3. Interesting novice area

Interesting novice area


  • Atavus, you still seem to not get the entire point of novice areas. They are not supposed to be a starter platofrm to further growth of players in this region.

    With all due respect, I don't think that is the common interpretation of novice areas. I think players think of them as a legitimate safe place to begin the game. If you intended these middle-of-the-map novice areas to offer some lesser amount of protection, you shouldn't rely on players to just "get it", it should be clearly stated in the introduction documentation. Keep in mind, these are often brand new players that are unaware of the game mechanics and not exactly in a position to judge the relative safety of different types of novice areas. Fourteen days is a significant amount of time to invest in your empire only to have it crushed because you didn't realize it wasn't a safe place after all (despite the enticing green colored rooms clearly marked "novice area")

  • Culture

    I agree with Bonzai and Atavus. It's absolutely bad for new player experience.

    I wipe my novice zone out every time. It takes time, it's tedious and not fun at all. I've also NEVER seen a player respawn after I wiped out their base. Meaning I'm essentially wiping out your revenue streams.


  • I agree this is a really bad mechanic, but there also needs to be something done about stronger players owning 4-5 blocks with only a few rooms in each block (so huge open spaces that now gets turned into novice areas).  If the older players end up having no conflict because they have so many options of new rooms and no players ever dare to spawn near them it will also get boring.  Maybe we should try to get a mechanic to prevent it from being needed for novice areas to spawn like that.  For example limit the amount of blocks a player can claim in based on their GCL.  For example you can claim in a new block every 10 GCL's forcing you to own more rooms per area (just an idea will obviously need some work to be practical).

  • Dev Team

    Keep in mind, these are often brand new players that are unaware of the game mechanics and not exactly in a position to judge the relative safety of different types of novice areas. Fourteen days is a significant amount of time to invest in your empire only to have it crushed because you didn’t realize it wasn’t a safe place after all (despite the enticing green colored rooms clearly marked “novice area”)

    I disagree. If a player is afraid of respawning and losing his 15-days old novice rooms, then probably Screeps is not a good choice for him (at least the official world). His real investment was to produce the code, not the structures.

  • Dev Team

    I’ve also NEVER seen a player respawn after I wiped out their base. Meaning I’m essentially wiping out your revenue streams.

    We’ve seen it hundreds of times though.

  • Culture

    Aside from proximo who spawned in that area no-one respawned yet.


  • Simple questions:

    Is the experience of a new player better in a proper novice area or in the makeshift zones?

    Are the random novice areas generating frustration for existing players?

     

    @chaos the issue you bring forth has not happened anywhere so far. I'd suggest we deal with such a problem should it actually occur.

     

  • Dev Team

    I got an interesting idea of how to prevent such rooms to be noviced, and also warn other players to not spawn in it.

    We introduce a new StructureController property, say, sign. It’s a simple text property that can be set by any creep who reached this controller in close range, even if it’s an unowned or hostile controller. An example usage:

    creep.signController(creep.room.controller, "I'm going to claim this room very soon");

    Then this text (with the author and date) will be visible to all players in the controller sidepanel and the room sidepanel here:

    If the controller is “signed” recently, then this room won’t be converted to a novice area, and this warning will clearly explain some player intentions.

  • Dev Team

    Is the experience of a new player better in a proper novice area or in the makeshift zones?

    Are the random novice areas generating frustration for existing players?

    The experience for all players will be worse if we stop making novice areas in inner regions, and desolate empty spaces begin to grow.

  • Culture

    I like the idea however:

    > If the controller is “signed” recently

    What's defined as recently? Will signed messages expire?

  • Dev Team

    They won't expire, but the date is displayed, so we can decide accordingly.

  • SUN

    I actually like ChaosDMG suggestion of limiting the number of blocks a player may claim rooms in.

    I do not want the world to turn up into big regularly-wiped-but-unclaimed zones.


  •  But that might be a problem, considering there have to be some players who would already be above that limit


  • Artem...

     

    ...

     

    I love you!

     

    That suggestion is extraordinary. Perfect for dealing with everyone's concerns.


  • A really great idea, and should offer a bit of fun even beyond its intended purpose. Looking forward to a player doing something like leaving a trail of riddles.

    I disagree. If a player is afraid of respawning and losing his 15-days old novice rooms, then probably Screeps is not a good choice for him (at least the official world). His real investment was to produce the code, not the structures.

    I think this is very true, we need to make sure this message is being consistently displayed. Most players really dislike the experience of "losing" but in screeps it can be really instructive and part of the fun. It really comes down to how they interpet the event, and most people are predisposed to interpret it in a negative way. I think there are many people who screeps is "a good choice for" if they can just be reminded of that.

    I know there are already some game messages that convey the idea (like the one displayed when you need to respawn), but it might be worth thinking about what other areas to drive this point home. 

  • Dev Team

    Controller signing introduced in this changelog.