There is a problem with community of my server: They don't want to play anymore.
Yeah, that's right. 90% of people is not interested in any long-term playing.
6 months ago I gathered about 500 people from my country (Poland). I announced that I'll be opening a new server for them. For three weeks they've been discussing how should it look like: rates and other settings, custom features etc. We used a modified sociocratic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociocracy) model to achieve consent.
I don't have exact stats for the first 25 days, but we certainly had ~750 people online in first three weeks. After two months peak was ~600, after three it was below 500. Now it's less than 100. Oh, rates are 7/7/6.
They got bored. Not that it was indeed boring. WoE was competitive and GM team was trying to satisfy players needs (updating, implementing custom features like @guildhp or @allychat).
I turned out that most of them was playing only because others were playing too.
I'm also running a 500/500/500 PK server. Players on forums are begging me to wipe it, because "there are too many MVP cards". Well, server is 1 yr old and MVP/boss card drop rate is 20x. Is it really that much?
They also insist on giving out "supply boxes" for WoE, because they don't want to "waste time on gathering them". That sounds ridiculous to me. I discussed a bit and came to conclusion that in fact noone is willing to play RO anymore. They just want to log-in twice a week, get their free potions and poison bottles and have fun for an hour or so during War of Emperium. That's all they want about this game.
I feel hopeless. RO is a great game with so many possibilities and players on my servers just don't want to hear about them - leveling is a waste of time for them, collecting gears and WoE supplies too, making quests as well. If something doesn't benefit them in WoE it's not worth doing. I don't want to end up running a RO-Counterstrike server.
Now I'm wondering if it is a global trend or just the community of my servers is so spoiled.
Is there any demand for long-term gameplay nowadays? I'd be more than happy to make a low (I mean LOW) rate server for international community (no more servers for one nation, people tend to migrate to international servers anyway) of people who are attracted to server not by its population or competitive WoE, but for the joy of long-term slow-paced, stable game experience itself - maybe with some custom, but not balance-breaking features (quests, maps, useful commands, synthetisable/colored headgears - just new content to discover and experience, no shortcuts like healer/warper/reset).
Are there any people like that or did they extinct?
I would love to see a new server last few years with good population. Unfortunately most of them seem to shut down after month or two. People tend to these days switch servers as soon as the new one opens.
Also game gets a bit boring after umm 7 years or so playing. And many players have gone to other mmorpg's. I used to play WoW too, but studies made me quit it.
I'm personally quite picky when it comes to server. I can't find one I like currently. All well populated ones have stupid custom donation rewards that give stats, zeny advantage etc.
I wouldn't mind joining a new one or existing one, but I just can't seem to find one I like atm.
I feel like players are getting lazier and don't like traditional RO features. They like wings and custom stuff more now so RO is kind of a new game entirely in a way
ye. players like OP classes which pawns players. low rate server's population is decreasing due to lazy players. they want God Items and OP items for their character. wtf
My server actually isnt like that at all. Our rates are 15x15x10x, and our main town is quite empty because everyone is out leveling and hunting, it all depends on what kind of players you attract.
Quote from: Levenn on Dec 11, 2009, 07:47 PM
My server actually isnt like that at all. Our rates are 15x15x10x, and our main town is quite empty because everyone is out leveling and hunting, it all depends on what kind of players you attract.
Your server is one month old, people are still gathering stuff and leveling. I'm quite sure it won't last long, but I wish you good luck...
yeah i suppose so since were new. but i have faith that we will do okay. and thanks for your wishes! i need all the luck i can get :3
basically what OP is describing is how RO went for me on almost all servers I played. You play a server for a long period of time, and you just get sick of killing Dark Lord for the 15th million time. WoE is the only thing that ever changes because every woe is different and that's gonna be the most popular thing. I used to log on hour before woe, farm my materials and play then log off and not come back online till next weeks woe. Now I don't even bother anymore because even woe has become boring.
I'm one of those bad players that logs in for a few hours a week ;)
Farming and grinding are a lot more fun the first time around.
At some point, you've been every class, tried a bunch of different builds, learned how to compete in PvP. There's nothing new or interesting anymore on the grinding/farming side. You've been there, you've done that.
I like WoE. That's mostly what I play as well. PvP was fun for a time, but I suppose I've lost my knack as I get owned there now ;)
Maybe if I found a non-standard build eAthena server with a decent sized English speaking guild, I could be inclined to go on another "work your way up from the bottom" experience. Barring that, meh.
I'll just jump in and have fun with WoE and only build exactly one serious character :D
My biggest fun as a player was PvPing and participating in events (that were mostly pvp events). When you're fully leveled and equipped, that's pretty much all there is to do. And it's actually fun to participate in huge pvp wars.
I usually play to be the very best.. Highest damage, highest HP, richest, best forger, collection, etc. But as soon as I can't get pass the certain thing I'm trying to achieve highest in, I start to lose interest. Since I was an old RO player, that basically disconnected from RO for a long time... I've been getting that a lot lately. Even if I re-learn all the new cards and combos, I still can't get back what my godly like combos that was perfect few years ago.
One of the weirdest yet frustrating mentality of the RO community is this though:
1) Claims to be bored of a 7 year old game, which is understandable
2) But then, if you try dramatic changes to add new elements to the game to make it less boring, then it's either "overpowered" or "well now it's not RO anymore"
Eg: Tired of knowing exactly what equips to get like tidal combos, and then valk shields, and then SM equip set, but then if you introduce your own equip so the "standard equipment build" is challenged, then it's overpowered. If you weaken them to be weaker than existing equip because they are 'overpowered', then they are overshadowed and thus useless anyway. This is especially true on wings. The moment that "w" word appeared, half of the time, people rule them out as overpowered without even bothering to look at their actual effects (including the case where some servers, wings don't even have an effect and is purely for looks, but "overpower" anyway just because they are wings.)
Eg 2: mouRO, need to say more of being the worse victim of this mindset?
Strangely both of these mentality co-exist. Most server owners scratch their head and struggle very hard to somehow satisfy both mindsets at the same time.
One way to have a thriving server is to have highly competitive guilds, and possibly low MVP drop rates.
This way, you get different guilds trying to camp/fight for MVPs 24/7, and the drama/rivalry that ensues will help to keep the players going. The guilds themselves must also consist of pro players, so they get their variation and challenge every week.