New players: do you think you would have had a better experience starting near active players?

I think a newbie town is a good idea,
put all the newbie at one place, so it will increase the chance for experience play to find them and help them. The way to do it is set a landing point on each planet, and experienced player can build some newbie shop or tutorial in that area. Some new player may willing to build around that landing point, which make the game looks more active for first impression.

I think this is a great idea :blush:
Maybe do it as an option though

I disagree on a set landing point for new players on each planet. The game should not decide how a new player starts. If they want to land near other players fine, if they do not also fine. I do think a better explanation of what players see when they look at the planet from Sanctum should be added so they can make an informed choice. Then if they want to be near a city they can. However, there is no way to make the game look more active unless you want to eliminate most of the planets or force players to build in large communities. Even with 300 people playing at the same time, there are 50 planets plus the exos. Players are not all going to be hanging out at their home beacon. They are mining, hunting, gathering exploring, shopping or at another of their own beacons.

I also question who gets to decide who the players are that are going to be the ones to build these shops and tutorials at the “Officlal” starting site? It is one thing to do it on your own, but if there is a set place for players to land then I am not sure that some players should be the ones to introduce or teach other players. Do we really want someone that is really more interested in exploiting new players for coin or footfall or just minions to mine or do the grunt work for them? We all know there are players that would do just that.

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Another way would be this:

When people create a character, they can turn on “New Player Guides” as an option before they leave sanctum.

Players with over 100 hours can pull up a list of all players with new player flags and warp to them for 100c from any planet.

So if people want help they can get it; if people are bored they can go help people; and that way it doesn’t “give” a bonus to any one player. If two people are there helping a new player, it would be hard to take advantage without someone catching it.

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I think there should be a new player planet, where players stay until they’ve done the tutorial. That way they can also help one another learn the ropes. The way off the planet could be a journal entry for opening a warp to a T1 or T2 planet capital. From there they would be on their own…

I don’t think new players are finding it hard to find help. I’ve noticed many are doing quite well and, I know the ones who ended up near iLlumiNaughty have gotten help and guidance…

It’s for sure not the NPE I went through… lol.

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This is happening at maryx they have done an amazing job so far.

Also I’ve been working (Slowly) on a newbie market. I’m trying to forge in a cheap way iron and copper tools to sell at low prices for them, I’m also thinking of adding some baskets for basic resources and a contract area at my place which is next to the maryx centre.

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No just no on this. It is some of the players that have thousands of hours in game that I am the most afraid of. I certainly do not have a problem with the players that when asked are offering help to new players. I think we all need to be willing to answer questions and offer solutions to issues they may run into. I just think letting established players be part of some official welcome committee is not a good idea.

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I totally agree! :slight_smile:

Like I mentioned above when we started we could’ve been near others as well but they were mostly new too, I liked it like that. Now I’ve read some Steam reviews, negative ones, about landing in a large plotted area where they needed to run, sloooooowly, a lot to a spot where they could grab some wood for the tutorial.

Newbie planets would solve that and will give them the same experience as we had.

If they add certain colours higher level players also like then they will go there too and can strike up a conversation and/or help newbies if they want help.

After level 20 they can finally beacon on other planets and most probably will want to leave their beginner place. Especially if the size of your settlement on a newbie planet is limited in plot columns they most certainly will want to move somewhere else post level 20!

This, I think, will be the best thing!

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To handle this, because I can see how frustrating it would be, can they make the warp augment used to start not able to target a plotted area on the planet?

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Yeah I was wondering if this has happened to people.

Maybe no matter where you pick on the map as a noob it should put you at the closest UNCLAIMED plot?

Also the default run speed is WAY too slow.

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Come check out the 1st build there we did last night! Showing off some awesome mechanics with placeable liquid!

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Totally, totally agreed as well - throw in my vote too here. :slight_smile: Might also be good to make the T0/dedicated newcomer planet blocks a bit weaker for those who want to go a little quicker.

I see it as a win-win - could still opt to start on a T1 or T2… perhaps even, for the first 5 levels or so, have a “New Start Location” warp option in Sanctum that would choose a low plot density area on another T0-T2 (choose tier, some might want to start on a hostile then regret it, for example). I think of my own experience starting a bit after launch on Alder - it could have gone VERY differently now, depending on the area I happened to hit with a warp. Starting right off, a person might think, hey, maybe I should aim right at that big city there, or like in one review just happen to hit an area that is thoroughly plotted, leading to frustration.

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If there is one thing that pisses me off to no end, is seeing someone play the game for less than 24 hours and then give it a negative review.
That’s not long enough to truly experience the game.

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Yeah, I’m against giving gem tools to newbies. On a tier 1 planet, it’s also a waste, as titanium will do it all.
The only exception is a gem grapple. First time I got a diamond grapple with a 30m range, I was in love.

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How long do they have to play a game to decide if it is right for them or not? If a player has maybe 10 hours a week to play games, due to work, family, school or other obligations. . what is a realistic amount of time for them to play and decide if they like a game or not? 24 hours would be two and a half weeks of all their game time. If they are not engaged at that point, is it a problem with the game or the player?

I will agree that I have a problem with players that relay incorrect information as the basis of their review, but if it comes down to the game is not right for a player unwilling to spend 4 hours a day playing then maybe that does need to be communicated to potential players in some manner.

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The in-game Knowledge tab gives a ton of information about blocks and items at least. :slight_smile:

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I can see all the 'My City Must Be The Biggest" types signing up to be guides and ‘helping’ the new players by showing them ‘where to build.’ It is a good idea though and I have seen it in other games. It can be helpful.

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The problem is the way reviews are written. People saying the game is garbage just cause they couldn’t get diamond hammers in the 20 minutes they spent on it is dumb.

It’s like watching the first two minutes of a movie and saying it’s trash.

And since most people don’t know how to write a proper review it would be fair to give less weight to review from people with less than a couple hours of game play or at least show a big warning saying “this player just tried the game for 20 minutes”

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I agree it’s frustrating.

But instead of blaming the users, who we can’t change, let’s find another solution.

Maybe we can make that first 24 hours better. That seems more achievable.

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I agree with this. And maybe some players handing out AOE hammers makes players think they need these to play.

I also agree with this

I know I always look at how long someone played a game. If someone played less than an hour then I would argue the review should not even be posted on steam, but that is just me. But if someone has played a game for more than 10 hours, I might be at least willing to see what they did and did not like. And someone that has played 2000 hours before writing a review has a very different perspective from a new player.

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