[Suggestion] How to win over new players

Because low population is a major hindrance to game play and having more players would draw more attention to the game from SOE to improve it, I am making this thread for us players to discuss how to make the game more friendly to now players. Please post your ideas here.

One very easy way to help new players is to give them some certs near start. Like start with 100 certs and get some every few battle ranks up to rank 20 or so, so they get an additional 1000 certs in there first 5 or so hours of game play, but no more after that. Since SOE wants a new player to stick around for at least 3 hours to "sell" the game to them. In the end, 1000 certs isn't all that much, but in the beginning it is a ton. You can even buy one good weapon. Just make sure this only applies to your first or first of each faction character so you can't keep creating new character for the good cert gains to get weapons. This way maybe a new player sees something fun a team mate has like a phoenix or whatever, they can get it.

Another idea is to have a newbie area. Just a few bases on a small VR island where only people below a certain BR, such as br 10, can go. Where all new characters start. Make sure the base design is not too complex and also not camper friendly so you don't scare off newbs. Maybe it would also be a good idea to let them use any weapon here like in normal VR, so they know what they can work toward, but make sure they know they won't have it regularly. (on this VR note, it would be great for veterans to have a place in VR with friendly fire on or with other factions present so you could truly test out something)

Finally, implement the mentor squads that were supposed to be in the september update. Mentor outfits would to be cool too, where a new player is immediately put into one. Just make sure it is very worthwhile to veterans to help in these squads and outfits. Ribbons and directive are a nice start, but some unique cosmetics, title, and even a weapon or two would be nice.

Slightly off topic, to get new players to the game in the first place, a bring a friend to Auraxis program could work some. Veteran gets SC or item if new player gets to BR 30 or something. Not original, but probably effective.

I like it

+1

I like the cert idea. Newb island, not so much. A better fleshed out VR area that allows for FF would be something to look into.

They already removed the passive certs for non-subscribers. I can't see SOE doing the right thing to attract newer players.

At the very least, they should restore the passive cert gains to keep newer players coming back and sometimes when they log in they might be tempted into a fight/play session, and at least it keeps them coming back.

Its not a huge bone but anything that can be done to keep new players coming back is a definite must.

How about:
1. The ability to re-cert any and everything until BR 20ish.
2. Increased resource gain until a certain BR.
3. Increased cert gain (25% XP bonus) until BR 10.
4. Extended trials on weapons and a shorter cool down.
5. New player implant that will grant many benefits, Enhanced Targeting, Battle Hardened, Marker etc., until BR 10.

Make game less bad

Give noobs more stuff and better starter weapons

New player experienced fixed, SOE please hire me.

drop it to level 10 and 500 certs each new level

5000 can get any new player easily up and running with a fully certed main.

Not attempting a thread derail here.

But as much as SOE could do a lot to improve the new player experience. A lot of it will be moot until the game even runs for the majority of players.

It would also be nice if we could reliably kill people without the interference of silly bugs like the vehicle ejection, or enemies-looking-at-the-ground-but-shooting-you bug. And some working hit detection would be nice too ^_^

Bugs definitely scare off new players, and bugs existing for a long time without getting fixed scare off veterans. Very good point on the optimization thing. Making the game playable for more people would obviously increase the potential audience. I know several people who would play the game, but can't because of hardware limitations. My brother for one would play if it ran playably on his around average laptop. He likes the game and pIays on my account/computer sometimes.I would love to be able to play PS2 with him.

40 certs every BR until rank 20 sounds alright, 100 sounds like too much. I would probably give 20 certs from rank 20 until 30, just so people get used to receiving less free certs with time.

What about players who are already above the BR for getting certs every level? would they just get the certs?

I would also give new players as much handicap as possible.

Very quick spawn times
Near infinite nanite / resource replenishments
Huge Cert rewards for each BR achieved
Whatever else they may want, just make them stay and get hooked on the game.

Naturally, this would be done once for an entire account and not per character.

I was a new player once.

I liked the way the game played (not withstanding the "bugs") and I found it easier to stay alive longer than in BF3, which I was playing at the time. I also found a niche that allowed me to enjoy the game even more without dying all the time.

I therefore decided to invest some money into the game. Afterall, I was enjoying it and felt that I should contribute.

I became a member. I logged in every day for my 48 Certs. That helped a lot. I started Certing up my chosen role(s).

Also, because I liked the game, I started to put some effort into learning all about lattice lines, shields, classes, bases, etc. etc.

What I want to know is, am I not the usual "new player?" Why do we have to make any changes at all to help the "new player?" Think back to when you started playing, and consider where you are now. Are you BR100 yet? Did you give up at BR30 but still come here to talk about the game?

TL;DR Like the game? Become a member.

Just giving them a kind of play-by-play tutorial/tips I think would work wonders. So if a new player gets killed by an enemy Light Assault, it says on the death screen: "You've been killed by an enemy Light Assault. Remember to watch the skies!"

Run over by a friendy? "You've been run over by a friendly vehicle. Take caution on the roads!"

Killed by MAX? "You've been killed by a MAX. MAXes are tough enemy armored infantry, use teamwork to kill them!"



Just things like that would really help new players decipher the chaos of Planetside.

The biggest thing you can do for a new player is not handouts. The no.1 complain I hear from my friends that are new to the game, besides performance, is that they can't tell who's friend and who's foe.

I think the issue is that a lot of new players don't have tolerance for the problems with the game. And I know it sounds generalized, but one of the gripes a few of my friends, who I talked into trying it out, had when they came back after trying it the first time was something along the lines of "It's the same as it was before."

They don't like the lack of metagame, the glaringly blatant bugs, zergfest (not to be confused with large fights, but rather fights with people just spamming ****). I really shouldn't have to play PR on SOE's behalf to try to convince them that 'oh, it'll be fixed soon, I swear.' Not ripping on the devs or anyone, just saying that I really shouldn't have to be the one trying to convince people to play for any other reasons except for the fact that the game is fun.

I think everything is already in place for newbies to play the game. The only problem is that the newbies don't have any motivation to continue because they see no reason to do so.

Yes, people who played PS2 before WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT come back to the game, acknowledge the changes made (lattice, for example) but often feel that it is not enough. Everyone I know says that Planetside 2 is a great game, looks awesome, sounds awesome. But the bugs and lack of metagame ruins it for them.

Another thing, which is really hard to work out, is that people do not like to lose. It's really tough to sell a game to someone if they keep losing fights. And I try to tell them that a lot of it is not in our control, we lost because of X and Y, and we should do better here. I'm not saying everyone should win always, but there needs to be some sense of accomplishment which can overcome the feeling of getting your *** kicked. People do not like to lose and it makes a tough sell if they're always losing and new.

An example of a game which is tough to play and one you lose often, but still fun because it is about losing, is Call of Cthulhu: Elder Sign / Arkham Horror. But it works for that genre of game. You expect to fail against the unknown horrors of the abyss. But with Planetside 2, you go into it expecting to win for your faction/team. When those expectations aren't met, people get frustrated.

If anything, Planetside 2 needs a way to teach players, new players, that defeat is part of the journey. If anything, something as simple as changing the defeat voice overs could work. Something instead of "Wow, gee, you lost the base. Good job, idiot." it's more like "We lost the base, but the fight isn't over. Fallback and regroup to launch a counter attack! Victory or death!" or something.

Its been two years. You're not getting new blood. You're not even getting old blood.

Release an Expansion. Now you got people's attention.

I still kill (and get killed by) sub 20 BR players.

I agree. This is something that is further exacerbated with all the camo's available and it's not just a problem for new players. Yes, there are the "Doritos," but in a panic situation you tend to shoot before you think. Or get killed while you are deciding whether you are encountering friend or foe.

I like all of these except for #5, imagine how confused a new player would be when all those seemingly basic functions disappear at BR 10? Maybe they could have new players start with enough energy to keep the standard implant running for 12~24 hours of game-play ?