Apr 29th 2010, 6:25:58
I think one big problem sticks out like a sore thumb. For you academic types, I did an observational study in fact.
New player makes an account, and logs in for the first time.
New player looks at the following screen at 6 different server types. New player looks at me and asks "Which one is best?" If new player didn't have someone looking over their shoulder, they're bound to just randomly pick one that sounds most appealing. Queue the replays of new players getting raped, and they're out of here.
Since we now have "Accounts" with which we can make countries from. How be we make a "New Player" server (pretty self evident for new players) and restrict who can join the server to Moderators, Game Helpers, and accounts who have been in the community for less than x days.
The game can even have automated "New Player" messages explaining the different servers, basic tutorials, and links to wiki info, etc so they can learn the game without getting assraped.
Bright idea I hope.