How can we get more players to join?

https://ecocitycraft.com/forum/thre...g-youtube-twitch-content.208171/#post-1107065

Something similar already got denied. Plus there is already few tutos about ECC (for instance by Karin if I remember well)

Even tho having YouTube channels speaking about ECC would be cool, I don't think making tutos would be the best thing. To attract people, maybe it's better to show them why they will have fun (promoting events / changing towns system for a more community based one), and not how they will make money (even tho it is hardcore economy ofc). Gotta show them why they will want to grind.

Since we have a great community, we should put the emphasis on it (by YouTube or directly IG)

 

I think ECC's learning curve is too high and it has been built specifically for those who want to understand an economy and grind. New players of MC are like 12-16 years old so if you want an influx of 12-16 year olds you have to have funny stuff like Dream SMP that attracts them. Regular survival mode with comedy is now way more popular than gamemodes and stuff. I would honestly push the anarchy server more as well as a regular survival world.

 

i think the YouTuber idea is good, but if Andrew doesn’t like it then maybe bringing back any kind of promotion is a good start

I found ecc on some sort of Minecraft servers list, so if we could bring back voting or make ecc one of the top listings via sponsorship that would help too

like helix said, this server has a bit of a learning curve so helping people who specifically want economy find this server is a positive thing

 

Here's my two cents on the YouTuber idea. While I've been doing videos here and there about ECC Events, and plan on making more videos, more often now that I have a better PC, I don't think we need some big YouTuber to come play our server to get more players. That has the potential to bring too many issues (specifically "raids" from the kind of players we don't want around).

As far as how to bring more players around, events are always a great way. The Winter Festival brought a ton of new players, and it was great because they had something that they could get into immediately/daily. We have some plans for future stuff that is similar, which is about all I can say about that atm

 

Maybe it would be a good time to update /tutorial again if the issue is people not understanding the server, as I don't think it has been updated since I was on staff (about two years ago). I also cannot confirm this right now, but if it is not in the tutorial build, add "ask a staff member if you have additional questions.

 

@Jdawger We do realize tutorial is outdated and have future plans for it
And eventually I'm going to redo my "tutorial" video as that is also outdated now lol Also it's too long, I've been told, so it'll be more condensed

 

When I was new I joined EcoCityCraft because it was unique in that it did only one thing, and did it very well - a hardcore economy server.

I also found ECC through a MC server list.

I don't like the idea of having additional servers that serve separate purposes. That is specifically what drove me away from other servers.
Joining a server to have a hub filled with numerous options would make me leave immediately. IMO it divides the community.
Also, every other server and their uncle servers do the same thing.

If I wanted a server filled with fun minigames and 100 different server options then I would join one of the hundreds that already exist, have thousands of players, and dominate that space. If players scrolled down through the megaservers to find EcoCityCraft, it's likely because they're looking for a server without all of that.

EcoCityCraft is unique, and not in a niche way either. It's what drove me to it.
I wanted a simple server, no thrills. I found it here. Join the server, make money, buy ranks, buy towns, have fun.

IMO if we want to retain players, we should not do that by adding 100 more features that people may or may not like.
I believe we should try and keep the server as simple as possible, and make it clear what purpose EcoCityCraft serves and how it is different from the others.

The tutorial zone portrays this pretty nicely, "Your goal is simple. Get rich, rank up, build towns, nations... (etc)". We should keep it this way.

Additional opinion #1

Spoiler

Making money has become more convoluted.

The tutorial and '/help money' both instruct players to do /sell hand.
Most of us know better than that unless we have prestige. I think it needs to be made more clear that selling to player shops increases your profit by 50%, if not more, in most cases.

The money making techniques have become less and less obvious.
For instance, mining. If you're new, pretty much only iron is worth it. How would you know that?
IMO, you have to learn that the hard way. Waste time mining other ores that are actually more rare, yet not worth nearly as much.

This is similar for most areas as well. There is a niche way to make money, and those are not made clear.
Doing different things should lead to profits equivalent to the work put in. IMO there really needs to be a rebalance of farming, fishing, mining, mob grinding, etc.

Additional controversial opinion #2

Spoiler

The gap between wealthy players and new players has widened.

If I'm a new player doing grinding for $50-100k/hour, and I hear that others are making 10-20x (30-40x in some cases) more than me, that becomes intimidating. I think everyone has that goal of being one of the best, but for a new player today they could see it as impossible because others are too far ahead.

I'm making $50k an hour while others are dropping 10 million in the lotto like it's pocket change.
It can be discouraging and I can see how this could scare new players away.

Players who grind hard for new tools deserve a tool that makes more, yes.
I think making 10-40x more is really stretching it. Before magic tools, I don't think the gap was nearly that dramatic.

Additional very controversial opinion #3

Spoiler

Newbie wants features? Newbie must spend real money.

Rewind 2-3 years, a new player could make about equivalent to $2-4 USD/hour in features by grinding.
I know, because I did that math when starting out. Features were cheap to buy with ECD. It's how I got most of my features, actually.
That grind was worth it. I wanted to fly, I had to grind for about 17-20 hours. That was a fun, worthwhile adventure.

Now? $150k for $1 usd? Assuming new players make $75k/hour, you now have to grind for 120 hours to fly.
I don't think newbies will want to grind for the equivalent of 3 weeks of a full-time job for a $60 feature.

I get this server takes $$ to run, and there is money incentive. I'm all for that.
But just pointing out that you can't really deny that if a new player wants features now, they either have to buy them with real money or grind for long enough to make them get discouraged and quit.

If I had to guess, this is actually the #1 pitfall to the server at the moment.
I've seen this myself cause other players to leave. It's very difficult to refute the "pay-to-win" argument now, whereas it used to be easy to.

Edit: Additional very very controversial opinion #4

Spoiler

Crack down on these "secret" (aka broken) methods of making way too much money.

I've asked some wealthy players how much they make an hour, and how they do it.
Nowadays this is some great secret. Why?

IMO, they're trying to keep their broken techniques from getting nerfed.
What other reason would there be?

I feel like previously, even the richest on the servers didn't have to guard their techniques, probably because these techniques weren't broken and making too much money.

Honestly, seems like the majority of rich on the server now are extremely hesitant of sharing their methods (or even how much they make.)

IMO, this is exploiting. If you know you're making too much money off of a broken technique, and refuse to share even how much you make, you clearly know that it was not intended for you to make so much.

I don't think players should be punished since this isn't cheating, but more effort really needs to be put in to see what these players are doing and nerf these techniques if they're making more money than intended.

 

As a returning player to the server, and obviously starting over again, Kozz your post does hit on some truth that I personally am trying to work through.
Only recently learned that ores are worth more then processed items. Strange economic concept. Totally in the dark on the magic tools and items. Back a while Start tools were more than suitable to generate a respectable income.

As for information on techniques and tutorials for using new features, like you say, it does seem somewhat guarded and not readily available like earlier posts and videos, which were often freely available in forums and YT.

General game play does seem way more complex, and has me trying to find a direction to play this time round. Before I set up a town, had farming towns as well and a server shop that turned good returns. This time around, I'm a little lost. Have a 200 x 200 town plot claimed, but not sure on where to go from there. Focus on a build on the area, a big farm complex seems pointless, with the size and number of public and paid perm access farms available. As for shops, until I figure out how new additional magic (or other) features enable buying ores at more than processed items, and still turn a profit, well that is no option.

Just an old goat player, trying to catch up with the changes that have taken place on the server, and this is my 2c.

 

I totally agree, especially to the #3. If players have various possible solutions in their head, we need owners to do something about it. This Is clearly the main problem rn.

Ex : I bought 2 towns so my roommate can have fun and build. He started ECC in April, and rn he wants to buy the fly feat for a large build. Tho after seeing the price of it (around 5m+ without coupon - 3m if coupon) he just got discussed and nearly left ECC. Grinding is the point of the server, but the difference is too huge between those with and those without (and people who say "it's not hardcore as it used too" are more likely to be those that have spent thousands of USD).


So yeah, before thinking about getting more players to join ECC, we should think about keeping the current players on the server.
Paradoxically, we can't suggest things to solve the main issue in ECC rn, since it is considered as price suggestion

 

To weigh my opinions in this discussion:

I feel what started souring moods is the increased ECD/USD. When it was 10k/USD, it was reasonable for people to buy features, but now where it is well over 50k/USD (realistically I think 80k per now), many new players cannot have the same opportunity without spending irl money, which is a big turn off for people. If there was an option for newer players to get some of the core features for reasonable prices, it could help boost player count.

 

THIS! Please make mining great again! This is MINEcraft!

 

Absolutely a huge +1

It’s called M I N E c r a f t

Ecc should have a focus on mining and it simply does not. Prices for mining are always buffed in the absolute tiniest ways imaginable.

 

I think this has more to do with the average player making ridiculous sums of money, not the rich, which drove the price up.