Upcoming Patch Announcement

[oleanna]

darnokpl wrote :
Sadly because people prefer to split into small groups, hate each other and fight with other small groups, than share common goal

True, it s hard to have trust in people in a game like salem ^^... I heard a lot of story telling how a man betrayed his "friends" to take their goods and stuff...

[Banok]

oh god more "great ideas" from people that have absolutely zero knowledge let alone experience on that which they speak.

If you read my post I made clear I am aware such "great ideas" will be completely disregarded. So don't worry, I'm sure server pop will be <100 again just like you chaps prefer it to be.

[_Gunnar]

as much as i'd like to see the anti-treaty group win (partly because i feel salem shouldn't be owned by one guild/clan/faction) i'm gonna confess that i don't see it happening.

Sadly because people prefer to split into small groups, hate each other and fight with other small groups, than share common goal

people are either very individualistic and do what you say, or prefer to live(/play) as slaves and join(/submit to) the largest group

i think real life is a little (not much) better than this, but this game attracts the dregs of humanity (and whether one has a job or not is irrelevant)

i'm probably going to follow a similar pattern to vigilance and play for a bit, get bored, and quit, same as last time. i hope i have as much fun as i did then, anyway.

[darnokpl]

same as last time. i hope i have as much fun as i did then, anyway.

I remember we were talking about some 1v1 spar when you come back

edit
Sadly there is no place for individualists in large groups but I think I got solution for that, just waiting for that dam change log before publication

[Etherdrifter]

I suspect the issue with getting players to band together is not so much to do with the casual/hardcore division but more of a trust issue.

A stranger in salem is someone who can kill you and take everything you own. Yes there might be a benefit in trusting them (someone to watch your walls while you sleep) but it is outweighed by the potential for disaster (loss of character (main asset) and property (secondary asset)).

The use of spies to open gates and get locations by some player groups has further inspired an atmosphere of distrust.

The attrition rate is explainable by the degree of loss salem offers. You spend 3 months nurturing a character, looking after him, balancing his humours and building up his home and then BAM, 100% loss of effort (your home is nuked and your character murdered). This is going to give a high attrition rate, the attitude of "well they shouldn't be playing salem if they're going to quit when they lose everything" is going to further enhance this as "who SHOULD be playing salem" is the question that springs to mind, the answer is rarely polite at that stage.

The few players who reach the endgame are going to always stick around. Mostly because they have little fear of complete loss, they might loose a toon or their home but not both (since they will most likely have multiple of the former and possibly multiple of the latter). The attitude of those players is also going to play a strong role in attrition rates, if they're griefing jackasses then you're going to see more midgame losses and more ragequits (and if the quitter is a key member of a community then you will also see others fading out with them). If they are the kind to help other players reach the endgame then this will have an impact on player attrition but I do not think it would offset the main fear of total loss.

Reducing the chance of total loss in some way is going to increase the number of players banding, reduce attrition rate and might just turn the game around. As to how this could be done? No idea. A skill retention system like haven? A way to ensure that raids do not utterly destroy deeds? These have been suggested before and shot down.

[Dallane]

same cry baby horse ****

Even the devs have stated how they want this game. Pvp isn't changing. Pvp does not drive people away like you think it does. GET OVER IT

[Thor]

Always hilarious to see people trying to rip out core mechanics and principles of Salem.

[imrielle]

I think the answer to "who SHOULD be playing salem" is pretty simple:
*Players who are resilient and don't mind recovering from a total loss
*Players who like exploration games, and permadeath
*Players who love politic fueled games, PVP, and drama

If you don't like permadeath, you shouldn't play Salem. If you don't like the idea that everything you have worked for can be lost, and requires (usually), starting over again from nothing, you shouldn't be playing Salem. If you think this is a Crafting MMO and are wanting a game that is about crafting, you shouldn't be playing Salem.

Despite what Paradox put on Salem main page, this is not a game about crafting. This is a game about PVP, permadeath, drama and politics, that also happens to have crafting. The crafting is here so support the drama and permadeath.

Perhaps Salem's main page should be updated, so less people are confused.

[ysbryd]

. This is a game about PVP, permadeath, drama, GRIND and politics, that also happens to have crafting.

Fixed

[imrielle]

. This is a game about PVP, permadeath, drama, GRIND and politics, that also happens to have crafting.

Fixed

All MMO's have a grind aspect to them, this was implied. Even the very, very easy MMO's like World of Warcraft - though their grind is more about faction. The grind is very apparent in asian MMO's, where it can take a week to gain 1% of a level.

Salem's grind is just humors, and no worse than other games I have played, or still play.