I was looking at the numbers yesterday (48 hrs after the 4x boost) and there where over 3000 players.

On a normal day the numbers are 1000 - 2000 players. This boost could encourage players to player (though the points would soon become redundant). On the other hand it could help new players.

 

I liked the suggestion (in the 4xp thread?) that the xp values default at 2x now, and the 'bonus' weekend goes up to 4x. The rate they had with 1x was just really slow, people got frustrated, and left because they weren't dedicating the time (because they couldn't). Doubling/quadrupling the xp bonuses permanently would be a good way to keep people interested.

 

It'll work for a while, but things will get old for some at some point. High Moon Studios could, you know, lower the numbers necessary if people are finding it too much work.

But if they want to (if that's what this is) hold on to gamers, they need to support the online side of things with a load of fixes and new content. THAT! Will keep gamers more than anything.

...just a thought.

 

That is true, 1x was waaaaay to slow for me. That's why I can't be bothered to go up the final total 20 levels to max out everyone.

 

Your thread title and poll question were slightly different. To be clear I voted yes for the poll question - but my answer to the thread title is NO.

Having the XP bonus on the weekends is nice. It gives me something to look forward to through the week. It's a nice gesture they do this and with the dwindling online community it may become necessary sooner than later. I see it as basically appeasing the current users - not creating more or keeping them.

As for keeping users and gaining more? Well that has already been mentioned with fixing the online issues. Thankfully this weekend was a good example... I played quite a few hours more than usual and actually had LESS problems. But enough problems to make a non-fan trade it in at Gamestop (or not buy it in the first place after a rental).

 

I think new content would be the best way. On the PS3 side of things, I haven't noticed many pertinent glitches.

 

It seems to have increased the numbers alright. Nice to be able to get some full games.

 

It depends. In the short term, yes. The normal XP given out by the game is too low. It's paced slowly, as if it were a CoD or Halo or Gears or other game with a lot of legs, but this game hasn't and won't have the community that those games enjoy, so it just feels like an impossible grind and tons of people didn't even bother trying. XP multipliers on the weekends makes that less of an issue and gets more people back in playing because it doesn't feel like a fruitless effort.

However, a lot of the people still playing are only doing it for the achievements or to max out their levels. When they hit that point they're going to quit playing, so long term it just helps them quit sooner and ultimately hurts the player count.

Even so, like I said, this game was never going to be something that a lot of people are playing a year from now or even six months from now. It was going to happen anyway, so might as well get more people on while you can.

 

i feel while it may bring in more noobs or people wanting to get maxed levels/prime, it wont do anything for the people that are already there. and as more and more people prime, that is more people that wont care. and besides, forcing people to play, forces them to notice the bugs too. so i chose "perhaps" because there is always a flip side

KidDynamite says it the best

 

Yes and no. Yes, because it would be great to retain people like me who just hate to grind...but the key to retaining players isn't EXP rates but content. The game will need more content in order to stay alive. Like how Gears of War 2 did...add new maps, another game mode or two, new achievements, etc.

Otherwise you're still looking at the case where once people level up to 100 combined, get Prime, and they're most likely done since those will be the only achievements left for many.

 

I don't mind the boosted XP at all. But I think the best way to retain players would be to have a better menu interface.

I load the matchmaking menu (having a load screen separate you from another menu? Fail!), select my matchmaking choice, loading screen... oops, I don't have the map. So, the logical thing is to kick me back to the top menu? Boo! Can't establish host connection? FFFFFFUUUU

Also, is it that hard to code the game to select a new host if the old one drops? Halo 3 did it years ago, let's not regress, okay?

Really, I do like the game, but when there's so many barriers to just sitting down and getting into a game, it makes it harder to recommend. And that's ultimately what will cause it to lack staying power.

 

I don't mine the Boost Weekends either, because it gives people who don't have as much time to play during the week or whatever, to catch up and unlock abilities and level up their characters. Because yeah, it really does take quite a while on normal XP.

OTOH, I do understand that after a while, once people have gotten their characters to level 25 and hit Prime, they are more than likely to stop playing. Which I don't blame them because they are grinding again for nothing. It's really a shame that they didn't think to add more unlocks after you hit Prime and leveling up again, like some new abilities or new characters. They really could've set up Zeta Prime and Dead End for that.