September Update: Staff Work and New Players

[Nyr]

Staff Activities for September

This is something new we are reporting on just to give an idea of the stuff that staff did in September in addition to requests (the stats of which can be seen presently).    We may have more to add to this summary at the top over the next few days, but for now, here's what we have.

Code work
Paradigm shift for player account files (now stored in DB).  New liquid type added.  Bug fix for inix stamina.  Bug fix for Elkran spell.  Update to a handful of javascripts (other fixes/feature updates).

Meta-clan team work

• Allanak:  Documentation completed for Byn and Byn leaders.  Minor changes made to Byn compound.  Ongoing work w/r/t gemmed temples.  Multiple animations for player-driven plots, including an NPC and objects built to support plots.
• Tuluk:  Facilitated a large RPT documented on chronology page.  Work on documentation and structure for the new Tuluki templarate.  Began work on documentation and structure for Tuluki militia in conjunction with templarate changes.  Put docs for shadow artists up in beta form, collected feedback, and continuing with alterations based on feedback.  Continuing work on developing documentation for Tuluk, updated public bardic documentation, updated Tuluki documentation in several areas to reflect ongoing situation.  Changes made to some rooms to reflect ongoing work after HRPT.  Implemented mastercrafts for PCs in Tuluki clans.  Building and animations for staff/player-created plots.
• GMH: Continued work on approximately 50 room changes for volcanic area including some new things to find (enjoy looking for them, travel at your own risk).  20+ rooms updated in scoria plains including directional descriptions.  Kuraci documentation being reviewed for better navigability.
• Independents:  extensive work on Labyrinth--rooms, NPCs, tattoos.  Akai Sjir item revamp, overhauling objects in the clan, discussion/design of new items to be implemented in waves.  Arabet/Seik full documentation overhaul continued (approx 25k words written so far), ongoing with completion slated later in the year.  Tan Muark camp built and implemented.  Mastercrafts reviewed and implemented.  Several RPTs supported by clan staff.

New Players

2012 survey results
August post
July post
June post
May post
April post
March post


Raw data

Total new accounts created:  434
Duplicates (created multiple accounts out of confusion/staff accounts/etc):  0 (at least as far as I can tell, could be wrong!)
New accounts minus the above: 434



Where people came from
(noteworthy results mentioned, some might be concurrent)

Topmudsites:  49
Themudconnector:  154
Both:  1
Google:  41 (note that these can probably be attributed to either TMS or TMC)
Search/web:  12 (these also can probably be attributed to either TMS or TMC)
Friends/other players/family/co-workers/homies:  44
Reddit:  11
Random forums:  25
TVtropes:  3

Miscellaneous funnier or "odd" or even interesting ones:
ign.com forums and forums related to the Day Z Mod.  Actually, several people looking for a game similar to DayZ.
someone in mumble told me to join or I was a shitter, and I am no shitter
forced to
4chan
Big Bang Theory
sex
Taco N Banana



Summary

A little copypasta below from previous posts:

An interesting metric to point out is our new accounts numbers for the year.  This post details how we did in 2012 (and this one goes over account stats for the past 4 years).  To recap that below:

2009 -- 1481
2010 -- 1865
2011 -- 1325
2012 -- 1631

2013 data for new accounts (compiled from various sources):
January (83), February (123), March (235), April (457), May (491), June (464), July (406), August (421), September (434)
2013 total (so far) -- 3114

We've broken the record for most new accounts for any given year, and the year's not over!  Of course, at this point, that's like a broken record broken record--you've heard it enough that it's old hat (even if it broke all previous records).



What matters, however, is how many people actually log in even once to play the game.  This has been a major improvement.  When I first looked at this data in January and February with Calavera, we found that over the course of about 100 accounts created, only 21 actually made it into the game.  This month, we had 434 new accounts, and out of those, 78 actually made it into the game.  We are (in general) seeing around a 3x to 4x increase in the amount of people that play the game for the first time.



Player Retention

More copypasta.

I mentioned that the best way to determine real player retention would be to see who did the following:

started playing in x month
is still playing THIS month

To recap, our stats from 2010, 2011, and 2012:

Excluding new staff accounts

2010

January:  1
February:  1
March:  2
April:  3
May:  7
June:  5
July:  3
August:  1
September:  1
October:  2
November:  4
December:  4

2010 Total:  34

2011

January:  2
February:  2
March:  0
April:  5
May:  1
June:  5
July:  2
August:  2
September:  1
October:  3
November:  3
December:  1

2011 Total:  27

2012

January:  4
February:  3
March:  5
April:  7
May:  2
June:  2
July:  1
August:  3
September:  2
October:  1
November:  6
December:  4

2012 Total:  40

I also mentioned that this year would be skewed due to the database issue we had which would've wiped records from 1/23 to 3/28.  Even with that, here's what we have for 2013.

2013

January: 2 (missing 8 days of that month's data)
February:  0 (missing all of that month's data)
March:  1 (missing 27 days of that month's data)
April:  9
May:  6
June:  8
July:  7
August: 9

2013 Total so far:  42

We're still on a path to increase retention and total playerbase size by a sizable percentage over last year.  If we assume even just 6 players stick per month from now on, we'll end up with retention of over 60 players this year (approximately 66 actually), more than 50% higher than 2012.  I am going to redo all of these retention numbers at the end of the year and run new ones so that we know who has sticked not only for the following month (like we are doing above) but how these numbers have changed over time (started in 2011, still playing today, etc).



This Month's Players

More copypasta.  The numbers are new though.

5-6 hours of playtime or less:  61
--Ok, good.  We can find out what is turning off the players that have spent that much time in the game.  A few minutes?  They probably didn't intend to do more than look around.  A few hours?  Something must have occurred, or something didn't occur.  We will be delving into this over time but probably not immediately.  This is not the most high priority target for our efforts, considering the people that put in more time than this.

6+ hours of playtime:  17
--Ok, good.  From this, we can find out who got turned off AFTER putting in a significant time investment, but before being hooked.  This is probably a better area to look at for the purposes of retention.  They've spent time playing the game but (for whatever reason) they have stopped playing.  This will take time to affect and review efforts.

So who's hooked this month--at least, so far?

Of the remaining 17 players, I narrowed down who was still logging in as recently as 9/25/2013.  That gets us 8 players.

If you're a new player from this month and you're in the categories mentioned above, feel free to chime in here or elsewhere on the forums if you haven't already!  We'd love to hear from you.  What almost turned you off to the game?  What has hooked you?

[Jherlen]

Hey Nyr -

GREAT data. Very awesome. Very tasty.

Could we see something like "accounts returning to play after an absence of greater than 1 year / X years / X months?" It might be cool to see data on what old accounts are re-activating.

[Kronibas]

Good to see stuff like this.  Kudos for taking the time to put it all together.

[path]

Yeah, Nyr, this is awesome.

Are our peak playtime numbers up? I'm wondering if our new players are balancing the natural fall away of old players or if we're fattening up. Like a Christmas goose.

[Nyr]

Hey Nyr -

GREAT data. Very awesome. Very tasty.

Could we see something like "accounts returning to play after an absence of greater than 1 year / X years / X months?" It might be cool to see data on what old accounts are re-activating.

I don't think we have that ability unless they created their account in 2009 or later.

[Malken]

If an ex Armageddon player does not return after a year of absence, then it is safe to assume that they are dead IRL.

[Nyr]

Yeah, Nyr, this is awesome.

Are our peak playtime numbers up? I'm wondering if our new players are balancing the natural fall away of old players or if we're fattening up. Like a Christmas goose.

I am not sure that I can provide that kind of granularity with my tools, but I think one of the coders can look at that.  We'd want to compare year over year, I assume?

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

Oh, we're up. I know that for a fact. We're not up the way I wish we were, but we are certainly up.

[Nyr]

Yeah, Nyr, this is awesome.

Are our peak playtime numbers up? I'm wondering if our new players are balancing the natural fall away of old players or if we're fattening up. Like a Christmas goose.

I am not sure that I can provide that kind of granularity with my tools, but I think one of the coders can look at that.  We'd want to compare year over year, I assume?

Mudstats has average players by season, which does show that we have improved rather drastically in that category:



If I'm interpreting the data properly, I assume the jump can be attributed to the new website and very basic poll recruiting.

[Jherlen]

I wonder, has the staff thought of building some sort of survey to send to people who created accounts and didn't stick with the game? Since we have an email for their account, we could fire off a quick note and ask them for feedback. It might be illuminating?

[Nyr]

I wonder, has the staff thought of building some sort of survey to send to people who created accounts and didn't stick with the game? Since we have an email for their account, we could fire off a quick note and ask them for feedback. It might be illuminating?

Perhaps so.  There are free survey tools out there that we can take advantage of if we wished to go that route, and that might very well be the best first step to take in order to target players that spent a significant amount of time but did not stick with the game.

[Yasbusta]

If an ex Armageddon player does not return after a year of absence, then it is safe to assume that they are dead IRL.

Not true, I have personally had longer than a year absence and came back strong, also know others that have done the same.
Life happens, and some of us that have been playing longer than most imms loose the love over time, but it always comes back.

[Bushranger]

New liquid type added.

Always interesting to read these posts and I think the staff activities are a good addition. This is what I really noticed and now I'm really intrigued. We already have water (also shitty and awesome varieties), blood, booze, milk, brainz and crystal pepsi. So what is this new liquid? pls be Bacardi Breezers! pls.

[slvrmoontiger]

I always find the referral section quite interesting the read... Most notably: sex? They got referred when having sex? WTF?

[Patuk]

Tvtropes referrals still up and running.

I'm doin mah part.

[FreeRangeVestric]

I always find the referral section quite interesting the read... Most notably: sex? They got referred when having sex? WTF?

Personally, I find mid-coitous to be one of the most effective and natural times to slip in an advertisement for Armageddon. These referral stats are proving me right.

[slvrmoontiger]

Ahhhh TMI.

[Ktavialt]

This is impressive.  I hope we see the day of 200+ players, clans being filled, and more higher end PCs (Red Robes, Senior Nobles, etc.) due to the lesser ranks being filled appropriately.

I also wish Gith would re-open as a race, they were fun but hard to play b/c everybody wants to hunt your ass yes, their only social interaction with non-gith is typically "me kill you" but it makes the dangerous environment alive.

/off soapbox

[Narf]

If an ex Armageddon player does not return after a year of absence, then it is safe to assume that they are dead IRL.

I've returned after a 4 and 2 year absence. Most of me is still alive.

[ShaLeah]

If an ex Armageddon player does not return after a year of absence, then it is safe to assume that they are dead IRL.

I've returned after a 4 and 2 year absence. Most of me is still alive.

I was gone 6+

[BleakOne]

New advertising technique: Join Armageddon or you are a shitter.

Because me, I ain't no shitter. 

[slvrmoontiger]

If an ex Armageddon player does not return after a year of absence, then it is safe to assume that they are dead IRL.

I've returned after a 4 and 2 year absence. Most of me is still alive.

I was gone 6+

I was gone once for over 2 years, another time for over a year, and a third time for over 5 years. Real life happens a lot.

[Barsook]

I have gone through those periods too.

[perfecto]

If an ex Armageddon player does not return after a year of absence, then it is safe to assume that they are dead IRL.

Not true, I have personally had longer than a year absence and came back strong, also know others that have done the same.
Life happens, and some of us that have been playing longer than most imms loose the love over time, but it always comes back.

so very true.. so you're playing again!?!?!?

Edit to add - Nyr this is awsome info, I truely miss the "news" that used to come up when you logged in years ago.  You all work so hard to please this mistress we call Ginka; I hope she treats you well in return.  Oh and us...