Hi everyone, Since I have been playing more actively the last few months, I have noticed that new players often don't play for a long time on skyblock..? What are your thoughts about that? Is the baseline of players growing? If not, why is that the case and what can we do about it? There is a strong group of players with a lot of experience, which are often the ones that are online. But what about new players..? Would be great to keep new players coming to Skyblock! Looking forward to your thoughts! Thanks anyway!
I believe that you've raised a great point. From my point of view, there are less growing number of new players who stick to the game. However, I'm uncertain as to what is the main motive causing the lack of willingness to continue playing, (perhaps it might be because of difficulties finding resources) . By monitoring the chat, I could see some reasons why new players tend to leave: 1. Newer blocks are not present in 1.12.2 2. Difficulties finding replacements for water/lava 3. Difficulties finding shop -> inadequate resources 4. Uncertain on how to start -> does not know how to make cobble gen, grow trees, etc. 5. Losing a lot of grass on casinos
So many improvements have been suggested and have not been implemented. I try my best to keep new players interested but unfortunately most ranked players don't care about unranked/new players.
An issue Ive also seen for basically the entire time Ive played in skyblock. However, the version update to 1.19 will change lots of things for sure. With way more opportunities in building, nether etc. ,I'm certain new players will stay longer and keep this server alive!
Player shops certainly seem to be dwindling. Perhaps an increase in players relying on casinos for income has resulted in fewer shops and fewer buyers. Drogo’s guess is that new players would be far more interested in shops than casinos. At least for the first few weeks / months of playtime. They would also be dependent on selling to players in order to make grass to buy things and Drogo feels that buyers are dwindling as well. Drogo feels there is too much of a focus on casinos lately which takes away from the trade and build aspect of the game which used tii on be the main focus. Drogo believes it will make the server less attractive to new players. Casinos don’t really add anything to the server. They just serve as a novel way to trade rares and on average, result in people paying more than they would if they just traded the old fashioned way. Shops on the other hand bring new items that players have farmed for others to build with. Both players gain from shops in a fairer trade.
I think its worth mentioning, that shops aren't a great business any more, its far too competitive and prices are being driven wild because of it. Also, I personally feel like retention is bad, because more people want things given to them, then actually having to grind for them, that's shown by how many new players resort to begging rather than working for it. There will always be a high turnover of players, that happens on every server on every game.
Thank you everyone ! So is there anything we can do as players? I have been giving some cheaper material like cobble and pickaxes to new players, to give them a small push..
Shops are very good business if you do it right. Drogo has always preferred to sell only a few different items types and sell them at good prices. Drogo has stick mostly with wool and stone/ores and it has severed him well.
Firstly my point about shops isn't about niche stores, I'm saying, to the point of the thread, that if people are leaving because of lack of finding resources, its due to not wanting to put in the effort to trade, grind or whatever to get grass to buy those resources. Especially when those resources they need are at inflated prices for the sake of someone else's profit. Shops are a competitive market right, which usually means people compete to have the lowest prices to gain more trade? That's not how it's working here? people are competitively raising prices of resources to get more profit for themselves and others follow suit to get their piece of extra grass. More shops won't make it any more resources available to new players... it just means the shops themselves get more competitive and makes resources even scarcer sitting in more shop chests. Do you believe your very well run shop has helped with player retention? I think there are plenty of well run shops, but that's not a solution to player retention, my point being main resources are more expensive and it takes longer for new people to grind to get what they want, meaning many give up. Want more retention, make newer ways to access key resources at cheaper prices.
This is such a difficult question because I don't believe there is a simple solution. To handle Leo's concern about players begging for things, I made new player starter shulkers for the influx of players during Covid. I probably spent 10-20 hours or so making these and handed out around 150 shulkers that contained fully enchanted iron tools, gold armor, and other starter items that players might deem useful, but I don't think it helped as much as I'd hoped it would. I believe its a mixture of things. 1. Players want to feel part of a community and it's often hard as a new player joining the server and asking questions. 2. Players want free stuff to give them an advantage and when its not given, they move onto the next server that might provide this for them. 3. Many who join don't actually know what skyblock is (I didn't when I joined as I was just looking for a vanilla multiplayer server) and leave when they don't understand what they are supposed to do or skyblock doesn't fit their play style. 4. It's a lot harder for new players to earn grass than it was when a lot of us joined. Items per grass on most items is increasing meaning new players need to grind more for less profits than when many joined. I think this can cause new players to lose hope to get ahead and quit. (When I joined mob arena was one of the most lucrative ways to gain grass cause it was always open and a nether star would fetch 2 stacks. I don't believe there are many things you can grind in game for 30-45 min that will net you 2+ stacks) I think many have tried to combat this will little success so if someone figures out the recipe to raise retention, that would be amazing cause community growth only serves to strengthen the server.
I dont know about the other noobies but I joined august 7th and its the 19th right now, I definitely stayed and do not regret it one bit !
The comment you replied to wasn't really on the topic of player retention, but simply to state that shops can be profitable. Drogo believes his shop has helped more than it has harmed player retention as the price of everything sold here has been lowered from what it used to be. Drogo doesn’t understand how players can competitively raise prices as you say. If new players cannot find cheap resources, then that simply means there is a way into that market by farming and selling cheaply themselves. Jon raised a great point with regards to ma not functioning. In a very individual game, group event like this are a great change up that create interest and another way to earn grass. MA is not an easy fix it seems but Drogo would love to see other group activities introduced. We have a monthly island comp but that’s not an option for new players. What about a weekly build comp where a current topic is given and players are restricted to a 50 x 50 x 50 build area. Of course this would require committed judges and staff just don’t seem to be on much lately.
People don’t want to put the effort in. Do you not agree? Most do not want to grind these things to get themselves started. They want it to be given, and when they go to a shop to buy the things they need, they are more and more expensive… hence my point about player retention and resources.
We can’t and shouldn’t cater to anyone who wants everything given to them. Let them go play creative.
You know that book that they give at the beginning, to create a skyblock? That could state what the players should start doing, or an outline of commands to help them get started. I’ve seen a lot of new players ask about PVP, maybe a public pvp arena would be nice. Or the arena that is on survival, where you fight mobs, that be put on more often.
As a shop owner my self of over 4 years running i find it still hard to bring in the player base to my shop. Its not that my shop has bad prices just not as many people building and new players shopping instead of gambling there grass away and not putting to good use. -Wish that there was a cool down on new players using casinos (I understand that they can win big but odds are not in there favor)
Casinos were always going to change the way the server functions and not for the better. Whoever made the decision to allow them is unable to see the long term effect of such things. Yes, at the time, they added something new, but at the cost of something old. Something that has formed the base mechanic of Skyblock for so long, being trade.
A factor which could be considered for whether new players stay or not is simply the vibe of the server itself. For example, I stuck around because I loved the small server vibe and the closeness of the community, along with the fact that the server wasn't based solely on grinding tons and getting mega rich. But some players prefer to play on huge servers and stay under the radar a bit more just grinding to make as much as they possibly can, so for those guys the server just may not fit what they're looking for. This is definitely an interesting discussion
