I've posted up a thread about the game on a forum I help moderate - it has several thousand members so hopefully we might have a small influx of new players soon. :)

If we need more players in any particular faction I can always try to point people in certain directions...?

Hello Restayvien and welcome to VO. I think you'll find the community small but helpful.

Be wary of grey space, don't stray there without an escort unless you are willing to face quick death. Nation space is safer, except for the border in Deneb which undergoes dynamic conflict. Player death is possible any time, any place.

Will you post a link to the forum? It would be nice to see what you mean, and if an influx of new players does happen we could help answer questions over there as well.

Hi there Phaserlight.

Thanks for the warm welcome. :-) I already know about grey space etc though, spent half my time there!

Site: http://www.tauonline.org/

Forum: http://forums.tauonline.org/

Thread: http://forums.tauonline.org/index.php/topic,89321.0.html

No replies as of yet, but then it's in a relatively tucked away part of the forum. I've added it to my sig there too.

Please make them join the serco nation. They always had the fewer players.

Be wary of grey space, don't stray there without an escort unless you are willing to face quick death. Nation space is safer, except for the border in Deneb which undergoes dynamic conflict. Player death is possible any time, any place.

For the record, newbs shouldn't listen to this VPR bullshit. VPR gets a kick out of preventing people from having fun while playing vendetta, hence the "MAKE SURE YOU DON'T DO ANYTHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED REMOTELY INTERESTING OR FUN, YOU MIGHT GET SHOT" mumbo-jumbo.

ladron... lol. completely overstated, exaggerated, and bull, and you know it.

and what should we say (assuming for a moment that your BS is true), "go forth into greyspace unarmed so that the rats can pop you or extort you or both!" because... that makes all the sense in the world.

Many newbies quit the game because they are killed/pwned too many times too early in the game. I'm sure that after a good few hours (say, 10-12) in VO they'll figure out what's what. But until then, we want them to stay.

While it's fun for you to kick the little ones, some of us have to warn them that they should be wary of strangers asking them where they are...

</rant>

I didn't say or imply that newbs should go into greyspace unarmed. I said that it is rather misleading for you to tell them to climb into little holes somewhere in Dau and stay there at all times unless you're holding their hand. Too many newbs leave because there is literally nothing to do in Dau that's more interesting than watching paint dry, and VPR scares them into staying there for days on end anyway, so eventually they get bored of it, assume there's nothing more to the game, and leave.

I don't understand where the "newbs leave because they get shot at!" myth comes from*. It is pretty much impossible to actually grief someone in modern vendetta.

I can understand telling people not to home in gray space, but to tell them not to go there at all, or even until they've got their mad levels, is just silly.
Newbs didn't quit when they got stuck in s18, why should they when they get stuck in sedina?

*Maybe it's from people talking about their EvE experiences? That's all I hear about that game. "I went somewhere, and exciting things happened, so I loled and quit!"

Methinks thou dost protest too much, ladron.

Read carefully and notice that you are the first in this thread to mention VPR. My advice is intended as one player to another, not as any form of interest in my guild. I'm not sure where you are getting that I think staying in Dau and "watching paint dry" is a good idea. In fact I've spent a majority of my time helping new players get out of Dau and into greyspace, so long as they understand what they are getting into. My post is both an invitation and a warning.

If you want to flame my guild then turn off the caps lock and take it over to the RP forum. This isn't the place.

I don't play as much as I'd like, but even in my limited play time I have seen far more new players complaining and getting flamed because they got killed in grey than those that complain about lack of content or things to do.

It usually something like this....

IMANOOB: "Hey Johnboy, what the heck did you kill me for? No hello, just bam I'm dead"

JOHNBOY: "Should not have come to grey unless you knew what you were doing. Welcome to VO."

I would attribute that hypothetical newb's distaste for the game to being flamed, and not to being blown up.
That the hypothetical non-newb essentially told him was "Well there you go boyo, you thought you were hardcore, when in fact you're a weak wannabe. You stepped on my turf, and I put you back down into the shithole you came from. Next time you'll know better than to mess around in my space, newbface."

Just saying "It was fun shooting you, so I did it!" is a whole lot less insulting and condescending than "aww, poor newb, I shot you and I'm not sorry. Here, have some bad advice on how to avoid getting shot." Plus it doesn't paint a false picture about VO.
Everybody dies in this game, and half the newbs are convinced that every time they die god drowns a whole sackful of very very cute puppies. It's disgusting.

I've spent probably about 50/60% of my time in grey space and haven't been attacked by a player once....maybe I'm just lucky? I make sure not to travel in expensive craft unless I can afford to loose it anyway (that WAS something I learned from EVE :P ).

Would it be possible to return to the topic at hand? Hmm? Yes? Thank you.

Restayvien, I'm sure everyone will be glad to see an influx of new players, since without new players the game will never get any bigger than it is now. We appreciate your efforts!

I thought newbs and their experience and retention was the topic at hand. :(

Without numbers it is hard to talk about why most newbs do not stick around (though it is clear that they do not). Still, it always seemed to me that most new characters never play long enough to venture into Grey. At least, the number of new faces I run across while loitering down there always seemed fairly small. (And I've spent quite a bit of time in Grey!)

The "do not go to Grey" fear mongering refrain is most definitely overblown. People are intelligent enough to figure out what makes sense for themselves by themselves. Exploration is just as much fun as anything else.

Restayvien: You aren't exactly lucky to have not been attacked. Although it is probable that you will be eventually, of course, the game is, for the most part, quiet and passive.