It's nice and all, that there is newbie protection on the main base, and unlike similar games I have played, there is a reset, so that you don't have one player several times stronger than everyone else combined (yes, I really have seen this happen).

I would like to point out though, that anyone following the tutorial, making the outpost, can immediately lose their outpost to someone else. Take a guess why I'm pointing this out

Now, you can say that this is legal, its part of the game, etc. but think about this for a moment. What will be going through the new-comer's mind? New players will generally not know what to do to get stronger. It is rather discouraging to make something and immediately be robbed. It's like stealing candy from a baby as far as I'm concerned.

This game is fun and all but it is very heavily slanted towards those who are active, and those who are around at the beginning. After the first while, there is too big a gap for a late-comer to do very much besides being conquered, since the resource outposts get taken pretty quick.

To put it bluntly, nobody joining at the wrong time, or without the appropriate knowhow, will stick around, simply because they will feel this game is not worth playing.

It may be worth considering implementing a partial protection feature or such, that extends to outposts, at least against those significantly stronger than yourself. I think it's fair to expect me to fight someone around my level for my new outpost. However, if I JUST joined a server, or was around for a few days, is it reasonable to expect me to fight off a top ranker?

No b.s. about fighting off top rankers on the first day or two of a era. please. most of the time newcomers will be struggling against a lot of established players, and your typical casual gamer will not stick around for a new era.

The ONLY reason I stuck around, frankly, is that I learned pretty quick about eras (because I did a bit of reading - something lots of players don't do), and then I saw that one of the servers had recently reset, soon enough that I might have a chance to do decently. If earth 2 had been 50 or so more ticks into the era, I probably would not be here.

I agree somewhat, the 'plant an OP' part is obviously going to mean you'll lose the OP, but it teaches the player how to plant one in the first place, which is an integral part of BD.

Now, with the whole 'people won't want to stay because they are discouraged' Maybe admins can program a way so that the tutorial tells players about the Adopt-A-Newb center.. It would encourage a few more players to go further in this game I think..

you cant have players without the knowlege of how to build ops.

and I think its a terrible idea to make it that strong players cant take noobs ops because firstly it could be abused if I get my friend to make new account with his noob status and build ops that cant be taken and he spam ops in an area so noone else could build there or I imagine it could be abused in worse ways if I put thought to it and also it will make the strong players get bored and want to quit if they're constantly being told you cant attack thgis and you cant attack that it would make the game alot less fun. not to mention taking noobs ops and either upgrading them to what u need or razing is very useful when you're expanding and it would be stupid if suddenly I'm not allowed to take their ops.

in short, if this gets implemented I'll quit instead of the noobs.

If you don't know how to play then go to the Adopt a Newb Center, other than that don't complain. The tutorial is there to help you even if it seems that it is wasting your resources it is not. It shows you how to build an op and to not listen to the tutorial so you become independent. And now I would like to point out some stuff from what you have said. In this game, no one really cares about what goes through the new-comer's mind. This game is survival of the fittest, you either survive or you don't. The only people you should care about in this game is you and your alliance and thats it. The good players have survived and are thriving. So now its the newbies turn to learn and survive. And also many people have stuck around so that is also false. I'm still here and so are the other hundreds to thousands of players that still play. And as for newbs fighting top rankers thats up to them. Hopefully, they learn and get better. From there, they make friends who are good. Then they move up

my point is that proportionally, not very many new players will stick around, precisely because it is purely survival of the fittest, or rather, survival of whoever has the strongest allies, and started earliest.

@social misfit - then wouldn't it make sense to not let new players spam protected outposts? why not just protect the first 1-2 and then that's it? you're taking it a lot farther than I had intended. lol

if a new player started spamming outposts, then another newer player could put the resources into units, and start taking said outposts.

@bfan - I'm not sure you get my point about fighting top players. the new players won't get a choice in the matter, considering that strong players will have many more units, and are already out of protection. also, are you saying that the tutorial is useful or not useful?

pointing out the adopt a newb center is a good idea

from what I have observed so far, it doesn't look like removing the odd new player's outpost from the list of targets for a strong player will make very much difference.

try stepping out of your shoes as experienced players, and consider that most new players do not have a lot of patience. the game wont grow if new players are turned off by a lack of protection and callous treatment

maybe put the first OP of a player in protection as well?

something like that. Most games I have played give newer players a chance to establish themselves first, before leaving them in the wolves den...

not giving new players sufficient protection, is like having a newcomer to a boxing club spar with a title holder. most likely, the title holder will pound the newcomer into the dust, and the newcomer will not learn very much, aside from that losing really, really hurts. Especially if some of the other boxing club members tell the newcomer to "suck it up, and learn". afaik most clubs try to sort people more on skill, than what will make the better boxers feel good.

then I can have friends make a wall of untakeable ops in an area to block my enemy

not to mention how much lamer the game would be if half the ops were under protection in the early ticks

if they do this I'll kill myself.

certainly over reacting to the possibility of this change (and not just with the suicide threats).

it just... sucks so bad...