Good luck ;-)

if you display planets.nu (not play.planets.nu) in the ads, won't the new people land at the old format page in case they type in the address themselves?

My suggestion the word FREE increase the number of people that enters to see the game ;D

I love it! Well done.

By the way there are still some bugs in the new interface. For example I'm controlling 2 sectors like the crystals but my empire only states that I control 1.

I don't like the idea of forcing people immediately into a giant melee game. That's a very different format, and doesn't really play like the classic game so many of us know and love. It's fine to have it available as an option--I'm in three of them, I think. But let the players choose what they want to do, don't force them to do what you think they should want to do.

giant melee appeal to the instant gratification aspect that most people seem to be driven by. i think few will stay if they have to wait days for a game they joined to start. i like it.

I hate to ask this outright............because I guess that I could log into planets from a diverse direction and just "try it".....but I'm old and lazy and if you log into a giant melee game as a newbie.......are you restricted to level 7 warp tech?

if so..............I'd be seriously peeved and just exit, if not.....why not?

and if not..........under what conditions does the warp 7 free play restriction apply.and is that stated clearly for those seeking new play?

I assume they're not literally forced to join the game if they want to sign up, just strongly encouraged? I for one am pretty cautious, and would prefer messing around in the training scenario before I got involved in a "live ammo" training scenario. I'm probably in the minority there though, so the concept is not a bad one.

As long as it was made very clear that the purpose of that initial melee is simply to get a handle on the mechanics and get a feel for what the game entails, a "learn by doing" training experience, my fears would be assuaged. I would have to be sure that my (likely poor) first few decisions wouldn't stick with me for the rest of my career.

Also, I like the banners. Good work! And where will they be posted, out of curiosity? Should those that do the facebook thing be reposting those with a link to play.planets.nu at this time, or have you got something more targeted in the works for social media? Not to make it sound as though it's a one-time-only shot, but there's still a couple quirks with the interface I'm sure you're aware of.

(also, +1 to stepheniniowa... from the perspective of someone who's ever played with full tech, tech 7-limited games are unbearable. Instead of following the Tim model directly, what about lifting the cap on the engines, at least?)

+ 1 for allowing the newbies to max engine tech. They should be able to quickly get to spots of interest. The other techs could stay restricted to natives. That makes exploring and conquering new planets more exciting.

+1 from me also on eliminating the cap on Eng tech for new players, at least for their first two games.

Starting today we're now giving new signups a free 1 month premium membership. So they'll be able to raise up the techs on their homeworld and first bases.

Even better! One month is plenty of time to decide whether you like the game, and races like the Rebels will actually be playable. Good call!

On another note, would you consider setting up a system to send players an email a few days before their premium membership expires? It's not a huge deal, but it could interrupt an ongoing game if someone didn't have immediate access to a credit card when they log in and discover the hard way it's expired. No biggie, but it would be nice.

That is great. As a paying member I have no issue giving the service to new players to see if they like it. The more players the better for all of us.
Thanks for the quick response :-)

Awesome I'll have to start making up some banners in my frii timez

Good idea to market the site, but please direct people to the old site, as it works fine.
The new site is so bugged and counterintuitive, it needs alot more testing before it can go public. You will only scare of potential new players.
Just 5 minutes of testing the new site, made me want to tear of my hair.

Good show.
Let us know how it goes.

I would promote the 'free' bit heavily though.

Nominate to a "Hall of Fame" list somewhere?

I would like to have a FB link that we can like and have it display for our friends to click into the play.planets.nu page.

PS I like the idea that new players are put into the game right away. They can always join a classic game after they know more.

I also don't see an issue with the tech 7 limit. It is a common way in many online games to convert new players into subscribers.

I played my turn from play.planets.nu for the first time today. I can definitely get used to it. It seems that since first launch a lot of minor adjustments are added.

New players will land on a totally new page design with a lot to explore. They will feel very welcome if greeted by real people. I'm willing to chat with new signups when I'm online, but cannot and will not guarantee availability.

First month premium: great way to explore a new game. Giant melee: great as well, but will there be enough newbies to fill up a game fast enough?

Keep up the good work and good luck!

I do think the order of things-to-be will be a bit different;

So, not like this;

1) New player reaches http://play.planets.nu
2) New player signs up using the Start Playing button
3) New player is added directly to the max rank - Midshipman Giant Melee game and the game opens immediately
4) The player is greeted by the tutorial assistant who walks them through the basic steps of the first turn.


but rather;

1) New player reaches http://play.planets.nu
2) New player signs up using the Start Playing button
3) New player uses internet explorer 9 and notices half the other functions on the new website don't work when he clicks on them, doesn't bother to use Chrome and goes away never to return.

I mean.
Hello?

Chrome???? Please, most of us do not use it and many of us do not do so not because we can't be bothered. There are very many other reasons not to use Chrome but this is not the place to start an off topic rant.
The point is that if the game will not run 100% well on IE9 and Firefox then it is crippled and limited. If the developers want to make it a Google centric game than good luck and goodbye!
I am not saying that they do want this, just that having an interface that does not work well on more than half the potential users browsers would be a losing strategy.

Here we go again...

This is a topic about the campaign to attract more players. I think the devs read enough complaints and are doing whatever they are able to do to get things fixed.

Let's stay on topic and act like adults (as most of us are since the early nineties :) ). Joshua Inc is working hard to get new players on board. Probably to get some funding to make this game even better and more appealing. Not only to 'old-knacks'. In the end he and his company like to make some money out of this adventure.

Off course, new arrivals should land on a fully functional page and rather not be forced to one preferred browser.

BTW: I've not seen great differences between the major browsers yet. Can someone point me to the thread where this has been discussed in detail?

I'm more then willing to take some screenshots and point out on them which options dont work on IE9 if desired. Just pop me a mail.
Its not off topic though, cause we all want to make sure new players get into a working enviroment.

Good idea on the one month free premium membership.

Also good idea on the starting a meelee game right away.

Have it be the suggested mechanism, but not forced... a lot of players are old school players and they might be more interested in the classic games.

Did a thread get started for problems in IE9? We keep testing it and can't find anything wrong.

That was me.

I just tried it again with IE9 and I am able to do anything I want, The secret for me was to run it in wide screen (5760 X 1200) across three monitors, that way I can see so much more. In fact Nu works quite well in widescreen overall. I am going to post such in the Wide Screen Gaming forums.
I will play with it more over the weekend and report anything that I find. Of course there is a new interface learning curve :-)

Ok, I get issues when I do this:

HP Laptop
AMD Radeon HD6520G graphic card (bios 2011/05/06) with 512 MB DDR3 graphic memory

2D driver version 8.01.01.1199
Direct3D driver version 7.14.10.0867

(info taken from AMD vision control center -> information tab at the bottom)

Running 1600x900 screen resolution.
Windows 7 SP1 (NT 6.1.7601)
IE9 64 bit v9.0.8112.16421

----------------------------

1. I log on to my profile

2. play.planets.nu start screen shows

3. upper left in screen shows my games

4. two icons there per game , left one is supposed to open the new home world thingy.

5. Bottom left in screen flashes 'http://play.planets.nu/#/skye88/crystalline' , this is also now displayed in the address bar , but noting happens

6. the other icon then (of the two per game mentioned) , this one should load my game. I press it, is says LOADING in the top of the screen , then it stops , nothing gets loaded.

7. Other main screen options then : JOING GAME does nothing, MY GAMES does nothing, FORUMS works, but takes 8 seconds to load (?) , HOW TO PLAY works okay.

Have no problems on the old site.

Does this help?

OK, I just tried it again and this time I can not join a game. I can choose one of my present games and when I try to enter it I get the traveling to Ecco cluster notation then nothing else happens. I was able to get into my games just fine the other day.
Using IE-9
I do not think the hardware has much to do with it but:
GPU's are 2 Ea EVGA GTX 580's in SLI, 3Gb latest NVIDIA drivers
i7 OCed to 3.8Ghz
12 Gb Corsair Dom
3 Ea Samsung 245T monitors in surround (5760 X 1200)
SSD and Raptors
Win 7 Ult with all latest updates
Other normal stuff

I will play with it more over the weekend and see just what I can and can not do as well as see if mhat I can do remains consistant.

Why keep tinkering with a new website interface when there are issues that still need to be addressed within the game itself?

It doesn't matter how pretty the wrapper is if the object inside is incomplete. Direct new users to the old site, which works just fine, and concentrate efforts on taking care of what paying customers have been requesting for ages.

I can see the "assistant" on the starmap now. Don't panic?

Looks like the IE9 issue is solved now?

Any hope for some community feedback about what the problem was?

In the skyscraper ad, I would remove the + and = signs and substitute "empire" for emperor. To me that flows more smoothly, looks better and rolls off the tongue.

I like some of the new changes and updates in the game. Definitely makes things easier, like choosing the amount of mines to lay when changing the mission Keep up the good work!
-xinl

I agree there are some nice updates.
BTW I am posting this from my new Windows phone which seems to be functional in Nu

I like Empire better than Emperor because it is not gender specific. There ARE a few ladies that play, you know!

I am playing a melee game as my 1st NU game because it was recommended. It's nice that the game started immediately, but couldn't that be done with a more traditional game format? I really don't "like" the melee format and if I thought this was what NU was about I wouldn't stick around for long.

Finally, especially in beginner games, I think it would help to have an experienced (perhaps volunteer) roving mentor to stimulate conversation and communication as well as be available for questions not posted to the forum. What was always different about VGAP from many computer games was the human element.

As a recent member, I would like to add that when I got pushed into the first game, I panicked looking around for a tutorial. One of my first actions was to resign from the melee game and hunt down the tutorial to learn the mechanics a bit.

Im trying to write a guide for new players.

In that connection, i made alternate accounts, and joined the site, "pretending" to be a new player, just so i see how things work now.

And i do think that new players are offered too little information, too little choice, and too little guidance.

Well, you actually begin by asking people to choose race. You should inform new players, that this first choice is not critical, and that they can play other races as well.
Then you ask people to choose from 3 levels of experience with the game. At first look, there seems to be little difference in how the site welcomes you. But if your chosen experience level puts you in different games, then it is a good thing.

And then you are put straight into a giant melee game. Sure, you are guided through your turn, but after that, you are pretty much left on your own.

Clearly you should be given 3 choices:
1:let me try basic training, and a training game (recommended for all players)
-and then show them how to do it.
2:Let me start the action by joining a "giant melee" game, to immediately face other new players.
3:Show me how to join a classical game. new games needs to fill up, before they start.

Use a checkbox, and let new players select 1, 2 or 3 options.

And then you really have to inform new players about the business model.
Not telling them that they only play free for one month, and then ask for money after that, is a drugdealers model. First month is free, once your hooked, you have to pay.
please be open about it.

And finally, please inform new players about the use of the forum, if they need help.
First direct them to the forum of the game they have joined.
Several players have volunteered to be mentors for new players, we just somehow need a system to take care of it.

In the long run, i hope you will make a button above the "resign" button, called "need help"
If new players are frustrated and wish to resign, this is the place to offer them help.
The button should lead to a list of mentors offering their help, with a short description of each mentor (race favourites, language, and if this mentor has an opening to help more players(we all have limited time)
If a mentor is chosen, a automatic message is then sent to the mentor, and he gets viewing rights to that players turn(if he/she is not already mentoring in that game)

But before these changes can be implemented, please just make sure new players are aware of the forum.
I will write a post in most of the new player games forum, offering my help.
And i will ask other volunteers to do the same.

Dines

I would like to point out that Planets has been around a long long time and many of us with it. NU is new and the differences between it and a traditional host need to be learned. However, for us old timers, once that is dealt with - which takes about 5 turns or so - I can tell you that I no longer need "coddling."

For players new to the game itself, naturally there needs to be a longer and more complete training process. I would suggest a set of short (and I mean short) "Academy Games" designed to train these new players against their peers and get them out signing up for "Graduate or Officer" games as quickly as they feel confident to do so. Because of the large reservoir of experienced players that are just new to NU - make this optional. If someone wants to jump off the high board and swim with the sharks right away, especially if they already have the experience for it, let them do so. Who are we really trying to protect anyway?

I would also suggest providing a way for new players to ask questions other than on the open Forums. We may think they should be willing to expose their confusion or ignorance in public so we all can learn from it, but people being people, many might not be willing to do this.

As far as the cost factor, I didn't think this was hidden in any way. But, obviously not everyone thinks that. So, just make my suggested Academy or Beginner games free. Another reason to keep them short games. I want the site to make enough money to stay in business and I want new players filling up open slots in new games quickly as well.

Mule, I agree to some of your points but I definitly don't want to sign newbies in officier games. Newbies tend even more than experienced players to the one thing that ruins games - early dropping or playing in a style that doesn't make much difference.

I see so many frustrated comments about dropped players in the game forums and unfortunatly I have to say that nearly HALF of my games where ruined by dropping players. Some people I know are short before giving up to play here because of this.

For answering newbie questions quickly Dines made a good proposal:
http://planets.nu/discussion/looking-for-mentors

BR, Emork

BR,
No offense intended, but you are painting with too wide a brush or making incorrect assumptions. First, your definition of "newbie" needs serious re-evaluation. Just for example, I have played Planets and other similar games longer than some NU players have probably been alive and yet because I recently started playing at THIS web site, you would brand me and others newly arrived here as "newbies" more likely to quit early?

I could continue to list my work and accomplishments in computer gaming (and not just as a Planets player) but after a while that gets boring. Suffice it to be understood that I am certainly NOT a newbie in spite of what this web site would judge.

Still, I know whereof you speak. I have seen players, new and old drop from games at other hosts. Hell, they even dropped from games I hosted and that's not something anyone wants to see too much of. That is one reason I support paying to play. If it costs you something, it has more value. That is partly one reason I suggested SHORT free beginner games.

Also, I have never understood this "they ruined the game" attitude. When you play a game of chess do you really expect your opponent to continue playing until every piece is taken rather than conceding victory and laying down his king? I'll accept a surrender any day and am happy to just move on to a new game. If that frustrates a few players, I really have to question their values.

As far as mentors... Just let me know if you ever need one and I'll be willing to give you a hand. :) (See, I'm still smiling.)

Post Script...
Sometimes I just don't take enough time thinking before talking (writing.) Maybe here too. I couldn't find "edit" button, so here's my edit.

I really DON'T have to question anyone's values. I didn't realize how that might sound before it was too late. My apologies.

Beyond that, my opinions and suggestions stand. But, I know that even among friends, sometimes all you can do is agree to disagree.

And, I was making a joke with the Mentor crack, as I'm sure you understood. Finally, if I'm winning a game you are in, please do feel free to surrender. I will not mind at all.

No problem, Mule. In my former post I meant "newbies to the game", not "newbies to the site". That wasn't clear.