What new players seem to think about "the old servers"

[TheTrickster 2,284]

16 hours ago, Etherdrifter said:

Please stop misusing the word axiomatic...  Please?

I wasn't misusing the word, I was making a statement about what you assume to be true and how that affects your logic.  I guess I could have used "presupposition" instead of "axiom".

 

I can see your points, and I believe I can see how you have arrived at them, and I do not believe it was logically, hence my invocation of axioms.  You seem to have accepted certain dynamics, relations, situations etc as true with no further need consider evidence for/against.  Any attempt to actually test these seems to slide right off. What would you call that?

 

15 hours ago, Ekcin said:

Btw. I would not have used the term axiomatic indeed as prejudiced is more appropriate.

hmm,  yes, maybe. 

 

16 hours ago, Etherdrifter said:

Let's just carry on with our lives as I think the thread has moved far enough off point!

 

The cynic in me sees that as a kind of "mission accomplished" for the naysayers.  The point was always about arming new players with knowledge, while the naysayers have been turning it into a repeat of the misinformation that seems to have prompted the OP in the first place.  

 

This is interesting....

Basically, the criticisms that are being repeatedly levelled against the old cluster as a reason to avoid those servers is in that post being made - quite rationally and correctly - against the new servers.  It seems that the new is already the old.

Edited October 22, 2020 by TheTrickster

[Slahn 34]

I'm a new player and love to play on the old server (Xanadu).

It's a more mature population, but I hope more new players will come and populate the old servers.

😊

[TheTrickster 2,284]

39 minutes ago, Slahn said:

I'm a new player and love to play on the old server (Xanadu).

It's a more mature population, but I hope more new players will come and populate the old servers.

😊

Welcome, Slahn.  

 

If you ever travel to Release, be sure to stop in at Harvestmoon Lagoon.  

[Amata 400]

On 10/15/2020 at 5:15 AM, Ulviirala said:

There's much room to settle. Maybe there should be a stronger emphasis over the pros and cons and what cluster to choose? I'm curious what you think.

 

So this thread has covered quite a lot of ground since the OP. 

We've discussed what perceptions already exist among players (new and old), and there has been much energy put into investigating the validity of those perceptions. I was honestly a bit surprised when I went back to refresh my memory of the OP - as I remembered it being a bit more layered and complex (as the discussion has become). What I realised was that the OP was actually very straightforward in point and scope. 

1. OP's anecdotal experience of some new players' perceptions turning out to actually be completely opposite. 
2. A look at settlement per server raw data, suggesting that there is (in fact) sufficient room to settle on all servers, both old and new. 
3. A suggestion that, going forward, somebody (players? Wurm official? Wurm marketing?) ought to consider stronger emphasis on enumerated pros / cons of the various server cluster options to assist new players in making categorial choices rather than perception-based choices. 
4. So say we yea or nay? 

And there it is. 

I say yes to OP point #4.  
I generally feel, for multiple reasons, that choices based on at least some element of objective information is preferable when reasonably possible to choices based on personal perception alone. I do believe that there has been enough time and data gathered during the course of game play to provide a reasonable list of pros & cons for the server clusters, at least in a general "overview" sense. More than enough to be worth writing down on a sign or village board in the tutorial somewhere before the portal(s). 

 

There might be some debate about what constitutes a "pro" or a "con" - so I might suggest an addendum - the server info should maybe be organized as parallel lists, rather than presented as pros/cons. I'm thinking something like - 

 

Freedom Kingdom Options

Southern Islands	Northern Islands
Established infrastructure in populated areas	Infrastructure still developing, even in populated areas
Primary Canals and Tunnels exist	Primary water and mountain passages still developing
Known & Named landmarks, landmasses, points of interest	Exploration needed to establish common landmarks, landmasses, and PoIs
Dangerous enemies in known, predictable areas	Dangerous enemies abound
Reasonable network of Guard Towers established	Expansion will require new Guard Towers to be built
Extant economy with semi-stable price points	Developing economy with variable trends, unpredictable price points
Wilderness areas likely to contain at least one hidden holding or deed (hermit, wood dweller, other)	Wilderness areas may be completely without any holding or deed for extended distances
Player / Neighbor support and assistance possible if requested	Player / Neighbor support and assistance may be unreachable, or entirely unavailable

 

• To some an item might be considered a "pro" - to others, a "con"... Give the players the raw info, and let them decide what suits their playstyle and expectations. 
• I have no experience with PvP content; I anticipate PvP-related information will be added where appropriate
• I don't know why the formatting made everything on that table Bold. I had trouble trying to remove that formatting, but keeping the table; sorry about that!!

[Amata 400]

PS. I have come to realise that it honestly does not matter if player perceptions are based on evidence / data or not. To the players sharing the perception, the point of view is valid - and that is all that is required to continue to spread the idea. 

 

In light of this, I feel it is perhaps even more important to provide a list of cluster features / known characteristics, uninterested in proving or disproving any given perception.