New Player Retention

Day 4,145, 07:16 • Published in USA USA • by CalmPepperoni

Let me begin by introducing myself, my name is CalmPepperoni and contrary to popular belief, I am not that big of a fan of pizza. I rarely eat more than two slices in one sitting. I know. It's a mad mad world out here.

So I'm a relatively new player and have only been around for a couple of weeks now. I've slowly been finding my feet in the game, and with the help of some lovely people in my MU and Party, I have figured out what I should and shouldn't be doing and things aren't too shabby. And as far as I can tell, the player base is really good and helpful. I'm not going to go into the political aspects of the game though cause it still hurts my head when I try to wrap my head around it.

Another thing that I have difficulty wrapping my head around, and this one is what I find more annoying, is what the game is doing in terms of retaining new players who have only recently joined the game. A player who has only just joined the game can do much of what everyone else in this game can do, except fight on a level playing field in the war campaigns. Which I completely agree shouldn't be the case as then you can't really differentiate between a long term player who has put in the time, and a complete newbie. This is where the four different divisions come in and everything would be fine and dandy if that split were to remain. However, what really grinds my gears is the packs that allow players to switch between divisions. This obviously doesn't help a lower level player but definitely the division four players who do millions of damage every hit. It is absolutely soul crushing and disheartening when you realize none of your hits make a difference. Your patriotism for your country and fighting for your country only does so much before even that no longer matters and you are resigned to your fate.

I believe that this game needs a re-balancing of sorts to keep the game interesting for the new players so we feel rewarded for our time and not so worthless. It is an interesting conundrum faced by the developers. I also play a different game, and I have been with the game since the very start. The developers there however have gone with a different tactic, where they shower rewards on the new players and do nothing for the old veterans who have been there from the start. This only serves to push away the veterans from the game. This though is the other extreme of problems due to player retention. We need to find the right balance to ensure players of all levels enjoy the game and feel rewarded for their time and effort!