Getting More Players - Kill the Beta Status?

(The following is a personal opinion on the current state of the game. I could be way off. But, you know, that's how opinions work...)


There's been several threads on the forum of late about how we're not getting many new players. A number of those who are new don't hang around as well.

The latter is to be expected. People try a game, decide if they like it or not, and move on if they don't. But some will stay.

The focus of the threads tends to be changing things/adding things that will keep more staying than going. And while there's some merit to a few of the ideas, I'm beginning to feel that's not the big problem.

The big problem? For me, I think it's the "Beta" status of the game.


First, I think back to when I first tried out EL. It looked interesting, but I'd tried too many alpha/beta programs in my time that never fully fleshed out. The "Beta" status is a bit worrysome to some. Sure, it worked for Google but chances of Google abandoning something like Gmail were slim to none.

But Beta on what is a homegrown project can many times mean it'll never be fully "finished" or stable. Now, of course after playing for over a year I know the game is quite playable and functioning in its beta state. People just starting, however, don't know this.

Honestly, it was boredom that kept me going in the beginning. Because of the beta status, I didn't know if I wanted to invest much time into it. It was only after my boredom kept me around a while that I learned of players who'd been on for several years, that the game didn't seem to be on its way into abandonment, and so on, that I started "really" playing.

If I hadn't been really bored at the time, I may have moved on to trying something else instead. Something that wasn't "beta".


What to do?

Still just my opinion of course, but at this point I think all changes done should only be for making adjustments to the what's in the game now to "complete" it in a way that makes removing the Beta status a viable option.

I don't mean that's the end of new stuff or anything of that nature, but there's several things about the game that feel a bit "wrong" or off or missing or such that have more to do with "tweaking" rather than bringing in completely new stuff.


The things I'm thinking of:

1) Fix the item graphics - Several potions look exactly the same because of new ones brought in using old ones' images. The matter conglomerate is still a cabbage and the vial mold still a carrot. "Little shit" that doesn't really affect actual game play but would make the game "look" better.

2) Missing Gods - I know there's not a big interest dev-side to bring in the 3 missing gods (Harv, Range, Tailor), but for completeness sake, they should be added. It gives a feeling of being "unfinished" without them.

3) Continue the new NPCs - Of all the new stuff and changes made the past year, these are what I think have been the best for "fleshing out" the game, putting stories and life onto various maps. It adds to the maps, making them feel a lot less "abandoned". (In particular on the maps that newbies tend to hang out on. I recall wondering why so many buildings were abandoned as a newbie when I first started exploring.)

4) Clear out any outstanding bugs - I haven't checked to see if there are any (or how many known), just including this because if there are any, they should be priority over new stuff.

5) Map Issues - Little things like the tiger lilies south of Naralik storage being "too far away" when you click on them standing directly beside them, just because they were too close to storage. Just remove them. Changing to "You can't harvest here" is just wrong since "too close to storage" doesn't make sense as an actual reason in game play. Yes, I know things like that would require a client update, but I'm thinking long-term to remove the beta status which would have to include a client update anyway. "You can't harvest here" makes sense inside houses and such, that's theft of private property. ;)

Oh yeah, not that I harv there anymore, but I believe the WS underground had a lot of "you can't harvest here" messages on everything but two items. Now that hazmat storage is moved, maybe those should be cleared up just so it makes more sense.

6) Adjust the harv spots - I'm not talking making them harder, as honestly it takes long enough to harv as it is. I'm not talking making them easier to harv either.

I'm talking dealing with overcrowding... add spots that are at almost the exact same "distance to storage" elsewhere that will help split up the crowd.

Preferably on opposite continents. If something is almost exclusively harvested on C1, an equivalent-distance-to-sto spot on C2 may get more people to use C2. Too far or too close in comparison will only cause people to not use it or everyone migrate to it (eventually) respectively. People look to getting the absolute closest-to-sto spot as possible, and there's really no way to change that train of thought. Adjusting with that in mind could get more maps used and the crowd dispersed a bit. (Don't wanna lose the crowd? Consider this is to get the game out of Beta status to get more people in. More equivalent spots will be needed anyway.)

(And yeah, a single piece of iron leading to a frustrating constant "move please" as people fight over it is not even remotely fun. That needs to be fixed. I used to love EVTR before it became the "choice" iron spot. Can't stand being in that mine anymore though because of that.)

7) Fix what's already in-game, forget new stuff - I suggest a complete drop of any plans for new items and such for now. A "freeze" if you will.

Instead, take a look at the items that are already in the game. What's not being used, and why? Rather than the previous "noone's using it, remove it" mentality, determine why noone's using it, and can anything be done to actually make the item useable.

As a potioner, I see a large amount of potions that just never get bought or used because their effect is useless for the most part, or simply not worth the cost. (+5, +4, +3, +2, +1 per minute in harvesting from the Harvest Potion for example... +5 really doesn't help at all when it comes to harvesting. Could something be done to make that pot of any real use? That's just one example.)

That example goes to weapons/armor/engineering items/etc. as well. Almost every skill has those "abandoned items" that just (almost) never get used. Perhaps figuring out a way to make them useful, even if only to a handful of people, rather than bringing in new things might be easier than the new stuff. And will make some of the skills feel less like they're limited to 1-2 items.








Bah, I've rambled on enough. Really no point in getting overly specific as the idea was to just give some general meaning of what I meant by things that would get the game out of "beta" status.

Of course, this doesn't mean the game won't continue to evolve. Just that what's already in the game should be tweaked more, with only the new NPCs/Quests added as they help flesh out the game itself overall. This would allow the ability to remove the "beta", which in itself with lots of hype over the "end of the beta, here's the official game" just might be what's needed to help pull in players.

Yes, I've suggested new things to be added before, and while maybe sometime in the future I'd like to see them, I'd gladly give them up to see the stuff already in the game tweaked for useability and the game finally leaving beta status to help attract more players.

I think others need to likewise put a moratorium on begging for new stuff for the sake of the game as well. Just until the point where "Beta" can be killed.