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View Full Version : Wayfinder does more harm to new german players than good



Ekkagaddon
09-09-2011, 06:06 AM
I moderate one of the biggest hardware forums in germany and the announcement of a german client with a german server got many people to download the client and try the game. The result was, that most of them quit playing after a few levels. There is simply no way to quest in a german only group. 80% of the servers population doesnt speak german. The german client itself is useful but baffles new players with incomplete translations. Almost all the questnames are still english. So are the dungeon entrances. The game is already very hard to access for a new player. I think the germany strategy has to be reworked right now.

Another pointer for a rework of strategy is the wayfinder population numbers.
The server is pretty much dead. It is simply impossible to find a group for certain quests. Three nights ago, i had a lfm for von5 up and realised, that only 5 other Players from level range 8-11 are online right now. At 20pm main playing time here in europe. That means i wouldnt even be able to get a full group for any p2p, because one of these guys wouldnt likely have the pack.

lhidda
09-09-2011, 06:10 AM
I learned from german part of forum that many germanspeaking players are switching. Many transfers are not completed yet and will be completed soon. Keep the faith. I will stay in Khyber. Not gonna pay for a service which should be free of charge.

grayham
09-09-2011, 06:17 AM
Other than one unverified statistic (80%?!!!!), everything in your post can be explained by teething troubles for a new server. Transfers take time, and many German players are still deciding. It's a domino/snowball effect. As mentioned, keep the faith. In the mean time enjoy the relatively unspoiled economy and absence of "OMG n0 NuuuBZZ" lfms.

Ekkagaddon
09-09-2011, 06:38 AM
possible that the population with grow. But not in NEW german players. The only thing it will accomplish is switching players from one server to another.
It is not my concern if wayfinder lives or not. My main is on Khyber and he will stay there. I just made a toon in wayfinder to help new players on my forum to get things going. And almost all of them quit. Thats pretty sad if you take the ad campaign from gamescom into account. Turbines germany strategy is about to fail due to a horrible german client and lack of support.

grayham 80% is a number resultung from my own gutfeeling. I leveled to levels 19(tranferred a lvl17) and 12 (from lvl1) and never had a group that used german in the party or voicechat. Sure there were many germans but there is no way to be able to talk in english when 3-4 out of 6 players in your group cant understand it. Its no problem for me, but most german players who were interested in ddo before the german client already spoke english. Many new german players simply cant or feel uncomfortable doing so.
Other than you are right. The playerbase is very casual friendly. You almost cant find any "know it, byoh, only TR" in any lfm. But it still does more harm to new players than good. You have to hook a new player in the first 30minutes to keep him playing. And the new "germany" strategy doesnt do that right now.

Satinavian
09-09-2011, 07:00 AM
You mentioned Von 5.


No "new" German player should be able to do that already. Most real newcomers need a week flowersniffing in Korthos, exploring basic rules and gamefunction and at least the same time in harbor. And usually w have rerolles before reaching lv 7. And alts to play around with different party roles.

The only mid- and high-level people come from other servers either via transfer or newly created and levelled fast due to superior game-experiance.

In addition after the new server start we had the usual bulk of English-speaking TP-farmers, who left some standards in the lfm etiquette. That at least should be over by now.




And why are we writing English in the Wayfinder-forum ?

Ekkagaddon
09-09-2011, 07:19 AM
No "new" German player should be able to do that already. Most real newcomers need a week flowersniffing in Korthos, exploring basic rules and gamefunction and at least the same time in harbor. And usually w have rerolles before reaching lv 7. And alts to play around with different party roles.

Actually if it comes to a reroll at level7, then the game is doing something wrong because that means that a player is not comfortable with the class or the role he chose at the beginning. Most people wont reroll. They will simply quit. In games, especially f2p games there is almost no margin for error. If you cant get someone hooked right away, the player will simply try another game. There are no investments in f2p games that incentivizes to give it another try. But this is another matter and has nothing to do with the client and the english speaking population.



The only mid- and high-level people come from other servers either via transfer or newly created and levelled fast due to superior game-experiance.
As i said. I reached level 12with a toon in about 5 days. Its possible even as a new player to reach that level in 23days. But this isnt the issue either. Right now it is not possible to play in german in pick up groups and the german translation of the client needs a rework. And this is hurting the effort to create a new playerbase in germany.



And why are we writing English in the Wayfinder-forum ?
Interesting isnt it? I chose english, because many users here on the wayfinder forums used it even in german threads. And i have the feeling that no officials are actually german speaking right now. Most of the replys are google translated.

Tolero
09-09-2011, 07:24 AM
And i have the feeling that no officials are actually german speaking right now. Most of the replys are google translated.

This is incorrect. We have multiple native speakers on hand to review the forums. I myself am not a native speaker but understand what is written in German quite well despite not being able to compose grammatically correct responses. (I prefer to write the responses despite this because I want people to know that I am personally reading things as well).

Shaamis
09-09-2011, 07:33 AM
I learned from german part of forum that many germanspeaking players are switching. Many transfers are not completed yet and will be completed soon. Keep the faith. I will stay in Khyber. Not gonna pay for a service which should be free of charge.

For those who do not want to pay for the cost of a transfer (I believe it should be 1 free/month or three months) there are some less conventional options.

I have, in the past, made a sizeable plat transfer from one character on khyber (my main server) for an amount on another server (equal or a ratio, your trade choice)

That allowed me to gain a good foothold on another server, to buy the base items needed quickly, and start leveling faster.

The only problem is finding someone trustworthy enough to do an unsecure transaction like this.

I suggest the ddo forums, so a forum name can be tracked, and deemed safe to deal with.

I am Shaamis on all servers, and even though I do not speak more than a few words of german, I was going to play on Wayfinder and see how fun it is to level from the start again.


Cheers

Ekkagaddon
09-09-2011, 07:35 AM
This is incorrect. We have multiple native speakers on hand to review the forums. I myself am not a native speaker but understand what is written in German quite well despite not being able to compose grammatically correct responses. (I prefer to write the responses despite this because I want people to know that I am personally reading things as well).

Iam sorry i didnt mean to offend. The few post i read and my encounters with ddo support for me and two friends left me under this impression. My statement wasnt aimed to prove that you guys dont care. If you wouldnt, than there would be no way you would even tried to translate this hulk of texts into german. I just wanted to state that it simply is not enough right now.

Sethvir
09-09-2011, 07:41 AM
sorry tolero, but its irrelevant if or not there are ppl that can understand german, IF the german ppl have the perceiving that there are no ppl at turbine that can understand what they are saying or can help them easily if they have a problem.

and the point is, thats exactly what ppl think. the op does have a very valid point. i will not go into details why, just that much: turbine is missing thoroughness in almost evry bit its doing (maybe except for that no reimburse policy...) and especially in evrything with the german related stuff.
germans are not THAT relaxed. they DO NOT think: heh, this translation is funny, give them some slack, they will fix it soon ...
at least not the vast majority.

Zipwire
09-09-2011, 08:14 AM
I created a toon on Wayfinder to do favor farming. I noticed that there were very few toons online and only english was being spoken in chat. I decided to post an lfm because it is not so easy for new players starting out. I did get a few to join but they were not German speaking players. They were newbies just starting the game and had no idea they were on a German language server and that it was new.

They were asking if anybody even plays this game, so few players were online.

Ugumagre
09-09-2011, 08:22 AM
Some weeks ago I made a toon in Korthos, to help new german players. I stayed 2 hours and I was exhausted afterwards (I usually do not play that long in a row). If more german player were doing this, I think we could "save" some people.
Anyway, I think it is too early to "condemn" the server. I think we have to wait one year or at least 6 months.

Tolero
09-09-2011, 08:31 AM
Iam sorry i didnt mean to offend. The few post i read and my encounters with ddo support for me and two friends left me under this impression. My statement wasnt aimed to prove that you guys dont care. If you wouldnt, than there would be no way you would even tried to translate this hulk of texts into german. I just wanted to state that it simply is not enough right now.

Kein Problem, I took no offense. I am fully aware that I have a long way to go before I am conversational (not that it will stop me from trying). I also do not expect players to be forgiving or lenient on these points. We are aware that we have many improvements to make to enhance the experience for german-speaking and french-speaking players. If you have bad encounters with support or translations, please continue to tell us about them, whether that is in englisch or german.

zwiebelring
09-09-2011, 08:36 AM
If transfer was free for VIPs plus a possible guildtransfer in a whole, I'd subscribe immediately, but right now, there is no reason to switch because our small german guild achieved what was intended: to gather german players.

a little off topic:
We switched immediately if the service of transfer was not an exceptional effort and otherwise insecure service, not mentioning the ridiculous price. Again, more important amneties for VIPs. I say this being a premium player.

lhidda
09-09-2011, 08:50 AM
If transfer was free for VIPs plus a possible guildtransfer in a whole, I'd subscribe immediately, but right now, there is no reason to switch because our small german guild achieved what was intended: to gather german players.

Same, also stormglory tempest is a reason to stay. Thanks again, Shaoria.

Satinavian
09-09-2011, 09:15 AM
sorry tolero, but its irrelevant if or not there are ppl that can understand german, IF the german ppl have the perceiving that there are no ppl at turbine that can understand what they are saying or can help them easily if they have a problem.

and the point is, thats exactly what ppl think. the op does have a very valid point. i will not go into details why, just that much: turbine is missing thoroughness in almost evry bit its doing (maybe except for that no reimburse policy...) and especially in evrything with the german related stuff.
germans are not THAT relaxed. they DO NOT think: heh, this translation is funny, give them some slack, they will fix it soon ...
at least not the vast majority.
We might be a lot more relaxed than you think.

I at least am always happy if some awkward translation suddenly is changed to a better version or if some mobs still named "NAME" get their proper name back. The only time when i used the English client was when i started crafting and missed my crafting tab on the character sheet. But that is fixed now.

Would have liked if the German server had had a better start though, but not sure what to do about. As lhidda and das Syndikat and zwiebelring and his guild i am a bit bound to my server.

Beethoven
09-09-2011, 09:23 AM
80% of the servers population doesnt speak german.


Sure there were many germans but there is no way to be able to talk in english when 3-4 out of 6 players in your group cant understand it.

A game population where 80% do not speak German and ~50% do not speak English would be indicative of a playerbase that is neither European or American.

English is a primary subject at German speaking highschools since the 70s along with Mathematics and, well, German. Starting some point around the 80s many grade schools started include first english lessons. So, in a German demographic you usually only have two groups who are not able to communicate in /both/ those languages.

* People who completed highschool before the 80s (the 50s+ crowd); and not even that's necessarily true in all cases since many companies over there started offering free and voluntary (as in highly encouraged to take it) English classes.
* People (usually children) who have not completed at least the first couple years of highschool.


I leveled to levels 19(tranferred a lvl17) and 12 (from lvl1) and never had a group that used german in the party or voicechat.

That does not necessarily mean anything. There is a significant amount of German speakers who use English when gaming out of habit or personal preference. There is also a substantial amount of German speakers who like use the opportunity of playing online games to practice their English. Finally there is a large amount of German speakers who will switch to English if they alone have reason to suspect a non-German speaker is in their group simply to be polite.

What I believe to be larger issues with Wayfinder is:
* many German gamers already have established characters and guilds on other servers and see no reason or incentive to switch to a new, less active server.
* German gamers connect not only through DDO but there are numerous dedicated webpages and forums out there, so they may end up connecting with an already existing guild and join them on their sever (different than Wayfinder)
* German players may check out Wayfinder, see how small it is (in terms of playerbase) and then try some different (larger) server and stay there.

I agree with Grayham here though, these are common issues on any new server; in this specific case it might only mean Wayfinder will experience a slower growth than past US centric servers. Give it time.

Kmnh
09-09-2011, 09:26 AM
I took a look at the wayfinder server this night to get my free favor from korthos

There wasn't a single lfm up :/

Ekkagaddon
09-09-2011, 11:14 AM
Beethoven: You are right. In theory every german who went to school for 9 Years is able to speak and understand english. The reality is simply another. If you dont nurture a language skill it will decay and fade. For example my father had english as a major when graduating. Today he is still able to understand sentences, but has big problems to talk himself.

MartinusWyllt
09-09-2011, 11:30 AM
... everything in your post can be explained by teething troubles for a new server...

Except for poor/incomplete translations to Deutsch for a server advertised as a German speaking server.

Phemt81
09-09-2011, 11:44 AM
A friendly european time server is a very good thing to start, maybe Turbine could have created a non language restricted one first. And then release the only deutsch one.

Maybe a roll over text help on server choice would also be useful:

Examples:
Wayfinder [german server]

Thelanis [RP server]

Orien [noob server] (<---joke, i'm from orien...)

Memnir
09-09-2011, 11:55 AM
I think it was a mistake to label it a German server to being with. Not because I have anything against Germany or German people - but because I think that putting a limiting factor on any server is a bad idea.

I think the only reason it was advertised as a German server was because of Turbine wanting to make a bigger splash at GamesCon. And that was a poor decision, in my opinion.

mystafyi
09-09-2011, 01:55 PM
it would be one thing if the server was located in germany to combat latency issues for euro's... buts its just part of the server farm in boston....

karl_k0ch
09-09-2011, 06:03 PM
englisch
<3


Orien [noob server] (<---joke, i'm from orien...)

So?


If transfer was free for VIPs plus a possible guildtransfer in a whole, I'd subscribe immediately, but right now, there is no reason to switch because our small german guild achieved what was intended: to gather german players.

a little off topic:
We switched immediately if the service of transfer was not an exceptional effort and otherwise insecure service, not mentioning the ridiculous price. Again, more important amneties for VIPs. I say this being a premium player.

Spot on. This is coming from the second largest german guild (ie Krieger des Lichts) on orien.


Except for poor/incomplete translations to Deutsch for a server advertised as a German speaking server.

The localization is equally bad on every server.

Phemt81
09-09-2011, 08:08 PM
So, that was an example among others. Didn't like my suggestion? :confused:


The localization is equally bad on every server.

Yes, but it's worse when you create a server dedicated for people speaking that language. Can you see my point?

zwiebelring
09-11-2011, 07:20 AM
Spot on. This is coming from the largest german guild (ie Soko Irrlicht) on orien.
Sorry but I am member of Krieger des Lichts but befriended with Soko :).

karl_k0ch
09-11-2011, 09:54 AM
Sorry but I am member of Krieger des Lichts but befriended with Soko :).
'tschuldigung.

Post has been updated.

cyr1ana
09-11-2011, 05:54 PM
Egal was ihr so alle negatives sagt. Ich finds bisher gut auf Wayfinder. Es könnte hier und da noch mehr deutschsprachige Gruppensuchen geben. Im großen Ganzen denke ich aber, dass es noch besser werden wird mit der Zeit.

Ich spiele übrigens auch auf dem deutschen Server mit dem englischen Client. Das eine hat ja nichts mit dem anderen zu tun. Mir gehts ja auch eher darum mit deutschsprachigen Leuten im Voicechat spielen zu können. Ich mag nicht so gerne in PUG spielen wo sich die Leute totschweigen. Da brauch ich meiner Meinung nach auch kein online Spiel für.

lg

Cyriana

p. s. Ich würd das jetzt noch übersetzen aber ist zu spät. Muss wohl google-translate reichen. Ich weiss das ist grausam.

No matter what you all say so negative. I think it's been good so far on Wayfinder. It would be better to have more german-speaking group searches but I think it will be getting better in time.

Incidentally, I play on the German server with the English client. This one has nothing to do with the other. I like to play with german speaking people in the voice chat. I may not like to play in PUG where people don't talk any word. Then I fact I don't need to play a MMO.

greetings

Cyriana

fyrst.grok
09-11-2011, 06:13 PM
Should probably just have been a euro-server.
I don't understand a word german, but would have loved a eu server, besides.. people tend to gather with likeminded others, so not so much reason to restrict it to one language only.

Phemt81
09-11-2011, 06:48 PM
Should probably just have been a euro-server.
I don't understand a word german, but would have loved a eu server, besides.. people tend to gather with likeminded others, so not so much reason to restrict it to one language only.

What i just said above.

Nice to find someone who can agree sometimes :)

Witchstone
09-12-2011, 02:01 AM
Ich spiele DDO jetzt seit etwa zwei Jahren und kann daher leider nicht sagen wie es auf den alten Servern war, aber ich vermute mal, dass diese Server am Anfang auch nicht gleich voll waren. Das gleiche gilt natürlich auch für Wayfinder. So etwas braucht Zeit. Mein persönliches Gefühl ist, dass es täglich voller wird.

Was die Charakter-Stufen angeht: Bei den Transferkosten kann ich es gut verstehen, dass die meisten Spieler mit neuen Charakteren angefangen haben. Viele der alten Spieler haben sich wohl auch mehr aus Neugierde oder wegen der TP Punkte einen Charakter angelegt. Wer wie ich Gelegenheitsspieler ist, der braucht auch etwas mehr Zeit als zwei, drei Wochen um einen Charakter in den Bereich von VON 5 hochzuspielen. Davon abgesehen ist es auch auf Thelanis zum Teil recht schwer einen vollen VON 5 Raid zu bekommen. Ich bin schon oft zu "IP" Gruppen für VON 5 gestoßen. Wer nicht transferiert hat, der hat zudem auf Wayfinder das Problem, dass er seinen Charakter auch nicht twinken kann und damit auch mehr Zeit in die Suche nach Ausrüstung stecken muss.

Zum Thema Transfer allgemein: Wenn ich daran denke, wie viel Zeit und Energie in unser kleines Gilden-Dinghy geflossen ist kann ich mir nicht vorstellen, dass ich meine Charaktere ohne die ganze Gilde im Gepäck transferieren werde (was im Moment ja wohl auch nicht geht). Davon abgesehen kenne ich natürlich auch einige Spieler in anderen Gilden mit denen ich hin und wieder spiele. Wäre schade wenn die wegfallen würden.

Was die Übersetzungen angeht: ich stimme zu, die hat deutlich Potential nach oben (um es mal freundlich auszudrücken). Vielleicht ist es besser geworden, aber ich habe nach etwa 15 Minuten wieder auf den englischen Client umgeschalten und bin seither dabei geblieben. Da die Questinhalte eh nicht übersetzt wurden kann man von Übersetzung sowieso noch nicht wirklich reden.

Deutsch / Englisch: Es ist schon bezeichnend, wenn auf einem Server der explizit für deutschsprachige Spieler eingerichtet wurde kaum ein Spieler auf Deutsch schreibt. Nicht dass es genügend deutschsprachige Spieler gibt, aber es ist eine gewisse Scheu zu beobachten. Zugegeben ich könnte mich über bestimmte Dinge auf Deutsch nicht einmal korrekt unterhalten (k.A. wie z.B. die ganzen prefixe / suffixe auf Deutsch heißen).

Dennoch:



Die Beherrschung der deutschen Sprache ist keine Voraussetzung, allerdings empfehlen wir allen Spielern, auf Wayfinder Deutsch zu sprechen.


Und dass Wayfinder extra einen "Deutsch" Channel hat spricht auch Bände ;)

Davon abgesehen finde ich den "Denglisch" Channel wirklich unterhaltsam. :)

zwiebelring
09-12-2011, 02:56 PM
Ich denke, daß alle etablierten Gilden und Spieler, die deutschsprachig sind oder deutsche Spieler haben, nur wegen des Transferaufwandes nicht umziehen. Man hat alles auf Server x und müsste dann schlagartig von 0 anfangen.

Für Gilden oder Spieler, die generell unter sich bleiben mag dies weniger ein Grund sein aber für jeden, der offene Gruppen bevorzugt, bedeutet Umzug wieder neue Infratsruktur, Beziehungen, Freundschaften etc.

Abgesehen davon bin ich sehr dafür, wenn man als pugger allgemein den englischen client nutzt, weil alteingesessene Spieler so Neulingen besser helfen können. Der deutsche client vermurkst die Kommunikation bzgl. quest-Namen und Gegenständen massiv.

--------

I think, the main reason for staying is the extraordinary effort for transferring the characters. Meanwhile the guild itself has to be reestablished and lvl.ed so you had to start from the scratch. This is not very attractive. Though it might be a minor reason for guilds, who stay on their own, for regular puggers it means starting from 0.

Otherwise I'd like to have the english client used by every pugger as the only one. The german client shredds all communication regarding names of the quests and items in a massive way. Another reason is that veteran players used to english client can help newbies better then. I have big problems if a german player is using german client. And I am a German....

tinnitus2000
09-14-2011, 01:34 PM
Sie hätten den Umzug von deutschen alteingessenen Spielern kostenlos für jeden Twink anbieten sollen. Mit Gildenumzug etc.
Dann wäre der Server voller geworden. Alte Spieler werden so auf jeden Fall nicht umziehen.
Und den Server hätte man auch dann nicht (de) nennen brauchen.
Neue Spieler werden abgeschreckt weiter zu spielen, weil der Server so leer ist. Die denken das Spiel ist tot.
Wenn ich da am frühen Nachmittag mal on bin, renn ich fast alleine durch die Stadt und wunder mich, wenn ich mal jemanden treffe. :D

zwiebelring
09-14-2011, 01:38 PM
Turbine sollte generell server-Umzug umsonst machen, erleichtert dies doch sich dort anzusiedeln, wo man den meisten Spaß hat. Wenn ejder frei hin und her wechseln könnte, würde man absolut nichts verlieren, im gegenteil, ich denke, das würde die Spielerbasis vergrößern.

Es gibt so viele threads zum Thema Ettiquette und frustrierenden Ereignissen, warum nicht einfach Auswandern ermöglichen, ohne den Hauptcharakter wieder neu erstellen zu müssen?

Zumindest ich hätte dadurch nicht in meinen Ausgaben an TPs etc. gespart.

Symerith
09-14-2011, 04:11 PM
Same, also stormglory tempest is a reason to stay. Thanks again, Shaoria.

And we would hate losing you.

Sith.

sdrocky
09-30-2011, 03:00 AM
Ive been playing on wayfinder since it was 1 day old. I started a toon to grind favour and stayed because of the lack of lag. Since this time ive seen the population slowly but surely increase. I can tell this because the number of items in the auction house is slowly increasing. from about 45 pages a month ago to about 55 pages regularly now.
Im staying. So are my friends. Ive moved a toon from orien and he is staying to.
You cant expect a server to be released one day and have a full population the next.
And i am running into more and more people the same as me. Came to Wayfinder to grind favour and stayed.
I believe so far its working. If people come and stay, cool. If new people start and stay. Cool. English, German, Russian, French, from anywhere, all cool.
See you on wayfinder.

Cogdoc
09-30-2011, 05:05 AM
As I am also playing on Wayfinder, I would like to give my comments on what has been already said in this thread, hopefully to inform other players who are thinking to roll here.

1 - Yes it is labelled as a German server, although I have not seen hostility against english speakers. I have seen more of that on english speaking servers against german speakers, what is quite sad. The worst you can get here if you approach someone in english, is no answer, in case that particular person didnt understand you. Quite rare though, as german players commonly speak english as well.

2 - DDO for me was always about rerolling and starting over. I cannot count how many times I rerolled my chars because I wanted to experiment with something new. I never thought of an option to transfer chars here. I can roll new ones.

3 - Its a new server. While it has the flaws with being under-populated atm, it has the fresh feeling as well. Imagine this: you start a new character, there is nothing on the AH to pimp it. +1 Armor of stability is a distant dream in drops on level 2. Nothing at the brokers either. You craft your way up with hard work from nothing to be able to create useful stuff for yourself. Exactly like when I started to play DDO, I like this a lot.

4 - Lot of new players! And I mean it. Granted most of them dont know the ropes yet, and do silly things, but those are also funny things. And its not full of bored of levelling/raiding arrogant veterans who just rush through quests without even saying a word to fellow party members. I like this too. More relaxed and fun.

Cogdoc

sdrocky
10-05-2011, 08:53 PM
As I am also playing on Wayfinder, I would like to give my comments on what has been already said in this thread, hopefully to inform other players who are thinking to roll here.

1 - Yes it is labelled as a German server, although I have not seen hostility against english speakers. I have seen more of that on english speaking servers against german speakers, what is quite sad. The worst you can get here if you approach someone in english, is no answer, in case that particular person didnt understand you. Quite rare though, as german players commonly speak english as well.

2 - DDO for me was always about rerolling and starting over. I cannot count how many times I rerolled my chars because I wanted to experiment with something new. I never thought of an option to transfer chars here. I can roll new ones.

3 - Its a new server. While it has the flaws with being under-populated atm, it has the fresh feeling as well. Imagine this: you start a new character, there is nothing on the AH to pimp it. +1 Armor of stability is a distant dream in drops on level 2. Nothing at the brokers either. You craft your way up with hard work from nothing to be able to create useful stuff for yourself. Exactly like when I started to play DDO, I like this a lot.

4 - Lot of new players! And I mean it. Granted most of them dont know the ropes yet, and do silly things, but those are also funny things. And its not full of bored of levelling/raiding arrogant veterans who just rush through quests without even saying a word to fellow party members. I like this too. More relaxed and fun.

Cogdoc

Totaly Agree. Love playing on wayfinder as do all my guild members.

Its clean. Fresh and not ladend with aragont people who are only interested in leveling as fast as possible. So far its been a pleasure to quest whith just about everyone i have met.

We are founding the core of this server. Lets keep going and we will get the population up. Its just a matter of time and persistance.

I dont believe Turbine will can the server for a long time. They will give it the chance it needs to grow.

Finorst
Guild leader Hunters of Wayfinder

Alabore
10-05-2011, 10:13 PM
As I am also playing on Wayfinder, I would like to give my comments on what has been already said in this thread, hopefully to inform other players who are thinking to roll here.


Your pitch is compelling.

:)

Cogdoc
10-06-2011, 06:21 AM
Your pitch is compelling.

:)

And you get deals if you buy more than ten pieces!

Gomzovcel
10-06-2011, 06:38 AM
Es wäre hilfreich zu wissen welche Gilden auf Wayfinder sind.





It would be helpful to know which guilds are on Wayfinder.

sdrocky
10-06-2011, 06:26 PM
Es wäre hilfreich zu wissen welche Gilden auf Wayfinder sind.





It would be helpful to know which guilds are on Wayfinder.

go to my.ddo and look at the guild leader boards. Filter by wayfinder.

Stillwaters
10-17-2011, 08:45 PM
Wayfinder being named the "German" server, is not doing harm to German players any more than other server labels like "RP" "Noob" "Drama" etc...

I started on Wayfinder on day 1 (essentially to just grind my 101 favor and go) but what i found, is on smaller populated servers there is WAY less discrimination getting into groups, noobs and elitists are working together and people are TEACHING missions/raids not EXCLUDING players from them because they do not already know them from trial/error.

After a week of this I expanded my guild from just my Wife and I, to include other players i had seen online a lot, and now our guild Favor Runners is competing at the top guild level. We have 6 accounts - a native German that lives in China, a German living in Germany, a Chinese player, our token American -sorry Buddie :), and me and my partner who are Australians.

Wayfinder is NOT only full of Noobs/Newbs. Many of us have been playing for many years (ignore my account join date) and there is a WEALTH of knowledge that is being SHARED not RESTRICTED.

As an Australian, I enjoy a multicultural society, and on Wayfinder i see the same respect given to player regardless of race or language, that i see in my everyday life. To be fair i DONT know German, Chinese or many other languages, but no one here is EXPECTING me too either, we still manage adequate communication, and since we are a small populated server i tend to run with MANY people i might never have had the opportunity to run with after they segregated into their own Niche groups or Cliques.

In short: Wayfinder is is a place where people FIND A WAY, regardless of our many differences, perfect place to enjoy NEW CHALLENGES and learn in HARMONY.

Dunklerlindwurm
10-18-2011, 04:50 AM
Yes Wayfinder is full of noobs...me being the biggest one :D

MiKe_de
10-18-2011, 09:30 AM
In my opinion is the wayfinder server beyond "dead".

Example: During the crystal cove event the cove opened only after 3 hours.

The biggest mistake is the "I transfer only one char, and that's it" policy. Most of the german - and european players were scattered among US servers, because the US version existed 1 year as f2p, before they decided to do the same thing in europe. All players, who had interest in playing DDO are doing this already on the US-servers.

And new and unexperienced players will only see a almost empty server. On top of that, the language spoken in the chat rooms is mostly english, too. :)

As far as I can see it, they have to transfer whole guilds, with ALL their characters and players, to solve one of the problems. Most of the 'players' in wayfinder, even the german ones, grab only 'the free turbine points', or test something new. And that's it.

And the idea, that people decide -- out of the blue -- to change the server .... it's not going to happen. On other servers you have a community, friends, guilds. And most of the players searched for a server fitting to their own playing style. So you need more than "Give them a brand new german server, and see what happens" to attract experienced german players and guilds to the new server. Without that, you will never being able to attract new players to DDO.

Wayfinder[DE] is a failed marketing experiment. :(

karl_k0ch
10-18-2011, 10:10 AM
The biggest mistake was the "I transfer only one char, and that's it" policy.

ftfy.


Guten Tag! Nachdem jeder jetzt die Chance hatte, seine ersten Charaktere zu übertragen, freuen wir uns ankündigen zu können, dass wir die Übertragungen auf Wayfinder für deutschsprachige Spieler bis zum Ende des Jahres verlängern. Darüber hinaus können Sie so viele Charaktere, wie Sie möchten, kostenlos auf Wayfinder übertragen!

Um eine Übertragungsanfrage zu starten, füllen Sie bitte auf unserer Support-Seite ein Übertragungsformular aus, das hier (http://de.support.turbine.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=24011) zu finden ist. Um sich unsere „Häufig gestellte Fragen zu Wayfinder“-Seite anzeigen zu lassen, klicken Sie bitte hier! (http://www.ddo.com/de/news/1599-wayfinder-faq) Dieses Angebot ist bis zum 31. Dezember 2011 gültig.

Bitte beachten Sie , dass Sie für weitere Übertragungen ein neues Formular ausfüllen müssen, sollten Sie bereits eine Übertragungsanfrage für Wayfinder gestellt haben. Wenn Sie außerdem Charaktere von mehr als einem Server auf Wayfinder übertragen, müssen Sie für jeden Server, auf dem Sie Charaktere haben, eine Übertragungsanfrage stellen.

bolded by me.

Yiko
10-19-2011, 02:47 AM
As a new/returning player i was somewhat shocked to see that the spoken language on the "german" server is english. This led me to visit the forums and take a look at what is up with Wayfinder.

Seeing this thread now leads me to the question: Is it a good idea to stay, or should i reroll on another server before i invest time into leveling my character here? Is it really that dead/underpopulated?

The only advantage of staying here seems to be that the amount of low-level/newbie/non-twinked characters is high compared to the old servers, so i'm not that alone at sucking and not knowing what the hell i'm supposed to be doing :) On the other hand i would really not like to reach a higher level, just to find out that i'm unable to find groups/other players to play with.

Any opinions on this matter?

red_cardinal
10-19-2011, 03:07 AM
I moderate one of the biggest hardware forums in germany and the announcement of a german client with a german server got many people to download the client and try the game. The result was, that most of them quit playing after a few levels. There is simply no way to quest in a german only group. 80% of the servers population doesnt speak german. The german client itself is useful but baffles new players with incomplete translations. Almost all the questnames are still english. So are the dungeon entrances. The game is already very hard to access for a new player. I think the germany strategy has to be reworked right now.

Another pointer for a rework of strategy is the wayfinder population numbers.
The server is pretty much dead. It is simply impossible to find a group for certain quests. Three nights ago, i had a lfm for von5 up and realised, that only 5 other Players from level range 8-11 are online right now. At 20pm main playing time here in europe. That means i wouldnt even be able to get a full group for any p2p, because one of these guys wouldnt likely have the pack.

Well, I feel for you. I'm not German but would love to play on a German server located in Germany. The major point is that it would reduce lag by 50-70ms for me and that would give me better gaming experience. When I saw that the new server was introduced, I thought it was located in Germany. Bollocks ;P.

To bad Turbine didn't renew partnership with Codemasters. This is a good game and as a service it should have servers elsewhere in the world.

As for translations it's quite clear that Turbine relies only on Tolero to do translations so it ends up as it is - a low budget game with little profit. You can't expect much to be done for this game. Game does have potential, but it isn't done as it should have been.

mystafyi
10-19-2011, 06:16 AM
The major point is that it would reduce lag by 50-70ms for me and that would give me better gaming experience. When I saw that the new server was introduced, I thought it was located in Germany. Bollocks ;P

this is the reason the server is a fail.

cyr1ana
10-19-2011, 03:47 PM
Es wäre hilfreich zu wissen welche Gilden auf Wayfinder sind.





It would be helpful to know which guilds are on Wayfinder.



wine, wipe und Gesang ist da auf jeden Fall *g*

cy

cyr1ana
10-19-2011, 03:54 PM
As a new/returning player i was somewhat shocked to see that the spoken language on the "german" server is english. This led me to visit the forums and take a look at what is up with Wayfinder.

Seeing this thread now leads me to the question: Is it a good idea to stay, or should i reroll on another server before i invest time into leveling my character here? Is it really that dead/underpopulated?

The only advantage of staying here seems to be that the amount of low-level/newbie/non-twinked characters is high compared to the old servers, so i'm not that alone at sucking and not knowing what the hell i'm supposed to be doing :) On the other hand i would really not like to reach a higher level, just to find out that i'm unable to find groups/other players to play with.

Any opinions on this matter?

Die gesprochene Sprache auf Wayfinder ist schon deutsch, nur traut sich von den deutschen keiner eine deutschsprachige Gruppensuche auf zu machen. Also ich werde auf jeden Fall auf Wayfinder bleiben. Der Server ist noch jung und füllt sich erst nach und nach.

Wenn jeder nur kurz auf den Server schaut und wieder geht, dann werden es nie mehr. Wir versuchen weiter unsere Gilde zu vergrößern und Raids eventuell mit anderen Gilden zusammen zu machen.

Gruß

cy

cyr1ana
10-19-2011, 04:03 PM
Sorry double post.

Stillwaters
10-20-2011, 01:41 AM
Die gesprochene Sprache auf Wayfinder ist schon deutsch, nur traut sich von den deutschen keiner eine deutschsprachige Gruppensuche auf zu machen. Also ich werde auf jeden Fall auf Wayfinder bleiben. Der Server ist noch jung und füllt sich erst nach und nach.

Wenn jeder nur kurz auf den Server schaut und wieder geht, dann werden es nie mehr. Wir versuchen weiter unsere Gilde zu vergrößern und Raids eventuell mit anderen Gilden zusammen zu machen.

Gruß

cy

I understand that to a point - but in general;
considering even on german version of the game a lot of things are still in english, and english is still a common language for players from MANY different cultures, that english is the usual language typed in chat/lfms

totally agree that a majority of our server population are here simply to grind turbine points via favor, but i am seeing a lot of people from that pool stay way past when they would have left, as the environment here is good.

Wayfinder is NOT DEAD, just in infancy, given time it will be as strong as other servers, but people have to make the choice to stay and help nurture it.

EDIT: Furthermore, i think that we need, as a server, to be running more LFMs, and not just running them shortman with experienced players (i myself am guilty of this): ppl log on and see we have 0-10 lfms up and think we are dead tho most of us are just running solo :)

Dunklerlindwurm
10-20-2011, 04:13 AM
ppl log on and see we have 0-10 lfms up and think we are dead tho most of us are just running solo :)

This

Im currently doing my 14th Life and i did probably 95% of all Quests solo.

Why? I would do noone of the newer players a favor if they ran the Quests with me except if they like extremly fast runs....and most new players dont :)

When i hit 20 i will do raids again and stay 20 for as long as the next new class comes out :)

Stillwaters
10-20-2011, 05:00 AM
This

Im currently doing my 14th Life and i did probably 95% of all Quests solo.

Why? I would do noone of the newer players a favor if they ran the Quests with me except if they like extremly fast runs....and most new players dont :)

When i hit 20 i will do raids again and stay 20 for as long as the next new class comes out :)

Hehe that is kind of my point Dunk, and it happens across all servers... but to encourage new blood and transfers to Wayfinder, newer ppl need to be able to see that stuff is happening.

I would guess that 90% of players on Wayfinder over lvl 16 are experienced and know how to solo (if they needed babysitters they wouldn't have got so far), and i'm bringing up my 4th and 5th toons atm...

We were ALL new once. Its not as if running 1/2 speed will REALLY kill you, and puggers make old farms (like wizking) a lot more interesting. Tho there is a BIG difference between a Newb and a Noob ;P

I used to say, If you want a challenge grab 5 puggers and park em at the quest entrance, if you want a REAL challenge let them run it WITH you... This game is getting too easy anyway, so why not give yourself a challenge, and maybe help get Wayfinder rolling?

Zerger's gotta zerg, just put it in the LFM (^^)

Cogdoc
10-20-2011, 08:39 AM
Hehh,

I dont understand some of you. I was playing WoW for quite a few years, and there the forums were constantly full of whines towards Blizzard to give players a fresh new realm to start on. It was a constant topic! Now Turbine gives you a fresh realm, where:

1- AH is not full of overpriced rare loot, what you will never be able to affort, but it sets your expectations so high that you cannot value your own earned items as a new player
2- The place is not full of powergamers who rush through stuff without saying a word to others
3- Less people, more closely knit community.
4- Things are not readily available, like shroud runs, what gives a feeling of challenge and a goal to work towards to

It is a very newbie friendly environment. It is fresh air to veterans. Have fun!

Cogdoc

Hephaistor
10-20-2011, 08:41 AM
Hehh,

I dont understand some of you. I was playing WoW for quite a few years, and there the forums were constantly full of whines towards Blizzard to give players a fresh new realm to start on. It was a constant topic! Now Turbine gives you a fresh realm, where:

1- AH is not full of overpriced rare loot, what you will never be able to affort, but it sets your expectations so high that you cannot value your own earned items as a new player
2- The place is not full of powergamers who rush through stuff without saying a word to others
3- Less people, more closely knit community.
4- Things are not readily available, like shroud runs, what gives a feeling of challenge and a goal to work towards to

It is a very newbie friendly environment. It is fresh air to veterans. Have fun!

Cogdoc

^^ This. If you dont like it, play on Khyber ;)

UnderwearModel
10-24-2011, 09:30 AM
Very few LFMs. But I am not looking for one and I do not put them up. I just check.

I won't click on any LFMs because I do not speak or understand German.

Market Instance is ALWAYS 1. I have yet to see two.

AH prices? I find them even more ridiculous than other servers. Either essences sell out if reasonable priced or the price is just ridiculous.

I offered my Greater essences for 200 plat each. Not one taker. Either the few people that were on were not in House K, or no one had the plat to buy it. Maybe they all spoke german and not english.

But if you see linked greater essences 200 plat each I figure that is pretty simple to undertand.

The good news, zero lag that i can notice because of the low amount of players. Not sure if the server is shared with another game world or if it has its own dedicated server.

porq
10-24-2011, 10:31 AM
Very few LFMs. But I am not looking for one and I do not put them up. I just check.

I won't click on any LFMs because I do not speak or understand German.

Market Instance is ALWAYS 1. I have yet to see two.

AH prices? I find them even more ridiculous than other servers. Either essences sell out if reasonable priced or the price is just ridiculous.

I offered my Greater essences for 200 plat each. Not one taker. Either the few people that were on were not in House K, or no one had the plat to buy it. Maybe they all spoke german and not english.

But if you see linked greater essences 200 plat each I figure that is pretty simple to undertand.

The good news, zero lag that i can notice because of the low amount of players. Not sure if the server is shared with another game world or if it has its own dedicated server.
You probably didn't get any takers for your essences because 200 plat each on Wayfinder is what you have to settle for when all the cheaper ones on auction have been bought out. Things just aren't as valuable here. I have taken to vendoring or deconstructing otherwise good items(that guildies don't want) like +5/6 stat items or +13/15 skill items because there is even less of a market at high level than there is for essences.

Remember though, what you see on auction is typically what isn't selling, not what current prices in the market are.


Surprisingly most lfms I see are not for exclusively german speakers, so you have a good shot at joining one where language isn't going to be a barrier.


From my experience, filling groups from your guild is the deciding factor for questing here. I hate to suggest it because I normally support 'play as you wish', but joining one of the half dozen fairly active guilds is your best shot at finding groups to quest with. Otherwise the odd lfm or hireling will be the only company around.

karl_k0ch
10-24-2011, 12:55 PM
Things just aren't as valuable here.

This is an interesting viewpoint.
Just because the price tag shows a lower number, this does not mean that everything has less value than on other servers.

Lower Overall Prices actually means that a single piece of plat is worth more than on other servers. At least that's the way I read it.

Cogdoc
10-31-2011, 08:47 AM
This is an interesting viewpoint.
Just because the price tag shows a lower number, this does not mean that everything has less value than on other servers.

Lower Overall Prices actually means that a single piece of plat is worth more than on other servers. At least that's the way I read it.

Yes, this is a nice debate over the value of items, and selling price of items represented in platinum. Basically if you look at the different maturity levels of each server, you will realize that all of them have different valuations over items and even for their "own" currency, the platinum on that particular server.

But yes, you can say that until a healthy amount of the playerbase dont gather a lot of plat, items of great value, however great items they might be, will be sold for little money.

Cogdoc