Application Team Appdata - April

[Fireheart 2777]

2 hours ago, SquirtGun said:

Interesting numbers, however I'd like to see more.

 

Are there any records if these players lasted a week after their acceptance? If they're still active today?

 

I ask because the server will always have applications coming in, especially with exams ending and summer months starting. However trying to keep new players here has always been an issue for numerous reasons, whether it be social cliques, overly complex chat systems, permission blocking regions, etc.

 

An extremely recent example would be my own interaction with a brand new player two days ago. Even with bringing them into TS to try and explain things, it took hours. I'm still finding myself answering their questions days later. New players should have questions, but they should also have easily accessible answers.

 

So once again, Are there any records if these players lasted a week after their acceptance? Are they still active today?

 

There used to be a forum post known as the "New Player List". This list gave you more details numbers and crunched down who was active and who ended up leaving. Lord of The Craft is a very narrow focused server as far as the crowd we appeal to. Not only is it roleplay, but it is on a Minecraft platform. This information is hopefully the start to more detailed overviews as to who is coming into the server and who sticks, but it is really hard to do that without a ton of work put into it. The issues with the New Player List is that you are required to log-in and search through that information; which becomes difficult when you do it every single day for upwards to ten people.

 

I've played around with it and have attempted to get people involved in it, but there is not really an effective way to provide that information without a technical component added on. A plugin if you will. There are more pressing matters, such as updating to 1.9 and complying the the EULA, that take priority over the possibility of fixing player retention, an issue that has been with Lord of The Craft since the beginning.

 

I definitely plan on working towards improvements and small changes such as posting this information each month, but at the same time I don't want to burn myself or others out on trying to figure out where new players go after they are accepted. It has been attempted in the past and their has been motivation shown towards it time and time again, but nothing has ever stuck. I hope this answers your question and if you would like to speak to me about it further I am more than willing to speak with you or converse over private messages!

[AlmondTree 418]

31 minutes ago, SquirtGun said:

 

Not once did I blame the AT, or any staff for that matter, in why players don't stick around. Nor did I say an exact reason as to why players aren't staying around. I gave examples of things that the new players I help, for hours at times, are confused about and are turned off to.

 

I am all for helping new players, icly and oocly. However, as a person that joins the server on their first day, the amount of information, commands you need to know, places to figure out, things to set up, it's all overwhelming.

 

And that's all mechanics. We haven't touched on player interactions, how to navigate the chat system, how to figure out who to speak to in a community to get started, where to go, etc. All of this is including players being helpful and looking out for the new members. I've had people more than once, and GMs know about it as they witnessed it and were told about it, thank me oocly for the help, that they've been asking for help only to have people rob them, kill them, and make it a negative time for them.

 

And while RP is RP, it sucks seeing this and hearing this being done to new players because I can relate to it. I clearly remember my first day on the server trying to figure out how to farm so I didn't starve (as no where was /bread explained, don't even know if that's explained anywhere today) and Golden Crows came up to me and killed me for no real reason. When I explained that I was new and not sure what d40 meant I got the "lul sukz to be u" and killed with swords. While I kept going and rolled with the punches,  many don't. The first impression is the most important.

 

The point of it all is that while LotC is a "diverse, immense, and deep" server, it's a lot for new players to take in and more help should be given to new players. The mentality of "well if they're serious about it they'll go find the help" is a poor one in my opinion. The server is already gated with an application that is carefully reviewed, checked for definitions, for plagiarism, for uniqueness, etc. They made the cut. They should be reached out to and helped, otherwise all that reviewing, definition checking, plagiarism checking, etc was just time wasted if a player leaves because they can't figure out how to get a soulstone or how to work the bank plugin.

 

I don't believe my question if records were taken about the % of players accepted vs the % of players that remain active was out of bounds, illogical, or mean spirited. I simply wish to know the numbers, if available, so thoughts can be gathered and systems put in place to attempt higher retention rates if they prove lackluster. And if the numbers aren't available I'll spend some time today and cross check the names on this list with /seen to get a rough estimate and go from there.

I made examples too, calm down was not targeting. The new tutorial area explains the basics, everything from chat commands to professions to /bread so if they take the time doing it, that part would be more than covered. While you are right that players should be reached out to, I will still stand by the fact that you should not babysit. You should provide help for them to begin but eventually you need to let them fly on their own. 

The mechanical aspects of the server are explained in the tutorial area!

 

As for player interactions, it's up to once again all of us. It's a collective goal to show respect to new and veteran alike. 

I do not think players will leave because they get killed, they leave because they can't find groups to belong to. The closed, clouded minds of many oh so many players who does not want to let others in and sit miles away from the nearest town are the ones that I believe have a part in it.

[Stag 3231]

I think it's fair to say all of our duties as players of this community is take the time to PM even just one accepted applicant. 

 

When end I first joined I had a hard time feeling like I fit in. So I took a couple months off and came back when I got a PM. It emailed it to me and I was re-engaged in the server and found my first friend. ^_^ 

[Drop Koala 332]

Wtf am I in there?

[Bvie 1754]

I'm perfectly calm, Pess.

 

I'm looking up people on this list currently, cross checking their names to their forum accounts to MC names as well.

 

Some of these people have been here for awhile and aren't new players. Luv, Cave_Creature, Fassa are examples I've run across thus far.

 

Then you have people that have been offline for almost a year as well, such as Calliope

 

I plan on posting the results as I'm nearing the end of the first list. It's, quite interesting and upsetting at the retention rate thus far.

[Fireheart 2777]

Just now, SquirtGun said:

I'm perfectly calm, Pess.

 

I'm looking up people on this list currently, cross checking their names to their forum accounts to MC names as well.

 

Some of these people have been here for awhile and aren't new players. Luv, Cave_Creature, Fassa are examples I've run across thus far.

 

Then you have people that have been offline for almost a year as well, such as Calliope

 

I plan on posting the results as I'm nearing the end of the first list. It's, quite interesting and upsetting at the retention rate thus far.

 

7 minutes ago, Fassa said:

Wtf am I in there?

This time around there was some data that came over from alt applications as well. That is why some people such as Luv and Cave_Creature show up on it!

[Bvie 1754]

1 minute ago, Fireheart said:

 

This time around there was some data that came over from alt applications as well. That is why some people such as Luv and Cave_Creature show up on it!

I figured this, as Equinox also showed up here and had to cross check that one like 40 times.

 

Anyone whose interested, here's the list as I go.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PAZfsUrW3E70H3Qz9CfPZvxCbxHp2TqcXCo1O9FgryQ/edit?usp=sharing

[Bvie 1754]

Alrighty, I did the first 100 you had listed @Fireheart

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PAZfsUrW3E70H3Qz9CfPZvxCbxHp2TqcXCo1O9FgryQ/edit?usp=sharing

 

I cross checked names with forum names and MC names to the best of my ability.

 

 

Only 21/100 Players (Less than a fourth) that were accepted this past month have been active within the past 10 days.

 

Of these 21, the players are currently playing as 11 Humans, 5 Dwarves, 4 Elves, and 1 Orc.

 

As an interesting side note, 4 of these 21 were accepted as a different race than they are currently playing.

 

1 Human is now playing a High Elf

1 Elf is now playing as an Orc

1 Elf is now playing as a Dwarf

1 Kha is now playing as an Elf

 

While this information may or may not be important due to multiple personas and this just taking a snapshot of what they're currently playing, it's interesting to see where people planned on starting at and where they currently are on at least one persona.

 

[Sky 0]

I genuinely wonder what stops players from remaining active ten days after joining, lack of role-play in the area they first go to? Lack of help? Hrm, perhaps we should look into ways to retain our new players to remain.

[SeventhCircle 460]

Honestly after seeing the statistics that Squirtgun gather I would love to see information on how our server is growing over time and a chart showing daily loggings for the month of april. As with only 21 new active players joining are we at a loss compared to how many players leave per month? If that is the case it means we have a shrinking player base which is very concerning. I honestly feel like the server needs more measurable indicators on how it is doing that way future problems are noticed and could possible be solved.

[Man of Respect 5471]

I tought there were a few orcs... and then...

 

press f to pay respects

[Equinox 245]

16 hours ago, SquirtGun said:

I figured this, as Equinox also showed up here and had to cross check that one like 40 times.

Oh, hey, whats up? If I was allowed to have more, i'd certainly get like a million more.

Sorry.

 

The information looks nice, from Squirtie and the Appdata, just seems slightly odd with nearly identical rates of acceptance and of being denied... 

[John Ivory 4547]

Orcish and Kharajyr race statistics are absolutely dismal... what are the non-applicant, actual persona statistics of these two races? How many people play them actively?

[tilly 5115]

I don't know if there is an accurate way to measure that in game. People change their personas frequently. 

[Lizellan 25]

12 hours ago, Sky said:

I genuinely wonder what stops players from remaining active ten days after joining, lack of role-play in the area they first go to? Lack of help? Hrm, perhaps we should look into ways to retain our new players to remain.

1

I joined several months ago, and thankfully I was invited to join a Barony shortly after- mainly the reason I have stayed active. If I hadn't been invited, however, I likely would have lost interest and grown frustrated with the overall dislike that is subjected towards new players. Mainly the ones who lack proper knowledge of grammar and such.