Starting Characters

[Frobozz]

I've noticed that with the new mod a lot of the stale character names have been wiped clean, so I am claiming a few names that I use on all servers but have not been able to use on Void up to now.

So, I'm making new chars that (I hope) will be my future cap fleet. (for hire!)

So I make a new char and... wow. I'm concerned. I wonder if the starting char setup will discourage new players on Void. Seriously.

All you old timers, you remember your new ships right? A Dagger well appointed with fairly good guns? Thing of the past. Now it's a Starflier with absolutely bare bones equipment, only one bat and bot to your name.
Yes, you have $20k and that's a bit more than Stock but adjust that to prices and it's almost nothing. A stock Patriot is like $7k and you can easily trade in for the pat from your flea IF you don't wish to upgrade your guns & stuff. Not a choice on Void where $20k isn't even half way to a pat's $50k.

Then there's the reps. You have no green factions at all, no not even L Police or L Navy . Not even a smidgen positive. Rogues hate you a lot, -6&1/2 bars worth which is odd as Outcasts are white @ only -3 bars. Should be opposite IMHO. OK now, I've seen the stock starting rep plenty of times AND I've seen neutral starts too. Neutral starts you shouldn't see many hostiles until you venture out of Liberty say Unioners and for sure Corsairs. The current reps are the worst of both worlds, you have enemies but no friends in Liberty?

This all wouldn't be so bad even, but there's a distinct lack of NPCs is NY. I had to fly around NY for a full half hour before I could find a navy ship so to get navy reps on my list. Plus the NPCs are regenning like crazy. I attack 4-5 Xenos and fully half of them are able to run off before I can kill them and there's not a thing I can do about it w/o a CD on the stupid flea.

All combined I fear this will cause some new players frustration even to the point they leave Void. Myself it's not an issue I have resources, but I put myself in the shoes of a new player on Void and I gotta say I wonder if they will leave before they even know Void.

JMHO.

[HockeyMaster195]

New players can make it just fine as it is.

http://voidserver.com/modules.php?name= ... ic&t=18813

[Verminard]

It's been like that for years, part off the appeal of the server is the fact that it can be hard to get going, but because of that it is so much more rewarding once you have.

[eagleone]

dude if you started with a well gunned dagger you are NOT an old timer. go back a few mods and this was as good or even better than what we had.

i mean come on i have an ironman char no help, all looted guns, no armor, no trading, only missions and mining of diamonds then fly across 3 systems to sell with npc wanting what i had. never dieing one time. now that same char is lev 76 almost lev 77 running missions with all nomad wep,shields, thruster and a couple of diamond backs i looted. and still have not died one time. that is 227 million in 70 hours of playing it the hard way. so a new player, who can trade and do anything, cant get up and going with this ship i dont believe it. trust me it is real easy to have a lev 10 ship and guns on this server in like 4 or 5 hours and that is not pushing it.

sorry if this sounds a little harsh, not trying to be, but players need to start low and work their way up.
they can take pride in their accomplishments , it is a fact people are never as gratefull for things given as they are for things earned.

[Frobozz]

I stand by my opinion. I have been on more servers and more mods and started more new characters than I can even count. I was on Void the mod before 2112 and startup was much easier. Yes I joined the forums on 10/06 but I was playing on the server long before that.

@ Hockymaster: Yes, but the starting character has been cut way back fairly recently. Your write:

2: Strip your ship bare. No NOTHING. I sold my shield, all my bats(Shield Batteries), all of my weapons, countermeasure launcher, absolutely everything that I didn't need to fly a ship.

There is no countermeasure launcher anymore, and only one bat and one bot so even your recent experience is obsolete. I know this is the case as I started a new char about the same time as you did and there was a lot more to sell.

Most new players I see are actually getting handouts from advanced players and how does that fit all you people's 'starting up the hard way' theories?

I invite all you to start a new character on Void. NO HANDOUTS.  How long has it been since you did?

[Zebulon]

There was a problem on here not so long ago.  New players were going around begging for money - and getting it from some sources. This was changed in the rules - states clearly, no begging allowed.  The other problem was far too many new players were ending up in top of the range fighting ships within an hour - they were getting equipment, money and assistance by more advanced players who wanted the new blood in their gang. Whilst this is not necessarily against the rules it is completely making a nonsense of coming on and experiencing the whole effect of the VOID and not just as a combat paradise for gung ho nutcases.
These players tend to be fickle and either change clans rapidly or get real bored, real quick and leave.

Put a bit of effort into starting up your new characters - remember u can transfer cash between your new chap and any existing character on your slot.

Startup and then the build up is all part of the fun of the VOID server.

[Frobozz]

Dirt poor startup allowance will encourage rather than discourage begging. But new players don't even NEED to beg they get credits practically thrown at them. How is that a challenge? Transferring credits? New players can't do that. This is all about new players.

I repeat my challenge. Start a new character. No handouts.  Fight in a flea. I dare you.

[Dethonastik]

[font=Courier New]
Indeed.
You could relate this point to ANY game;
the faster/easier you gain items/money/exp by way of handouts/cheats/walkthroughs = the more watered down and boring the overall experience becomes.[/font]

[HockeyMaster195]

Not true. I found my route after I had already bought a lot of stuff, which meant I had to sell the stuff.

Also, I did create a new character. In a few hours I had him running multi-million credit routes and bought him an MK2.

[Dethonastik]

Good point, however, maybe you mis-understood my post.
Here's a better example of what I meant-
Say you play a game you're fond of, but perhaps become frustrated/bored with,
so you enter a cheat code. For a few minutes you are entertained by the fact you have unlimited resources/ammunition/equipment and can do whatever you want, ignoring rules or whatever!
But then you realize it's not entertainment that has lasting satisfaction; the challenge the game presented WAS the entertaining factor! What would the beginning of Half-Life have been if you DIDN'T start out with just a crowbar?
anyways, i digress...
My point, even if totally unrelated to original topic (sorry), is that there's nothing like the original atmosphere and (if existent) challenge of a game; though it is fun to walk through walls...

[HockeyMaster195]

My comment was in reply to Frobozz, I should've made that more clear.

[Frobozz]

Yes, I do understand, but I'm fairly certain we recently had more bats & bots at least. Only one each is stingier than stock.

IMHO a new player should have 3 choices with his starting allowance:

1. Keep the Starflier and upgrade it.

2. Buy the Patroit and live with less equipment for a while. If one remembers to reject the pat's shield and sells all the bats  & bots should have enough for a 3rd gun.

3. Sell all but thruster and one gun and buy a Rhino and start trading. Very little credz to buy cargo, may have to mine.

Currently new players are locked into option # 1 which is frustrating IMHO. We don't need the old Dagger package but enough for a pat or rhino may keep some new ppl on who might get frustrated and leave.

Part of the reason established players are sending creditz to new players so often is in part due to the abject poverty of these new people. All JMHO o course.

[HockeyMaster195]

...Like Ive already stated... any player can easily be making millions with a little research. We dont need lazy people in this community.

[Zebulon]

Ok - I started my very first character from scratch.  I upgraded it as best I could with what little money I had and started off by taking missions against the Liberty Rogues.  As you will no doubt be aware, when you are on basics this presents more of a challenge than some might think.  It was far more difficult than playing the single player game for sure.  I know that shortly after this the start up vessel was upgraded to a dagger with slightly better equipment but still with the challenge of having to "shop around".  I wont post the spoilers here but there are better traders than the Rhino available in New York and other places not so far from there.   Giving handouts to new players is to be discouraged, but I have no problem with giving them tips and some assistance in getting where they need to be.  Its a matter of personal choice as to how much you choose to give them, remembering that you dont want to push them over the level 20 limit too soon.  One of the problems we encountered was that certain players were boosting new players with enough cash to make them cannon fodder and were picking them off to the point where they stopped playing.

I got some assistance from Kahless when I first arrived and it was enough to be able to get a half decent trader and start making my own cash - I still had to run the gauntlet of pirates, rogues  and npcs, dieing more often than I care to mention, but that was the fun of the challenge here.  I made it to level 30 before joining a clan and recieving some assistance from them along with some training also - and then went on to form AoF and then the -=REAVERS=-

I agree with Frobozz about the Bots and Bats - just one of each to start up with seems a bit tight for sure...!  :D