Hoping to get a dev response here. Any idea when the next free weekend will be? i really think i have a few friends who would play this but its hard to get someone to pay 39.99 for another survival game when they already have 5 others they can choose from. I know if they put a few hours in they will dish out the money though =D. Would love to have more people to play with.
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I wouldn’t do a free weekend again until cubits and skill points stop being rewarded in coffers.
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lol why do you see this as an issue?
Because many new people instantly see lootboxes and think “wtf is this”, uninstalling and leaving negative reviews spreading mis-information
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I am curious why the op might think another free weekend would be good for the game at this point. If you look at the average steam players, the avg did go up for the month the free weekend occurred but is now even lower than it was before the free weekend. If we are not retaining those players do we not need to figure out why and address that before running another free weekend?
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The players come near the time free weekend are all fake lol. (not mean your friends here XD)
If you noticed, 80 to 90% of new players who join during free weekend, they already quit.
The problem is they need to figure out the way to keep player stay in the game and enjoy the game.
This why personally i don’t help new players anymore, because its completely waste my time and materials. 90% of them quilt within 1-2 months.
If they “re-balance” the gap between new players and old players , do a good promotion (improve their website, youtube trailers, invite more streamer) I believe this game don’t need another free weekend. The game itself worth 39.99, but they need a better commercial to let people understand how good the boundless is. Right now a lot of content in this game is way too unbalance. The difference between unforge tools and meta forge tools is way too huge.
A good product + A good promotion, I really don’t believe this won’t attract new players to join.
Again, right now this game is just like a piece of art, they need to treat it like a game for market.
It own’t like any of historical art work, one day suddenly become super famous.
It requires good promotion strategy to show the world why they need to play boundless NOT Minecraft lol.
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That is a good take, wade44423
Also if it wasn’t for me happening to spawn next to Aenea, who eventually made a portal network, I would probably not have played that much. Now I’m half a year into it and loving it still.
One solution could be having new people spawn next to the highest prestige areas so they could have portal access.
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To some extent I can agree with set spawn area, players need to be near a settlement that can have portals and have players who can help out.
The down side is that some shops that would set up there would want to push buying their high price items or even sell the low level items, tools/weapons for high prices. Was just running around some different settlements and looking at prices and was appalled at how some shops were asking high prices and I mean price such as 150c for a copper tool. Copper is cheap and needs to be sold at a cheap price to help out new players, not make them feel they can’t afford to play the game.
Coffers can be a problem but the devs did separate it and more info could be given that they are not loot boxes or p2w but the skill points and cubit you earn just as you do in other games.
Perhaps provide players with the basic tools, wood or stone axe, hammer, shovel and encouragement to start on a safe planet, make it clear how more dangerous the critters are to new players who have no protection.
of course, it would be nice if we could make some type of armor, get some wood and make a chest plate to help protect. It needs to be something that would leave the hands free to hold the tools and a torch.
Adding those things and with the adjustments made after the free weekend might help, but I think it needs to wait a while, around a holiday. And get RID of the F&*%K rain! ! ! ! That much rain turns players off.
Yes, I know my new bandwagon.
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That might be true. But I’ve mostly seen the opposite, people giving away low level tools and weapons whenever there’s been a promotion. My neighbor Fidach used to do that!
But I think being close to portals will help out more in the long run.
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I agree with most of your points, but many well-established games with a wide player base still have free weekends to usher in new users. I frequently see free weekends on games through Steam such as Elder Scrolls Online - which has a reported 2.5 million active users.
I think the largest issue for new players in Boundless is the lack of community. The abandoned cities and remains of lots belonging to veterans who left the game leave new players feeling isolated, and player contact is vital to show newbies the ropes. At non-peak hours, I’ll see maybe 2 other people on a planet - not physically see, just see the count in the portal. The game feels empty.
Additionally, it’s extremely hard to locate communities that are still active without knowing the ins & outs - especially when a player is just plopped down in a world with no experience locating portals to find these cities. The tutorial is much better than before, but you really need an advanced player’s help to ease a lot of early frustrations.
I think another free weekend would be a great idea as it allows us players who have been around a while to introduce our friends to the game (who are more likely to stick around for the social aspect), as well as help them get over some early obstacles (easier access to knowledge -> more likely to stick around).
Sorry that turned into a tangent lol.
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Individuals are great to give out food, low level tools and provide assistance, I did that during the free weekend and whenever I meet someone who is new.
Shops however, are prone to charge high prices and I know from my own personal experience that it was of putting and made it hard for me when I started.
I will admit that I am not the norm in that I am lousy at hunting and was killed more than I killed the critters even on Alder a level 1 planet and definitely on Tana VII when my son and I moved there. If not for his expertise in gaming (he is disabled so gaming is his life now) I would not have continued playing. This is my first MMO, so a big change for me in game playing. Now I can handle level 5 okay and sometimes die on level 6 if not careful and get overwhelmed by mobs, lol.
Anyhow, I spoke with players who at that free trial were confused at what to do, at not being able to deal with the goats even on the safe planets, but some of that has been changed. But the bad reviews are still out there and many who buy games on Steam read those reviews and let the biased one affect their decision.
Free weekend should be around a holiday, a discount on the game when it ends and I think provision of the main basic tools, hammer, axe and shovel of either wood or stone to help them out. Most survival games provide those at the start of the game. Along with a small amount of food.
Just my two cents worth and in today’s economy, not even worth that.
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Should add a decal to the game that puts cobwebs on builds that a user hasn’t touched in a month. Like a decayed look.
This is the problem with Gleam Club. It leaves builds up that shouldn’t be up.
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You probably have more experience than I, so I trust you on that. But still, giving new people access to portals was the main argument, so then they could shop anywhere! And have access to all the farming portals. Wish I had all that!
Absolutely agree, Gleam Club refuels are a big problem and contribute greatly to the amount of abandoned beacons laying around. And those beacons continue to take up space indefinitely unless Gleam Club membership is cancelled…
Need to investigate alternative perks for Gleam Club, I think.
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I have taken a slightly different approach to new players. Whenever i find a decaying beacon i plot and save it, 99% have nothing i want in them so i just hang on to them. When new players come across me i give them the tools from the build. If they are a bit more advanced and already got the basic mechanics understood/have a small home with plots they i offer them the whole salvaged home. No loss to me if I quit and a sometimes huge boost to them
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Oh hey ghandy!
That’s awesome of you. Does it happen often? I try to have my eye on my neighbor town that’s been inactive for a good while…
Yes i would love to have empty plots for next 4 weeks(or more) next to my building
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Had three in last few weeks. One of which even had a few umbris (kept those). Got two more on the watch list that are smoking. So yea , fairly frequent
Fidach tho set up a couple of shop stands for new players which were either free or really, really cheap.
Also Nova Golda Market has Kim Clausen’s Noob Nirvana for noob supplies! Haven’t checked his latest prices but didn’t think they are excessive last time I checked…
But I do get it, there have been plenty of shops trying to squeeze as much coin out of newbies as possible…
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it adds atmosphere to me. I know your reasoning from the other topic but it doesn’t affect us all like that. I actually kind of like the rain, it’s relaxing lol 
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