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Common Disappointments

SorketROrk

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Hey!


I'm currently working on my ots, however I do have lots of questions to the community, maybe some can be answered with your help and input here.



* What are the most common disappointments you've experienced when playing a new server? And what would be your suggestion to the developers?

* Do players reach end game content too fast and have nothing to do but wait for updates?


* Maybe you've played a server that looked promising but failed to deliver, if so in what way?



I'm looking for feedback and any type of information tbh, I'll try to gather your feedback and my thoughts to make something great, hopefully :)

Yours,
SRO
 
Definitely short lifespan of servers. In the past there were (and still are, and probably will be) a lot of servers that tried to be long-term, serious servers which died very quickly. The question is why was that.
 
* What are the most common disappointments you've experienced when playing a new server? And what would be your suggestion to the developers?

* Do players reach end game content too fast and have nothing to do but wait for updates?

* Maybe you've played a server that looked promising but failed to deliver, if so in what way?
1. bad first impression mostly. If there's some inconvenience (like a flaw in game design or town layout) or they spot some bug or they get clapped by a strong monster early or you fail to keep the player interested for like first 2 hours, they'll leave your server forever and very likely future iterations of it too.

2. Happens. This is why new areas are being added and servers are relaunched. I've heard from server owners that first launch is always the toughest. After that you get players feedback and have a chance to build connections with the community. Except for end game content, there's a server domination thing. Players are highly competitive. The most popular server in rl tibia is retro hardcore pvp ( =what we call pvp enfo basically). Everyone pulls out of a server dominated by one guild and it dies so finding an optimal way to maintain status quo while also making the server look easy to dominate (without actually making it easy to dominate) is the best recipe for a long term server.

3. it was 2006 or 2007, the most interesting servers were hosted at home and had short lifespan. I'm not a player anymore, but I have one tip: play your own server, make your friends playtest your server. If they are stuck (don't know where to hunt/where to go/which quests to do/which gear to get/where to make money/etc), you need to fix your server design. Sure, some quests are good to remain secret, but the main questlines (zao full story, deeplings questline, the inquisition, poi, etc) should be known at least 20 levels before the player can do them so he can set himself goals instead of grinding/wandering aimlessly around the server.
 
1. bad first impression mostly. If there's some inconvenience (like a flaw in game design or town layout) or they spot some bug or they get clapped by a strong monster early or you fail to keep the player interested for like first 2 hours, they'll leave your server forever and very likely future iterations of it too.

2. Happens. This is why new areas are being added and servers are relaunched. I've heard from server owners that first launch is always the toughest. After that you get players feedback and have a chance to build connections with the community. Except for end game content, there's a server domination thing. Players are highly competitive. The most popular server in rl tibia is retro hardcore pvp ( =what we call pvp enfo basically). Everyone pulls out of a server dominated by one guild and it dies so finding an optimal way to maintain status quo while also making the server look easy to dominate (without actually making it easy to dominate) is the best recipe for a long term server.

3. it was 2006 or 2007, the most interesting servers were hosted at home and had short lifespan. I'm not a player anymore, but I have one tip: play your own server, make your friends playtest your server. If they are stuck (don't know where to hunt/where to go/which quests to do/which gear to get/where to make money/etc), you need to fix your server design. Sure, some quests are good to remain secret, but the main questlines (zao full story, deeplings questline, the inquisition, poi, etc) should be known at least 20 levels before the player can do them so he can set himself goals instead of grinding/wandering aimlessly around the server.
How would you keep the players entertained to make a good first impression?

How about the early exp rates? I've seen lots of servers where the early exp rate is too strong and it ends up making players skip low-mid game content in order to keep players hooked..
 
How would you keep the players entertained to make a good first impression?

How about the early exp rates? I've seen lots of servers where the early exp rate is too strong and it ends up making players skip low-mid game content in order to keep players hooked..
1. If I knew I'd be running a huge server right now. Some players might tell you problems during your first launch. Some of things you and your playtesters will figure out yourselves if you actually play the game you've created.

For sure the town layout plays a huge part. Rookgaard, Karmia, Yurots, Enigma City - all of them have one thing in common - they are intuitive. You walk out of temple (or take tp) and it doesn't take you long to figure out where the shops and depot (if applicable) are. If you don't mess up the starting items, you will have first 10 minutes filled.

Now the player will want to level up. They will go sewers then they will go outside the town (estimated 5-20 minutes depending on xp rate). The hunting places rotation is usually troll/orc/mino -> cyclopses -> dragons -> wyrms/dl/giant spiders/high class lizards/souleaters -> high class lizards/hellspawns/serpent spawns/easy poi monsters -> harder poi monsters, sometimes other spawns based on intentions (fast level/profit) and preference (I prefer hunting grounds I'm familiar with, for example I haven't visited krailos, issavi, oramond and gnomebase yet). If the player can find at least half of these places, you managed to deliver the grinding spots. Now regarding quests, put some chests/missions around so the exploring is rewarded, but don't make them too easy otherwise you'll have some players creating 50 chars to open a chest on dragon lair to sell the reward to npc and become rich in a unexpected way. Anyway, if you get some chest quests and hunting ground up to levels depending on your xp rates, the first 2h should be filled.

2. idk, your choice. I've seen rookgaard ot servers with low rates being successful, I've also seen x999 square spawns also being popular so half of the success depends on what you advertise your server as.
 
When its pay to win. Thats when i log out.
And when there are no players online

An empty server is never attractive, very true. What can be done to make your empty server attractive?

Maybe spawn/loot/exp - rate could increase if less players are online. To a point. If i knew that a server give bonus to all online players depending on how many players are online, id like to play it when no players are online or on a low-point of the day.
It could feel like green stamina, you only exp when its green and gives you bonus exp.
 
Well, talking about servers' population is kinda other thing. Let's assume there are 50 players that WOULD play the server but they dont because server is empty. My point is, someone has to be that first one. Especially if it is not a just launched server. For me, when i used to be a ot player, the must-have minimum of online players was around 40. But worth mentioning is ive never was into high rates (40 online on high rates seems to be not enough)
 
What I miss the most about servers is the community aspect. I haven't played many, but nearly all I did failed to engage people to communicate and collaborate.
I believe they should invest time on how people interact. My best remembrances on the game aren't playing solo. I'd log in simply to have small talk with people. I'd change server if my friends told so. I'd rather go support fellows on easy quests than rushing through numbers.

2. Happens. This is why new areas are being added and servers are relaunched. I've heard from server owners that first launch is always the toughest. After that you get players feedback and have a chance to build connections with the community. Except for end game content, there's a server domination thing. Players are highly competitive. The most popular server in rl tibia is retro hardcore pvp ( =what we call pvp enfo basically). Everyone pulls out of a server dominated by one guild and it dies so finding an optimal way to maintain status quo while also making the server look easy to dominate (without actually making it easy to dominate) is the best recipe for a long term server.
Can you elaborate more thoughts on this? How to make a server harder to be dominated? Or how to make more likely to players fight against domination?
 
What I miss the most about servers is the community aspect. I haven't played many, but nearly all I did failed to engage people to communicate and collaborate.
I believe they should invest time on how people interact. My best remembrances on the game aren't playing solo. I'd log in simply to have small talk with people. I'd change server if my friends told so. I'd rather go support fellows on easy quests than rushing through numbers.


Can you elaborate more thoughts on this? How to make a server harder to be dominated? Or how to make more likely to players fight against domination?
I can relate to that, I have not played any ot myself for yeeears, yet I keep myself updated and play my own server ofc.

I like the community aspect as well, But I also feel like it takes huge amounts of time and effort to achieve this, which is no problem if it is what the players are after.. It will then most likely be welcomed and appreciated.

Can someone that spends a lot of time playing OT, comment your view on how most of the OTS are nowadays regarding questing/task/npc interaction? Is it repetitive and boring after some time?

Also, what stands out? :)


About the server domination thing.. I do feel like you've failed with the structure of the OT as a hoster if that were to happen.. or too much PTW.
 
Can you elaborate more thoughts on this? How to make a server harder to be dominated? Or how to make more likely to players fight against domination?
If a hunting spot has multiple ways to enter, it's a public spot. For example you can't lock liberty bay wyrms with a letter as easily as asura palace or roshamuul prison - areas with one entry point only. A bigger map with more hunting spots is harder to dominate. Not sure how to turn around outnumber situations around cities though.
 
How are people dominating servers nowadays anyways?

I used to play Inferna (pvp-e) where you got exp from players, and kept on playing even when that part was removed.. a server where you dont get punished for killing others.

Playing on both winning and losing teams I remember that it was not possible to completely stop players from doing whatever they felt like. No side really dominated in my point of view, probably because of the economy..

If a server gives you the opportunity to keep on dying for a cause to dominate in a way, without wasting all your money then I think they fkt up and caused the problem when creating the server that way.
 
* What are the most common disappointments you've experienced when playing a new server? And what would be your suggestion to the developers?
No relevant changes in the game loop.
My suggestion would be to spice up tibia's gameplay a bit, I know it's a tried and true classic but for me it has already fallen out of grace..I would like different items (or same items with random small modifiers) and/or subtle mechanics (Like dodge, parry, crit), etc
* Do players reach end game content too fast and have nothing to do but wait for updates?
If that's the case you should have some other systems in place to prevent them from leaving or disturbing other players too much (They are bored).
Crafting, alchemy, new skills, possibility to enhance their items, level up your spells?, etc. Anything that powers up a character without the actual "Hunt just for exp sake"

* Maybe you've played a server that looked promising but failed to deliver, if so in what way?
Failing in many of the things I wrote in the first two questions..

--------------------------

It's worth noting that not many people like the type of changes I said, as a developer you need to know which audience you're targetting..
 
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