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The Big Flaw

J

Jaddek

New Member
I've played the game for a week, out of curiosity, and the most apparent thing I noticed from the outset is the old problem that having a group-orientated game is all well and good as long as there's a big enough player base. At most I have seen a total of just over 40 to 50 people in Instance Zero (there don't seem to be any others as I tried switching instances to no avail) and they were scattered across various zones/places. Sometimes it's just 20 to 30 people. Generally there were usually only two to four players in Newhaven, at least whenever I checked that was about it, which is a big discouragement to new players. Content like killing Mischa and her offspring is an impossibility since there aren't enough people to do the content, and even if the handful of people did group up, they're too low in level to make a dent. I thought it might be better in Northreach because maybe the players who took part in the recent free event and then bought the game had moved on into that region but no, that region also hovers around 3 to 5 players. Some players won't be interested in grouping anyway because they are busy gathering resources and crafting stuff which is fair enough. That's what I am occupying my time with, in between soloing what things I can. I've seen people in chat LFG for a couple more players for their group and twenty minutes later they're STILL trying to recruit players. There just aren't enough people around to group with at this point in time and I can't see the situation improving.
 
If you were one of the few people asking about how the population is in discord, you shouldn't trust them lol . This is exactly how it is IN game. You have a lot of guys saying there's a healthy amount of players in the low level range but that's far from the truth.

Anyone saying anything against that will just get shut down and hush up.

But the game is fun, when you can actually get to level 10+. When you have enough abilities to mess around with, even if you have to solo. You'll have at least 3 zones to run around in.

You don't even have it as bad as when the game launched, somehow they thought it was a good idea to make the ancient bear a super rare spawn, so you could be sitting in the cave for 10 hours without ever seeing it spawn even with a group. The named exiles in North Reach took me 2 weeks to see them spawn spending 4-6 hours each day. Only to realize it was just a waste of time because the rewards were garbage.
 
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It all sounds very disappointing. I have managed to solo a character to lvl 10 but I was really wanting to enjoy the oft-mentioned grouping with other players, but Chat is pretty much silent. I checked about an hour ago and in Newhaven there were 3 players with roughly lvl 5 characters (give or take a level). Even if they all grouped up there's nothing much they would achieve. I'll put the game on the back burner for a few months and see how it goes. I love the idea of the game and hope numbers grow significantly.
 
You can spend hours in a groupfinder in a game with a million players and never see a group. The inherent problem isn't population but what an individual is willing to do to play in a group. It's an issue in every MMO I have played. I'm a bit of an introvert and a grouch But in any game I can find groups most of the time by taking some initiative besides just posting " 23 maxdpshobo lfg" for 2 hours.
 
The Dev team, is obviously very well aware of the situation and working on several fronts to solve this issue. What we are doing right now:

- Working on improving the game to improve player retentions, without compromising the purpose of the game (the vision). Right now, our focus in to improve the soloplayability of the game. For example, we add solo loop to our Ember Veins. We have more content coming soon, including something new we have never talk about. Stay tuned.
- We are also working on something much bigger that we are not ready to talk about yet. Then again, stay tuned as we will share informations about this when we are ready
- We have been working on a different style of marketing, as regular marketing is too pricey and not working very much for us.

But the community can help too. Being patient, setting up events and groups to encourage other players to join, speak about the game to your communities, bring your friends in .. etc..All of this goes a long way, obviously!

Just know that we are working hard to improve our game and find working solutions to bring more players into the game and make the game more enjoyable to play whilst you are looking for group.
 
Finding groups isn't that bad but it's rarely instantaneous. If you put effort into starting a group it usually goes quickly enough. Ya, there are times a group will be missing something (recently I was in two groups looking for a tank-type for a while) but it's usually not that bad. Trick is to meet people, make friends, and know who has alts. I know for example someone with a DPS and a duelist, and when I see their DPS on and we need a healer-type I might bug them to see if they'll play their duelist, and they usually do.

As for some spawns, sometimes they are time dependent and/or wander around. For example, Misha and the Ancient Grizzly tend to be out during the day and wander a fair bit, so you might have to go looking for them. Other places might have rats at a ruins during the day and bats there at night. Others seem to be random-ish, especially in dungeons e.g. when and where will the cleaner spawn? Some named I find are rarer for example I have only ever seen one Fang appearance, whereas other named are always around.

Just focusing on NR as per your post, there's usually people looking for A) wolves/spiders groups, B) cv2, C) exiles (outside cv2), and D) the two quest chains, but they're usually around if you look.
 
Jaddek said:
I've played the game for a week, out of curiosity, and the most apparent thing I noticed from the outset is the old problem that having a group-orientated game is all well and good as long as there's a big enough player base. At most I have seen a total of just over 40 to 50 people in Instance Zero (there don't seem to be any others as I tried switching instances to no avail) and they were scattered across various zones/places. Sometimes it's just 20 to 30 people. Generally there were usually only two to four players in Newhaven, at least whenever I checked that was about it, which is a big discouragement to new players. Content like killing Mischa and her offspring is an impossibility since there aren't enough people to do the content, and even if the handful of people did group up, they're too low in level to make a dent. I thought it might be better in Northreach because maybe the players who took part in the recent free event and then bought the game had moved on into that region but no, that region also hovers around 3 to 5 players. Some players won't be interested in grouping anyway because they are busy gathering resources and crafting stuff which is fair enough. That's what I am occupying my time with, in between soloing what things I can. I've seen people in chat LFG for a couple more players for their group and twenty minutes later they're STILL trying to recruit players. There just aren't enough people around to group with at this point in time and I can't see the situation improving.
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Realistically it can take an hour or more to find a group and then another hour to fill it in my experience; and that's if you are lucky. Another huge problem is there's often only enough players for one group at each level range; if you are player #7 you are sat out with no chance to start another group.
 
Korraz said:
Realistically it can take an hour or more to find a group and then another hour to fill it in my experience; and that's if you are lucky. Another huge problem is there's often only enough players for one group at each level range; if you are player #7 you are sat out with no chance to start another group.
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Ya this is very true and unfortunately the cause of me having to step away. It’s sad I watch the team work so hard on the game but I fear ultimately it’s just not enough. Even with all the new content this year the game still feels like it hasn’t really went anywhere. I wish the team the best but without a community to play with it’s pointless to login. My static friends left XD and all the ones I have playing are running their own. Of course they’re having a descent time. I dunno what the solution is guys but things aren’t looking good for the future.

We see the hard work and love you for it.
 
I fervently hope the game flourishes as I do enjoy a game where levels aren't just given away for no effort, just to please the instant gratification crowd. I'll keep playing and look forward to the future.
 
Jaddek said:
I thought it might be better in Northreach because maybe the players who took part in the recent free event and then bought the game had moved on into that region but no, that region also hovers around 3 to 5 players.
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Recent free event? You mean that back in November? I wouldn't call that recent tbh. And most of the ppl who joined there (and stuck with it) should be well over lvl 30 and long out of NR by now.
 
Keiban said:
Recent free event? You mean that back in November? I wouldn't call that recent tbh. And most of the ppl who joined there (and stuck with it) should be well over lvl 30 and long out of NR by now.
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All of us that started at launch were in Spider Cave by the 5th day. You are 100% correct, they are long gone from that area. By the 10th day, we were already in Redshore. That is before the 40% XP buff
 
I am going to mention this because I think it gets overlooked. Using /zone to look for your grouping options is limiting especially if you are playing odd hours in the middle of the week.
Try asking in /world (if you haven't already, I am just assuming) because many people that really love the game have 5 character slots and some of them might really enjoy coming back to NHV to relive the quests out there. There are many really nice people that play this game. I am not guaranteeing success of course, it all depends on timing really. I hope you stick with it. Those times when you can get a good group can be priceless.
Another thing I forgot to mention is that you don't need a "perfect combination of classes" for every bit of content. Even the first dungeon can be done with a team of only 4 strikers. I just had a group like that a few nights ago. So don't hesitate adding a partner just because you still need a tank/healer/dps, especially for the early content.
 
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try "/who all" that should list everybody in game atm.
caps around 80ish people in the late EU evening, when US and EU players overlap somewhat.

Also consider joining a guild - right now there are 2 big player guilds around which make up a sizeable amount of the playerbase simply because it is easier to organize groups this way.
 
This is really the cause of my frustration. I finally sat down with the game and wanted to give it another shot. I'm a level 11 Berserker. So, I go try to do the "Missing Arms Race." I cannot solo that camp, no matter what I do. They are all green,, but 2-3 chevrons are mixed in, and they call for help from miles away. So my options are grinding low mobs somewhere else, or gathering. That's going to get stale again real quick. Add to that most regular players are far and above my level, and it's just... not going to work.

Established players have already formed their cliques. New Player>Need for Grouping>Player Drops Game>Repeat. I get it, they want to have a group-centric game, and I don't want to try and say they can't have their vision, but they really need to throw solo play a bone. Player retention is a huge issue, and with the core mechanics being the way they are, it's just killing itself.
 
Breidr said:
This is really the cause of my frustration. I finally sat down with the game and wanted to give it another shot. I'm a level 11 Berserker. So, I go try to do the "Missing Arms Race." I cannot solo that camp, no matter what I do. They are all green,, but 2-3 chevrons are mixed in, and they call for help from miles away. So my options are grinding low mobs somewhere else, or gathering. That's going to get stale again real quick. Add to that most regular players are far and above my level, and it's just... not going to work.

Established players have already formed their cliques. New Player>Need for Grouping>Player Drops Game>Repeat. I get it, they want to have a group-centric game, and I don't want to try and say they can't have their vision, but they really need to throw solo play a bone. Player retention is a huge issue, and with the core mechanics being the way they are, it's just killing itself.
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Click on one of the new Bulletin Boards added at the end of January.
Specifically designed for solo players.

Got 3 levels on my tank in 2 weeks in the high 20's soloing these bulletin board quests.
Solo player hasn't just been thrown a bone, he now has access to MenuLog.

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