My opinion on why the game has constantly been losing players

[deepak]

Don't forget it's very cliquey. You have people on here just in their own little "veteran" group, usually dominating the forums, talking about things that a lot of people would have no idea about. There's probably about 20 terms on this forum that I do not know the meaning to and you don't feel welcomed. I've been here on and off since 2008, but I was never going to waste my life away on it so I never got that "veteran" status which most forum-active people seem to be at.

Also NPCs are so weak. What's the point of the game? Everyone is so strong compared to the average NPC that they do absolutely no damage to you. We need stronger NPCs, because to be honest you're never going to be surrounded by players all the time and the NPCs need to provide a serious challenge to your character and do some damage. Then maybe people can actually start doing things and trying to survive in this dark wilderness instead of flying around waiting for a player to come around for you to pirate.

Also as I said, most people who have been here have been here a long time, that obviously means they have some mad skills and could absolutely demolish any new player, I wouldn't feel very welcomed if I came here as a newbie and just got killed every time I went into PvP, realising that to build those skills would take years of experience. Just be gentle, take a step back, breath, it's just a game and maybe just think of PvP as more fun, rather than a serious fight to the death that requires all your skills.

I agree with you there. Not sure about the stronger NPC point of view but about other two I completely agree.
Long time back I remember citing this as an example : In one of the other mods where I use to play in, I remember one PvP chracter Razor something was a pirate on a superior ship who built a serious (not long) narrative and fulfilled his pirate role to the best of his understanding and in keeping with the server RP rules. He could have killed me but he choose to ran off instead of taxing me with a hint of damage to his equipment with my few shots not not that he was suppose to do that. I think that was innovative on his part. When people look for quickie it becomes "also conquered" in their checklist. That is very unsatifying for many and not just newbies.

It is not just about winning or losing but about fulfiling one's role and putting innovation or twist in the larger scheme of things. That sort of role play, I think, is hard to come by.