Create A New Starting System

[Stoner_Steve]

I believe the Starting System of Pennsylvania shouldn't be involved in major RolePlay stories. As this is a starting zone meant to introduce new players to the game in general. Please note I'm not saying that Zoners who claim the system deserve some sort of "shield" from being used for RP development, but rather I am concerned at the confusion a new player may encounter at seeing an entity that claims to be neutral firing/being fired upon by the Lawful Government of the sector. Would it be possible for the Development Team to consider the creation of a new starting zone to enable the Pennsylvania Crisis to play out in its entirety?

There was a discussion in the past of having the "starting system" actually be "outside" of the game itself with rules, introductions, etc, then one way jump holes to each of the capital planets (inc Alpha/Gamma) in the past (I think)

[Chenzo-]

I like this…

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[(Name Pending)]

Wait, has it already escalated to a point where neutrals and lawfuls are openly blasting each other?

And will it escalate to that point? Just asking while throwing my share of fuel to the fire.

[Levenna]

To provide a point to the contrary, if a new player were to witness such an action occurring ingame, including all the relevant roleplay, play out right in front of them, couldn't that also be motivating for them to dive deeper into why things are happening? One of disco's biggest issues is new player retention; retention is in part generated by grabbing a player's attention early on. I don't think isolating new players in their own box outside of the wider gamespace is helping grab their attention and immerse them in the world, personally.

Thinking back to games that force you into an "oorp" space for a tutorial, I've always found it exceptionally boring and a lazy solution to learning the game. Games with a hidden tutorial where you can immerse yourself in the world while still learning the mechanics and how things work (see: Warframe as probably the perfect example here) are far more engaging and, in my opinion, much better for player retention and involvement.

With this in mind, and bearing in mind that disco is in dire need of a better new player experience, what I do think could help with that is having new characters start with an introductory "to-do" list guide in their cargo hold (similar to how you used to start with the server rules in your cargo hold) to start out, telling them where they can find Helium to mine, or giving them a simple trade route if they prefer that, and providing combat missions with bounty bonuses as another viable alternative. They can do these things while still watching events play out around them. This provides them an example of what they *could* do once they start progressing. Perhaps once they reach a specific threshold of credits earned, another oorp cargo item could appear in their cargo hold, giving them the gist of what they can do next in terms of roleplaying a faction, or working their way up ship classes to a 5ker or capital ship, just anything to give them more of a direction than they have now. This is just a basic idea that can be expanded upon, of course.

Edit: These guide items wouldn't even have to be OORP necessarily, they could equally be framed as communications from an instructor character of some sort guiding you through your first steps. Kind of like, uh, every space game ever including vanilla FL I guess.

[Levenna]

Wait, has it already escalated to a point where neutrals and lawfuls are openly blasting each other?

And will it escalate to that point? Just asking while throwing my share of fuel to the fire.

Not yet, and it may in the future? But it's an iffy proposition

[(Name Pending)]

To provide a point to the contrary, if a new player were to witness such an action occurring ingame, including all the relevant roleplay, play out right in front of them, couldn't that also be motivating for them to dive deeper into why things are happening?

As a fresh noob I see this as a very valid point. It would have been really cool and encouraging to have seen something like that, or frankly anything player-driven, going on right in the starter system.

I can see major events in Pennsylvania leading to extra confusion for some new players, but overall I imagine the effect would be a net positive. But it does place a bigger burden on the experienced roleplayers to smoothly handle any oorply confusion from new players caught in the middle. Some awkward situations would ensue for sure.