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Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

Part of the problem might also be a culture thing, where we Lusternians just tend to be more antisocial or introverted. I mean, in Achaea, the housing system doesn't hide you. You have to pay 450 credits for a bed, on top of having the land and the house, in order to take yourself off QW (at which point you're also cut off from all communication, like being on an aetherbubble with no planar skill). Here, manses are relatively cheap and easy to hide in, while still keeping an eye on CW in case of events you want to come out and participate in. This is one of the many reasons I prefer Lusternia to games like Achaea. I bet many other people feel the same way.

However, maybe we need to push ourselves outside our comfort zone a bit, as players, if we want to attract more players. Maybe we need to be in a habit of turning off our gems when it's not really necessary. I got mine so I wouldn't be bothered, but to be honest, I rarely am bothered when I turn it off. So I'm trying to keep it off by default and only turn it on when I really want privacy. I forget who suggested having it off by default when you log in, and having to activate it as a defense, but I really like that. Making it opt-in would make us more conscientious of it.

Kerith

4

Re: Upcoming Economy Rework and Goals

Sapphira said:

The sense of entitlement, yeesh. Personally, the transparency our producers have is a world away from what we used to have and it's amazing. No more 'because that's how it is', we actually get numbers, we get explanations, we get to give input, they hear us when we say 'x is a problem because y' rather than turn a deliberate deaf ear as though it were personal criticism. Who let the Karens in here?? We as players and customers don't get to dictate outcomes, despite what we may think. That we even get to have input that is heard is amazing. We can't also cry that we don't get the solutions we hoped for, when no one -has- to ask for our input.

You have the bolded the wrong way around.

The fact that players are willing to come here and give their input about the game is a ridiculously valuable tool to the admin. Players doing so, regardless of how they phrase it, is literally guiding the admin on what's not working and ways that things could be made to work better. Without this the admin would have to guess and this is why there are companies with outreach mechanisms to try to get this information to improve their services.

Same thing with solutions really, specific solutions to address an issue might vary but if the admin don't meaningfully address the issues players have then players eventually leave and the game needs players. Also, even the admin have previously noted that their resources are ultimately quite limited so gathering player solutions creates an efficiency because you then have many more people looking at ways to resolve issues. (edit: Also, to note, the IREs are basically the only games in the world that I can think of where the devs can't active play them, while they were players, the admin can't exactly spin up a player character and experience the game as an actual player which makes them even more reliant on player input)
The economy issues mostly exist because the admin didn't really do the things you're saying they don't have to do and by not really doing them it created a bigger mess without actually resolving the original issues.

Honestly, a growing concern reading over the posts is about how much of this rework is just going to fix the mess created vs actually hitting those long term issues.

Saran

2

Re: Upcoming Economy Rework and Goals

Jatius said:

Orael said:

As everyone is aware - one of our upcoming goals is to focus on the economy and re-working how it functions. The first part of this is really on us, which is to dig deep and determine how the mechanics of it function.

We're digging into the following:
- aethergoop generation and sinks
- commodities production and sinks
- gold generation and sinks

The one thing that we still need to determine is what the eventual goals of this should be. Obviously commodity production is one of the big player concerns, but we wanted to open up this thread to give you, the players, a chance to give your input,

What would you like to see when we begin to tackle the economy?

No, it wasn't. Give your input != want your solutions.

Input is a broad term realistically, if the admin wanted only the issues they could have just said that but ideas are also input. Further, the bit you didn't bold about what players would "like to see" is similarly quite open and inclusive of ideas. And to really hit it on the head, countless times across the years players have been told to offer solutions to issues rather than just raising them which is at the least a cultural thing that tells players we are actually expected to give solutions.

Saran

2

Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

Will I be annoyed that I am more visible and thus more susceptible to being 'bothered' while out and about in the world? Yes.

Is that worth it to potentially increase the game's retention? Yes.

Synl

5

Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

Synl said:

Will I be annoyed that I am more visible and thus more susceptible to being 'bothered' while out and about in the world? Yes.

Is that worth it to potentially increase the game's retention? Yes.

In my opinion, it's kind of a self-fulfilling situation too. The fewer people have gems, the more visible those few people are, the more likely they are to be "bothered". On the flip side, having everyone visible without location also means it's that much easier for you to find people who might be able to help you too.

Jolanthe

5

Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

Some of the players might get upset/unsatisfied/want their credits back if cloaking gems were potentially nerfed, but leave? I don't think any of the existing playerbase would leave because of a cloaking gem nerf, that seems a little far-fetched imo

Coraline

8

Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

Saran said:

Coraline said:

For every newbie that sticks around despite the game looking "empty", there are four or five that leave because of the "perpetually empty feeling" (what I've been told by 80% of the people I have tried to get to play). This is despite people helping them and kitting them out etc.

The true newbie experience is very different from newbies who have started new characters after having played extensively before on other characters, and I don't think people who aren't true newbies completely realize this - this is something Sulwh seems to agree with me on as well when we had this discussion privately.

I'd disagree with the last bit about people not realising it. In some ways being an experienced player can make it worse because I look at the outputs from like CWHO or GWHO and tend to automatically expect that all the "X on other planes" are people in manses who are just AFK (unless I've seen relevant conflict chatter recently) and are basically artificially inflating the online numbers.

There's also a bit of a question around specifics. For example, it seems super relevant to consider if those newbies are actually understanding the player count stuff at the bottom, because if they are then changing WHO may not acheieve much, particularly if they're coming from other MUDs/IREs and comparing numbers. You can also get that empty feeling if your guild or org is well... desolate which who wouldn't really help with because it doesn't really matter if there's a hundred people online elsewhere.

It's also the same with objections really. The concerns about being visible, the desire to avoid griefing, and sometimes wanting to be covert about what you're actually doing, all kinda make me wonder if maybe another way to hit things is to look at how easy it is to actually scry. It's most basic form is available to everyone through enchanting and it seems to only get better from there, maybe there needs to be some work done around that which could make people feel more comfortable being more visible (if that would actually solve things)

A true newbie is going to learn about QW or WHO and count the names. Let's compare Achaea, Aetolia, and Lusternia QW lists:

Achaea

Accipiter, Aelyn, Agramon, Aina, Akicita, Alizais, Astarod, Atul, Barry, Dynos,
Edotlina, Elliora, Elyon, Embrelle, Gardai, Gelantur, Giddieon, Harlaye,
Hendrik, Ita, Kassie, Keorin, Kieva, Layta, Leofrik, Levice, Lizabel, Maajida,
Majin, Marra, Mazus, Mercer, Milabar, Minsideon, Molli, Moranda, Morthif,
Nachi, Namino, Natliya, Neisti, Nhakra, Nicolina, Nona, Novak, Perl, Phelia,
Pleak, Rasahi, Reinn, Riane, Rino, Ripple, Ryzan, Sagin, Savira, Seragorn,
Sereka, Serra, Seryphrea, Shirszae, Shri, Staria, Swikaan, Tarvius, Tashara,
Thiev, Thorgrim, Trendric, Valuk, Vie, Zalydd, Zandyr, Zylvith, and Zyrine.
Plus another 4 whose presence you cannot fully sense (75 total).

Aetolia

Amyie, Araseth, Borminchia, Cadhla, Calen, Didi, Dourif, Einette, Grady, Haven,
Iesid, Illidan, Jakarn, Jarrhn, Jezreth, Jhin, Kaestrin, Kurze, Lynexia, Maliki,
Menelaus, Merek, Moxie, Nebula, Pentas, Rinnek, Sekara, Sekeres, Stine, Sukii,
Vizzer, Vjeiraic, Wert, and Yeni.
There are 41 people total online with 7 people that are hidden from you.

Lusternia

Afrit, Gedrilio, Isser, Tarragon.
(*) Currently, there are 4 Lusternians on this Plane and 28 on other Planes.

Yes, Lusternia has a third of the population online as Achaea, but 75% of Aetolia. And yet Aetolia feels infinitely more filled. The issue is that cloaking gems compound the already smaller visible population resulting from the unique planar mechanic.

Sulwh

7

Re: Portrait Gallery: show off character or lusternia related fanart you've commissioned or created!

Nepenthe said:

More Nep, this one by Fura.

https://twitter.com/furanezu?s=20

I already commented on discord but I cannot get over how GORGEOUS THIS PICTURE IS. The colors are so striking and the pose is so cute! 10/10! What a lovely piece they made!

Gurashi

2

Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

Maybe a short term solution - add an achievement/newbie task for checking WHO - and then add a hint that mentions the limitations of who you actually see - those on your own plane, and that many others may be using techniques to be sneaky and hide!

Maybe?

Sapphira

4

Re: Cloaking Gems (Again)

I do like the idea of "a cloaked person" being shown on who instead of the name, since when newbies look at who, the game will appear populated, but you can be sneaky without drawing attention too. If this is implemented, I would like it to be like:

Who:

Coraline
A cloaked figure
A cloaked figure

^in that format instead of "5 cloaked figures"

Coraline

1