX as well

Sea monster fight - Lusca
Exorcism quest - CoH is full arcs involving rescuing PC citizen's from various villain groups intent on sticking some spirit or demon in them - some get stopped some you have to deal with the aftermath. Even returning some back to normal citizens again.
Top of temple bit - Adamastor, BP mishes, snake mishes - especially one particular high level one.
Something about a ship and a frost Wyrm - Striga arcs, Frostfire, Ghostship, Spectral Pirates.
Bombing runs - Rikti raids

Mind of Gaia lvl 50 Defiant's first Mind/Storm 'troller.
Deadly Doc 50 Dark/Dark Corr
and lots more on Pinnacle,Union and Defiant

 

Posted

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[ QUOTE ]
PvP changes: PvP is now more accessible to those who haven't spent an eternity farming for the perfect build. This very much includes the newbs.


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What about those who have?

Very dissapointed with PvP changes <removed text as quoted post edited>.

[/ QUOTE ]

Quote from GR. Linky



<removed text as quoted post edited>

 

Posted

Hi guys and girls
Sadly, i don't recall ever seeing a T.V. ad for the game. I'm sure its fair to say that most kids nowadays spend their time glued to the TV.
In order to get more people recognising and hopefully playing the game, we need to get some decent advertisement out there, which i understand would cost a bomb, but may prove to be cost effective in the long run.
But to be honest, i don't mind the state in which the servers are in at the moment.
I mean, i think the community is great, better than any other out there. Personally i don't think i could handle loads of new people coming in with WoW text like "roflmao pwnt nub"... but maybe thats just me lol.

 

Posted

I don't think I've seen a TV ad for any MMO other than WoW to be honest.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I think it's very important for longer term players to always look at the situation from the new player's point of view - just think back to how the game was, say, 2 years ago, and how it is now, and you'll see just how much new content new players are faced with now compared to then.

[/ QUOTE ]

Which is absolutely no consolation what so ever for long term players that have run out of stuff to do.

 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
I don't think I've seen a TV ad for any MMO other than WoW to be honest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yer.. i don't think i have either to be honest :P but i haven't seen a WoW Ad in a long time.
But still, i think it would be really neat to see a CoH advert ^-^