What's scaring away new players?

[Roke]

well we need a chat and more players, some mods would help as well that can be easily accessed to ask for help, they would be part of a special society that one does not get favor with and can not join (since it's mods only) the chat would enable people to socialize more easily in the game and make it more player friendly. (just my personal opinion) and also i think the leveling is a bit slow, you have to grind in an area for a couple days before you can move on to a higher one, even if your guy's diet consists only of fish and bozzfries.

[Salen]

as for the assistance anyone can ask myself, Julionics, and carrec for anything and we'll help em even if they are part of a different society:) we're good like that

[babylonhoruv]

Zydecopolka helped me out too (I messaged her cause I know her from SSW and she was on)

[zydecopolka]

Yep, feel completely free to add me to a list of players that will help anyone from any society. That's just how I roll, folks!

<3

[dullahan]

and i would think some people dont get the humor?and they may want new cults.cuz i mean some dont fit some peoples fortay like theres only:

Stereo type but more awesome cult (beelzbros)

EXTREME Catholics (inquisition)

Conspirators (weird fellows)

and Mutant lovers (ctholagains)

maybe like that vampire sex cult that you reference or a cult full of nerds (that last one im iffy on id prefer the vampires ).idk i love the game but theres only so many choices.just some ideas

[babylonhoruv]

and i would think some people dont get the humor?and they may want new cults.cuz i mean some dont fit some peoples fortay like theres only:

Stereo type but more awesome cult (beelzbros)

EXTREME Catholics (inquisition)

Conspirators (weird fellows)

and Mutant lovers (ctholagains)

maybe like that vampire sex cult that you reference or a cult full of nerds (that last one im iffy on id prefer the vampires ).idk i love the game but theres only so many choices.just some ideas

I don't think more cults is a good idea until there are more players. Maybe replace one of the ones that is currently there. You want people in at least two cults to have some challenge.

[Valestra]

I'm a new player, just been in here a few days. Discovered the game one day while bored and scanning through some voting sites.. what attracted me was the humor/horror aspect, and the cheezy graphics made me laugh, so I stuck around for a bit. Anyways, after reading this post, and agreeing to many of the criticisms, I figured I'd pipe in with my impressions.

My main complaint is the terrible lag. Waiting sometimes several minutes to make the next action, or move to the next square is enough to make many people go elsewhere. As much as I've been enjoying the game, I've given up in frustration several times and logged out because of the lag.

My second complaint is there is no help for new players. There is no one to ask questions of. There is no place to go for answers to questions. You basically get dumped in the game and have to figure things out for yourself. Some things are not that easy to figure out. You find stuff you have no idea what they're for without using it, and sometimes coming to harm because of it. You wander aimlessly with no way to know if you're going in the right direction, or fighting the mobs you need to be fighting. You wonder what infusing is and how to do it. You forget what your mission is, and have no place to check it, or to get clues as to how to continue if stuck. Some new players need more help than others. Luckily, I'm one who generally can figure things out on my own, given enough time and tenacity. Others, being frustrated quickly, will move on immediately. I just discovered the wiki, and found it very helpful. Having that link in a prominent place may help some players stick around.

Another thing that is discouraging is the game feels dead. It feels like people have given up on it, and being the only one online often doesn't help that feeling. I really don't know how that can be changed though. There is no chat, live or otherwise. You don't see other players around. Currently, in the Beelzebros, I am the only name there. People are social animals, and most play online games for the community, as well as the gameplay. I've stuck with games long after being bored to tears with the actual game, because of the people I've made friends with, and the great community I've become a part of.

Ok, some of the other things that have been brought up really haven't bothered me much. I've found plenty of melee weapons of all sorts. I've found armor (if you want to call it that, lol). Cash was a little hard in the very beginning, but I have cash now, and no idea what to spend it on other than medkits. I never really had trouble with mobs. All in all, I like the game, just wish the couple things I brought up were different.

[Taylor]

My main complaint is the terrible lag. Waiting sometimes several minutes to make the next action, or move to the next square is enough to make many people go elsewhere. As much as I've been enjoying the game, I've given up in frustration several times and logged out because of the lag.

Yeah, for some reason lag has gotten horrendous recently. It hasn't always been this bad, and I'm going to be looking into new hosting solutions.

My second complaint is there is no help for new players. There is no one to ask questions of. There is no place to go for answers to questions. You basically get dumped in the game and have to figure things out for yourself. Some things are not that easy to figure out. You find stuff you have no idea what they're for without using it, and sometimes coming to harm because of it. You wander aimlessly with no way to know if you're going in the right direction, or fighting the mobs you need to be fighting. You wonder what infusing is and how to do it.

There's a big help link up top. It also has a link to the wiki, which documents pretty much what every item does. There's not a lot of help topics, true, but part of that is just me not knowing what should be in there, because I know how everything works. If you have any suggestions for help topics, feel free to let me know.
I had considered making a couple of prominent players "moderators," who would have colored names and would be specifically noted as people you could ask for help. If I actually put that into place, would that be useful?

You forget what your mission is, and have no place to check it, or to get clues as to how to continue if stuck.

There are two places that have mission reminders. In the "missions" section of "more stats" (granted, not the most intuitive place), and in the "missions" section of your society. I don't know what I can do to make that more accessible besides putting a big "missions" link in the sidebar.
Unless, of course, the mission reminders themselves aren't helpful enough. Is that the case?

I just discovered the wiki, and found it very helpful. Having that link in a prominent place may help some players stick around.

It's at the top of the help page. I had a link to it in the top navbar, but added some other things and now there's really no room for it. Where would you suggest putting it where it's more visible?

Another thing that is discouraging is the game feels dead. It feels like people have given up on it, and being the only one online often doesn't help that feeling. I really don't know how that can be changed though.

Tell me about it.
Part of the way it can be changed is through letting me know what's turning you off, some of the stuff that used to be a problem in here isn't anymore, so thank you for taking the time to do so.

There is no chat, live or otherwise. You don't see other players around. Currently, in the Beelzebros, I am the only name there. People are social animals, and most play online games for the community, as well as the gameplay. I've stuck with games long after being bored to tears with the actual game, because of the people I've made friends with, and the great community I've become a part of.

There is chat. Nobody ever uses it, but it's there. Unfortunately, with regards to being alone in a society, that's just a function of not having enough people to fill every society. I guess I could make it easier to tell what societies have people in them, somehow. Would that be hepful?

[Valestra]

Ah.. I didn't even notice the wiki link there til I went back to look. I just jumped immediately down to the questions. Being highlighted, or larger may help that. As it is, I looked right past it. I'll try to think of some other topics to add. The only one I can think of right now is "What is infusing, and how do I do it?" I haven't figured that out yet. I'd personally, just get rid of the 'In addition to these help topics, there is also a' and just have the wiki link in big bold text... maybe in a bright yellow, something eye catching.

Mods are only helpful if they're actually online. I'd say have them in chat, but chat being on a totally separate page as it is, turns a lot of people off. I won't use outside chats, because I can't play and watch chat at the same time. I like being able to click and play the game, while keeping an eye on chat, and being able to comment without changing pages. I've been staff on other games, and having someone accessible to answer the "How do I play this?' does help a lot in retaining those new people who wander by.

Most of the time, the mission page just tells you what the mission is, but you get no help being stuck. For example, making the drug, I knew I had the recipe, and I finally got all the items, but didn't know how to make it. I finally wandered back into the chemistry lab and found thats where I needed to be. Having more info is always better than less. Maybe a message that can pop up after you finish stages would be helpful. After getting the recipe one can say 'head to Green Witch Village" after gathering the last ingredient you can get one that says 'Great, thats all of them, back to the college'.

The game feeling more live only helps if you can get people to hang around after they've used all their vitality. A better chat would help a lot. Maybe some other things to do that don't need vitality. Many games have casinos (haven't found one here if there is one) or mini games. I don't know this game well enough to know what would work, and haven't spoken to anyone here.

I didn't pick my society, it picked me. I just killed the mobs I could. I'm pretty sure that most players who are active are in the same society they were in last round, so just knowing which have people in them is only part of things. Knowing that one of the others had a dozen people, for example, wouldn't necessarily make me change, as I have already learned the mobs I can kill with this one. We just need more people. Let the societies choose like they did me. lol

Anyways... it's late and I'm off to bed. If I think of anything else, I'll add them tomorrow. Just thought I'd put my 3 cents in, since I'm about as green as you're getting right now, lol.

[Salen]

love the input!! the problem is getting people to stay, there have been tons of people that sign up and try it but bug out cause it's not their thing. if you know other twisted...i mean like minded people let them know and drag them in. i'm usually bros but went weirdfellows to finish up the missions and society page for the wiki.
feel free to message me whenever you're on and ill get back to you asap if possible, i try to pop in every once and a while , and usually play even when i'm out of vitality; bashing hippies and squirrels for exp and items. were all pretty friendly, especially babylonhoruv, julionics, carrec, crashnburn11, and casket......when he's sober LOL!!