Influx of new players

So the hype around GR has now indeed settled and christmas has come and gone, so the question here which im suprised nobody has answered yet is . . . .

How many new players [includes returning ones!] has your server kept? Was the last few months a life saver to your server? Did it push your numbers even higher? Made any new player friends?

For myself personally on Union, last few days i've been playing quite a bit and low levels the amount of new players i've ran in to and teamed with has actually been higher than long term players Even stopped and talked with one person after a posi1 and was talking about his experience so far and giving some small advice in certain things [decent ill/rad he was ].
So for Union, new player wise the last few months has been a good hit!

I've definitely added several new global friends lately. My plans to shop and craft are frequently disrupted by invites from strangers.

And in what I personally regard as a very promising development, the order of the serves constantly changes. In case anyone reading doesn't know, the server list keeps the server you used last at the top, then ranks them in order of increasing population online as you go down the list.

Although Virtue and Freedom have stayed at the bottom of the list as the big two, even they have changed places occasionally, and I constantly see Infinity, Justice, Guardian, and Champion rotating in the number 3 spot and just below, and once in a while one of the smaller servers makes it to the top 4. Meanwhile, Guardian (which I monitor most closely) was the only server with only one dot showing the other day...but later that night was back in the number 4 and 5 slots. It may not mean much, but I can't help but feel this variation is a good sign somehow. They're all busy, usually, but it's not some rigid pattern of use like you'd expect if everyone was stuck in a rut.

Every time I play (which is fairly infrequently, so things might have changed in the past couple weeks) on Virtue, I seem to see another new player asking questions on the Help channel. Now, for all I know, it could be the same person with different characters, but I like to think at least half of them are unique new players, and that's beautiful.

I'm not new, but I did re-sub last weekend. So far I've completed the Incarnate story arc (which is pretty fun) and did a few tip missions.

Next up is trying to figure out a respec for my 30+ characters since Fitness is now inherent. Ugh.

I wish I had only 30 or so.

*plans out number 175 of 200-some...*

(OK, no I don't. I have too much fun with my alts.)

See my Guides and Tutorials

Pinnacle's been yellow practically every night since 19 hit. That's never happened before, not for this long anyway. First-hand, I've run more TF's since 19 hit than I have during issues 1-18.

I'd say it's had a very positive effect on the 'ol drunken server. We're going to have to increase the drinking proportionally, however.

I've met quite a few on several servers - paragonwiki has gotten lots of free advertising

I wish there was a way to tell if new players are subscribers or using a trial account without asking them.

Once a player hits level 6 though I can tell if this is their first time through the game. They spend extra long at the trainer since they have all those new pool powers to choose from.

First time I ever hit level 6 and got to go through all those pool powers was so fun, and the flood of character concepts that opened up in my mind from the possible powers combinations was amazing.

I physically smile when I see a team member on the map standing next Praetor Duncan and I know they are thinking about whats the first power pool they're going to take.

I frown in Imperial City when I see new people standing next to the store for so long. That menu listing every origins DOs should show DOs the player can use at the top of the list.

I'm not saying Vets don't spend extra time at the trainer weighing all the options, but the fact that each of you has the name of every power in every power pool memorized means you get to spend more time at the trainer in the decision phase and not in research mode.

According to the server load indicators, Virtue seems on track to outpace Freedom as the server of choice for many players. What's up with that? Is City Of... just really good at role-player retention, or what? Because, as the unofficial RP server (I think they should just go ahead and make it official already), there are a ton of role-players and role-playing super groups running around-- in my experience, anyway. (You tend to almost magically run into more role-players while in character, I've discovered.)

i suppose i have seen some new players, but something that is just as reassuring to me is the number of returning players, we need both, and each new player is a new opportunity to really introduce someone to coh, but i love seeing established names returning.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

In addition to RP being one of the best long-term retention policies, RP servers have a reputation (deserved or not) of being the "nicer" servers, and so people looking for a more jovial and less adversarial atmosphere (who, given the PvP state of this game, are also likely a larger part of the player base now) are more inclined to congregate there, whether they RP or not.

Well I logged in last night, all the servers were yellow except Virtue and Freedom showing the three red dots. That was on a monday night so I'd say it's still busy.

I've seen a lot of younger players recently, meaning no vet reward badges or only very few. Last night I saw a question "what does LFT mean" and I always like seeing that question, means new blood in the ranks!

When I logged in last night (Jan 12 2011) around 7 PM EST all the servers were green except Virtue and Freedom. DooOOoOOoOooOooooOm!