A lot of newbies leave Sylestia because

A. They don't feel welcome
B. They need help
C. They can't find cheap pets

I think we should have a Sylestia Welcoming Comitee to help new players get their start. I was a user who was feeling unwelcome, and then I found Elleshie, and she helped me get my start. And I know that there are giveaways for newbies in the forums, but some newbies don't venture into the forums early enough. I, again, was one of those people. I think that we should have people to track down newbies and PM them. I tried to do this alone, but it got to be far too much. I also think that it should be somewhere on the first page, so that newbies see it easily. I want to do this because this is the best game ever, and I think some people don't know this because they quit too early. Even I went on a 7 month hiatus, and it's been really hard to come back. Do it for the newbies!

I'm glad I could help you. :)

I like the idea of the Sylestia Welcoming Committee very much. I used to be part of a similar group on a game that closed some years ago and it was really rewarding. The thing I'm not quite sure of is if this belongs to the Suggestion Box, which I always thought was for the kind of things that only Krinadon and Faiona could do. The committee sounds more like a player-organized activity, and while putting it on the first page is something only the mods can do, it would probably be better if the committee was up and running for a while before requesting it.

Maybe for the moment it would be best to create the Sylestia Welcoming Committee on the Groups section of the forums (unless it already exists and I missed it somehow) and see if people want to join. I'm sure there would be volunteers because the people in here are all awesome but it always takes some time for an activity like this to hit its stride.

There are always ways to make a site better for new players, but I don't think an official yet player based welcoming group is the way to go. Rather, a player started group in the newbie forum seems more suitable for this idea.

Rather than those being a problem due to lack of resources, I believe, if those A,B,C do have an effect, it would be due to lack of awareness. Else, my guess is that the cause for new players not being retained on the site lies elsewhere. I do want to point out, that the quantity of new players leaving due to any reason, is speculation, as we don't have data to confirm or refute such notions.

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For (A) "Not welcomed" is a bit general. As far as the tutorial goes, I believe it has meant to be updated for a long time, so not the most welcoming. But that is a different factor rather than a community based one. I believe things such as not feeling welcomed in the region/general chat have been brought up before, but I'm not sure what can be helped about that. (I think @Flute, had a thread discussing that. Not sure what the results were o: as this was a long time ago.) Not sure what else would qualify for this bullet point.

For (B) There is plenty of help and welcomers in the newbie forum and out of the forum. (Can always have more though :) ) The newbie mentoring thread for one. In sylestia forums, whenever a newbie posts that they need help, there is I think always someone there to answer their question from what I have seen on Sylestia. (Then again, may be slightly biased as I answer questions myself.)

For (C) Pets are actually cheap. It's a bit ironic since a lot of players find the market too deflated. You can find 6 visible pets for 10 gold with advanced search. And a lot of players are willing to give new players "special" rarer pets to start as well.
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It feels with the current sylestia, there are limits on how welcoming the community can be. I'm curious if there are any solutions to the chat problem. Also curious on any ideas for "New Sylestia" pertaining to this matter.

I've wondered if an introductions section in the forum might be a good place for new players to say hi and have a chance to initiate new friendships in the community.

In regards to a thread discussion about region/general chatrooms, I had a group discussion about it, it's kinda old and I didn't maintain it, my apologies. ;A; I want to revive it aha.

The main consensus from skimming the thread shows that the chatrooms are fast-paced. There's not much that can be done about the pace, because players both new and old chat in the chatrooms, and when festivals happen, everyone just loves to chat aha.

The thing about "not feeling welcome" is that sometimes it's like leading a horse to water, but not being able to get it to drink. You can provide a newbie the means to communicate, but you can't force them to communicate; rather, they should feel comfortable to do so (and sometimes, fast-paced chats don't make for comfortable experiences).
There are times where welcoming committees can alleviate this process and help them feel welcome, but you might have to take into account factors that we can't control: players that don't like chatting, players that don't know how to communicate (using forums/PMs, they may not navigate to those areas of the site just yet), or players that "hit and quit" sites.




Anyways, here's what I agree with on/my opinions on stuff in this thread:

-a player group is more suited for this idea, and there are many threads that have done this already (rehoming threads, giveaway threads, contest threads that target newbies specifically, etc)

edit: I noticed you made a thread for it in groups, good luck!

I personally have went out and PM'd newbies individually (using the advanced search), gave them items, let them pick pets I had, and while it's tedious, it's totally doable if you take initiative. Also, you can ask other players to help out. Sometimes, communication to other players is key -- many players are indeed helpful and generous, I can name a few. Connections are few and far between for some, but if you posted this suggestion in General Discussion or Contests forums, others could pitch in with items and pets.

-an introduction section would probably help, in the way that a subforum dedicated to customs or groups helped (a.k.a. just sectioning off a subforum dedicated to introductions as a starting point for newbies)

-another thing that I've seen most sites (mainly virtual pet sites) do is have a "FAQ" page that acts a directory for new players to find the resources they need. It's just a page with links to threads that tell newbies how to do things, like get pets/currency/so on. Sylestia's newbie phase could benefit from rehashing its tutorials, and maybe have an FAQ page...(personally I find some of those FAQ pages just as unhelpful as having an ineffective tutorial because the threads they link to aren't helpful for extremely new newbies, but that's just me)

I think this is a sweet idea, a few things to keep in mind ~

Everyone is different.. Technically, you have to be 13+ to play sylestia. You check a little box. But it'd be very easy for younger kids to check it just because they want to play the game. But they might be 13, yet mature enough to be 16. Or maybe they ARE 13 but turn out to be a dramatic little Princess who's full of herself and thinks everything is awful because she doesn't have the pet she wants. (Oh yeah.. That was me at 13 lol XD) and then there's this- some people take "newbie" offensively. In my years 2012-the very beggining of 2014 I played a game called Monster Kingdom. (Phone app) and there was a ton of drama. The word newbie to newbies can be rude sounding because their to new to know what it means.. And it can make you feel quite small I think (even if it's true) Just as a heads up

Also.. I know this was mentioned above, but some new players don't do forums. When I joined sylestia I didn't do the forums till I couldn't help myself. I think my first thread was my lupora thread. I was VERY concerned why my starter (I had just got a few days ago) couldn't have babies.. And was gifted a lupora, White Out. (Who I lended to Lilydachic for a breeding project and would like back if he's no longer being used?) anyway, I used him to sell baby lups and that really gave me a good start! I'm still really bad at battling and missions so breeding has become something I rely on. I think the gift ideas is great, it helps players along and inspires them to keep that welcome going down the line :)

While we're on the subject X) thanks to all of you guys who got me going! Barcode, Squiggles, Black, Maimah, Flute, Keys, Hydroablaster, Hundenelsker, Eimell, I'm afraid I can't remember the entire list but I will never cease to appreciate how warm my welcome was from you all. I wish every new player could've got a welcome like mine and I support this thread

Edit: my paragraphs needed spaced farther...

Is there anything you can think of that would have drawn you to the forums sooner? I've thought about how there definitely are players who never visit the forums and have wondered about what would be methods that could draw their interest.

Btw, I can take a look at your team if you'd like.

I think I would have if I was raised differently haha XD no I've just always been a bit shy with new things, I think it completely depends on the person and their personality, so on.

And thank you, I'm a bit busy today but maybe some evening. (I actually don't have a team going