NFI vs SFI For New Players

[Rustblade 57]

In your opinion, is the NFI cluster better suited to new players or the SFI cluster?

 

Please only consider new players to the game and not "returning players" or new accounts of existing players.

[Locath 533]

Other:

 

It is very hard to judge what is better without asking every new player. 

Some prefer highly populated gameplay with a bit of support from others.

Some prefer playing on their own, learning everything from scratch.

Some don't have any preference.

 

For someone coming from pretty much any other gaming experience, it's probably natural to pick the freshest server not to have to compete with ancient accounts, not knowing that servers are connected and we can travel between them.

Others will assume that older servers have overflow of resources gathered by old players and that makes it more likely to get free stuff as newbies.

 

The issue here is that neither us or new players are well informed about any of this.

We don't know what drives the newcomer's choice of the server.

New players don't know the real differences between servers.

Very few of people trying out the game (any game) bother doing any investigation about this before first logon and then, after a week, they feel like they invested too much of their time to start over elsewhere.

We know that few months of time invested is nothing on Wurm scale but people coming from pretty much any other gaming environment feel that it's a lot and not worth starting over, even if they learn from others in game that there are places better suited for their play style. "make best of it" comes to mind.

 

Wurm is very unique on the gaming market because vast majority of other games offer stencil copied servers which the character is bound to but in reality they are all identical so the only choice the player has is the name of the server they like.

I don't know how to explain to fresh players, before they pick a server, that this is not a lifelong commitment and they can move around freely within the selected cluster but the current presentation of that is lacking. Wall of text isn't the way for sure. Nor is a singled out server with a "NEW" stamp on it.

 

 

 

This part is semi off-topic but connected to the issue above. Not only your starting point choice is explained poorly:

This is an issue with most of the systems in the game. Tabbing out of the game or having to open external websites on another screen most of the time while playing the game probably isn't natural for a lot of people and certainly isn't what people expect to have to do right from the beginning.

Wurmpedia at first because "how do i make a shaft again?" since the crafting recipes functionality isn't well explained anywhere and people learn about it long after they start playing.

Then they add external maps.

Then they add one of the food affinity generators.

Then they add one of the ranking/event tracking websites.

 

All of that, from the server choice all the way to tracking my own progress and, if i opt in, tracking my position on leaderboards, could be easily included in the game.

[Simyaci 425]

Make a new cluster where skills can only go up to 50 or 60. Start people there. Merge SFI NFI. Give people in the new 50 or 60 max skill cluster to be able to transfer to the new merged NFI-SFI mega cluster, permanently. 

[TheTrickster 2,291]

I chose "other" because I don't think either is necessarily objectively better.   

 

I think anyone could have a terrible start or a great start on any server.  It would depend on their own mindset and what fellow travelers they happen to come across early on.  

[TheTrickster 2,291]

1 hour ago, Locath said:

We don't know what drives the newcomer's choice of the server.

Well, we kind of do - which is the whole other argument.    🤣 (NB:  I am laughing at myself at least as much as at anybody else).

[Atndy 385]

They both are. Nfi is great for people whom want to work for prem with ingame money. Have somewhat of a footing to catch up and make a good amount of silver on a lucky rare item through their grinds. 

 

Sfi is great for people who don't mind swiping the credit card. With rares dirt and enchants being cheap you can get a nice deed set up with fully kitted and rare gear without taking out a second mortgage. 

 

If you try to thin out the player base further you are going to run into issues. Who is going to buy mats from the lower skilled players so they can pay for prem? Who is going to buy the drake and scale and blood from the newer players? Economy needs both skilled and laborers to run efficiently and once you cut one half of that off it's doomed to fail.

[Coach 196]

🙄. Doesn't matter because u will get "old" soon.

Haven is the best for "new" players. But I don't think it's on NFI nor SFI.

Edited February 12 by Coach

[Homestead 327]

I've only played on NFI, so cannot give a personal comparison between the two.

 

But based on the ever recurring call to merge them, I have to assume there is no difference between them.

[HawkHawk 301]

I'd have gone SFI if I knew the game better when I started. There is more places to explore and I like all the PMK items and goodies that just don't exist on NFI.

[Stinboi 367]

all Wurm server is built alike, same terrain, some creatures.

 

i really dont think theres any different between NFI and SFI.

[MrJonnyboy 223]

2 hours ago, Atndy said:

Sfi is great for people who don't mind swiping the credit card. With rares dirt and enchants being cheap you can get a nice deed set up with fully kitted and rare gear without taking out a second mortgage. 

Tell me you've never played SFI without saying it. You dont need to swipe the credit card for anything. I know plenty of players who never pay for prem with IRL money. If anything NFI you need to swipe because the prices are absolutely ridiculous.

[griper 537]

Merge the clusters so we dont need to have these discussions!

 

* ducks under the table *

 

😄

[Atndy 385]

1 hour ago, MrJonnyboy said:

Tell me you've never played SFI without saying it. You dont need to swipe the credit card for anything. I know plenty of players who never pay for prem with IRL money. If anything NFI you need to swipe because the prices are absolutely ridiculous.

I've played on both. I'm saying everything is cheap. If you want an easier time play on sfi. Yes you can make money on sfi to pay for prem but I'd rather dig dirt for 2s/1k then on sfi for 50c/1k

Edited February 12 by Atndy

[Tor 531]

For new players that don't want to be bulk slaves and just wanna play/grind at their own pace and willing to pay few euros per month for premium i suggest SFI, for those that don't mind wasting their life for few silvers so they can pay for premium and let themself wurm become their second job( or regular job if not emplyed)  and burn out faster then 1ql campfire and eventually rage quit then go NFI or anywhere, i guess

[topkos 504]

Other: The proposition is oxymoronic 

 

[CyrusX 153]

When I started, Golden Valley was a server for noobs but you could only skill up to 20 in everything. It was really fun actually and while playing there I'd hear news from other people on the server about what was going on with the other servers and it enticed you to buy premium and head over.

For me hearing news about some evil blacklight player(Doctor Chaos)on a rampage killing so many white light players on Wild server really made me interested in joining the fight.

I miss that place lol.

 

Think I went off track there. What I'm getting at is maybe a server for new players to start on that's not limited to just being a tutorial walk through isn't a bad idea like others have mentioned. 

Edited February 12 by CyrusX

[Ekcin 2,425]

2 hours ago, Tor said:

For new players that don't want to be bulk slaves and just wanna play/grind at their own pace and willing to pay few euros per month for premium i suggest SFI, for those that don't mind wasting their life for few silvers so they can pay for premium and let themself wurm become their second job( or regular job if not emplyed)  and burn out faster then 1ql campfire and eventually rage quit then go NFI or anywhere, i guess

Lol. It should be noted that some language communities, German and Russian in particular, seem to be more concentrated on NFI. That might be a motive to start there.

All these discussions could end once the stupid community divide were lifted.

[Cista 430]

19 hours ago, Atndy said:

Nfi is great for people whom want to work for prem with ingame money.

 

Which is all new players. Making money for upkeep is perpetually the most asked question in CA-HELP next to "Why am I moving so slow". 

This is why NFI is better for new players - the economy is better for them.

 

Edited February 13 by Cista

[Stinboi 367]

51 minutes ago, Cista said:

 

Which is all new players. Making money for upkeep is perpetually the most asked question in CA-HELP next to "Why am I moving so slow". 

This is why NFI is better for new players - the economy is better for them.

 

you prob has more player buying the silver then trying to make them in game, and of those that try to go free to play they usually burn out.

So i could say that the economy is better for new players on SFI since they can buy tools etc cheaper.

 

None of us can say which cluster would fit best as all new players are not alike, and theres not mutch different from server to server.

Like NFI is best for people wanna be a merchant.

SFI is best for those just interesting in playing and dont mindt using rl money on silvers and collectors, we got PMK f.ex

 

So who are we to tell which cluser is the best?

[Tor 531]

3 hours ago, Cista said:

 

Which is all new players. Making money for upkeep is perpetually the most asked question in CA-HELP next to "Why am I moving so slow". 

This is why NFI is better for new players - the economy is better for them.

 

 

And perpetually most used answer to explain to new players on "I am new, what should i do" is: Go join a village and start making bricks and mortar to make money. Or even players from NFI camping the tutorial server on alts telling players how they should join candence on  NFI and their deed so they can teach them about the game aka how to make bricks. Which usually contributes to nearly zero player retention.

Edited February 13 by Tor

[Simyaci 425]

SFI is better for forage and botanize due more coins in coffers and less ppl draining them. Unfortunately, forage and botanize is now overhauled to be more high skill friendly and less newbie friendly. 

 

NFI is better for just doing whatever you feel like and getting silver coins for spending time playing the game when you get a casket or rare clay or some rare item or some other randomly obtained item that ppl are looking for due an active trade flow. 

 

The problem with SFI trade is not just the lower prices, it is that people usually don't want to buy most things even at low prices. People can't make silvers and don't want to spend them either. In NFI people are spending a lot of silvers and also making a lot of silvers. People want to just do their own thing, sell it and buy whatever they don't want to do from others. It is similar to what SFI used to be before the WU apocalypse. 

Edited February 13 by Simyaci

[Stinboi 367]

just to add, seems like many is using NFI trading as a good argument for new players, when in fact(and this is my experience) most new players are not interested in paying with in game money, they spend a few euros in the shop for prem and silver for deed.

some do offcourse but it sems for me that most of them rather pay with rl money instead of slavery.

[topkos 504]

In “Fact” (in my experience) Most players prefer to buy silver in shop, than to work for it.

another “Fact” for the Annals of Wurm that cannot be proven or unproven, by any of those (including me) participating in this oxymoronic topic.

[Etherdrifter 2,518]

The real question is "where is best for a free player", since a player who enjoys the free game will stick around.

 

Both clusters offer advantages, though I think the south wins out a little.

 

Infrastructure is just better developed, and free folk can't really easily develop their own (try building a road using only a small cart).

 

Coastal availability is a big one for free players, and based on perimeter alone the south has an edge here.

 

Finally, "deed it or lose it" being the terrible idea in force, means that the lower population density of the south means less chance of random robberies.

[Raybarg 442]

The argument that in NFI you dont need to compete with old players. Honestly, about all SFI players I know are like ancient moss covered juggernauts. They dont "compete" anymore in the way suggested in this argument.

Dont know what benefit either choice gives to a new player. After they managed to build their first house, farmed their first corn, crafted their first wagon... do they care then? The kind of a player fit to answer this NFI or SFI question seems so rare a thing I would put my bets on them not yet knowing about the forums.

I "voted" for SFI being better just because I play in SFI. I would love to tell new player the tens of dozens of billion dollar spots to settle on (and they want to find one themselves anyway). I would give them anything they ask for, for free (and they never ask for anything anyway) and I would use every opportunity to suggest them to just enjoy the game (and they would stress out about some skills, building difficulty, slowness etc anyways and quit in few days weeks or months.)