How do we reduce player apathy/Leaving rates?

[Enkidu]

I've noticed a swathe of older discovery players leaving for periods recently, absences ranging from the temporary to the permanent.

Whilst I entirely respect any leaving decision individuals make, I am concerned that there is a general "apathy vibe" swelling up in various sectors of the community. For whatever reason, people are finding the mod less fun in particular areas.

These leavers may be in the minority, but reduced activity thus means reduced people to role-play, fight, trade and mine with, which in turn contributes to people leaving due to "Disco no longer being fun". Are people leaving in cliques, citing "I'm going, who's with me?" as they leave the podium?


I'm curious to hear possible fixes (reasons have been given a'plenty all over the place), in a way which doesn't involve dev stoning, member stoning, admin stoning, faction stoning or Rp stoning. Indeed, any sort of aggressive projectile utilisation and I'll ask a green/orange guy to lock this down. It's a sensitive subject with all sorts of inverse biases going for it, after all.


I am also aware that some people are vacating for serious Real Life reasons. Be mindful, this thread is not directed at them.


Gripe away.

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THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
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[Savas]

Delete Gallia?

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[Thexare]

The lag is a major problem. It's hard to want to log in when you have the constant threat of several seconds of lag hanging over your head.

Beyond that, you've got your problems of boring economy, extreme concentration of activity in Liberty, and hordes of pirate caps in Liberty. Incidentally, I still maintain that permitting cruiser piracy was a mistake; there is no better way to make an encounter un-fun and therefore unwanted than to have one party feel completely helpless.

[Omicron]

Too much grind, too much lag, too much empty space for the trade route god and half-arsed features instead of finishing what we already have.

+ mandatory remove Gallia

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[sindroms]

Any game played for too long will cause mental tiredness. Especially one so ...eh...involving as Disco. Let people leave, they come back anyway. Just make sure the mod they come back to is more fun than when they left.

How, though, is something we were asking ourselves every time a thread like this pops up.


"Clean up the attitude of the general Community" was the usual answer. But we all know that is not going to happen, unless the admins decide to go Hitler on us.

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PSA: If you have been having stutter/FPS lag on Disco where it does not run as smoothly as other games, please look at the fix here: https://discoverygc.com/forums/showthrea...pid2306502
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[Enkidu]

Gallia brings people something to shoot over. Something to shoot over equates to activity and thus stimulated players, even if the Gallic systems themselves aren't active. And hey, those systems barely take up any memory or cause lag now Privas has been taken out.

"Clean up the attitude of the general Community" was the usual answer. But we all know that is not going to happen, unless the admins decide to go Hitler on us.

Our attitudes can be a little down, it's true. We argue with each other at every turn, more so than Rp or gameplay generation. We're very forum oriented and rarely collaborate enough to set up events.

One idea would be if the admins set up pre-designated Rp/PvP events for bundles of factions once a week. Result: instant fulfilment, despite some timezone complaints.

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THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
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[Lythrilux]

There are a lot of problems with the mod. People offer lots of useful and constructive suggestions as how to fix these problems. The people who have the power to change things aren't listening to all the feedback, thus, that creates unhappy players.
You then have two groups: those who, although don't like the changes, accept them and keep playing. You then have the other group who doesn't accept these changes and just simply leaves because they don't like them.

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[Enkidu]

There are a lot of problems with the mod. People offer lots of useful and constructive suggestions as how to fix these problems. The people who have the power to change things aren't listening to all the feedback, thus, that creates unhappy players.
You then have two groups: those who, although don't like the changes, accept them and keep playing. You then have the other group who doesn't accept these changes and just simply leaves because they don't like them.

Careful Lyth, I really don't want to degrade this into smothering the Admin team with excrement.

I believe you're right about the second part or your argument however. A lot of change has occurred of late and not everybody concurs. You get leavers, you get those who wish to remain, all due to progress (or devolution). It's an intriguing system.

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THE SYNDIC LEAGUES
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[Backo]

We grew up. It's natural for people to grow out of something over time. Many did it, I even did it for around and year or two. Came back this year out of nostalgia for remembering the 2009-2010 when I genuinely had fun in every aspect of the game. But things aren't the same. While they are to some extent, hell even some of the people I used to play with are still here and kicking, it just doesn't feel the same. I'll probably be leaving again when my interest drops again, it's just how it is.

So long story short - the old vets eventually get bored of the game and leave. It's a circle of life. Some return eventually, some don't. Some cry about disco being ruined, some don't. You can't just pin it to a simple thing like - lags. I personally don't mind the lag at all, even if I have a ping of 50ms and remember the days of having a stable server. I adapted to that and got over it. I'm even over the fact I used to play when there were 200 people online and now we cheer when it hits 120.

I'm not saying now I don't find any fun in the game, it's just that it's a lot harder to enjoy it fullheartedly than it was before, simply because I have played it for years now. I have seen a good bit of what it is to be seen, I've played in more than a few official and unofficial factions. Over time nothing seems fresh and new, not completely anymore.

tl;dr: Eventually the game gets boring. You've gotten to the point where you had fun in every form you could imagine and nothing is new. Then you simply move on.

Oh and what really makes me have the "apathy vibe" as you put it is realizing I'll probably never play with some of my old friends here because they're gone. I kind of grew up on this game, given I was like 13 (if math doesn't fail me) when I started playing here first so a lot of good moments on disco are like childhood memories of the good days. Not saying there weren't bad stuff in the days of old, it's just that the brain works that way and lets you remember the good over the bad.

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Republic of the Sword and Sun

[Narcotic]

To be honest, I haven't played much since the release of .87, for what the lag was the main reason.

I had a perfect ping of 25 and never ever experienced any lag within over 3 years of constant playing. Huge Outcast-Corsair skirmishes, massive Rheinland-Liberty KRIEG and huge Order-BHG battles were possible without having one of the up to 40 ships jumping just once. Ok, that was all from .85, but in .86 the lag was still bearable and I hardly noticed it as long as I didn't joined a base siege.

That much for the lag, a lot of balance changes happened that somehow influenced my fun at playing. Can't deny that.

Plus, there have been system changes/removals/additions which obviously changed the Sirius I got to know and love. I call it "nostalgic bitterness".

Then there's of course a lot of friends/players that left Disco for good. People nobody else could ever replace. They left a black hole in one's Disco heart and it'll stay empty no matter what.

Another point (that at least applies to me) is that some of your RP characters feel to be "finished", and it's exhausting to keep their roleplay going, while I can't just keep on playing with them if there's no real progress in their stories. Just bland.

Also, there's the "virtual wealth/achievements" which are limited. No more moneysinks that you feel your time being worth it. In fact, at one point you'll know all the systems, bases and planets by their names, their infocards, all the factions' lore... there seems to be nothing new for you. Can't continue reading a finished book.

That leaves the only option to write roleplay yourself. But as said - after some time even that gets bland.

Now I can't remember my "red thread" ... To draw a conclusion; I suffer a "Disco depression". Something still pulls me back now and then, and I'm still interested in the game and community, but I'm somewhat bored and unimaginative. And seriously, that lag delivers the final nail blow.

In addition, life is being awesome at times and there's always more to do. With rewards.

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