What Can Be Done to Recruit Players?

[Troo]

5 hours ago, Apparition said:

What suggestions can you come up with to help recruit new players? 

 

How many players do you want? This answer will drive the rest of that conversation.

 

 

Replay-ability is so strong in this game folks have figured out how to leverage existing mechanics to make it comically easy to create a new max build almost instantly.

That's good.. and bad.

 

It may be hard to think back to first starting and what hooked us. (it likely was not endgame builds and incarnates)

 

There are folks who spent a year or more before getting their first 50 and were happy.

 

I have suggestions if we're having a real conversation.
 

 

[Greycat]

2 hours ago, BurtHutt said:

Not sure I agree with this. Graphics are old but a LOT of people don't mind if the game play is enjoyable. Sure, it's an issue for some but it's not a deal breaker.

 

I'm not arguing. I'm here. I play the hell out of C&C remastered (and 3.) I *like* my old games. And a lot of indie games go for even less detail in the old 8-bit aesthetic. (Disclaimer: Yes, I do still own an Atari 2600, though the retron 77 console's much friendlier to try to play those carts on.)

 

But it's not going to *help* draw people in, necessarily, or keep them past novelty.

[cranebump]

Just to correct something mentioned unthread, but you CAN create your own AE story contacts, missions, etc, even arcs spread out over multiple contacts. There’s many authors who do that sort of thing. It just gets buried in the farms.

Edited April 22, 2022 by cranebump

[PeregrineFalcon]

Something that I want to mention, again, is that everyone should be prepared for the possibility that Homecoming will forever "be in talks with NCSoft." There are number of reasons for this that have been discussed elsewhere in this forum. Bottom line: it's more probable that talks continue forever than it is for NCSoft to work something out with Homecoming.

 

Now that being said, my answer to the OP:

1. Everyone who plays should let everyone they know that City of Heroes Homecoming is a thing. Even if they already know it never hurts to remind them.
2. Ask everyone you know to tell everyone they know, or at least everyone they know that's a gamer.
3. When you log into the game tell people in broadcast, or general, or any other channel that you spend time in that a lot of people still don't know that CoH is back and ask them to tell everyone they know. Why? Well, as we've seen many times, most people who play do not read the forums.

[Yomo Kimyata]

I'd go so far as to say that the golden age of Homecoming is behind us.  That doesn't mean we can't have fun.

[gamingglen]

The normal play economics is horrible for low levels: lousy INF gain, way too expensive DOs and SOs when buying them. Upgrading them is way too expensive as well. IOs can stay where they are: a player's market, but the "normal" method of enhancing powers has always been way over priced.  Suggestion: triple INF gain from mobs, quadruple those given as "tips" and that is not affected by the 2xp booster option, and halve the price of regular enhancements and their upgrading. I don't think people will be oozing more INF than they do now. 

 

I do not know how that affects new player retention, but it might in some small way. 

 

When making a new character you are not given a contact. You should. A new player will not know what to do. Unless the tutorial gives you one, but I have not done that in years. One should be given whether the new character has or not done the tutorial.  Also, those first contacts take more than one mission to be able to call them. Change it so they can be called as soon as you go up to one, no matter if you completed a mission or not. I like those old first missions, most had a somewhat unique map. 

 

Old game? I've played others. I still like this one. Would nicer graphics be welcome? Yes. Do we want faces that change expression? Yes. Do we want flowing hair?  Yes.  Fingers? Yes. Bare feet that do not look like the end of a club?  (a thousands x) Yes.  But I will still play this game without those things, although it is not me this thread is aimed at. 

[InvaderStych]

Maybe the trick here isn't to try to compare to modern games, but to lean heavily into the "retro" vibe.  Homecoming is the Vinyl of Games.  The Medium Format film of MMOs.  The 16mm Bolex of ... er ... Games ... I guess.

 

🤷‍♂️

[gamingglen]

28 minutes ago, InvaderStych said:

Maybe the trick here isn't to try to compare to modern games, but to lean heavily into the "retro" vibe.  Homecoming is the Vinyl of Games.  The Medium Format film of MMOs.  The 16mm Bolex of ... er ... Games ... I guess.

 

🤷‍♂️

 

The Black Velvet of games. 

[roleki]

They should stop awarding inf and xp altogether, and convert all rewards to audio signals.  

 

Or shitcan farming, that makes as much sense.

[ShardWarrior]

For the folks who continually whine and cry about AE and how it is supposedly ruining the game, please remember that PLing to 50 existed long before there was an AE.  Removing the AE buildings from starter zones will do nothing to stop farming.

 

I also wholeheartedly disagree that people cannot be invested in characters that were leveled outside of "normal" story mission content.  I have a great many characters that I play regularly that I enjoy very much, all of which were leveled via running TFs, AE content or a combination of the two.  Character investment is entirely subjective to the individual and their preferred style of play.

 

It is important to remember this is an aged game that has some nostalgic value and while it can be fun, it simply cannot compete with more modern games offering more robust graphics, more advanced features and better game play mechanics.  Do not get me wrong, I enjoy CoH very much, however I see it as very wishful thinking to believe this game will ever draw in and maintain huge crowds of new players.

[Apparition]

15 minutes ago, ShardWarrior said:

It is important to remember this is an aged game that has some nostalgic value and while it can be fun, it simply cannot compete with more modern games offering more robust graphics, more advanced features and better game play mechanics.  Do not get me wrong, I enjoy CoH very much, however I see it as very wishful thinking to believe this game will ever draw in and maintain huge crowds of new players.

 

 

That depends.  Personally, I dislike the fantasy genre a lot, and I abhor PvP.  For me in the MMOG genre, that leaves: Champions Online, DC Universe Online, The Secret World, Star Trek Online, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

 

Champions Online has terrible mechanics, been in maintenance mode since around 2010, and has a ton of lockboxes.  DC Universe Online is a bad console port with hardly any features that you'd expect in a PC game, and it's plain as day that the PC was an afterthought at best.  The Secret World has been in maintenance mode since 2017 or so.  Star Trek Online has a ton of lockboxes, and the Star Trek IP itself jumped the shark back in 2017 IMO.  Star Wars: The Old Republic is clearly in its last days as it doesn't have anywhere the size of development staff nor budget that it had several years ago (see the 10th anniversary debacle), and pretty much requires a monthly subscription to play.

 

Against those five MMOGs, I'd say that Homecoming can compete.  Will it, probably not.

[BurtHutt]

21 hours ago, cranebump said:

Just to correct something mentioned unthread, but you CAN create your own AE story contacts, missions, etc, even arcs spread out over multiple contacts. There’s many authors who do that sort of thing. It just gets buried in the farms.

I think we're all aware of this. I don't know if you read that thread link that was attached but it is where I pushed my AE idea. The one where Devs make new AE contacts that they control and add the well written, well done, fun arcs to those AE contacts (maybe a monthly contest etc). Then they would also add that content to canon assuming it meets all of the criteria. 

 

There is no sifting through farms, poor missions etc - it would be radio/paper/tip type additions but done by players and only added to the game if approved of by the HC team. Then the Devs can 'drag and drop' these arcs into the new AE contacts (that would appear away from AE buildings and not look anything like the AE building etc) and clean them up so they look like regular missions. All of the heavy lifting is done by the players and there would be a lot of missions to play. Sure, nothing wild and crazy but there are some very talented players out there and we could get good content added at a frequent rate.

Edited April 23, 2022 by BurtHutt

[Peacemoon]

More updates to keep the game fresh. That’s not a knock on the devs btw, but maybe invite more of the community to help with the project.

[ShardWarrior]

8 hours ago, Apparition said:

That depends.

 

Of course it depends on the individual.  Your preferences are true for you, but not universally so.  Just as you dislike the fantasy genre and PvP, there are a great many players who absolutely love them.  Again, this is an aged game on a very aged engine being run by a volunteer group.  It does not offer a lot of mechanics and QoL things players are accustomed to.

 

8 hours ago, Apparition said:

Star Trek Online has a ton of lockboxes

 

I cannot speak to the other games you mentioned, but I do play STO regularly.  Lootboxes there are very easily ignored.  You are not required to open them in order to progress in the game.  It is also getting continual development and (for better or for worse) has several Trek programs airing to help draw in new players.  With that said, STO is not without its faults, the over saturation of VFX vomit being the biggest problem in my opinion.  I wholeheartedly agree the quality of the Trek IP has suffered greatly ever since Bad Reboot took it over in 2009.

[Ruin Mage]

3 hours ago, Peacemoon said:

More updates to keep the game fresh. That’s not a knock on the devs btw, but maybe invite more of the community to help with the project.

Easier said than done. It's not just as simple as hiring and that's it.

One has to be taught how to work with certain programs/tools for example.

[Murcielago]

On 4/22/2022 at 8:19 AM, Without_Pause said:

Grab the people behind things like putting out Wind Control and the Guardian AT and lets go already.

 

What is the Guardian AT? I haven't heard that discussed anywhere? 

[Snarky]

I have to wonder about the "meta problem"  as in if there is a meta problem.... ?  That being....are MMORPGS...dying?  The genre.  Like Blockbuster movies....a product with a declining market?

 

Where are the successors to WoW, CoH, etc?  Will they ever happen?  Or is this type of thing just not viable for big efforts anymore?

Edited April 23, 2022 by Snarky

[Bill Z Bubba]

35 minutes ago, Murcielago said:

What is the Guardian AT? I haven't heard that discussed anywhere? 

 

Buff-Debuff/Armor archetype. Strong as hell but solo leveling is painfully slow.

 

 

 

 

/joke, I've seen it mentioned, no clue what it is. I still want my assault/armor AT. Tried to make one using a Sentinel with fighting pool. It sucked.

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 minute ago, Snarky said:

That being....are NNORPGS...dying?

 

Nasty Nobodies Online? Sounds like it's dead out of the gate.

[Snarky]

9 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Nasty Nobodies Online? Sounds like it's dead out of the gate.

i need a life editar

 

[Without_Pause]

1 hour ago, Murcielago said:

 

What is the Guardian AT? I haven't heard that discussed anywhere? 

On Rebirth.

 

https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/28/city-of-heroes-rebirth-server-adds-new-guardian-archetype-and-new-powersets-with-first-issue/

[Xanatos]

What would make you play old MMORPGs like Eve Online, Everquest II, World of Warcraft, and Matrix Online for the first time?

 

That's the same thing that would make other people play City of Heroes.

 

For my money, I'd say in-game events run by the Homecoming Team that look interesting to non-players/appealing to streamers/something news sites can write about would be the way to go. Give onlookers FOMO. Let them jump in. And a small % of them will remain after they discover they like the way the game plays.

 

Look at all the dope stuff that's happened in Eve Online:
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/the-5-greatest-moments-in-eve-online-history/
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/eve-online-stories/

Matrix Online had some really cool GM-led ongoing roleplay events:

https://www.engadget.com/2009-08-03-what-you-missed-in-the-matrix-online.html?guccounter=1

 

Catnip.

[BurtHutt]

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

On Rebirth.

 

https://massivelyop.com/2021/04/28/city-of-heroes-rebirth-server-adds-new-guardian-archetype-and-new-powersets-with-first-issue/

 

I also pitched this as well. Adding items from other servers if they have a friendly relationship. I don't know if these other additions to other servers are any good as I don't play elsewhere really.

 

It might be worthwhile to maybe grab a few items from the Ouros project. I believe a fellow posted an AT on there sometime back? Anyway, the HC team is doing a great job but it might be time to think outside the box. 

 

I try and make suggestions that are easier to implement but none of them seem to be of interest to the HC team. I'm hoping the AE one gets added very soon. It could be a game changer.

[Glacier Peak]

8 hours ago, Peacemoon said:

More updates to keep the game fresh. That’s not a knock on the devs btw, but maybe invite more of the community to help with the project.

 

[Ghost]

I like the ideas, but they seem more geared towards keeping current players and not adding to the base.

People that don’t already play, care nothing about new powers or ATs.  They don’t care about new content, because it would all be new to them.

Need to figure out how to promote the game.  Make it something that people want to try.

Maybe Figure out how to get one of the big twitch streamers to play it on stream for a few hours.

 

Edited April 23, 2022 by Ghost