Solving the non-registered player issue once and for all

[Moroni]

Hey guys,

After seeing Allejo mention how a lot of players are deterred from the league since whenever they join a server they can't talk and have no idea that they have to register by exiting BZ Flag and going to a website, an idea sparked in my head.

What if we coded it so that whenever there isn't a match going on, anyone can talk? And if there is a match going on the non-registered players can only talk in observer. Now you might ask "What if there is no one in else in observers during a match?" Well, I propose that we create a command that allows a non-reg to request to pm a player in which that player can accept by typing "/y". That way they can still be able to talk to players without disrupting everyone. Also, maybe if they became a nuisance, the player could type another command to reverse the request.

I feel this idea or something similar could solve the issue with the league feeling so closed off. What are your guy's thoughts?

[mudfreak]

Wouldn't it be simpler to have the server write a message telling the user to register?

[Zehra]

What if we coded it so that whenever there isn't a match going on, anyone can talk? And if there is a match going on the non-registered players can only talk in observer.

Currently available as observerChat. I believe trepan wrote a similar plug-in before this too.

Well, I propose that we create a command that allows a non-reg to request to pm a player in which that player can accept by typing "/y". That way they can still be able to talk to players without disrupting everyone. Also, maybe if they became a nuisance, the player could type another command to reverse the request.

The option for members to send a pm to a non-registered and unmute/converse privately would be a good addition to this in my opinion. Since it's likely for most new players to be very unfamiliar with commands.

Wouldn't it be simpler to have the server write a message telling the user to register?

Last time I checked, there is a server message along those lines.

-Zehra

[kierra]

There is a server message when you join an LU map. Both Bert and I believe the wording could be improved and that will be addressed.
Regardless, I usually if not always, message a nonLU player when they join obs:

• 1. I unmute them and then follow up with #2 or 3.
• 2. Pm them saying they need to be on a list to play & talk here and give them the Lu site
• 3. If unregistered, they need a reg’d nick to play/talk here. And tell them forums.bzflag.org to reg. Then LU site.
• 4. Any LU player in observer can also give directions to a player, reg’d or unreg’d on what to do.

[Bertman]

I was looking at the on-boarding at Leagues United and it doesn't appear we have a "gate" problem as perceived. In the last five years we have added 144 players to the spawn list. This happened at a rate of about 29 players per year or 2.5 players per month added to just LU. Can you imagine if those 144 players were active in the league?

We are still active in promoting and getting people on the spawn list as kierra pointed out in her post. What happens after the fact should be the real focus. While there are improvements that could be made, I believe the current set-up with regards to unregistered players does more good than harm.

[Zehra]

Relevant quote:

BZFlag is a silly little tank game. I believe that the lack of players who stick around is largely because the whole onboarding process into the game is not new user friendly. You join a popular server with no explanation or practice, you get killed instantly a few times, get frustrated with the game, and never come back. Then you have a competitive league which there's no indication that you have to join the league to play on there, which requires registration, which you have to do by registering an account on our... forums? which requires you to leave the game? As an unregistered player, you can't talk on their servers so you can't even ask what's going on. You get frustrated because you can't talk and think the game is broken.

Allejo's points remain very relevant and still actually aren't really addressed in this thread so far. There's two key points and the second one relates to this thread.

A player new to BZFlag joins a server where they can't spawn, chat or do anything. There isn't any indication of this or the requirements needed to be able to play there. The player concludes the game is broken.

---

In my opinion: I'd recommend using:

Code: Select all

-advertise LU.PLAYER

For virtually all servers and leave one server on each domain as:

Code: Select all

-advertise VERIFIED

At the very least there can be some hope that a player has some knowledge of the game and is less likely to assume the game is broken.

Or at the very absolute least/minimum adding all replay servers to:

Code: Select all

-advertise LU.PLAYER

I'd also recommend creating help files for registering and some of the terms commonly used within the league and granting the sendhelp option to members.

-Zehra

[kierra]

A player new to BZFlag joins a server where they can't spawn, chat or do anything. There isn't any indication of this or the requirements needed to be able to play there. The player concludes the game is broken

It is rare that that happens….read my earlier post.
A new player coming to bzflag isn’t going to land on the league servers first. They’re gonna land on apocalypse, urban jungle, badgerKing, or purple panzer’s maps - 4 of the most popular servers.
IF he lands on an LU server, it is most likely because players are there. LU players are very welcoming and again admins are quick to reach out as I’ve stated.
We do not need a private league server viewed only by its members as suggested by your recommendations. That is not in the best interest for the health and growth of the bzflag community.

[kierra]

Suggestions that make sense:

honestly the user interface could just do a better job
we could have in-game registration, proper server messages when you join (where a little dialog with rules, info, etc could pop up on the screen), etc
and just basic things like a menu where you can use the mouse to click on stuff.
in game registration has been talked about since before we even launched 2.0, IIRC.

[Moroni]

I appreciate the replies so far. While I do agree that if there are admins online at the time the unregistered player joins, they will unmute them and help them get registered if they want to, there are rare cases where admins aren't there such as when Endeavor and I shoot around at night or a late night FM is going on which requires a lot of focus making it hard to type anything other than a greeting. The pattern I see with non-regs is they try to join and then get sent back to observer, so they try to join a couple more times and since they can't talk, they just leave. I personally think that the league is the best place for newcomers since you learn all the raw skills which in turn make you better at the other maps.

I appreciate the statistic that you gave Bertman, but how many were missed because of the current system? I guess what my whole point of all of this is is to make it so it is more automatic rather than the admins doing most of the work such as unmuting then talking with the non-regs. I try my best to help non-regs, but if they keep rejoining and then leave after, they miss my messages. Also, while I know you admins are on top of it, it's quite possible that you are afk when they join observer and miss the opportunity to unmute and message them.

And I whole heartedly agree that we need to have a better system for those players who join the league and then leave shortly afterwards. I definitely think overall the UI is the biggest issue. Now that I can afford it, I think I'll get a good mic so I can record a BZ Flag tutorial video because BZ Flag is really hard to jump into in general. Ducati is probably the most new player friendly map to play cause you learn how to shoot, use rader, dodge, and how to play flags. Certainly it's better than playing apocalypse as your first map.

The current system is functional, but still has flaws, and that's what I was hoping we could fix.

[Zehra]

It is rare that that happens….read my earlier post.
A new player coming to bzflag isn’t going to land on the league servers first. They’re gonna land on apocalypse, urban jungle, badgerKing, or purple panzer’s maps - 4 of the most popular servers.
IF he lands on an LU server, it is most likely because players are there. LU players are very welcoming and again admins are quick to reach out as I’ve stated.

The players can be very helpful, but are limited by the current options, as one-way communication is far more limited. As admins can't be around 24/7, the difference in a "conversation" with two-way communications and "instructions" given via one-way communications is greatly underestimated. I believe this was the key point of this thread of how much of a factor this is.

We do not need a private league server viewed only by its members as suggested by your recommendations. That is not in the best interest for the health and growth of the bzflag community.

To clarify any misunderstandings/misinterpretations:

I think it's better in the long run if players have at least registered before. Since it's just a single barrier vs two. There also is some context which they'll be more aware of BZFlag in general.

The public servers need no changes. I've specifically said for it to only apply to members-only servers and not all of them at that.

I believe it offers a very good compromise as it's possible to still run matches which are visible and ones which aren't and it's known where possible new players would appear.(Also registered players would be more likely to understand what is occurring and not be as discouraged/confused..etc)

If that's not possible, at the very least add or consider adding the league replay servers to

Code: Select all

-advertise LU.PLAYER

as the default server filter(s) do consider observers within their count.

Providing context to the reasons why you think ideas may or may not be in the best interests of bzflag would be helpful to address any shortcomings within them or to provide insights as to why they were rejected in general.

The suggestion for help files, I'll bring back up, as it's a key point.
Any member would be able to easily send a message via the /sendhelp command to non-members with detailed information on how to register and similar, it's obviously redundant when admins are around, but whenever there is none, it would be possible to give some form of an explanation perhaps in a short window a possible new member may be active in.

---

I was looking at the on-boarding at Leagues United and it doesn't appear we have a "gate" problem as perceived. In the last five years we have added 144 players to the spawn list. This happened at a rate of about 29 players per year or 2.5 players per month added to just LU. Can you imagine if those 144 players were active in the league?

We are still active in promoting and getting people on the spawn list as kierra pointed out in her post. What happens after the fact should be the real focus. While there are improvements that could be made, I believe the current set-up with regards to unregistered players does more good than harm.

How many of those players would be active in BZFlag and how many of are active within the league? Perhaps a good opportunity to gain some long term insights via feedback from active and formerly active players/members. Likely it would provide good indications of activity and overall stability relating to activity.

---

I appreciate the replies so far. While I do agree that if there are admins online at the time the unregistered player joins, they will unmute them and help them get registered if they want to, there are rare cases where admins aren't there such as when Endeavor and I shoot around at night or a late night FM is going on which requires a lot of focus making it hard to type anything other than a greeting. The pattern I see with non-regs is they try to join and then get sent back to observer, so they try to join a couple more times and since they can't talk, they just leave. I personally think that the league is the best place for newcomers since you learn all the raw skills which in turn make you better at the other maps.

I appreciate the statistic that you gave Bertman, but how many were missed because of the current system? I guess what my whole point of all of this is is to make it so it is more automatic rather than the admins doing most of the work such as unmuting then talking with the non-regs. I try my best to help non-regs, but if they keep rejoining and then leave after, they miss my messages. Also, while I know you admins are on top of it, it's quite possible that you are afk when they join observer and miss the opportunity to unmute and message them.

The pattern you mention, I've seen it at least 2 dozen times perhaps and the quickness of join/leave, join/leave happens in a span of 10 seconds or so (with 5 seconds give or take to be precise). It leaves little time to write and send a message in that time frame.

Edit: Summarized and clarified some key points overall.

-Zehra

[Zehra]

Perhaps it is just me: But this issue would likely be resolved by better usage of public servers and better server configurations.