So, most of the individuals who read this forum probably know that I am in the US and a big advocate of improving the population during US hours due to the severely depressing feel of the server. Obviously, there are limiting factors that impede new blood in general that have been on the radar but to this point have remained as works in progress. I am hoping that we may be able to share some ideas that are within reach that may help grease the wheels here-- I'm runnng out of steam, spending time in-game while the population dwindles between 2-3% helping new (and returning) players get a grip on the game, never to log in again for any number of reasons.

For new players, the learning curve is high, the pop is low (aka little, if any chance for general help or tradeskillers) and the path to cap is unclear/expensive by most accounts. I can give these players money, time, instruction, PPU help, res/cst/implant, but the end-result, almost every time, is that when they or I log out, that is last time I will see them.
I'm not tired of helping players, I don't know if I ever will be. I am tired of being hopeful for a convert.


For old players, the learning curve varies depending on when they quit, they complain about the state of APU or the muddled leveling areas and the fact that there are still missions to kill sewer flies and bees that send them into the shitabyss that we call the sewers, the population is too low (really, just access to tradeskillers) and that leveling is too damn expensive & slow when compared to the days of yore when they both knew where to find what they were looking for, and mob damage was lower. The end-result, almost every time is a pumped up returning player who keeps momentum for a few sessions, then realizes that the population is so low that they can't group or trade for items.

I like helping people return, I've been pushing a handful of old friends to come back since I dropped back in this past August. I'm tired of pushing them to return knowing damn well that they are returning to a dysfunctional game that doesn't support them. They know what they need, they know who to look for... but nothing/no one is there. People don't trade rares at this time, there are AFK'd runners in medi who have implant tools out but haven't moved in hours. They ask for something in Help but no one responds. You can literally AFK in medi for an hour or more and see no chat movement in any channel. Talk about lonely.



I'm writing this in hopes that you who read this forum can share ideas or pitch in yourself to help revive the play hours for those of us who aren't sitting in a timezone where primetime play is an option.

My first two suggestions here are bad suggestsions but, then again, I'm bad and stupid so there you go--


1) From 0200-1000 native server time, have double xp enabled. I seem to recall reading that enabling double xp requires a restart; that may make this less simplistic.
This will help old and new players progress more quickly out of the sewers; as well as helping solidify the leveling hook that many players feed on in the world of MMOs. More dings = more excitement = more hook.

2) Move the daily maintenance window back 3 hours. The automatic maintenance is generally the nail in the coffin for any grouping, tradeskilling/etc, or coaching of new/returning players. If that were delayed, more progress could be made and people could choose to log when they wish instead of being forced offline while trying to get 'one last thing' accomlished before they would have purposely logged.



Looking forward to comments/flames here