Global village recruitment board and starter deeds.

[nicedreams 1,035]

We need a village recruitment board that can be seen from any (Global) village recruitment board.  This Global village recruitment board will only be at starter towns and Golden Valley.  (Maybe make it craftable.)  It would be best to have people sign their deeds up as starter deeds looking for recruitment (a given).  The recruitment post would have enough room to post like an advertisement to get the noob to want to join their village and the deed owners name.  Deed must be part of waypoint system to starter town to be able to post as starter deed.

 

Then have the tutorial make a noob while in Golden Valley check out the global board and they can select a deed to try to join.  It would tell them which starter town they need to portal too for that deed and who the deed owner is.  This would give a message to the Deed Owner and a mailbox message stating recruit's name is wanting to join.  Then the private messages can go from there.  Have a waypoint automatically to the deed auto start when noob if ported to start town so they know right away about that system and how to get to deed instead of waiting around bored for a ride.

[Brash_Endeavors 4,735]

Good ideas. 

 

I also suggest all signups auto expire after 15 or 30 days unless the mayor takes action to reenlist, so we do not get new players trying to select deeds that are not active.  Might also need a way (if it is programmable) to show which deeds have mayors currently online.  And encourage the player to chat with several different mayors if possible so that each has an idea of mutual expectations.  Does the village assume the new players will take task directives for  projects the mayor selects , or will the villager be free to choose all/some of their own activities?  Does the mayor enjoy teaching new players who "Know Nothing", or do they prefer returning players familiar with basic game mecanics? What does the mayor expect from the new villager, what perks (land, cottage, gear, paying jobs) does the mayor have to offer the new player in return?   We do NOT want new players sucked into becoming unpaid  "brick slaves" -- unless that is exactly what the new player expects and wants.  A player might be interested in a village where the mayor is not currently online, but thats a little risky and I'd prefer to see some sort of nudge in the direction of mayors who are, at that very moment, in game. Those mayors are more likely to play at the same time zones as the new player, and likely to be more active players.

 

A good first experience is likely to make it MUCH more likely the new player stays with Wurm, and of course a bad first experience will simply derive them away from the game entirely. So make every effort to encourage "good matches".   This could be an excellent way to bolster the game's spotty retention rates.  It might also be nice addition if there was a way for the village to have (in parentheses) how many total citizens had been active in that village in the page 10 days, so that people who care about such things can select a very active village (many might prefer a smaller village where they can play a larger role, but some will get disappointed if they join a village and then never see a single other person ever log on).   

 

I am not sure it needs to be required to have the village on a waypoint, since an active mayor can teleport a new recruit to them the first time, but it would be excellent to point out the many longterm benefits of selecting a village that IS on a waypoint. Some players might actually prefer smaller, remote one-player deeds, where they can bith have direction but also have some quiet playtime by themselves to work out the game, with a support system.  

 

Also a notation if the village offers any non-English community socials. Or roleplay, frequent group outings, , etc.  Maybe a six-word summary of the villge's main attraction points (ie, "active economy + jobs," "friendly roleplay and frequent hunting," "adult/mature language and humor," "Family friendly," "Polish and Russian members" etc.  

 

This type of match making service could go a =LONG= way into retaining new players in the game.

 

Which wurm is going to need if it is to survive for years abnd years. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 22, 2018 by Brash_Endeavors